Hong Kong Garden (song)
Encyclopedia
"Hong Kong Garden" is the debut single released by British band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was produced by their manager Nils Stevenson and sound-engineer Steve Lillywhite
. Issued in the UK by Polydor Records
in 1978, the single quickly hit number seven in the UK singles chart
.
The song is now widely acknowledged as a classic. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever" and the NME
recently qualified it as "sublime".
and Record Mirror
. Melody Maker underlined : "The elements come together with remarkable effects. The song is strident and powerful with tantalising oriental guitar riffs." Record Mirror described the effect the record had as "accessibilty incarnated... I'm playing it every third record. I love every second.
Paul Morley
analyzed its success a few months later : "Its oriental 'authenticity', its flickering eroticism, its simple beauty pushed it deep into the charts."
High Street. Siouxsie Sioux
is quoted as explaining the lyrics with reference to the racist activities of skinheads visiting the takeaway:
On the first studio version recorded by the BBC
in February 1978, the oriental hook was played on a pixiephone
, a toy glockenspiel
with metallic bars : this one would be later issued on both Voices on the Air: The Peel Sessions
and At the BBC
.
On the second version recorded for Polydor in June 1978, the instrument used was a xylophone
, an instrument with wooden bars. This Polydor' version was released as a stand-alone single and hit number seven in the UK singles chart
. When the Banshees' debut album The Scream
came out later in the year, "Hong Kong Garden" was not included. It later surfaced on the singles compilation album Once Upon a Time: The Singles
. In 2002, the song was remastered to feature on The Best of Siouxsie & the Banshees
. It was also later included on the soundtrack for Sofia Coppola's 2006 film Marie Antoinette
in a slightly different version with an unreleased orchestral string intro.
Steve Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite is an English Grammy Award winning record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited for working on over 500 records and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including XTC, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Dave Matthews Band, U2, Peter Gabriel,...
. Issued in the UK by Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
in 1978, the single quickly hit number seven in the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
The song is now widely acknowledged as a classic. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever" and the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
recently qualified it as "sublime".
Critical reception
The song was described by Paul Rambali in the NME as "a bright, vivid narrative, something like snapshots from the window of a speeding Japanese train, power charged by the most original, intoxicating guitar playing heard in a long, long time." The record was single of the week in the NME, Melody MakerMelody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
and Record Mirror
Record Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
. Melody Maker underlined : "The elements come together with remarkable effects. The song is strident and powerful with tantalising oriental guitar riffs." Record Mirror described the effect the record had as "accessibilty incarnated... I'm playing it every third record. I love every second.
Paul Morley
Paul Morley
Paul Morley is an English journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications...
analyzed its success a few months later : "Its oriental 'authenticity', its flickering eroticism, its simple beauty pushed it deep into the charts."
History
The song was named after the Hong Kong Garden Chinese takeaway in ChislehurstChislehurst
Chislehurst is a suburban district in south-east London, England, and an electoral ward of the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
High Street. Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...
is quoted as explaining the lyrics with reference to the racist activities of skinheads visiting the takeaway:
Record releases
Several versions exist.On the first studio version recorded by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in February 1978, the oriental hook was played on a pixiephone
Pixiephone
The Pixiphone was a range of toy glockenspiels . The larger Pixiphones had a 'raiser-bar' which could be used to end a note abruptly, rather than letting it fade naturally...
, a toy glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
with metallic bars : this one would be later issued on both Voices on the Air: The Peel Sessions
Voices on the Air: The Peel Sessions
Voices on the Air: The Peel Sessions is an album released by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It is composed of recordings from the band during the years 1977-1979 and 1981-1986 on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show The Peel Sessions....
and At the BBC
At the BBC (Siouxsie & the Banshees album)
At the BBC is a live box set containing three CDs and a DVD by Siouxsie and the Banshees.It is 84-track, digitally-remastered, four-disc hard-back book set of BBC sessions, live concert tracks and TV performances recorded between 1977–1991 split across three CDs and a DVD.The DVD features several...
.
On the second version recorded for Polydor in June 1978, the instrument used was a xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, an instrument with wooden bars. This Polydor' version was released as a stand-alone single and hit number seven in the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. When the Banshees' debut album The Scream
The Scream (album)
The Scream is the debut album by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released in November 1978 on Polydor Records. Even before this release, the band already had a strong reputation as a live act, as well as having a Top 10 UK single under their belt with "Hong Kong Garden"...
came out later in the year, "Hong Kong Garden" was not included. It later surfaced on the singles compilation album Once Upon a Time: The Singles
Once Upon a Time: The Singles
Once Upon a Time: The Singles is Siouxsie and the Banshees's 1981 compilation album featuring the band's UK single releases to date. The album featured several songs that had been released as singles yet had not appeared on any of the Banshees' four albums.In 2002, Q Magazine named Once Upon A...
. In 2002, the song was remastered to feature on The Best of Siouxsie & the Banshees
The Best of Siouxsie & the Banshees
Universal Music Group released The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees in 2002 as the first reissue of the Siouxsie and the Banshees remastered back-catalogue.The most successful singles of the band were presented in a non-chronological order....
. It was also later included on the soundtrack for Sofia Coppola's 2006 film Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (2006 film)
Marie Antoinette is a 2006 biographical film, written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It is very loosely based on the life of the Queen consort in the years leading up to the French Revolution. It won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design...
in a slightly different version with an unreleased orchestral string intro.