Back in the early '70s, a remarkably gifted 19-year-old British musician successfully persuaded recording executives (including a fledgling Richard Branson) to provide him with studio access. His vision was to create an elaborate extended composition which ultimately materialized as "Tubular Bells."
When a segment of the music was featured in the score for "The Exorcist," the investment yielded substantial returns, catapulting the album onto global charts and exposing millions to progressive rock as a musical style.
Oldfield proceeded to enjoy a fruitful yet low-profile professional journey, and Branson expressed his gratitude for Oldfield contributing to Virgin Group’s initial significant financial triumph. "The phrase 'tubular bells' wasn’t something I anticipated would become so pivotal in our story," he remarked in 2013. "Without hiring this specific instrument, Virgin venturing into space probably wouldn’t be a reality today."
Many revised editions and updated versions of Tubular Bells have been released over the years, along with sporadic live concerts. The 50th th The anniversary tour initially began in 2023 and has since announced an extensive lineup of performances extending through 2025. Nonetheless, it is unclear whether the elusive Oldfield will make personal appearances at these events.
There are numerous peculiar aspects of Tubular Bells that deserve mention:
The iconic sleeve was designed by Trevor Key, reportedly paid just £100 (EUR 120 or USD 134) but who went on to design numerous other high-profile releases.
- The provisional title for the album was "Opus One."
- The album has sold in excess of 20 million copies.
- In 1985, Oldfield’s publisher demanded a co-writing credit for a similarity to the Paul Hardcastle hit, “19”.
- The title of the fourth album, “Ommadawn”, is a phonetic spelling of the Gaelic “amadán”, idiot. The chant that can be heard, "Amadán ag ceól", means "Idiot singiing".
- Many of the wide range of instruments were hired for the occasion. But the actual tubular bells were from a previous John Cale recording session.
- Not happy with the sound he was getting from them, Oldfield chose a harder hammer and cracked one of the bells.
- In 1986, an interactive Commodore 64 version of the album was released, which used a sound chip to play a simplified re-arrangement of the album, accompanied by some simple 2D visual effects.
- American singer Tori Amos has frequently used the opening Tubular Bells theme of her live performance.
- Virgin Airlines named one of their planes "Tubular Belle."
- In 2017, Mike created demo recordings for a fourth installment of the Tubular Bells series, which he was unable to complete.
The events for 2024 and 2025 will span locations throughout the UK and Europe. Additional information can be found here. Mike Oldfield tour info .
(Michael Leahy. Photo: UMG)
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