Virgin Anniversary Salute: Simon Draper

Simon Draper was, alongside his second cousin Richard Branson, the other key participant in the Virgin birth. He arrived in London fresh from a degree in South Africa at the end of 1970 and promptly went to see Branson about a job.
It turned into a 22-year adventure, starting in a modest retail outlet at 24 Oxford Street and ending for Draper at the close of 1992 after a voyage of discovery that brought success beyond his or anyone's dreams. During that period, it was largely Draper who shaped the musical direction of the record company.
Leaving Virgin with all music-industry ambitions fulfilled, he started his own publishing company, Pelawan Press. At his London office, Draper spoke with Billboard contributing editor Paul Sexton about his favorite chapters of the Virgin story.

"I went from having the rock fan's dream, of being able to make our own label, to being a major-league player. By the time we had companies in 27 countries, it wasn't as much fun for me. I went motor racing, and now I'm publishing books, so, as far as the music industry goes, I still have friends in the business, but now I'm a normal punter.
"As we became part of the mainstream, what became important, inevitably, was chart positions and sales. When you have great records that come along and don't sell, you realize you have to mix your idealism with pragmatism, but that becomes fun in itself. It was enormously satisfying to see groups like the Human League move to enormous status.
"From the very early period, the bands I loved were Slaphappy and Henry Cow. I had tremendous enthusiasm and respect for them, and it's nice to know their records are still on catalog. But the period that was the most exciting to me was the punk era. I was very resistant to it at first, because at that time I was listening to jazz and things like Joni Mitchell's 'The Hissing Of Summer Lawns.'
"XTC weren't a hardcore punk group, by any stretch, but they came up in that era, and everyone at Virgin was so unbelievably enthusiastic about them. I think Island were competing with us for them, if I remember rightly. They never really broke big, but they were a great band for Virgin. Then there was Magazine‹Howard Devoto was a fantastic guy to work with...the Human League, Scritti Politti, Heaven 17. That was a really great period. Working with Peter Gabriel, who I didn't really know until the 'So' album, was wonderful. And Phil Collins was very important to Virgin; he had a huge impact, and everyone loved working with him.
"Of the bands that didn't quite make it, I remember Blue Rondo A la Turk (Richard wanted that particular flavor-of-the-moment) and some groups you've never heard of, like Hey! and Holly And The Italians. There were other groups like Dire Straits and Sade, where we lost them right at the last moment. With Sade, we actually had the contracts and the check drawn up.
"I was really upset about 10cc, who we were going to sign just before their 'The Original Soundtrack' album; that would have been our first record. They were just perfect for Virgin at the time, they had everything going for them. Then we had Simple Minds; again, the whole company loved them, and working with [manager] Bruce Findlay was great.
"Unlike some of the A&R people, I was managing director and shareholder. Some of the A&R people would become friends with the groups and even take their side against the label sometimes, but I didn't get too close to the artists. The really painful moment when Virgin was in crisis was, I think, in 1976; we had a meeting of nearly all the key staff and asked for acts we would have to drop to revamp, like Ivor Cutler. The argument was that they were great, but they were never going to sell any records. I remember people wanted me to drop the Human League. And the Verve were signed when I was still at Virgin.
"Favorite songs? Quite a few XTC singles, especially 'Statue Of Liberty.' And a Fingerprintz record called 'Bulletproof Heart.'
"Sometimes, I think it would be quite nice to start up a small record company, but what I enjoy with book publishing is being supremely independent. It's a nice feeling, not being beholden to anyone."