Something 4 The Weekend # 75

Virginia Astley: From Gardens Where We Feel Secure: "Hiding In The Ha Ha" [mp3]

From Gardens Where We Feel Secure might be considered a great "forgotten" album from the 1980's. At the time of it's release in 1983, it was stylistically unique from just about everything else that was happening in popular music at that time, especially in Britain, where Virginia Astley lived and worked. It stood in stark contrast to New Wave, Synth Pop, the New Romantic movement, Hair Metal, second wave Punk, and the jangle of College Rock starting to surface in the United States. Indeed, it sounded like nothing else out there at the time, and even 25 years later, still sounds fresh, unique and quite gorgeous.

The music on From Gardens Where We Feel Secure might be called "Pastoral Chamber Pop". Pastoral because the music sounds as organic as the album cover looks, and the songs themselves are about, and inspired, by nature, and to a lesser extent, rural living. Further, one only needs to look at the song titles to know that this is a "summer album", with two songs with "summer" in the title, a couple songs about sleeping outside under the stars, and a couple more about heat, among others. Aside from the outstanding music, the summer theme makes this a complete album...A conceptual album, and regular readers to HOT POOP know how I feel about albums - that the very best are always conceptual in some way...And here we are...

This is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind album, and as we approach mid-July, with the temperatures and humidity rising here in Wisco, it's the perfect time for me to share this song with you.

BTW - if anyone can identify a more recent song that rips off the main melody of "Hiding In The Ha Ha", please let me know...I've been familiar with this song for a very long time, but dammit if I can put my finger on who "borrowed" from it...Any help/suggestions would really put my mind at ease, and isn't that what these hazy, lazy days of summer are all about?

Hotcha! Hank