| Mike Oldfield |
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He was born in the month of May on the 15th 1953 in Reading, England. At the young age of fourteen he formed a folk duo with his sister. Two years later (16), Mike Oldfield was playing bass with Soft Machine founder Kevin Ayers. Tubular Bells, originally dubbed Opus was the theme tune for the box office film the Exorcist It was when Richard Branson founded his own record label in 1973 (Virgin) that took the famous and unforgettable Tubular Bells to scale the heights of the music scene. Tubular Bells was a composition made to last 49-minutes. Most instrumental pieces of which there were 30 different types - were all nearly played by Oldfield himself. Now that is what you call talented. The success of this album was phenomenal selling over 16 million copies around the world. Because of the albums popularity it reached number one in the U.K. charts. The success did wonders for Richard Branson’s Virgin record label. It also set new emotions among Mike Oldfield fans too. Tubular Bells went on to increase its memorable existence because it also created a market for what would later become dubbed as New Age music, winning a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in the year 1974. Mike Oldfield mastered many music compositions but it is Tubular Bells that he will be remembered for. Sally Oldfield his sister who he first formed a duo with went on to make records. She did not stick around long after her hit “Mirrors” |
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