Virginia Astley
Encyclopedia
Virginia Astley is an English
singer-songwriter
most active during the 1980s and 1990s. From the start of her songwriting career in 1980, Astley took her inspiration from many sources. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music. Although more popular in the Far East, most notably Japan
, she remains a cult artist in her native England
.
in 1959, the second daughter of composer Edwin Astley, noted for TV themes such as The Saint, and his wife Hazel Balbirnie, whom he married in 1945. Virginia Astley's family was from the Warrington
area and lived in Grappenhall
, where her elder sister Karen was born in 1947. The family relocated to Stanmore
in Middlesex
because of Edwin Astley's work as a film and TV writer. In the early 1960s he was musical director at ITC Entertainment
in Borehamwood
, the company responsible for TV series such as The Saint
and Danger Man
.
In 1968 Karen became the wife of Pete Townshend
of The Who
. In the 1970s Virginia's elder brother, Jon Astley
, became a tape operator for Eric Clapton
and worked his way up to his current activities as a remasterer and producer
.
. In 1980 she auditioned for a new band from Clapham
, the Victims of Pleasure. Virginia, playing keyboards
, worked with them for a short while playing in clubs and pubs around London
. The band released three singles between 1980 and 1982 before splitting up.
Afterward, Virginia wrote, arranged and performed music with Skids frontman Richard Jobson
for the album The Ballad Of Etiquette. Their collaboration continued when Jobson moved to Belgian label Les Disques Du Crépuscule
, and Astley contributed to the Crépuscule compilation The Fruit Of The Original Sin. She also contributed as part of The Dream Makers (in collaboration with filmmaker Jean Paul Goude) for a cover version of "La Chanson d'Helene" (Helen's Song), showcasing an early example of her distinctive vocal style.
It was during this early period that Virginia started to give serious consideration to releasing her own material; however, nothing immediately came of these plans. Then in 1981, she signed to the small UK label Why-Fi and recorded a series of songs. A school friend, Jo Wells (Kissing The Pink) and a university friend Nicky Holland both contributed as did Tony Butler
, Mark Brzezicki
and Peter Hope-Evans. Virginia then received an offer from another Why-Fi artist, Troy Tate
, for a supporting band position with The Teardrop Explodes
. In the nineties, finding that her musical style was popular in Japan, she went on to collaborate with Asian artists.
during the winter of 1981 for a series of dates at a small clubs and a UK tour in early 1982. They also recorded with Echo & the Bunnymen
, Skids, and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Kate St. John and Nicky Holland went on to maintain solo careers in the 1990s at the time of Virginia's reemergence in Japan. The Ravishing Beauties did not record as a band, but appeared on radio shows, including a John Peel
Session on BBC Radio 1
in April 1982.
The Ravishing Beauties first played at Club Zoo in Liverpool and followed this with the support tour with The Teardrop Explodes. Virginia wrote most of the band's songs, some of which appeared on her first solo project with Why-Fi. The band was short lived, with St. John first becoming a model and then eventually a member of The Dream Academy
, while Holland did session work and joined Tears for Fears
.
. Together with John McGeoch
and Josephine Wells, they created a musical backdrop for Jobson's poetry. This work was released as The Ballad of Etiquette in late 1981. Later, Astley went with Jobson to perform in Japan
. She also worked on other people's projects, including work for Les Disques Du Crépuscule
label, playing piano and arranging music for Richard Jobson and Anna Domino
. She also had a track on From Brussels with Love in 1982. Sessions followed with Richard Jobson and Russell Webb
for the final Skids
album Joy, which featured Astley on flute
and as a backing singer.
Astley recorded a solo album, She Stood Up And Cried for Crépuscule but this was withdrawn, eventually being released three years later as Promise Nothing. She signed with Why-Fi in mid-1981 and recorded an EP
called A Bao A Qu
, the title taken from a Malayan
legend featured in Jorge Luis Borges
's 1967 Book of Imaginary Beings
. This was produced by Jon Astley and Phil Chapman. Using a demo
studio in Wapping
called Elephant Studios, Astley recorded the song that was to place her in the indie top 10 (#8) in 1983: "Love's a Lonely Place to Be", a song of despair and anxiety in spite of its Christmas carol
sound. The song would later form part of the 1986 LP Hope in a Darkened Heart
. In 1982 Virginia also played piano on her brother-in-law Pete Townshend's album All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
.
The album From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
was released in August 1983 and was recorded on Astley's own label Happy Valley and distributed by Rough Trade
, which has since reissued it. The album achieved a place in the top 5 of the indie chart (#4), but neither single nor album was listed in the mainstream charts.
In 1983 Virginia established a more permanent lineup with string players Audrey Riley
, Jocelyn Pook
and Anne Stephenson, with guests such as drummer Brian Neville and composer Jeremy Peyton Jones.
In 1984, Astley played keyboards on tour with Prefab Sprout
around the time of their first album, and she also did sessions for their Kitchenware Records
labelmates Martin Stephenson and the Daintees
.
In 1984 Virginia signed to Arista
but left to join Elektra Records
UK. "Darkness Has Reached its End" and "Tender" were both recorded at this time. When Elektra UK folded she went to WEA
where she subsequently recorded the album Hope in A Darkened Heart with Ryuichi Sakamoto
producing in 1986. The success of this album in Japan meant that Virginia was asked to sign to Nippon Columbia with whom she recorded a further two albums, All Shall Be Well in 1992 and Had I The Heavens in 1996. The following year, the first track from the album, "Some Small Hope" was released, a collaboration with David Sylvian
.
Since then, Astley has guested on CDs by both Hideaki Matsuoka and the Silent Poets
. Rough Trade
re-issued From Gardens Where We Feel Secure with a new cover in 2003, and in 2006 she released her first album of new material in ten years. Entitled The Words Between Our Words. This mini album features Astley reciting her own poetry
to a backing of harp
music. In 2007, she premiered a long poem "Ecliptic
", with flute, harp and birdsong
.
was another influence, especially his use of the War Poets.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
most active during the 1980s and 1990s. From the start of her songwriting career in 1980, Astley took her inspiration from many sources. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music. Although more popular in the Far East, most notably Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, she remains a cult artist in her native England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Early life
Virginia Astley was born in WatfordWatford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
in 1959, the second daughter of composer Edwin Astley, noted for TV themes such as The Saint, and his wife Hazel Balbirnie, whom he married in 1945. Virginia Astley's family was from the Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
area and lived in Grappenhall
Grappenhall
Grappenhall is a suburban village in Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is situated along the Bridgewater Canal, and forms one of the principal settlements of Grappenhall and Thelwall civil parish...
, where her elder sister Karen was born in 1947. The family relocated to Stanmore
Stanmore
Stanmore is a suburban area of the London Borough of Harrow, in northwest London. It is situated northwest of Charing Cross. The area is home to Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, high.-Toponymy:...
in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
because of Edwin Astley's work as a film and TV writer. In the early 1960s he was musical director at ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
in Borehamwood
Borehamwood
-Film industry:Since the 1920s, the town has been home to several film studios and many shots of its streets are included in final cuts of 20th century British films. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood"...
, the company responsible for TV series such as The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
and Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
.
In 1968 Karen became the wife of Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
. In the 1970s Virginia's elder brother, Jon Astley
Jon Astley
Jon Astley is a British record producer who also recorded and released two albums as a singer-songwriter in the late 1980s. His most commercially successful song was "Jane's Getting Serious", later popularized by a Heinz ketchup television commercial starring a pre-Friends cast member Matt...
, became a tape operator for Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and worked his way up to his current activities as a remasterer and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
.
Music career
Virginia began learning piano at the age of six and flute at fourteen. After leaving school, she studied at the Guildhall School Of Music. Her first professional appearance in public was as a busker outside South Kensington tube stationSouth Kensington tube station
South Kensington is a London Underground station in Kensington, west London. It is served by the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines. On the District and Circle lines, the station is between Gloucester Road and Sloane Square, and on the Piccadilly Line, it is between Gloucester Road and...
. In 1980 she auditioned for a new band from Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
, the Victims of Pleasure. Virginia, playing keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, worked with them for a short while playing in clubs and pubs around London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The band released three singles between 1980 and 1982 before splitting up.
Afterward, Virginia wrote, arranged and performed music with Skids frontman Richard Jobson
Richard Jobson
Richard Jobson is the name of:*Richard Jobson , 17th-century English explorer*Richard Jobson , English former footballer...
for the album The Ballad Of Etiquette. Their collaboration continued when Jobson moved to Belgian label Les Disques Du Crépuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
, and Astley contributed to the Crépuscule compilation The Fruit Of The Original Sin. She also contributed as part of The Dream Makers (in collaboration with filmmaker Jean Paul Goude) for a cover version of "La Chanson d'Helene" (Helen's Song), showcasing an early example of her distinctive vocal style.
It was during this early period that Virginia started to give serious consideration to releasing her own material; however, nothing immediately came of these plans. Then in 1981, she signed to the small UK label Why-Fi and recorded a series of songs. A school friend, Jo Wells (Kissing The Pink) and a university friend Nicky Holland both contributed as did Tony Butler
Tony Butler
Tony Butler is a Birmingham based UK sports broadcaster and one of the first stars of local radio in Britain, known for a distinctive local accent and sometimes controversial style. In 2007, he was honoured by the Sony Radio Academy with a Lifetime Achievement Award.-Early career:Tony Butler was...
, Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki is a rock drummer, who is primarily known for his work with Big Country, and was a member of the groups The Cult, Ultravox, and Procol Harum. He has also played with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Midge Ure, Fish, The Pretenders and many others...
and Peter Hope-Evans. Virginia then received an offer from another Why-Fi artist, Troy Tate
Troy Tate
Troy Tate is a musician and record producer who was a member of several bands including The Teardrop Explodes and Fashion as well as working as a solo artist.-Biography:...
, for a supporting band position with The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward" the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s, the group also launched the career of group frontman...
. In the nineties, finding that her musical style was popular in Japan, she went on to collaborate with Asian artists.
Ravishing Beauties (band)
Virginia recruited Nicky Holland and another university friend, Kate St. John to form the band the Ravishing Beauties. The trio joined The Teardrops in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
during the winter of 1981 for a series of dates at a small clubs and a UK tour in early 1982. They also recorded with Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
, Skids, and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Kate St. John and Nicky Holland went on to maintain solo careers in the 1990s at the time of Virginia's reemergence in Japan. The Ravishing Beauties did not record as a band, but appeared on radio shows, including a John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
Session on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
in April 1982.
The Ravishing Beauties first played at Club Zoo in Liverpool and followed this with the support tour with The Teardrop Explodes. Virginia wrote most of the band's songs, some of which appeared on her first solo project with Why-Fi. The band was short lived, with St. John first becoming a model and then eventually a member of The Dream Academy
The Dream Academy
The Dream Academy was a folk rock band from England, comprising singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes; multi-instrumentalist Kate St John; plus keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. They are most noted for their hit single, "Life in a Northern Town".-History:Laird-Clowes and Gabriel met each other in the late...
, while Holland did session work and joined Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears are an English new wave band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...
.
Solo work
One of the first musicians Astley recorded with was Richard JobsonRichard Jobson (television presenter)
Richard Jobson is a Scottish singer-songwriter and film-maker, best known as a television presenter, film director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...
. Together with John McGeoch
John McGeoch
John Alexander McGeoch, , was a Scottish guitarist who played with a number of bands of the post-punk era, including Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Visage and Public Image Ltd....
and Josephine Wells, they created a musical backdrop for Jobson's poetry. This work was released as The Ballad of Etiquette in late 1981. Later, Astley went with Jobson to perform in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. She also worked on other people's projects, including work for Les Disques Du Crépuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
label, playing piano and arranging music for Richard Jobson and Anna Domino
Anna Domino
Anna Domino is a Tokyo-born indie rock artist who has released several albums under that moniker, notably for Les Disques du Crepuscule and Factory Records. Notable performers Domino has collaborated with include The The, Blaine L. Reininger and Virginia Astley. She is also one half of the duo...
. She also had a track on From Brussels with Love in 1982. Sessions followed with Richard Jobson and Russell Webb
Russell Webb
Russell Irving Webb is a retired water polo player from the United States. He played in two consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1968. He won a bronze medal with the Men's National Team at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.He is now a practicing oral...
for the final Skids
The Skids
Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson , William Simpson , Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson...
album Joy, which featured Astley on flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
and as a backing singer.
Astley recorded a solo album, She Stood Up And Cried for Crépuscule but this was withdrawn, eventually being released three years later as Promise Nothing. She signed with Why-Fi in mid-1981 and recorded an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
called A Bao A Qu
A Bao A Qu (album)
A Bao A Qu is a 4 track 10" EP by singer-songwriter Virginia Astley.The selection of 4 songs indicated her preferences for poetic and classical sounds as 3 of the 4 songs had a direct connection.The sleeve art and script are credited to the artiste....
, the title taken from a Malayan
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
legend featured in Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
's 1967 Book of Imaginary Beings
Book of Imaginary Beings
Jorge Luis Borges wrote and edited the Book of Imaginary Beings in 1957 as the original Spanish Manual de zoología fantástica, or Handbook of Fantastic Zoology, expanding it in 1967 and 1969 to the final El libro de los seres imaginarios...
. This was produced by Jon Astley and Phil Chapman. Using a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
studio in Wapping
Wapping
Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
called Elephant Studios, Astley recorded the song that was to place her in the indie top 10 (#8) in 1983: "Love's a Lonely Place to Be", a song of despair and anxiety in spite of its Christmas carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
sound. The song would later form part of the 1986 LP Hope in a Darkened Heart
Hope in a Darkened Heart
Hope in a Darkened Heart is a 1986 album by Virginia Astley, produced, primarily, by Japanese musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. The album is noted for featuring former Japan singer David Sylvian on the track "Some Small Hope" and for an alternate version of "A Summer Long Since Passed",...
. In 1982 Virginia also played piano on her brother-in-law Pete Townshend's album All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes is the third official solo album by English rock musician and songwriter Pete Townshend. It was produced by Chris Thomas and recorded by Bill Price at Eel Pie, A.I.R. and Wessex studios in London...
.
The album From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
From Gardens Where We Feel Secure is the title of the first Virginia Astley album issued on her own Happy Valley label and distributed by Rough Trade Records.The album was released in July 1983 and peaked at number 4 in the UK Indie Chart...
was released in August 1983 and was recorded on Astley's own label Happy Valley and distributed by Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
, which has since reissued it. The album achieved a place in the top 5 of the indie chart (#4), but neither single nor album was listed in the mainstream charts.
In 1983 Virginia established a more permanent lineup with string players Audrey Riley
Audrey Riley
Audrey Riley is a cellist and string arranger based in the UK. Riley trained at the Guildhall School of Music with Leonard Stehn and was a cellist for Virginia Astley from 1983 to 1986 and a one-time auxiliary member of The Family Cat. She has been a member of the post-minimalist band Icebreaker...
, Jocelyn Pook
Jocelyn Pook
Jocelyn Pook is a British composer, pianist and viola player.- Biography :Jocelyn Pook’s distinctive style is a product of her diverse experiences in classical, commercial, and so-called world music...
and Anne Stephenson, with guests such as drummer Brian Neville and composer Jeremy Peyton Jones.
In 1984, Astley played keyboards on tour with Prefab Sprout
Prefab Sprout
Prefab Sprout are an alternative English pop rock band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham, England who rose to fame during the 1980s. Eight of their albums have reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart, and one of their singles, "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", peaked at number seven in the UK...
around the time of their first album, and she also did sessions for their Kitchenware Records
Kitchenware Records
Kitchenware Records is an independent record label based in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. It was founded in 1982 by Keith Armstrong and Phil Mitchell, and was originally part of The Soul Kitchen, an artist collective and nightclub...
labelmates Martin Stephenson and the Daintees
Martin Stephenson and the Daintees
Martin Stephenson & the Daintees are a British rock/folk/pop band combining elements of "rockabilly, show tunes, rootsy pop, straight-ahead rock and punk". The band is fronted by songwriter/guitarist Martin Stephenson.-Career:...
.
In 1984 Virginia signed to Arista
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
but left to join Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
UK. "Darkness Has Reached its End" and "Tender" were both recorded at this time. When Elektra UK folded she went to WEA
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
where she subsequently recorded the album Hope in A Darkened Heart with Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto
After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
producing in 1986. The success of this album in Japan meant that Virginia was asked to sign to Nippon Columbia with whom she recorded a further two albums, All Shall Be Well in 1992 and Had I The Heavens in 1996. The following year, the first track from the album, "Some Small Hope" was released, a collaboration with David Sylvian
David Sylvian
David Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
.
Since then, Astley has guested on CDs by both Hideaki Matsuoka and the Silent Poets
Silent Poets
The Silent Poets is a Japanese electronic duo . They have released six original albums and over than seven remix albums/EPs until now...
. Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
re-issued From Gardens Where We Feel Secure with a new cover in 2003, and in 2006 she released her first album of new material in ten years. Entitled The Words Between Our Words. This mini album features Astley reciting her own poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
to a backing of harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
music. In 2007, she premiered a long poem "Ecliptic
Ecliptic
The ecliptic is the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun. In more accurate terms, it is the intersection of the celestial sphere with the ecliptic plane, which is the geometric plane containing the mean orbit of the Earth around the Sun...
", with flute, harp and birdsong
Birdsong
Birdsong may refer to:* Bird vocalization, the sounds of birds* Birdsong , a 1993 novel by Sebastian Faulks* Birdsong, Arkansas, USA* Birdsong , a channel on the UK Digital One digital radio multiplex...
.
Influences
Once Virginia Astley emerged into the music mainstream, the music press published a number of articles about her. She named her influences as poetry and classical music and paid only lip service to rock. She was also interested in synthesisers as her father had introduced her to them. Though her music was original, one can hear strands of Debussy, Satie and Vaughan Williams in there. Benjamin BrittenBenjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
was another influence, especially his use of the War Poets.
With Victims of Pleasure
- "When You're Young" (1980), P.A.M. - 7"
- "Slave to Fashion" (1981), Rialto - 7"
- "Jack and Jill" (1982), Rialto - 7"
Albums
- She Stood Up and Cried (1981), Crépuscule — withdrawn before commercial release, issued in 1984 as Promise Nothing.
- From Gardens Where We Feel Secure (1983), Rough Trade - UK Indie #4
- Hope in a Darkened Heart (1986), WEA
- All Shall Be Well (1992), Nippon Columbia
- Had I The Heavens (1996), Nippon Columbia
- The Words Between Our Words (2006) - online release credited to Virginia and her daughter Florence Astley
- Maiden Newton Ecliptic (2007), Artension
Singles, EPs
- 4 Bao A Qu (1982), Why-Fi - 10-inch EP
- "Love's a Lonely Place to Be" (1983), Why-Fi — UK Indie #8
- "Melt The Snow" (1985), Rough Trade — UK Indie #27
- "Tender" (1985), Elektra
- "Darkness Has Reached Its End" (1985), WEA
- "Le Song" (1986)
- "Charm" (1986), WEA Japan
- "Some Small Hope" (1987), WEA — with David Sylvian