Kate Bush, Stranger Things, and a hit song four decades in the making

Kate Bush’s “running up that hill” has soared up the charts, performing better than its release in 1985. Heavily featured in Strangers Things Season 4, Netflix’s most successful English language release to date by watch time, Kate Bush has found a new generation of fans via the show. The coming-of-age horror/sci-fi show has leaned heavily on 80s nostalgia since its premier in 2016. Its iconic theme song is reminiscent of John Carpenter horror b-movies, and according toReverb.com, one of the biggest online retailers of used instruments, the theme helped rejuvenate interest in analog synthesizers from the 80s. 

So when Kate Bush enters the show during a brooding high school hallway scene right out of the John Hughes playbook, it is a natural fit for the show. “Running Up That Hill” plays a pivotal, spoiler-ridden plot point in the show, requiring us to hear the hook multiple times throughout the season—a perfect ear worm ready to embed itself into TikTok memes. But its success is owed to more than just repetition. The song sounds like an extension of the sound track. 

The show’s composers, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, told Switched On Pop that like Kate Bush’s song which waffles between major and minor, the Strange Things score “has moments of darkness and lightness in it, constantly trading places”.  And they compose from the same set of instruments: classic synthesizers and drum machines like the LinnDrum, which is  the heartbeat of Bush’s song. Dixon and Stein even cite her as an essential influence saying that they “directly referenced very obviously Kate Bush—there’s these little melodies that we always refer to as like and then the Kate Bush part comes in.” 

Listen to Switched On Pop to hear how Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” is a exquisite song placement and hear how it blends seamlessly with the Stranger Things soundtrack.

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Check out Reverb Machine’s sounds of Kate Bush

Reverb.com made a tutorial on the synth sounds of Stranger Things

Songs Discussed

• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Stranger Things
• Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
• Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round
• Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
• Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie 
• Carly Rae Jepsen - Cut To The Feeling
• The Weeknd - Blinding Lights 
• Prince - When Doves Cry
• Phil Collins - Sussudio
• Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer Theme Song
• John Carpenter - Night
• S U R V I V E - A.H.B.
• S U R V I V E - High Rise 
• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Eggo in the Snow
• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - She Wants Me to Find Her
• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Starcourt
• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Eight Fifteen
• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Boys and Girls
• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - The Ceiling is Beautiful
• Kate Bush - Waking the Witch
• Kate Bush - Hammer Horror

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