- Virginia Astley
Infobox Musical artist
Name = Virginia Astley
Born = 1959
Origin = stanmore middx
Instrument = Keyboard/Vocals
Genre =Alternative /Ambient Pop /Dreampop
Occupation =Singer Songwriter Musician
Label = Various
URL = [http://www.virginiaastley.com/ Official Site]Virginia Astley is an English singer-songwriter active during the 1980s and 1990s. Although more popular in the far east, most notably
Japan , she remains a cult artist in her nativeEngland .Life
From the start of her song-writing career in 1980 Virginia took her inspiration from many sources. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music.
Her family were from the
Warrington area and lived inGrappenhall , where her elder sister Karen was born in 1947; Karen became the wife ofPete Townshend ofThe Who . They relocated toStanmore inMiddlesex because ofEdwin Astley 's work as a film and TV writer. In the early 1960s he was musical director atITC Entertainment inBorehamwood , the company responsible for TV series such as The Saint andDanger Man .In the 1970s Virginia's elder brother,
Jon Astley , became atape operator forEric Clapton and worked his way up to his current activities as a remasterer and producer.Virginia's first appearance in public was as a
busker outsideSouth Kensington tube station . In 1980 she auditioned for a new band fromClapham , theVictims of Pleasure . Virginia - playing keyboards - stayed with them for a short while playing in clubs and pubs aroundLondon .Ravishing Beauties (band)
In 1981 Virginia formed the
Ravishing Beauties with two friendsKate St. John andNicola Holland , both of whom had solo careers in the 1990s at the time of Virginia's reemergence in Japan.They did not record as a band other than to appear on a couple of radio shows, including aJohn Peel Session onBBC Radio 1 in April 1982 [bbc.co.uk [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/sessions/1980s/1982/Apr14ravishingbeautie/ John Peel session "Ravishing Beauties"] ] .The Ravishing Beauties first played at Club Zoo in
Liverpool and followed this with a support tour withThe Teardrop Explodes , Virginia wrote most of their songs - some had appeared on her first solo project. The band was short lived, with St. John first becoming a model and then eventually a member ofDream Academy , while Holland did session work and joinedTears for Fears .olo work
One of the first people Virginia recorded with was Richard Jobson. Together with
John McGeogh andJosephine Wells they created a musical backdrop for Jobson's poetry. This was released as 'The Ballad of Etiquette' in late 1981. Later, Virginia went with Jobson to perform inJapan . She also worked on other people's projects,including a couple forLes Disques Du Crépuscule label, playing piano and arranging music for Richard Jobson andAnna Domino . She also had a track onFrom Brussels with Love " in 1982. Sessions followed with [Richard Jobson andRussell Webb for the final Skids album "Joy", which featured Astley onflute and as a backing singer.She signed with
Why-Fi in mid-1981 and recorded an EP called 'A Bao A Qu', the title taken from that of a short story. This was produced by Jon Astley, andPhil Chapman . Using a demo studio inWapping calledElephant Studios , Astley recorded the song that was to land 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 itsChristmas carol sound. The song would later form part of the 1986 LP "Hope in a Darkened Heart ".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, who have since reissued it. The album made the top 5 of the indie chart (#4), but neither single or album dented the so-called "proper charts".Crépuscule's released an album that Virginia had little control over. This was a mixture of tracks, some of which had been released previously, and was titled "Promise Nothing". It was also released in
Canada but again without Astley's authorisationIn 1983 Virginia established a more permanent lineup with string players
Audrey Riley ,Jocelyn Pook andAnne Stephenson , with guests such as drummerBrian Neville and composerJeremy 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 theirKitchenware Records labelmatesMartin Stephenson and the Daintees .In 1984 Virginia signed to Arista but left to join
Elektra Records UK.Darkness Has Reached its End andTender were both recorded at this time. When Elektra UK folded she went to WEA where she subsequently recordedHope in A Darkened heart withRyuichi Sakamoto producing in 1986. The success of this album in Japan meant that Virginia was asked to sign toNippon Columbia with who she recorded a further two albums, "All Shall Be Well " in 1992 and "Had I The Heavens " in 1996.Since then, Virginia has guested on CDs by both
Hideaki Matsuoka and theSilent 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 10 years. Entitled "The Words Between Our Words ", this mini album features Virginia reciting her ownpoetry to a backing ofharp music. In 2007, she premiered a long poem "Ecliptic ", withflute ,harp andbirdsong .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 ofDebussy ,Satie andVaughan Williams in there.Benjamin Britten was another influence, especially his use of theWar Poets .References
External links
* [http://www.virginiaastley.com/ Official Site]
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