Hong Kong Garden (song)

The instrumental first version, called "People Phobia", was composed by guitarist John McKay in 1977. The first time the band heard it, they were on a tour bus.[2]

The song was named after the Hong Kong Garden Chinese take-away in Chislehurst High Street. Siouxsie Sioux was quoted as explaining the lyrics with reference to the racist activities of skinheads visiting the take-away:[2]

I'll never forget, there was a Chinese restaurant in Chislehurst called the Hong Kong Garden. Me and my friend were really upset that we used to go there and like, occasionally when the skinheads would turn up it would really turn really ugly. These gits would just go in en masse and just terrorise these Chinese people who were working there. We'd try and say 'Leave them alone', you know. It was a kind of tribute.[5]

She also stated:

I remember wishing that I could be like Emma Peel from The Avengers and kick all the skinheads' heads in, because they used to mercilessly torment these people for being foreigners. It made me feel so helpless, hopeless and ill.[6]

The band's label, Polydor Records, booked a big studio recording Olympic Studios in London in July 1978 to record the song with the help of American producer Bruce Albertine, who was more into soul music. The result was not convincing; the band hated it.[7] Their manager, Nils Stevenson, quickly decided to call another sound engineer, Steve Lillywhite, who had a musical approach closer to theirs.[2] Lillywhite was in London at that time recording with Johnny Thunders. The group and Lillywhite chose to work in a more intimate place and opted for a smaller studio, the Fallout Shelter located in the basement of Island Records.[8]

Lillywhite re-recorded the song in two days:[2] "Hong Kong Garden" would be his first hit record as a producer.[7] He was hired because of his ability to get a certain sound on drums. Lillywhite told Banshees drummer Kenny Morris to not record all the drums at the same time. Morris did the bass drum and the snare drum first. Then he did the cymbals and the tom-toms later.[7] Lillywhite also added echo on the drums, adding significant space to the entire recording. NME retrospectively said that Lillywhite's work "revolutionis[ed] the post-punk band's sound with an innovative approach to laying down the drums".[9]

"Hong Kong Garden" was released on 18 August 1978 by Polydor Records. It reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart,[1] and became one of the first post-punk hits.[2]

The record was featured as "Single of the Week" in NME,[2] Melody Maker,[10] Sounds[11] and Record Mirror.[12] The song was described by Paul Rambali of 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".[13] Melody Maker underlined: "The elements come together with remarkable effects. The song is strident and powerful with tantalising oriental guitar riffs".[10] Sounds hailed the song as "constructed in the time-honoured tradition of all good singles – catchy, original arrangement coupled with an irresistible sing-along chorus".[11] Record Mirror described the effect the record had as "accessibilty incarnated [...] I'm playing it every third record. I love every second".[12] One year after its first broadcast on a John Peel session, critic Ian Birch reviewed the Cure's song "Killing an Arab" in early 1979, saying: "As 'Hong Kong Garden' used a simple Oriental-styled riff to striking effect, so ['Killing An] Arab' conjures up edginess through a Moorish-flavour guitar pattern".[14]

In 2014, Sonic Youth vocalist and guitarist Thurston Moore named "Hong Kong Garden" as one of his 25 all-time favourite songs.[15]

On the first studio version recorded by the BBC in February 1978, the "Oriental" hook was played on a pixiphone, a toy glockenspiel with metallic bars; this version was 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. When Siouxsie and 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 for release on The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees.

In 2006, a reworked version of "Hong Kong Garden" was included on the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette, augmented by a new orchestral string introduction arranged by Brian Reitzell.

All tracks are written by John McKay, Kenny Morris, Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin.

• "Hong Kong Garden" on YouTube