Kate Bush鈥檚 sprint to the top of the music charts is an example of how nostalgic cravings are a driving force behind pop culture right now, industry experts say.
After the British singer-songwriter鈥檚 song 鈥淩unning Up That Hill (A Deal With God)鈥 was featured in the fourth season of the wildly popular Netflix series 鈥淪tranger Things,鈥 the 1985 track is once again a hit, climbing to number one on the charts in Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia, and inching closer to the top spot in North America.
鈥淟ast time I checked, it was fourth on the Billboard Top 100, it was the most streamed song in the world on Spotify last week,鈥 Alan Cross, a Toronto radio broadcaster and music blogger, told CTV National News.
But Cross said that given the recent Hollywood trend of revivals and remakes, it鈥檚 unsurprising that while old fans may be rediscovering Bush鈥檚 music, new fans are discovering it for the first time.
鈥淥ne of the things we have to realize today about entertainment is that it is all available to anybody with just a couple pokes of your phone,鈥 Cross said. 鈥淭he song may be old, but if it鈥檚 new to you, then it鈥檚 a new song. And I think we鈥檙e going to be seeing more and more of this sort of thing as we get deeper and deeper into the streaming era.鈥
The same success occurred after a 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥 spin-off film released in 1992 included a memorable scene featuring a song that鈥檚 part ballad, part opera, and part rock 鈥榥鈥 roll.
鈥溾橶ayne鈥檚 World鈥 brought 鈥楤ohemian Rhapsody鈥 back to an audience that saw it as a nostalgic song, but also to a younger audience who didn鈥檛 know of Queen when that song was recorded in the 1970s,鈥 John Einarson, a Winnipeg-based music journalist, told CTV News.
This kind of musical feat has been pulled off before, with soundtracks often reawakening interest not just in singular songs, but in entire genres.
鈥淎ll we have to do is go back to 鈥楾he Big Chill鈥 soundtrack,鈥 Cross said of the 1983 classic American film starring Glenn Close and Jeff Goldblum, with an accompanying album that generated just as much buzz. 鈥淟ook what that did for Motown. (It) brought that music to an entirely new generation.鈥
While Bush鈥檚 music may be nostalgic for some, the appeal for others is that it feels timeless.
鈥淚t speaks to the kind of music that she wrote and recorded. It was never fitting of its time,鈥 Einarson said of 鈥淩unning Up That Hill.鈥
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 have that time stamp to it, so it could sound just as new today as it did 37 years ago, when it was first released.鈥
For Bush鈥檚 part, the notoriously reclusive artist 鈥 who once took a break from touring for three decades 鈥 is enjoying her surprise return to the spotlight.
On her official site, Bush wrote: 鈥淗ow utterly brilliant! It鈥檚 hard to take in the speed at which this has all been happening since the release of the first part of the Stranger Things new series. So many young people who love the show, discovering the song for the first time鈥.鈥
Bush was involved in her song鈥檚 use in the show, according to the show鈥檚 creators.
Matt and Ross Duffer, known by fans of the show as The Duffer Brothers, wrote a full story arc around 鈥淩unning Up That Hill.鈥
鈥淲e just prayed that Kate Bush would be into the idea, because we were going to be using her song a lot,鈥 Ross Duffer told YouTube鈥檚 WhenInManilla.com.
