Michael Gordon Oldfield was born in the town of Reading, England on May 15, 1953. His father, Raymond, was a doctor who owned a guitar acquired while serving in the Royal Air Force in Egypt during World War II. Mike remembers that his father "used to play the guitar every Christmas Eve, singing the only song he knew, Danny Boy". Mike also attributed his early interest in music to the virtuoso guitarist Bert Weedon: "I saw him on television when I was seven and immediately persuaded my father to buy me my first guitar. In fact, if it wasn't for Bert I might never have taken it up in the first place." The Oldfields turned out to be a musical family. Mike's older brother Terry later became a composer of film and television music and his sister Sally went on to be a professional singer.

By the age of ten, Mike was already composing instrumental pieces on acoustic guitar. The guitar was more than just an instrument to him. It was a way out of a family situation that was harrowing and had in many ways cut him off from the world at large.

Throughout the previous decade there had been a very healthy acoustic music scene in England. The music was performed at the many folk clubs opened during this period. It was at the local folk club that the young Mike Oldfield began to gain the sense that his musical ideas might have a wider audience.

"I used to have two fifteen minute instrumentals which l'd play at the local folk clubs in which I would go through all sorts of moods", he recalled. "I even did bits of detuning the strings totally and playing and bending the strings around the neck and doing all kinds of stuff. The minute I came home from school the entire weekend would be spent practising and playing guitar." He was also getting involved with electric music, playing instrumental pieces by The Shadows in an amateur beat group.

When Mike was 13 the Oldfield family moved to Romford in Essex. In 1967 he left school and with his sister Sally formed Sallyangie, a folk voice and guitar duo. They were signed up by the Transatlantic record label which issued the album "Children Of The Sun" in 1968 and a single Two Ships in 1969. At this stage, Mike's guitar playing was strongly influenced by the "folk baroque" style popularised by John Renbourn and Bert Jansch.

After a year, Sallyangie came to an end. Mike turned back to rock music, forming a short-lived group called Barefoot. This led to a job as bass player with Kevin Ayers & the Whole World. Ayers had been a founder member of Soft Machine but left the group in 1968. The following year he made a solo album "Joy Of A Toy", forming a touring band in March 1970. Among the members of the Whole World was David Bedford on keyboards. A classically-trained composer, Bedford became close friends with Mike, encouraging him in his composition of an early version of "Tubular Bells". While touring with the Whole World, Mike came into contact with Centipede, a very large jazz orchestra led by Keith Tippett. The range of instruments involved was one influence on the multi-instrumental character that Mike later gave to his own compositions.

Kevin Ayers & the Whole World made two albums, "Shooting At The Moon" and "Whatevershebringswesing" before splitting up in August 1971. By now Mike was playing lead guitar and his proficient solos with Kevin Ayers were already gaining him a reputation as a master musician. He later described his own stage performance with the Ayers band. "I would do an electric guitar solo and depending on how pissed I was, I used to let it feed back and do somersaults all over the floor".

1971-1973 The road to Tubular Bells During this period he began to put together the musical ideas that were to result in "Tubular Bells". Using a tape recorder borrowed from Kevin Ayers he discovered that by masking the "erase" head with a small piece of cardboard he could record more than one instrument. By using this device he was able to commit to tape the motifs and instrumental ideas required to realise an ambition. That ambition was to create a symphonic work, similar to the large-scale compositions for full orchestra in several movements found in classical music. With the tape equipment set up in his bedroom at the house which he shared with other members of the Kevin Ayers band, the ideas for the new work slowly began to take shape.

Having set to work to create this music, Mike decided to play all of the instruments himself. With his natural gift for playing, he had discovered that he could get a tune of almost any instrument from a glockenspiel to a grand piano, a classical guitar to a Farfisa organ. While still working with Kevin Ayers, he had contributed to recordings made at the famous Abbey Road studios in London. He soon found that the studio had a storeroom that was full of all kinds of instruments. By arriving early for the sessons he was able to experiment with these instruments and to incorporate new sounds and textures into his musical ideas.

Working on his own meant that all of the deep emotions he was experiencing at this time went into the music. In any case, it is doubtful whether Mike's state of mind would have allowed him to endure the pressure of working with others for long. This is especially true of a work that increasingly became a vehicle for expressing emotions which he was finding it harder and harder to live with.

Having created a rough tape of his ideas he set off around the music industry to try to convince someone to take the project on. His efforts were met with universa rejection. He was told the project was "not marketable", meaning that if it were made at all nobody would want to buy it.

Obviously this was to put his faith in the work to the test. Having composed the hypnotic opening, the original motif (the theme that is repeated and developed in an artistic work), a vision of the ultimate success of the work never left him. If only he could get it recorded, released and promoted!

A chance meeting opened the way to that future Mike had left the Kevin Ayers band and, to earn a living, he took occasional jobs as a guitarist. One of these was working in the house band of the London production of Hair, the "tribal love rock musical" for �£5 a night. He also briefly played bass with a band led by soul singer Arthur Lewis. The group went to record at a recently opened studio located in a manor house at Shipton on-Cherwell, 20 miles from Oxford.

The Manor recording studios were being built for Richard Branson by Tom Newman, assisted among others by Simon Heyworth. The team were all friends. There were also various girlfriends in attendance as well as a cook and cleaners and gardeners.

As Mike was later to recall, "the whole thing felt like some sort of great big family".

The atmosphere at the studio and the attitude of Newman and Heyworth allowed Mike the opportunity to play a rough tape of his musical ideas The immediate reaction from both men was that they loved itl Heyworth and Newman then undertook a campaign to convince Branson to release the work and to provide studio time at The Manor to get it recorded. An initial approach convinced them that the time was not right. The project had to await the arrival of Simon Draper who joined Branson to set up the Virgin label. Draper had wide musical knowledge and, on hearing Mike's ideas, he was immediately enthusiastic.

Mike had continued to rehearse and to refine his ideas which now had been given a name: Tubular Bells (earlier titles had included Breakfast In Bed and Opus One). But he had almost given up hope of being able to realise his dream when Draper offered a week of studio time at The Manor. A large section of instruments was assembled in the studio and work commenced. During that week Mike succeeded in recording most of the first part, with the rest of the work recorded at random sessions over the following months.

From the start Mike was pushing the then "state-of-the-art" recording facilities to the limit. Very soon all 16 tracks were in use. As more and more instruments were recorded, the sessions became a test of Heyworth and Newman's inventive skills as sound engineers as well as a test of their memories.

The track sheet stretched most of the way across the studio floor. The studio equipment was not automated and all the work was done by hand with Mike, Simon Heyworth and Tom Newman using all available fingers on the mixing board. This was no producer/artist relationship but one where all three men learned together as they went along.

During the sessions Mike played more than 20 instruments and over 2000 tape overdubs were made. The music was all his own work with the exception of Viv Stanshall (vocals), Jon Field (flute), Steve Broughton (drums) and Mundy Ellis (vocals). Tom Newman and Simon Heyworth were credited as co-producers.

When the sessions were completed, Branson took the tapes of Tubular Bells to the music industry trade fair, MIDEM, in Cannes in January 1973. One executive of an American company told him, "slap some vocals on it and i'll give you $20,000". When nobody showed interest, Branson and Draper decided to release the album on their new Virgin Records label.

Tubular Bells was issued on May 25, 1973. The work emerged from the recording and mixing process as truly original art. Critics did their best to define it. The public simply took it to their hearts.

The reviews in the UK press were ecstatic. The influential radio disc jockey John Peel wrote that it was "a record that quite genuinely covers new and unchaJed territory", with music that "combines logic with surprise, sunshine with rain". "A vast work, almost classical in its structure and in the way a theme is stated and deftly worked upon," said the Melody Maker. Some reviewers also thought they knew what Mike's influences were "The texture of Tubular Bells owes much to Sibelius, Vaughan Williams, Michel Legrand and the Last Night Of The Proms," wrote the television producer Tony Palmer.

Tubular Bells will always stand on its own as a moment in the history of "rock music" that captured the heart and imagination of so many people, It is also a starting point from which to appreciate the many changes and discoveries made by its creator as he grew from a 19-year-old into maturity. The album went into the UK charts in July and soon rose to No. 1. Tubular Bells began to sell all over Europe.

In June 1973, a live performance of Tubular Bells was given at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Joining Mike on stage were guitarists Mick Taylor (of The Rolling Stones), Steve Hillage (Gong), Fred Frith (Henry Cow) and Ted Speight. There were also David Bedford, Kevin Ayers and Pierre Moerlen, the percussion player from avant-garde rock band Gong who would be one of Mike's regular musicians for many years to come. Although billed to appear, Stevie Winwood was unable to perform because he had not been able to attend enough rehearsals. The response of the audience was described by the reviewer from the New Musical Express, "The entire audience rose to its feet and hollered for more. It was one of those rare spontaneous outbursts of appreciation."

Tubular Bells was also issued in the US but it was slower to achieve success there. The boost needed for the album to sell in large numbers came when film director William Friedkin decided to use a four-minute extract in the controversial horror movie The Exorcist. Mike had not been consulted about the association of his work with the film and told interviewers that he was less than happy about it. In the UK, a Tubular Bells single was also released along with a remixed version of the album in the new "quadraphonic" format, a sound system that needed four speakers for its full impact. To show of the wonders of the system, the "quad" Tubular Bells included an extra sequence of an aeroplane flying around which was inserted after the Sailor's Hornpipe.

1974-1975 The relunctant star

Mike Oldfield had dreamed about the succedd that would come if ever Tubular Bells were released. When that success arrived he found the pressure very hard to cope with. Emotionally exhausted by the process of recording Tubular Bells, he retreated to a new home he had found for himself in Herefordshire. It was here that he began to create his next work which was to be named after the nearby Hergest Ridge.

Released in England in September 1974, like Tubular Bells it was an album containing a single composition. Again almost all the instrumental work was by Mike himself. The effect most commented on by reviewers was the section in which 90 multitracked guitars created the effect of what one critic called "an electronic thunderstorm". The other musicians contributing to the album included Sally Oldfield and Clodagh Simmonds (vocals), June Whiting and Lindsay Cooper (oboes) and Ted Hobart (trumpet). For Mike, the composition of music was a constant work in progress. The symphonic form used in Tubular Bells was continued in a series of later works: Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, Incantations, QE2 and Amarok.

Hergest Ridge went straight to the top of the UK album chart. Virgin Records took out television advertising, although the wording of the commercials had to be changed. The advert sement had originally stated that the album would be available from "Virgin and other immaculate record shops". This was deleted because of possible objections from the Catholic Church.

Although a few thought it inferior to Tubular Bells, the overwhelming majority of the critics loved Hergest Ridge. One called it "the closest rock music has got to the classical symphony". Another wrote of "a series of emotional peaks bursting here and there through the tickling tranquillity".

In December 1974, orchestral arrangements of Tubular Bells and Hergest Ridge were performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert was planned by David Bedford who conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with guitar solos by Steve Hillage. Mike himself played guitar on the studio recording of the same works, released in early 1975 as The Orchestral Tubular Bells. Later that year these orchestral arrangements were performed in Glasgow and Newcastle. In Scotland, Steve Hillage played the guitar parts with the Scottish National Orchestra, and the soloist in the northeast was Andy Summers, later of The Police.

The sense of humour evident in the "introduction to the instruments" section of Tubular Bells was well to the fore on Don Alfonso, a single issued in March 1975. With the aid of Chris Cutler (drums), David Bedford (vocals) and Kevin Ayers (wine bottles), Mike told the story of a bullfighter who "worked for Oxo".

In a more serious vein, he released Ommadawn in September 1975 His third great work of symphonic rock, it had taken nine months to record. On Ommadawn, Mike played almost 20 instruments ranging from guitars to grand piano and spinet. The album incorporated music from Africa and Ireland through the London-based percussion group Jabula and the uillean piping of Paddy Moloney, leader of the Chieftains. Other contributing artists included Terry and Sally Oldfield, members of the Hereford City Band and local recorder-player Leslie Penney. Penney was also featured on Mike's Christmas single, a version of the traditional carol In Dulci Jubilo. The record got to No.4 in the UK charts.

Although most reviewers greeted Ommadawn as another triumph, a tone of resentment at Mike's continuing success crept into some critics' comments on the album. Perhaps influenced by the growing fashion for "back to the roots" pub rock, one UK pop paper called Ommadawn "bland and inconsequential, excellent back ground music for dinner parties".

Although he had not yet returned to touring or live performance of his own work, Mike contributed to albums by other musicians with whom he was associated. His guitar-playing could be heard on records released in 1975 by David Bedford, Edgar Broughton and Tom Newman.

The impact of Tubular Bells continued into 1975. In that year the work was named Best Instrumental Composition at the Grammy awards in New York and the newfound popularitv of the instruments themselves caused manufacturers Premier to launch a new range ot rigid-trame chimes. In another dimension, a reader wrote to Mayfair magazine: "the most exciting moment of my sexual life was achieved only recently when we both finaly managed to climax together at the finale of Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield".

1976-1978 Out of the limelight

The following year the now world-famous Tubular Bells theme appeared as a disco record by the Champs Boys, a bunch of French session musicians. It was almost all that was heard of Mike's music in 1976, although fans of equestrian sports heard an extract from Ommadawn introducing the televised coverage of The Horse Of The Year Show.

Mike withdrew from public view for most of the three years from 1976 to 1978. He later told interviewers that he had psychological problems but he was also working in rural Gloucestershire on the music that would be released as Incantations.

To keep him in the public eye, Virgin compiled Boxed, a four-record set comprising the three albums already issued and a fourth containing singles, guest appear ances on other adists' records and an unreleased vocal by Mike on Speak (Tho' You Only Say Farewell).

The only new work from Mike himself in 1976 was the Christmas single, Portsmouth, another traditional tune arranged by Oldfield. This got to No. 3, one place higher than In Dulci Jubilo.

In Januay 1977 Mike made his first stage appearance for two-and-a-half years as a guest guitarist in a performance of David Bedford's suite The Odyssey. He followed this with the release in quick succession of two singles. These were a version of the William Tell Overture and Cuckoo, another arrangement of a traditional English folk tune. Neither was a hit.

Although Mike himself was inactive for the rest of the year, his works continued to receive live performances. In May, Steve Hillage repeated his solo appearance with the Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Tubular Bells and Hergest Ridge, while what was announced as the first live performance of Ommadawn was given at Trinity College, Dublin by the Liffoy Light Orchestra.

The fourth album of original material, Incantations, finally appeared at the end of 1978 In the years since Ommadawn, the British pop world had been turned upside-down by the arrival of punk rock. Shut away in his country retreat, the impact of punk had passed Mike by. Asked in 1977 by an interviewer for his views on this new trend, he had answered, "Punk rock ? I've never heard of it." The changed atmosphere caused Incantations to be less successful than its predecessors, although it still reached the Top 20 in Britain. Out-takes from Incantations plus portions of Tubular Bells and Portsmouth were used on the soundtrack of The Space Movie, a television documentary by Tony Palmer which celebrated the tenth anniversary of the July 1969 moon landing by US astronauts.

Around this time Mike undertook numerous interviews to promote the album and to talk about his change of personal outlook. This was caused by his attendance at a seminar held by exegesis, a form of therapy designed to enhance individual assertiveness. Through exegesis, he believed he had discovered a more positive side to his character. In a press release of the time he was quoted as saying, "I underwent what I would describe as a 'rebirth' experience, which gave me a lot of insight into myself and human nature. I have started again."

In March 1979, Mike released a single, Guilty, that showed a movement towards more contemporary rock sounds. Some reviewers detected a 'disco' feeling in the track which he recorded with session musicians in New York. Later in 1979 came Platinum, his fifth album of original material. This broke with the pattern of the four earlier records in that it contained a range of material. The main composition, Platinum, was broken into five sections and interspersed with shorter songs and instrumentals. Among these were Punkadiddle ment, and Sally, a song for the mother of his young daughter Molly. As well as musical contributions from his siblings Sally and Terry, Platinum included vocals from Maddy Prior of folk-rock band Steeleye Span.

The decade ended for Mike with the release of a Christmas single for the fourth successive year. Like Portsmouth, Blue Peter was a naval hornpipe and already widely known as the theme of a children's television show of the same name. Despite this, Mike's single only reached No. 19 in the UK chart. Royalties from Mike's Blue Peter single were donated to the Cambodia appeal launched by the children's television programme of the same name.

to read more go to: