Anarchy in the UK for Virgin Money
Rebel band’s album covers to feature on credit cards
BAND merchandise ain’t what it used to be. The Sex Pistols have agreed to a deal to put their album artwork on a new range of credit cards.
From this week, cards emblazoned with Sex Pistols designs will be offered by Virgin Money, part of the same Richard Branson stable that released the influential Punk band’s only studio album in 1977.
The credit cards — with a representative interest rate of 18.9% — feature the Anarchy in the UK single and Never Mind The Bollocks album covers. The customer’s personal details will be included on the back, to leave the designs intact.
A Virgin Money spokesman said the band had agreed, for an undisclosed sum, to have their work featured on the cards.
The hard-living, chaotic and often obscene Sex Pistols released their debut album through Virgin Records in 1977, having fallen out with two previous record labels. The band split the following year, after a torrid tour of the US.
Band member Sid Vicious died in 1979 of a drug overdose.
The reunion tour by the surviving band members in the ’90s was named Filthy Lucre. “We still hate each other with a vengeance,” lead singer John Lydon (alias Johnny Rotten) said at a press conference announcing the tour. “But we’ve found a common cause, and that’s your money.”
Other artists on the Virgin Records roster include Corinne Bailey Rae and Bastille.
Michele Greene, director of cards at Virgin Money, said: “It’s time for consumers to put a little bit of rebellion in their pocket.”
Virgin Money joined the London Stock Exchange in November last year, with a stock market float that valued the group at £1.25-billion.
The bank was formed from the ashes of the Northern Rock bank, which it bought for £747million in 2011. — © The Daily Telegraph, London