Release
Record company, EMI had originally chosen another track, "James and the Cold Gun" as the lead single, but Bush was determined that "Wuthering Heights" would be the first release from the album. She won out eventually in a surprising show of determination for a young musician against a major record company, but this was not the only time she took a stand against them in a bid to take control of her career.
Two music videos were created to accompany "Wuthering Heights." In one version, Bush can be seen performing the song in a dark room filled with white mist while wearing a white dress (which was the UK release); in the other, the singer dances in an outdoor environment while wearing a red dress (which was done for the American release).
The release date for the single was initially scheduled to be 4 November 1977. However, Bush was unhappy with the picture being used for the single's cover and insisted it be replaced. Some copies of the single had already been sent out to radio stations, but EMI relented and put back the single's launch until the New Year. This proved to be a wise choice ultimately, as the release would have clashed with Wings' latest release, "Mull of Kintyre", which became the biggest-selling single in UK history up to this point in December 1977. "Wuthering Heights" was finally released on 6 January 1978 and eventually crept into the charts on (week ending) 11 February at No.42. The following week it rose to No.27 and Bush made her first appearance on Top of the Pops ("It was like watching myself die", recalls Bush), and the song became one of the most played records on radio. In 1986, her first compilation album erroneously stated the release date for this single as 4 November 1977.
Read more about this topic: Wuthering Heights (song)
Famous quotes containing the word release:
“The shallow consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise man sees in it, on the contrary, the potent Law of Laws.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.”
—Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
“As nature requires whirlwinds and cyclones to release its excessive force in a violent revolt against its own existence, so the spirit requires a demonic human being from time to time whose excessive strength rebels against the community of thought and the monotony of morality ... only by looking at those beyond its limits does humanity come to know its own utmost limits.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)