Richard Branson

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English businessman and investor. He is best known as the founder of Virgin Group, which comprises more than 400 companies. At the age of sixteen his first business venture was a magazine called Student. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he set up Virgin Atlantic and expanded the Virgin Records music label. According to the Forbes 2014 list of billionaires, Branson is the seventh richest citizen of the United Kingdom, with an estimated net worth of US$4.9 billion. (read more on wikipedia ...)
== Links To Peel ==
thumb|376x376px|Richard Branson talking about Peel on This Is Your Life
Richard Branson's first appearance on radio was on Peel's "son of Night Ride" show of 18 June 1969, when he publicised his magazine Student. When Branson moved into record retailing at the start of the 1970s, his Virgin Records shops and his full-page ads for Virgin's mail-order service in Melody Maker and other pop papers were filled with the records Peel played on his shows - including US and European imports not easily found elsewhere. Sales of LPs to Peel's audience were crucial to Virgin's initial success, and at the time the company cultivated a hippyish image. When the Virgin label began, Peel played many of its early releases on his programmes and also featured sessions by Virgin artists such as Robert Wyatt, Ivor Cutler and the bands Henry Cow and Slapp Happy.
In an exclusive interview given to digital arts service The Space in 2012, Sir Richard Branson admitted that were it not for John Peel's decision to play Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells on his BBC Radio One show Top Gear, the album would not have been a global smash and the rest of the Virgin empire would never have happened.
Branson had invited John Peel to dinner to listen to the recording and would recall that 'He said it was one of the most important albums he'd ever heard'. Peel subsequently treated BBC Radio One audiences to side one of the LP on his programme (legend has it that he played the album in its entirety, but there has been no evidence from playlists that he did that). At the time, the DJ described Tubular Bells as 'certainly one of the most impressive LPs I've ever had the chance to play on the radio, really a remarkable record' and dubbed it 'an incredible start' for the fledgling Virgin Records label.
After the success of Mike Oldfield, Virgin signed such controversial bands as the Sex Pistols (one of Peel's favourites at that time), which other companies were reluctant to sign. It also won praise for exposing the public to such obscure avant-garde music as Faust, Can and Tangerine Dream who were also regularly played by Peel.
Peel in the 80s tried to get the BBC and Virgin to release the Peel Sessions, but neither the BBC nor Richard Branson were interested. In the end, Peel's business partner Clive Selwood took the initiative and released the sessions on the independent Strange Fruit label. Nonetheless in the 90s, Branson paid respect to Peel on This Is Your Life, and after Peel's death, Branson's Twitter account declared: 
:"John Peel played music he loved. If he hadn’t played Tubular Bells, @Virgin would not exist."
== Session Artists ==
(Virgin artists who recorded Peel sessions. List includes sessions when the artists were not on Virgin, but exludes artists signed to Virgin subsidiary labels such as Dindisc (OMD, Revillos, etc) and Front Line (Culture, Prince Far I, etc). Please add more information if known.)
*Age Of Chance: (2 session, 1985-86)
*Allez Allez: (1 session, 1981)
*Another Pretty Face: (1 session, 1981)
*Captain Beefheart: (2 sessions, 1968)
*Boxer (1 session, 1975)
*Brand X: (2 sessions, 1976)
*Cabaret Voltaire: (2 sessions, 1981-84)
*Can: (4 sessions, 1973-75)
*China Crisis: (2 sessions, 1982-83)
*Kevin Coyne: (10 sessions, 1973-90)
*Lol Coxhill: (2 sessions, 1972-73)
*Ivor Cutler: (22 sessions, 1969-98)
*Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft: (1 session, 1979)
*Howard Devoto: (1 session, 1983)
*Dreadzone: (4 sessions, 1993-2004)
*Faust: (2 sessions, 1973-98)
*Fingerprintz: (1 session, 1978)
*Future Sound of London: (3 sessions, 1992-97)
*Gong: (3 sessions, 1971-74)
*Peter Hammill: (5 sessions, 1973-79)
*Hatfield And The North: (4 sessions, 1973-74)
*Henry Cow: (7 sessions, 1972-75)
*Human League: (1 session, 1978)
*It's Immaterial: (4 sessions, 1981-85)
*Wilko Johnson: (1 session, 1978)
*Kelis: (1 session, 2000)
*Robert Lloyd: (5 sessions, 1987-90)
*Magazine: (4 sessions, 1978-80)
*Mekons: (6 sessions, 1978-87)
*Members: (3 sessions, 1979-81)
*Microdisney: (6 sessions, 1983-86)
*Motors: (2 sessions, 1977)
*Penetration: (2 sessions, 1978-79)
*Pink Military: (2 sessions, 1979-80)
*Piranhas: (3 sessions, 1979-80)
*Professionals: (1 session, 1980)
*Rip Rig & Panic: (2 sessions, 1981-82)
*Ruts: (4 sessions, 1979-81)
*Scritti Politti: (3 sessions, 1978-82)
*Simple Minds: (2 sessions, 1979-82)
*Skids: (5 sessions, 1978-80)
*Slapp Happy: (1 session, 1974)
*Supercharge: (3 sessions, 1975-77)
*Tangerine Dream: (2 sessions, 1974)
*That Petrol Emotion: (3 sessions, 1985-87)
*Die Toten Hosen: (1 session, 1984)
*Van Der Graaf Generator: (8 sessions, 1968-77)
*Loudon Wainwright III: (16 sessions, 1971-2003)
*Robert Wyatt: (2 sessions, 1972-74)
*X-Ray Spex: (2 sessions, 1978)
*XTC: (4 sessions, 1977-79)
== Festive Fifty ==
According to The Festive Fifty by Mark Whitby (1st edition, 2005, pg195), Virgin had the fifth most Festive Fifty entries of any label in Peel's lifetime, with 45, and the 8th most entries by separate tracks, with 23.
The list below covers Festive Fifty entries on Virgin; it does not include entries by Virgin artists on other labels. It excludes multi-time F50 chart-topper "Anarchy In The UK" by the Sex Pistols, which was released initially by EMI as a single but later appeared on the Virgin album "Never Mind The Bollocks". Please add further information if known.
*Dreadzone: 1995 Festive Fifty: Zion Youth #05 / Maximum #09 / Fight The Power #16 / Little Britain #23 / Captain Dread #35 / Life, Love And Unity #48
*Flying Lizards: 1978 Festive Fifty: Summertime Blues #47
*Heaven 17: 1981 Festive Fifty: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang #29
*Magazine: 1978 Festive Fifty: Shot By Both Sides #5 // 1979 Festive Fifty: Shot By Both Sides #17 // 1982 Festive Fifty: Shot By Both Sides AT#47
*Motors: 1977 Festive Fifty: Dancing The Night Away #01 / You Beat The Hell Out Of Me #03 / Emergency #18 / Bringing In The Morning Light #56 // 1978 Festive Fifty: Dancing The Night Away #35
*Public Image Limited: 1978 Festive Fifty: Public Image #9 // 1979 Festive Fifty: Public Image #9 / Death Disco #28 // 1980 Festive Fifty: Public Image #11 / Poptones #33 / Careering #34 // 1981 Festive Fifty: Public Image #26 / 1982 Festive Fifty: Public Image AT#20 // 1983 Festive Fifty: This Is Not A Love Song #12
*Ruts: 1979 Festive Fifty Babylon’s Burning #47
*Sex Pistols: 1977 Festive Fifty: Holidays In The Sun #11 / Pretty Vacant #51 / God Save The Queen #61 // 1978 Festive Fifty: God Save The Queen #3 / Pretty Vacant #6 / Holidays In The Sun #18 / EMI #48 // 1979 Festive Fifty: God Save The Queen #13 / Holidays In The Sun #14 / Pretty Vacant #16 // 1980 Festive Fifty: Holidays In The Sun #12 / Pretty Vacant #23 / God Save The Queen #25 // 1981 Festive Fifty: Holidays In The Sun #17 / Pretty Vacant #23 / God Save The Queen #38 // 1982 Festive Fifty: God Save The Queen AT#25 / Holidays In The Sun AT#37 / Pretty Vacant AT#44 // 2000 Festive Fifty: Pretty Vacant AT#29
*Simple Minds: 1982 Festive Fifty: Promised You A Miracle #30 / Someone Somewhere In Summertime #32 / Glittering Prize #45 
*Skids: 1979 Festive Fifty: Into The Valley #37
*X-Ray Spex: 1977 Festive Fifty: Oh Bondage Up Yours! #38
== Compilations ==
(Plays by Peel of tracks from various artist releases on the Virgin label founded by Richard Branson, listed by date of first known play, compiled from tracklistings pages of John Peel Wiki. List excludes compilations on Virgin imprints such as Dindisc and Front Line, as well as v/a Film Soundtracks. Please add more information if known.)
	
	
(10" - Guillotine) 
*31 January 1978: four unknown tracks
*01 February 1978: Motors: You Beat The Hell Outta Me
*01 February 1978:  Penetration: Don't Dictate
*01 February 1978: Table: Do The Standing Still (Classics Illustrated)
(10” – Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus) 
*11 July 1978: Fall: Last Orders
*23 June 1978: Fall: Stepping Out
*23 June 1978: Joy Division: At A Later Date
*23 June 1978: Steel Pulse: Makka Splaff (The Colly Man)
*23 June 1978: Buzzcocks: Time's Up
*08 May 1979: Fall: Last Orders
*Peel 008 (BFBS) (1985-00-00) Fall: Last Orders
*25 June 1993: Fall: Last Orders
(2xLP - Dead On Arrival)
*27 November 1978: XTC: Radios In Motion 
*04 December 1978: Can: Full Moon On The Highway
(LP - Rhythm Of Resistance - Music Of Black South Africa) 
* 09 January 1979: Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Yinhleleni
* 09 January 1979: Mparanyana & the Cannibals: Jesu Otsohile
* 10 January 1979: Mahotella Queens: Igula Lamasi
* 16 January 1979: Ladysmith Black Mambazo: ‘Umthombowase Golgota’ or ‘Yinhleleni’
(LP - Machines)
* 04 June 1980: Crash Course In Science: Kitchen Motors
* 27 October 1980: Public Image Ltd: Pied Piper
* 01 November 1980 (BFBS): Public Image Ltd: Pied Piper
(LP - Cash Cows)
*17 November 1980: Professionals: Kick Down The Doors
*18 November 1980: Flying Lizards: Hands 2 Take
(LP - Methods Of Dance Volume 2) 
*23 November 1982: Rip Rig & Panic: You're My Kind Of Climate (Party Mix)
(2xLP – V)
*24 March 1983: Robert Wyatt: Yesterday Man
*25 July 1992: Robert Wyatt: Yesterday Man
*03 August 1992 (BFBS): Robert Wyatt: Yesterday Man
*15 August 1992: Steve Hillage: Pentagramaspinn
(2xCD - The Best Punk Album In The World Ever Vol 1) 
*04 April 1996: Richard Hell: Blank Generation 
== See Also ==
*Sounds Playlist: Virgin releases from Kevin Coyne, Faust, Hatfield And The North, Tangerine Dream and Robert Wyatt feature in Peel's lists of current favourite LPs from 1973 to 1975. 
*Singles Reviews: Virgin releases from Kevin Coyne, Link Wray, Slapp Happy, Mike Oldfield, B.B. Seaton, Robert Wyatt and Wigwam feature in Peel's reviews of new 45s for Sounds from 1973 to 1975.
*Peel's Big 45: Virgin releases from Lea Nicholson and Can featured in slot for favourite new singles in 1976.
* Sounds
== External Links ==
* Wikipedia
* Twitter
* Virgin
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Category:Compilations
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