In 1985, Kate Bush released a little album called Hounds of Love. On it was a little song called “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”. At the time, the single only reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. But in 2022, with help from a little Netflix series called Stranger Things, Kate Bush broke the Top 10 for the first time with a song she released almost four decades earlier.
On May 27, 2022, Stranger Things season four premiered, with “Running Up That Hill” playing a major role on the soundtrack. It served as the song that kept the character Max grounded in reality, bringing her back from the brink of total mind control. The song showed up multiple times throughout the season, along with many other crucial needle drops.
How ‘Stranger Things’ Got Kate Bush to Let Them Use Her 1985 Hit Song
But “Running Up That Hill” caught on so quickly that it saw an 8,700% global streaming increase over one weekend. It surged to the Top 10 in 34 countries and hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. After 37 years, it sat 28 spots ahead of its original chart placement. Additionally, it introduced Kate Bush to a whole new generation who fully embraced her whimsical art-pop.
Kate Bush usually keeps tight control of her work, rarely allowing her music to be used in movies or television. She doesn’t grant sync licensing lightly. So how did Stranger Things manage to get “Running Up That Hill” for such a prominent feature?
It helped that Bush is a fan of the show. After the explosion of streams from the season premiere, Bush posted a response on her website. In her words, she was excited for young fans giving the song “a whole new lease of life.” She then added, “I love it too!”
After reviewing the script to learn how her song would be used on the show, Bush gave her approval. But another element that helped get that approval was Winona Ryder’s longtime love for Kate Bush.
“I’ve been obsessed with her since I was a little girl,” Ryder told USA Today in 2022. She called Bush “a hero of mine,” and added, “I’ve also for the last seven years been dropping hints on set wearing my Kate Bush T-shirts.”
The post 4 Years Ago, a Huge Netflix Series Breathed New Life Into an Unappreciated ‘80s Song and Made It a Top 10 Hit appeared first on VICE.
