I am flying Virgin Atlantic to Chicago this summer.
Yesterday, rather pleasingly, somebody told me there was a tiny amount of anarchy about what I choose to do on stage...
Please wait patiently while I connect these events for you.
Now, thinking objectively, it was a pretty left field move. A little like if Louis Walsh woke up and decided to create a clutch of commercial catamarans or Simon Cowell bought a Hang Gliding franchise ('honestly Simon, the harness is totally safe...')
So you can imagine if aviation business bigwigs we're slightly dubious. The Chairman of BA even suggested if tanned Bran had, 'worn steel rimmed glasses, a double breasted suit and shaved off his beard, I might have taken him seriously - as it was, I couldn't.'
It didn't matter much though as Branson didn't take BA seriously either...
So while I don't have a huge inclination to be like Richard Branson, I'm certainly no bidniz man, I do appreciate his mildly anarchic attitude. Especially toward his high altitude venture, of which I will be partaking this July. If BA were the trusty chinos of air flight, Virgin were the naughty drainpipes. Not least because Richard made provocative statements with his livery when it suited him. He stamped No way BA/AA on his craft in opposition to a BA and American Airlines super-merger (hello 600,000 lb placard). He also daubed his planes with a Union Jack design, at exactly the same time BA ditched them favour of the 'ethnic' images that so irritated Margaret Thatcher (remember HankyGate? When old Madge popped a snotty rag over a model tail fin of said 'ethnic images' and it made the six o'clock news? Cringe. O. Clock.) And another, rather enjoyable move, was giving the proceeds of his court win to his staff, after Virgin sued their rival for libel. Party on.
Of all the big carriers, Virgin has one of the coolest, creative and cheeky pieces of livery. A retro stamp of fun and frivolity; pin-up girl 'The Scarlet Lady' has been lazily draped about the craft's nose right from the start. Beautiful and not even remotely affected by high speed 500mph wind burn, she looks as good today as she did in the 80s (and she KNOWS it.)
I sort of feel like I shouldn't be championing such brazen thigh bearing (is she PC?) but from a simple aesthetic point of view I find her to be a Total Dude. And pretty cheerful. And it wouldn't really be quite as picturesque if she was lolling on the fuselage in a Muumuu and wellies.
Created by Ken White, Scarlet is actually a take on the images that tickled the noses of WWII aircraft, which in turn were drawn by wartime pin up artist, Alberto Vargas. Vargas, a Peruvian artist, had a great time drawing ladies in the buff in the 30s and 40s for Esquire magazine, Hollywood posters and more but abruptly stopped in the 70s after the death of his wife. Grief and nudey drawing obviously don't mix. Despite this, he still created thousands of images some of which sell for princely six figure sums. That's a lot of dollar for a wink and some bum cheek. But fair play to the man. He was a pretty mean life drawer.
So, Sir Branson: staunch music lover, grappler of bronzed models for photo opportunities, impudent, forward thinking rebel and billionaire....Punk...?
He signed the sex pistols to Virgin Records in '77 and if it wasn't for that God Save The Queen wouldn't have been allowed out on day release in a straitjacket, let alone crash land in the charts like a great dollop of angry sputum. However journalist Peter York probably got it more accurate when he called Bran a 'merry prankster,' with an eye on anything money making.
So although he's woolly and a little cheesy, the fair sized splash of disobedience in his ventures pleases me. I will muse this as I cruise across the Atlantic upon the wings of mild misrule on a small tail wind of rebellion this summer.
So, hold the chinos. Me, Scarlet and the naughty drainpipe are coming to get you ...
