This page will contain blogs about Mike Oldfield, as they become available.Mike OldfieldMichael Gordon Oldfield (born May 15, 1953 in Reading, England) is a multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends rock, ethnic and classical music. Oldfield's parents were Maureen and Raymond Oldfield. His sister Sally and brother Terry are successful musicians in their own right and have appeared on several of his albums. BiographyOldfield's most famous work is Tubular Bells, an instrumental composition recorded in 1972 and launched on May 25, 1973 as the inaugural album of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label. The album was groundbreaking, as Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments in the multi-layered recording, and its style progressed continuously, covering many diverse musical genres. The album quickly reached the top 10 in UK album sales and stayed on the chart for 247 weeks. In the US, it got attention chiefly by appearing on the soundtrack to The Exorcist. In autumn 1974, the follow-up LP, Hergest Ridge, was No 1 in the UK for three weeks and was then dethroned by Tubular Bells. Like Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge took the form of a two-movement instrumental piece, this time evoking scenes from Oldfield's Herefordshire country retreat. This was followed in 1975 with the pioneering world music piece Ommadawn, and 1978's Incantations which introduced more diverse choral performances from Sally Oldfield, Maddy Prior and the Queen's College Girls Choir. Around the time of Incantations, Oldfield underwent a controversial self-assertiveness therapy course known as Exegesis; no doubt as a result of this, the formerly reclusive musician staged a major European tour to promote the album, chronicled in his live album Exposed, much of which was recorded at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham, the first ever concert at that venue. The early 1980s saw Oldfield make a transition to "mainstream" popular music, beginning with the inclusion of shorter instrumental tracks and contemporary cover versions on Platinum and QE2 (the latter named after the ship). Soon afterwards he turned his attention to songwriting, with a string of collaborations featuring various lead vocalists alongside Oldfield's trademark searing guitar solos. The best known of these is "Moonlight Shadow", his 1983 hit with Maggie Reilly which took John Lennon's death as one of its themes. This hit has been covered by various other artists, including Aselin Debison (Canadian folk singer) and DJ Mystic (electronic/techno). In 2002 it was a huge hit in central Europe for the German dance act Groove Coverage. Oldfield later turned to film and video, writing the score for Roland Joffé's acclaimed film The Killing Fields and producing substantial video footage for his album Islands. This was however a time of much friction with his record label, Virgin Records reportedly insisting that any future instrumental album should be billed as Tubular Bells 2. Oldfield's rebellious response was Amarok, an hour-long work featuring rapidly changing themes (supposedly devised to make cutting a single from the album impossible), unpredictable bursts of noise, and a very cleverly-hidden Morse code insult directed at Richard Branson. Although regarded by many fans as his greatest work, it was not a commercial success. His parting shot from the Virgin label was Heaven's Open, which continued the veiled attacks on Branson but was notable for being the first time Oldfield had contributed all the lead vocals himself. Some say this was due to his anxiety to quit Virgin as soon as possible (he had previously stated that his voice did not belong on his recordings). His relationship with Richard Branson was never good, even in the beginning. On the Warner label Oldfield continued to embrace new musical styles, with Tubular Bells II (a re-interpretation of Tubular Bells, the album that originally shot him to fame), which was premiered at a live concert at Edinburgh Castle, The Songs of Distant Earth (the latter based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel of the same name) exhibiting a softer "New Age" sound, and Tubular Bells III (also premiered at a concert, this time in Horse Guards Parade, London), drawing from the dance music scene at his new home on the island of Ibiza. Most recently he has added to his repertoire the Music VR project, combining his music with a virtual reality-based computer game. His first work on this project is Tres Lunas launched in 2002, a virtual game where the player can interact with a whole world full of new music specially composed for this occasion. This project appeared as a double CD, one with some part of the music, and the other with the game. In 2003 he released Tubular Bells 2003, a re-recording of the original Tubular Bells, on CD and DVD-audio. This was done to fix many imperfections in the original that existed due to limitations of the recording technologies of the time and limitations in time that he could spend in the recording studio. This celebrated the 30th anniversary of Tubular Bells, and the fact that Oldfield had recently celebrated his 50th birthday. On 12 April, 2004 Oldfield launched his next virtual reality project called Maestro which contains music from the Tubular Bells 2003 album and also some new chillout melodies. The demo versions of the games can be found on the official Mike Oldfield homepage. Discography
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The demo versions of the games can be found on the official Mike Oldfield homepage. The chart positions are for the UK, the highest US chart position was #53 for "Sour Times". On 12 April, 2004 Oldfield launched his next virtual reality project called Maestro which contains music from the Tubular Bells 2003 album and also some new chillout melodies. As a note about trip hop, Portishead and some other similar artists have shown dislike for the term, as it is a media invention designed to categorize their otherwise not-so-categorizable music. This celebrated the 30th anniversary of Tubular Bells, and the fact that Oldfield had recently celebrated his 50th birthday. Keep an eye on the site as any release plans will of course be announced here first!"[1] (http://www.portishead.co.uk/breaking/index.htm). This was done to fix many imperfections in the original that existed due to limitations of the recording technologies of the time and limitations in time that he could spend in the recording studio. The band are in the studio working on new material now but no release dates are scheduled as yet. In 2003 he released Tubular Bells 2003, a re-recording of the original Tubular Bells, on CD and DVD-audio. Please be aware that this is NOT a Portishead release. This project appeared as a double CD, one with some part of the music, and the other with the game. There have been rumours of a third album to be published, possibly called Alien, but no such record has been released, and Portishead's official site dismisses the rumour as such: "We have noticed that there is some confusion on an album release called "Alien". His first work on this project is Tres Lunas launched in 2002, a virtual game where the player can interact with a whole world full of new music specially composed for this occasion. 1999 saw a cooperation with singer Tom Jones for a track on his album Reload. Most recently he has added to his repertoire the Music VR project, combining his music with a virtual reality-based computer game. All records were released on Go! Beat. Clarke's novel of the same name) exhibiting a softer "New Age" sound, and Tubular Bells III (also premiered at a concert, this time in Horse Guards Parade, London), drawing from the dance music scene at his new home on the island of Ibiza. A live album mostly recorded in Roseland in New York City, was released in 1998 with a DVD of the concert soon following. On the Warner label Oldfield continued to embrace new musical styles, with Tubular Bells II (a re-interpretation of Tubular Bells, the album that originally shot him to fame), which was premiered at a live concert at Edinburgh Castle, The Songs of Distant Earth (the latter based on Arthur C. Their second, self-titled album, Portishead, was released in 1997, of which the single "All Mine" was drawn. His relationship with Richard Branson was never good, even in the beginning. In spite of the band's media-shyness, the album was a big hit in both Europe and the United States, as were the singles from the album, "Glory Box" and "Sour Times". Some say this was due to his anxiety to quit Virgin as soon as possible (he had previously stated that his voice did not belong on his recordings). After releasing a short film (To Kill A Dead Man) for which they had written the music, Portishead signed a record deal with Go! Beat and their first album, Dummy, was released in 1994, with Gibbons singing, Dave MacDonald as a drummer, and Adrian Utley playing the guitar. His parting shot from the Virgin label was Heaven's Open, which continued the veiled attacks on Branson but was notable for being the first time Oldfield had contributed all the lead vocals himself. The name is pronounced 'Por-tis-head', with an 's' in the middle, and not 'Por-ti-shead'. Although regarded by many fans as his greatest work, it was not a commercial success. The band was formed in 1991, after Geoff Barrow, who had previously worked with two other trip hop bands from Bristol - Massive Attack and Tricky - met Beth Gibbons. Portishead is the birthplace of Barrow. Oldfield's rebellious response was Amarok, an hour-long work featuring rapidly changing themes (supposedly devised to make cutting a single from the album impossible), unpredictable bursts of noise, and a very cleverly-hidden Morse code insult directed at Richard Branson. Portishead is a trip hop band from Bristol, United Kingdom, named after the small town of Portishead, 12 miles west of Bristol. This was however a time of much friction with his record label, Virgin Records reportedly insisting that any future instrumental album should be billed as Tubular Bells 2. 1998 "Only You" #35 UK. Oldfield later turned to film and video, writing the score for Roland Joffé's acclaimed film The Killing Fields and producing substantial video footage for his album Islands. 1997 "Over" #25 UK. In 2002 it was a huge hit in central Europe for the German dance act Groove Coverage. 1997 "All Mine" #8 UK. This hit has been covered by various other artists, including Aselin Debison (Canadian folk singer) and DJ Mystic (electronic/techno). from "Portishead"
Soon afterwards he turned his attention to songwriting, with a string of collaborations featuring various lead vocalists alongside Oldfield's trademark searing guitar solos. 1995 "Glory Box" #15 UK. The early 1980s saw Oldfield make a transition to "mainstream" popular music, beginning with the inclusion of shorter instrumental tracks and contemporary cover versions on Platinum and QE2 (the latter named after the ship). from "Dummy"
Like Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge took the form of a two-movement instrumental piece, this time evoking scenes from Oldfield's Herefordshire country retreat. 1994 "Dummy" #2 UK, #79 US. In autumn 1974, the follow-up LP, Hergest Ridge, was No 1 in the UK for three weeks and was then dethroned by Tubular Bells. In the US, it got attention chiefly by appearing on the soundtrack to The Exorcist. The album quickly reached the top 10 in UK album sales and stayed on the chart for 247 weeks. The album was groundbreaking, as Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments in the multi-layered recording, and its style progressed continuously, covering many diverse musical genres. Oldfield's most famous work is Tubular Bells, an instrumental composition recorded in 1972 and launched on May 25, 1973 as the inaugural album of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label. His sister Sally and brother Terry are successful musicians in their own right and have appeared on several of his albums. Oldfield's parents were Maureen and Raymond Oldfield. Michael Gordon Oldfield (born May 15, 1953 in Reading, England) is a multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends rock, ethnic and classical music. Tubular Bells 2003, (2003). Tr3s Lunas, (2002). Collection, (2002) - Compilation. The Best of Tubular Bells, (2001) - Compilation. The Millennium Bell, (1999). Guitars, (1999). Tubular Bells III, (1998). XXV: The Essential, (1997) - Compilation. Voyager, (1996). The Songs of Distant Earth, (1994). Elements, (1993) - Compilation. The Best of...Elements, (1993) - Compilation. Tubular Bells II, (1992). Heaven's Open, (1991). Collector's Edition Box I & II (1990) - Compilation. Amarok, (1990). Earth Moving, (1989). A Virgin Compilation, (1987) - Compilation. Islands, (1987). The Complete Mike Oldfield, (1985) - Compilation. The Killing Fields, (soundtrack, 1984). Discovery, (1984). Crises, (1983). Five Miles Out, (1982). Episodes, (1981) - Compilation. Music Wonderland, (1980) - Compilation. QE2, (1980). Airborn, (1980) - Compilation. Impressions, (1979) - Compilation. Platinum, (1979). Exposed, (1979) - Live. Incantations, (1978). Boxed, (1976) - Compilation. Ommadawn, (1975). The Orchestral Tubular Bells, (1975). Hergest Ridge, (1974). Tubular Bells, (1973). |