Virgin Records Celebrates “40 Years of Disruptions” with New Compilation, Picture Discs

Virgin Records, one of England’s most iconic labels, turns 40 this year – and they’re celebrating with a new compilation full of hits from their storied existence.

The Virgin label was largely the brainchild of one young businessman named Richard Branson. The London-born Branson began his career selling records by mail order and later opening a shop on Oxford Street. The Virgin label was blessed with early success thanks to a willingness to sign acts that major U.K. labels were keen to dismiss. This netted them a smash hit with their very first release, Mike Oldfield’s captivating instrumental “Tubular Bells,” as well as a place in cultural history as the label who’d ultimately made the strongest commitment to punk band The Sex Pistols, after EMI and A&M each dropped the band. (It was Virgin who’d pressed the commercial version of their No. 2 hit “God Save The Queen” as well as their sole studio album, Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols.)

The decades to come found Virgin succeeding with all sorts of genres: MTV-ready pop/rock (Culture Club, The Human League, The Spice Girls), groundbreaking alt-rock and New Wave (Simple Minds, XTC), multi-generational rock (Genesis and its two most famous frontmen, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins; The Rolling Stones, for a time) hip-hop and dance (Soul II Soul, Neneh Cherry, Daft Punk, Massive Attack) and more, all the way up to the present (recent critical and commercial hits include tracks by Swedish House Mafia, Emili Sandé and CHVRCHES).

Branson would ultimately sell Virgin to EMI in 1992 to keep other parts of his business empire afloat; the iconoclastic entrepreneur found success in everything from air travel to publishing to music festivals (Europe’s V Festival) to record stores (the late Virgin Megastores) to mobile phones to…well, even more interesting stuff (Branson plans to be aboard the inaugural Virgin Galactic flight – a commercial space trip – this year.) The label continues to exist, now of course under the Universal Music Group family.

Virgin Records: 40 Years of Disruptions plans to honor the label’s indomitable spirit across two discs, along with a bonus EP of current Virgin artists covering some classic tracks, including cuts by John Lennon, Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack and others. The set is in stores today, amid a swath of exhibitions in honor of the label around the U.K. area. The label is also selling a handful of their most beloved titles, including singles and albums, as limited edition vinyl titles (many of which are picture discs). The full list is available at Universal’s Uvinyl page.

As always, you can check out the track list and buy the set after the jump.

Soundtrack Round-Up: More Kong, Eastwood, Zimmer Highlights from Intrada, La-La Land

If you thought Film Score Monthly’s reissue of the score to King Kong (1976) was as big as it gets for soundtracks lately, allow us to show you the newest releases from Intrada and La-La Land – one of which features the giant ape himself!

Ten years after toppling off the World Trade Center to his apparent death, King Kong Lives – also produced by Dino de Laurentiis and directed by John Gullermin – reveals the giant ape is in fact alive, kept under a medically-induced coma while scientists search in vain for another ape to offer a blood transfusion to power an artificial heart made for the beast. As luck would have it, a female ape is found and offered to revive Kong – but when both animals escape captivity, it’s a race for two scientists to find them before the army does.

While the belated Lives received indifferent reviews, fans have lauded the heroic soundtrack by John Scott, which ignores any stigma of low-budget action in favor of active, expressive, big music. MCA released a thorough LP in 1986 (not coincidentally, the same year they introduced their Audio-Animatronic Kong on the Universal Studios Tour), but it only ever saw release on CD by the Victor label in Japan – a pressing somewhat marred by “bonus tracks” consisting of Kong’s various roars and grunts. Intrada’s new edition – featuring two collectible covers in one package, including the above modification of the original LP sleeve – omits those roars, making it once again all about the music.

And what else is new with Intrada and La-La Land, too? Hit the jump to find out!

Start of a New “Movement”: EMI Releases New Peel Sessions Compilation

Last week’s revelation that American media conglomerate Clear Channel had let go of dozens of local radio DJs made music fans yearn for the simpler times of when jockeys weren’t limited to playlists from on high and could shape the public’s music taste in a positive way.

Ironically, as the Clear Channel news spread, EMI prepares the release of a new compilation devoted to one of England’s most famous radio presenters, the late, great John Peel. Peel, a jockey on BBC’s Radio 1 from 1967 until his death in 2004, was a pioneering force on the British music scene, embracing the cutting edge of music in every new decade, particularly the wild punk, reggae, ska and indie sounds that were emerging as the 1970s gave way to the 1980s.

Of course, playing the singles wasn’t enough: Peel frequently invited his favorite new acts to BBC’s Maida Vale Studios to record live sets for his shows. These “Peel sessions” fast became treasured recordings for serious music fans, and while the BBC often erased their tapes not long after they were done airing them, Peel’s tapes have enjoyed years of commercial release, first on his own label, Strange Fruit, in the 1980s, then on various major labels, either as part of standalone releases or bonus tracks on expanded reissues.

Very little of the tracks on this new comp – Movement: BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions 1977-1979 – are being released for the first time. (At the very least, many of these tracks came out on Strange Fruit EPs and compilations, and are making their debut on a CD distributed by EMI, the project deriving from material commonly controlled by the label and the BBC.) But the idea of a sampler of tracks from such greats as The Jam, Joy Division, The Specials, XTC, Adam and The Ants, The Psychedelic Furs and others is pretty appealing – particularly given EMI’s announcement, which ends with the promise of more Peel compilations in the future.

Movement is available today in the U.K., and the track list is after the jump.

Release Round-Up: Week of November 2

Another week, another batch of reissues!

Wings, Band on the Run: Special Edition (Concord)

After reissues of John Lennon’s solo catalogue and the Apple Records discography, another Beatles-oriented campaign kicks off with a new reissue of Band on the Run, Paul McCartney and Wings’ classic LP. It’s the first of his classic discs to be re-released on Concord, and will be available in a wide variety of formats. (Best of all, it’s the first drop in the bucket – an insert inside the sets confirms upcoming reissues of more McCartney and Wings sets.) (Official Site)

Weezer, Pinkerton: Deluxe Edition / Death to False Metal (Geffen/UMe)

With Weezer no longer a part of the Geffen roster, UMe begins mining the pop-rock band’s considerable back catalogue (after a 10th anniversary reissue of the band’s 1994 debut). This week brings a similar deluxe edition of 1995’s Pinkerton, long thought to be the band’s crowning achievement, and a compilation of outtakes, Death to False Metal. (Official Site)

Various Artists, The Sound of Music: 45th Anniversary Edition (RCA/Legacy)

To time with the film’s debut on Blu-Ray, Sony reissues The Sound of Music yet again, with a rendition of “My Favorite Things” by Glee star Lea Michele as a bonus track. (Amazon)

Pet Shop Boys, Ultimate Pet Shop Boys (EMI)

A slim, single-disc distillation of the PSB discography, with a new track, “Together.” A deluxe edition adds a DVD full of goodies, including all the band’s live BBC performances and their acclaimed set at Glastonbury back in June. (Amazon U.K.)

UB40’s “Signing Off” Celebrates 30 Years with Deluxe Reissue

Another ’80s reissue from EMI – who’d have thought? This time, it’s an expansion of Signing Off, the seminal debut LP from British reggae band UB40.

Though UB40 are best known in America for their reggae-infused covers of standards like Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine” and Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” their musical roots involve fusing that reggae sound to socially conscious lyrics about poverty, famine and race relations. (The band’s name in fact comes from one of the forms issued by the U.K.’s Department of Health and Social Security.) Signing Off was an example of that mentality, and while such a combination only can go so far in the States, the album reached No. 2 in the U.K. and stayed on the charts for over a year.

The band itself will tour their homeland to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the record, and EMI have given it the deluxe treatment. The three-disc set includes the original LP, a bonus disc of extras (including the bonus EP included with the original album, four non-LP 12″ single sides and live BBC sessions) and a DVD of promo videos as well as the band’s live performance as captured on the fan favorite BBC program Rock Goes to College.

Signing Off will be made available once more on October 25. Pre-order it here and check the track list after the jump.