Virgin Records

Virgin Records is a British recording label founded by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, and Nik Powell in 1972 after a period of selling discount records via their small shop in London. The name predates the record label which was set up after the music shops. The name Virgin, according to Branson (in his autobiography), arose from a colleague of his when they were brainstroming business ideas. She suggested Virgin - as they were all new to business - like "virgins". As a further note the infamous Virgin logo was formed when they met with a Graphic Designer - who scrawled Virgin on a napkin. They never hired him and just used the blotted image from the napkin.

Related Topics:
British - Recording label - Richard Branson - Nik Powell

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The first release on the label was the classic progressive rock album Tubular Bells by multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield in 1973 (see 1973 in music). The group Genesis recorded various albums for this record company.

Related Topics:
Progressive rock - Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield - 1973 - 1973 in music - Genesis

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In 1977 they signed the Sex Pistols, which really put the label on the map. Afterwards they signed also groups like Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, and others.

Related Topics:
Sex Pistols - Human League - Culture Club - Simple Minds

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During the 1980s until 1992, Virgin Records' releases in the United States of America were distributed by WEA with arrangement from Atlantic Records.

Related Topics:
WEA - Atlantic Records

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Virgin Records was sold by Branson to EMI in 1992 for a reported £550 million. It now faces competition from Branson's new label: V2 Records. The reason Branson sold Virgin Records (a beloved part of his business arsenal) was to fund Virgin Airlines. Nothing other than this would have prompted Branson to sell such a valuable assest.

Related Topics:
EMI - V2 Records

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After being acquired by EMI, Virgin launched several subsidiaries like Realworld Records, Innocent Records, Point Black Records and Hut Records, and continued signing new artists like Young Capone, Lil' E Bubba Sparxxx, Sharissa, Bossman, Purple Ribbon All-Stars, Janet Jackson, the Chemical Brothers, , Juliet, the Spice Girls and Paula Abdul.

Related Topics:
Realworld Records - Innocent Records - Point Black Records - Hut Records - Young Capone - Lil' E - Bubba Sparxxx - Sharissa - Bossman - Purple Ribbon All-Stars - Janet Jackson - Chemical Brothers - Juliet - Spice Girls - Paula Abdul

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