| Hammer Horror | |
| Cover: | Kate Bush - Hammer Horror.png |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Kate Bush |
| Album: | Lionheart |
| B-Side: | Coffee Homeground |
| Released: | 27 October 1978 |
| Recorded: | July–September 1978 |
| Genre: |
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| Length: | 4:39 4:25 (edit) |
| Label: | EMI |
| Producer: | Andrew Powell assisted by Kate Bush |
| Prev Title: | The Man with the Child in His Eyes |
| Prev Year: | 1978 |
| Next Title: | Wow |
| Next Year: | 1979 |
"Hammer Horror" is a song by Kate Bush, released as the first single from her second album Lionheart. It was released on 27 October 1978. The song peaked at No. 44 on the UK Singles Chart. The parent album, released on 13 November 1978 reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart. "Hammer Horror"'s low chart position proved to be a temporary phenomenon, as Bush's next single returned her to the top 20. In other countries it fared better, including in Ireland and Australia, where the song reached No. 10 and No.17 respectively.
The song references Hammer Films, a company specializing in horror movies. However, Bush conceived of the song after viewing the film Man of a Thousand Faces, a biographical film – not produced by Hammer – about Lon Chaney starring James Cagney. "The song was inspired by seeing James Cagney playing the part of Lon Chaney playing the hunchback", Bush stated in 1979. "He was an actor in an actor in an actor, rather like Chinese boxes, and that's what I was trying to create." The theme of the song concerns an actor who is thrust into the lead role of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame after the original actor dies in an accident on the film set.[1] The guilt-ridden narrator of the song is haunted by the ghost of the jealous original actor, who was a former friend. A promotional video was made for the single featuring Bush and a black-masked dancer performing the song against a black background.
The B-side of the song was "Coffee Homeground", also from Lionheart.
While in Australia during a promotional tour, Kate Bush devised the dance routine for the song in her Melbourne hotel room, and performed the song on the television show Countdown.[2]
All tracks written and composed by Kate Bush.
7" vinyl
7" vinyl (Japan)[3]
Musicians
Production
| Chart (1978–79) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] | 17 |
| Spain (AFE)[5] | 35 |