Mott the Hoople

Hunter and Ronson worked and toured together sporadically until 1993, when Ronson died, after which Hunter continued his solo career. The demo versions of the games can be found on the official Mike Oldfield homepage. After releasing two albums which met with little success, Mott added John Fiddler and became British Lions, soon to split up without any major success. 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. Ronson and Hunter soon left the group to form a duo, while Ray Major and Nigel Benjamin were added to continue the group, which soon changed its name to Mott. This celebrated the 30th anniversary of Tubular Bells, and the fact that Oldfield had recently celebrated his 50th birthday. After The Hoople, a live album was released and Mick Ronson replaced Bender in 1974. 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.

Morgan Fisher also joined as keyboardist. In 2003 he released Tubular Bells 2003, a re-recording of the original Tubular Bells, on CD and DVD-audio. Ralphs left in 1973 to form Bad Company; he was replaced by former Spooky Tooth guitarist Luther Grosvenor who, for contractual reasons changed his name to Ariel Bender for his stint with the band. This project appeared as a double CD, one with some part of the music, and the other with the game. Mott the Hoople's popularity helped lead to the band's break-up, along with an exposé in New Musical Express of Tippens' role in singing the chorus of "All The Young Dudes" from a hidden microphone backstage. 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. Allen left the band after All the Young Dudes and before the release of a concept album, Mott, which was quite successful. Most recently he has added to his repertoire the Music VR project, combining his music with a virtual reality-based computer game.

A David Bowie-produced album, also called "All The Young Dudes" was a major success. 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. The song was a major success in the United Kingdom - using Stan Tippens to sing the higher notes of its chorus during live gigs. 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. Bowie convinced them to stay together and offered them "Suffragette City" (off his then massively popular Ziggy Stardust), but Mott the Hoople refused and asked for "Drive-In Saturday" and eventually received "All the Young Dudes". His relationship with Richard Branson was never good, even in the beginning. David Bowie had long been a fan of the band and heard that they were about to split (allegedly when Overend Watts contacted him asking if he needed the services of a bass player). 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).

Even with a large following, Brain Capers (1971) also did not do well and the band was close to breaking up. 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 second album, Mad Shadows (1970), sold poorly and received generally negative reviews, as did Wildlife (1971). Although regarded by many fans as his greatest work, it was not a commercial success. Mott the Hoople (1969) was a cult success that included memorable cover versions of "Laugh at Me" (Sonny Bono) and an instrumental version of "You Really Got Me" (the Kinks). 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. Tippens became the road manager for the band; he was replaced by Ian Hunter who had replied to a music magazine advertisement which read "Singer wanted, must be image-minded and hungry". 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.

Stevens changed the band's name to Mott the Hoople, taken from a Willard Manus novel. 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. Stan was soon injured and could not sing but the band lobbied and eventually signed with Island Records and moved to London to record with Guy Stevens as producer. In 2002 it was a huge hit in central Europe for the German dance act Groove Coverage. Adding high-voiced lead singer Stan Tippens in 1969, the band recorded early tracks at a studio in Monmouth, later dominated by Love Sculpture and Dave Edmunds. This hit has been covered by various other artists, including Aselin Debison (Canadian folk singer) and DJ Mystic (electronic/techno). Mick Ralphs, Verden Allen, Overend Pete Watts and Dale Griffin (often referred to as 'Buffin') formed a band called Silence in 1968, playing near Hereford. 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.

Mott the Hoople were a popular 1970s rock and roll band that maintained a large audience without ever achieving mainstream success. Soon afterwards he turned his attention to songwriting, with a string of collaborations featuring various lead vocalists alongside Oldfield's trademark searing guitar solos. Drive On. 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). Shouting And Pointing. 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. Live (1974). 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 Hoople (1974). Like Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge took the form of a two-movement instrumental piece, this time evoking scenes from Oldfield's Herefordshire country retreat. Mott (1973). 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. All The Young Dudes (1972). In the US, it got attention chiefly by appearing on the soundtrack to The Exorcist. Brain Capers (1971). The album quickly reached the top 10 in UK album sales and stayed on the chart for 247 weeks.

Wildlife (1971). 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. Mad Shadows (1970). 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. Mott The Hoople (1969). 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).