Virgin

About Virgin

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Virgin Records (EMI owned) 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 brainstorming business ideas. She suggested Virgin - as they were all new to business - like “virgins”. The original Virgin logo (known to fans as the “Gemini” or “Twins” logo) was designed by British artist and illustrator Roger Dean: a young naked woman in mirror image with a large long-tailed serpent and the word “Virgin” in Dean’s familiar script.

The current Virgin logo (known informally as “The Scrawl”) was created in 1982 as a hasty doodle on a cocktail napkin; rather than hiring the graphic designer, Branson simply paid him for the napkin.

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 beginning with 1983’s self-titled effort. (Virgin reissued the group’s prior albums, which had originally been released on the Charisma label in the U.K.

Although Virgin was initially one of the key labels of British progressive rock, the 1977 signing of the Sex Pistols, who had already been asked to leave both EMI and A&M, reinvented the label as a new wave outpost. (read more)

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Virgin’s Playlists (see all playlists)

1 playlists total

Virgin’s playlist (7 tracks, 27:09)

Videos (see more)

Weekly Top Albums (see all)

1,245 albums total

Konk
by The Kooks

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Thirteenth Step
by A Perfect Circle

Meds
by Placebo

One Cell In The Sea
by A Fine Frenzy

At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command

Relationship of Command
by At the Drive-In

The Chemical Brothers - We Are The Night

We Are The Night
by The Chemical Brothers

Buy Online Shop

Weekly Top Artists (see all)

1	The Kooks	40,760
2	David Bowie	40,105
3	Placebo	39,787
4	Daft Punk	38,744
5	The Smashing Pumpkins	37,668
6	The Rolling Stones	34,449
7	Gorillaz	29,812
8	The Chemical Brothers	24,128
9	KT Tunstall	14,553
10	A Perfect Circle	14,158
11	Lenny Kravitz	13,829
12	Manu Chao	13,221
13	Yann Tiersen	11,716
14	Iggy Pop	10,982
15	Sex Pistols	10,468
16	Massive Attack	10,217
17	Enigma	9,002
18	Phil Collins	8,537
19	Peter Gabriel	7,913
20	A Fine Frenzy	7,796

4 May 2008 – 11 May 2008

Weekly Top Tracks (see all)

1	Add this track to your playlist The Kooks – Always Where I Need To Be full track	11,886
2	Add this track to your playlist The Kooks – Naive	9,932
3	Add this track to your playlist The Kooks – She Moves in Her Own Way	9,633
4	Add this track to your playlist Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger	9,503
5	Add this track to your playlist Daft Punk – One More Time	9,061
6	Add this track to your playlist The Smashing Pumpkins – 1979	8,844
7	Add this track to your playlist The Kooks – Ooh La	8,730
8	Add this track to your playlist The Kooks – Seaside	7,998
9	Add this track to your playlist The Kooks – See The Sun full track	7,871
10	Add this track to your playlist Daft Punk – Aerodynamic	7,652
11	Add this track to your playlist Gorillaz – Dare	7,647
12	Add this track to your playlist Placebo – Every You Every Me full track	7,625
13	Add this track to your playlist Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood full track	7,575
14	Add this track to your playlist Daft Punk – Digital Love	7,569
15	Add this track to your playlist Placebo – The Bitter End full track	7,563
16	Add this track to your playlist The Kooks – Do You Wanna full track	6,916
17	Add this track to your playlist The Kooks – Sofa Song full track	6,667
18	Add this track to your playlist Placebo – Song to Say Goodbye	6,655
19	Add this track to your playlist David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust full track	6,574
20	Add this track to your playlist The Kooks – Gap full track	6,478