2013 is the 40th anniversary of Virgin Records, the revolutionary British record label launched by Richard Branson in 1973. To mark the event there will be a series of events taking place this autumn celebrating the label’s rich history and ability to “disrupt the status quo”.
Founder Richard Branson said, “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.”
Taking place in the autumn and including artists past and present, the events to celebrate Virgin Records ‘40 years of disruptions’ will be supporting the charity, War Child. War Child protects children from the brutal effects of war and received the Special Recognition Award at this year’s BRIT Awards.
Events are as follows
Exhibition
The creative direction for the exhibition will be overseen by Adrian Shaughnessy, George Lee and the team at This Is Real Art. It will include photos (seen and unseen), seminal videos (including props) and memorabilia that capture the symbiotic collaborations between the cultural icons of the day. The location will be an exclusive venue in Mornington Crescent.
Book
A beautiful art book will be edited by leading music journalist Adrian Thrills. Adrian began his career editing the punk fanzine 48 Thrills before becoming one of the main feature writers for NME in the Eighties. He contributed fifty cover stories for the paper championing the 2-Tone movement and many of the post-punk, reggae and dance acts of the era; as well as writing the first ever cover story for iconic style magazine The Face featuring The Specials. The book will be designed by Adrian Shaughnessy.
Documentary
A film produced by Leopard Films, one of the UK’s leading production companies, and directed by Paul Tilzey, the director of many award winning documentaries for BBC and Channel 4 including ‘The 70s’. Executive producer Todd Austin and Fiona Morris’ projects include ‘Do it Yourself; The Story of Rough Trade’ (BBC Four) and ‘Imagine: Damon and Jamie’s Excellent Adventure’ (BBC One) respectively.
Events
A series of live events. Virgin Records will be taking over legendary Camden venue KOKO in October. The shows will celebrate four decades of disruptions involving icons and luminaries from Virgin’s roster past and present.
Compilations
A compilation CD with 2 x Cd set; one disc with current Virgin artists covering Virgin classics, another disc with original Virgin classics. There will also be a series of Virgin 40 compilation CDs spanning the four decades.