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 the 1970s, Virginia's elder brother, Jon Astley, became a tape operator for Eric Clapton, and worked his way up to becoming a re-masterer and record producer.
[1] Afterward, Astley wrote, arranged and performed music with Skids frontman Richard Jobson for the album The Ballad Of Etiquette.
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.
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.
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Astley recorded a solo album, She Stood Up And Cried for Crépuscule but this was withdrawn, eventually being released three years later as Promise Nothing.
[1] 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.
The album From Gardens Where We Feel Secure was released in August 1983,[3] and was recorded on Astley's own label Happy Valley and distributed by Rough Trade, which has since reissued it.
In 1983, Astley established a more permanent line-up with string players Audrey Riley, Jocelyn Pook and Anne Stephenson, with guests such as drummer Brian Nevill 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, Vic Godard and Zeke Manyika.
When Elektra UK folded she went to WEA where she subsequently recorded the album Hope in a Darkened Heart,[3] with Ryuichi Sakamoto producing in 1986.