Mike Oldfield

The demo versions of the games can be found on the official Mike Oldfield homepage. The book Messages, written by Johnny Waller and Paul Humphreys' brother Mike Humphreys, details the career of the band up to the time of The Best of OMD. 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. There were two official magazines about the band, Telegraph, and, currently, Messages. This celebrated the 30th anniversary of Tubular Bells, and the fact that Oldfield had recently celebrated his 50th birthday. An album of unreleased material by the band is scheduled to be released in 2005. 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. McCluskey would continue for another decade, joined by Liverpool musicians Lloyd Massett and Stuart Kershaw.

In 2003 he released Tubular Bells 2003, a re-recording of the original Tubular Bells, on CD and DVD-audio. Though Humphreys left the band after The Best of OMD, he collaborated with McCluskey on the songwriting for Universal, the band's 1996 swan song. This project appeared as a double CD, one with some part of the music, and the other with the game. One of OMD's biggest hits, "If You Leave," (1985) was written specifically for the John Hughes movie Pretty in Pink. 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. By now the band were seeing their critical and public popularity wane in the UK, whilst they struggled to break the US market. Most recently he has added to his repertoire the Music VR project, combining his music with a virtual reality-based computer game. This 6 piece line also released The Pacific Age (1986).

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. With the recording of Crush, (1985) Graham and Neil Weir began playing with the group (on guitar and brass), produced by Stephen Hague. 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. Two laserdiscs, Live at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (1982) and Crush the Movie (1985) were released only in Japan. His relationship with Richard Branson was never good, even in the beginning. 1984's Junk Culture saw a return to a more poppy sound and saw the band using digital sampling keyboards such as the Fairlight CMI and the Emu Emulator. 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). It was recorded by the 4-piece Humpreys/Holmes/Cooper/Mcluskey line-up, and produced by Rhett Davies.

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. 1983 saw the band lose commercial momentum somewhat, with the release of their 'difficult' Dazzle Ships albums, which mixed melancholy synth ballads and uptempo synth pop with musique concrete and short wave radio tape collages. Although regarded by many fans as his greatest work, it was not a commercial success. Hit singles Joan of Arc and Maid of Orleans were taken from the album. 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. They used it to add very atmospheric swatches of string, choir and other sounds to their palette. 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. The album's striking sound saw OMD's original synth-pop sound augmented by the mellotron, an instrument previously associated with prog rock bands.

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. The 4-piece went into the studio with Richard Mainwaring producing, Cooper then temporarily dropping out and being replaced by Mike Douglas, but this changed being reversed by the time the album was released and a tour embarked upon. In 2002 it was a huge hit in central Europe for the German dance act Groove Coverage. 1981 would see the release of what many consider OMD's magnum opus (and it was also the peak of their commercial success in the UK and Europe) - the Architecture & Morality album. This hit has been covered by various other artists, including Aselin Debison (Canadian folk singer) and DJ Mystic (electronic/techno). It ushered in a striking lush choral electronic sound. 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. Howlett then presided over the recording of a further hit single, Souvenir, co-written by Cooper & Humphreys.

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 tour for this album saw a 4-piece band line-up, with saxophonist Martin Cooper recruited for keyboard duties. 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). The album spawned the huge hit single Enola Gay, named after the plane which dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima. 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. It was again produced by Howlett, and saw a rather moodier, dark feel. 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. The second album Organisation followed later that year, recorded as a 3 piece with Humphreys, McCluskey and Holmes.

Like Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge took the form of a two-movement instrumental piece, this time evoking scenes from Oldfield's Herefordshire country retreat. A tour followed, Winston the tape recorded being ditched for good, and replaced with live drums from Mal Holmes, and Dalek I Love You's Dave Hughs on synths. 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. DinDisc arranged for the song Messages to be re-recorded (produced by Gong bassist Mike Howlett) and released as a single - this gave the band their first hit. In the US, it got attention chiefly by appearing on the soundtrack to The Exorcist. It had a simple, raw, poppy, melodic synthpop sound. The album quickly reached the top 10 in UK album sales and stayed on the chart for 247 weeks. The eponymous first album (1980) showcased the band's live set at the time, and was basically recorded by the Humphreys/McCluskey duo, although included some guest drums from Id drummer Mal Holmes, and saxophone from Wirral musician Martin Cooper.

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. Finding themselves on the cusp of an electronic new wave in British pop-music, they released a one-off single with legendary independent label Factory Records (the single sleeve was designed by Peter Saville, whose distinctive graphics provided OMD's public image well into the mid-80s), and were then quickly snapped up by Virgin subsiduary DinDisc. 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. They began to gig regularly as a duo, accompanied on stage by a Revox tape-recorder of backing tracks called "Winston". His sister Sally and brother Terry are successful musicians in their own right and have appeared on several of his albums. McCluskey briefly sang with electronic Wirral quartet Dalek I Love You, however eventually rejoined Humphreys, and their VCL XI project was rechristened Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Oldfield's parents were Maureen and Raymond Oldfield. In 1978, The Id split due to the traditional musical differences.

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. Meanwhile Humphreys & McCluskey collaborated on a side-project called VCL XI (named after a valve from the diagram on the cover of Kraftwerk's Radio-Activity album), where they pursued their more bizarre electronic experiments, often working with tape collages, home-made kit-built synthesiers, and circuit-bent radios. Tubular Bells 2003, (2003). They had quite a following on the scene, and one of their tracks (Julia's Song) was included on a compilation record of local bands called Street to Street. Tr3s Lunas, (2002). The group began to gig regularly in the Merseyside area, performing original material (largely written by McCluskey & Humphreys). Collection, (2002) - Compilation. By 1977, McCluskey & Humphreys put together 7-piece (3 singers, 2 guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards!) Wirral 'supergroup' The Id, whose line-up included drummer Malcolm Holmes and McCluskey's girlfriend Julia Kneale on vocals.

The Best of Tubular Bells, (2001) - Compilation. The pair shared a love of electronic music, particularly Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. The Millennium Bell, (1999). McCluskey would usually sing and play bass guitar, whilst electronics enthusiast Humphreys initially began as a roadie, graduating to keyboards. Guitars, (1999). As teenagers, Humphreys and McCluskey were involved in several unsigned Wirral bands, including including Equinox, Pegasus, and the short-lived Hitlerz Underpantz. Tubular Bells III, (1998).
.

XXV: The Essential, (1997) - Compilation. McCluskey then retained the name and continued to record and tour as OMD with a new line-up. Voyager, (1996). The group was founded by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, and they formed the core of the outfit until 1989, when the group split. The Songs of Distant Earth, (1994). Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark or OMD were a synth pop group from the Wirral, UK, who recorded for Virgin Records (originally for Virgin's DinDisc subsidiary). Elements, (1993) - Compilation. The Best of OMD - 1988.

The Best of...Elements, (1993) - Compilation. Crush the Movie - 1985. Tubular Bells II, (1992). Live at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane - 1982. Heaven's Open, (1991). Crush the Movie - 1985. Collector's Edition Box I & II (1990) - Compilation. Live at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane - 1982.

Amarok, (1990). "The OMD Remixes" (5-inch CD single containing remixes of "Enola Gay," "Souvenir" and "Electricity"). Earth Moving, (1989). "Universal" - 1996. A Virgin Compilation, (1987) - Compilation. "Walking on the Milky Way" - 1996. Islands, (1987). "Everyday" - 1993.

The Complete Mike Oldfield, (1985) - Compilation. "Dream of Me (Based on Love's Theme)" - 1993. The Killing Fields, (soundtrack, 1984). "Stand Above Me" - 1993. Discovery, (1984). "Call My Name" - 1991. Crises, (1983). "The You Turn Away" - 1991.

Five Miles Out, (1982). "Pandora's Box" - 1991. Episodes, (1981) - Compilation. "Sailing on the Seven Seas" - 1991. Music Wonderland, (1980) - Compilation. "Dreaming" - 1988. QE2, (1980). "Shame" - 1987.

Airborn, (1980) - Compilation. "We Love You" - 1986. Impressions, (1979) - Compilation. "(Forever) Live and Die" - 1986 (also released as picture disc). Platinum, (1979). "If You Leave" - 1986. Exposed, (1979) - Live. "La Femme Accident" - 1985 (also released as shaped picture disc).

Incantations, (1978). "Secret" - 1985. Boxed, (1976) - Compilation. "So In Love" - 1985. Ommadawn, (1975). "Never Turn Away" - 1984. The Orchestral Tubular Bells, (1975). "Tesla Girls" - 1984.

Hergest Ridge, (1974). "Talking Loud & Clear" - 1984. Tubular Bells, (1973). "Locomotion" - 1984. "Telegraph" - 1983. "Genetic Engineering" - 1983.

"Maid of Orleans" - 1982. "Joan of Arc" - 1981. "Souvenir" - 1981. "Enola Gay" - 1980.

"Messages" - 1980. "Red Frame/White Light" - 1980. "Electricity" - 1979. Navigation - The OMD B-Sides - 2001.

The Peel Sessions -2000. The OMD Singles - 1998. Universal - 1996. Liberator - 1993.

Sugar Tax - 1991. The Best of OMD - 1988. The Pacific Age - 1986. Crush - 1985.

Junk Culture - 1984 (first copies came with enclosed one-sided 7-inch single, "The Angels Keep Turning (The Wheels of the Universe)"). Dazzle Ships - 1983. Architecture & Morality - 1981. - 1981.

O.M.D. Organisation - 1980. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - 1980.