Fifteen years ago I would spend hours on the weekend wandering around the aisles at the Time Square Virgin Records store. Over four sprawling stores in the heart of Manhattan, Virgin had a ticketmaster, a movie house in the basement, huge screens, rock and roll fashion, a bookstore, a vinyl department and countless CDs with superb jazz and import collections, the latest releases. I really adored that place and now we no longer really have record stores they are like the pleasantest of memories.
Many things about Virgin Records is a pleasant memory. After being booted off A&M and (who?) EMI, Richard Branson signed the Sex Pistols to Virgin. Today it is owned (er, was?) by EMI and the list of the artists is actually to long to post here. Let’s say at one time or another from Adele to Warren Zevon with the Stones in between.
This October, Virgin will be holding “40 Years Of Disruptions” celebrating their anniversary, curated events in the London area. Branson sold the label in 1992 but had this to say: “Virgin Records is where it all started for Virgin and 40 years later it’s great to see we are still being innovative. This exciting series of events is the perfect way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Virgin Records and the artists, from Mike Oldfield to Emeli Sandé, who continue to disrupt the status quo.” Well, that’s somewhat wishful thinking unless you believe Emili Sande is Johnny Rotten in drag. Or the Spice Girls were disruptive…
Still, as far as it goes, Branson had really great ears and back in the days. Here’s a video