Talk:Mike Oldfield

Medical problems
What happened to all the spiel about Oldfield going through scream therapy and such? Who took that down? TorbenFrost (talk) 09:59, 10 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, it was as part of the Exegesis programme and it seems to have been quite a turning point for him, at least temporarily, as he himself recognises. Should be restored. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:02, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Moonlight Shadow
According to Oldfield in an interview, Moonlight Shadow was not about Lennon's assassination. However, he admitted that it was possible he may have made the connection subconciously as the time at which he was writing it, he arrived in New York the night the assassination happened. Does this warrant a rephrasing of the statement about Moonlight Shadow?

Perhaps change to "Moonlight Shadow was influenced by the Death of John Lennon but was not written with the death in mind"? GregRobson 20:41, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Allmusic.com says that Oldfield was inspired to write "Moonlight Shadow" by the movie Houdini.

Just out of curiousity, which interview? My impression the last 23 (ick!) years or so was that it was indeed about the murder of John Lennon, though I admit that I can recall having read/heard Mike say this himself. Calanor 18:53, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

New Wave
The New Wave music article names Mike Oldfield. What do you think, does this makes sense? In two intervies I got from google (unfortunately, german interviews translated into german) Oldfield expresses his disregard - but I have to admit that his sound around 1983-84 was not far away from famous New Wave Bands. Just listening to "Dancing With Tears in my Eyes" from Ultravox ;) Rabauz 13:39, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I haven't found any of his music to be "New Wave". Prog-rock, New Age and a blend of World Music, yes.

Well, what is New Wave, really? You often get different answers depending on who you ask. IMO, the originally rocky/punky New Wave sound eventually included just about any kind of popular music in the late 70s and early 80s (I've heard people call Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" New Wave :o ). To be honest, I think many artists were, in some way or another, influenced by New Wave at the time. That being said, Mike's definitely not the first one that pops up in my mind when I think of this genre. Calanor 18:53, 3 February 2006 (UTC)


 * I was near the centre of the storm when that happened: it wasn't pleasant. One day in 1977, from out of the blue, A&R pulled the plug on Concept Rock (which is the term you're looking for) - in fact, on anything which wasn't punk or hip-hop, artists working for less than nothing. Some of us were blacklisted. Kate used to frequent our local music shop.
 * From Kraftwerk, the thread passes through William Onyeabor to Fela Kuti and David Byrne (I was vocal lead in his backing choir celebrating William's work in 2015, search Byrne Atomic Bomb on here). William merged Kraftwerk with an African folk form, Highlife, itself a merger of Yoruba folk with American Lounge, courtesy of Fela Souwande, and now we have Chi-Chi Nwanoku's Chineke! Ouchestra looking to keep the hybrid going. I found Fela Souwande's personal archive in the summer, we'll see what she makes of it. This brings out the importance of Classical Crossover, as well.
 * Obviously, not everything in the last generation is junk - just 99% of everything commercial. Cowell's a swearword in my language. Where Mike led, I followed, leading a shantey crew in the 2014 London Literary Festival's weeklong reading of Moby Dick, then seeing Fishermen's friends and the entire shantey scene become mainstream for a bit (I'm from a prominent Portsmouth family). There's a continuity, provided the Industry stops trying to interfere. Amusingly, one New Age performer in my general milieu now (Cosmo Sheldrake) has been picked up by BTS, so the folk influence continues, if less obviously.
 * Hope this tidies things up. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.70.112.105 (talk) 22:33, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

Bag pipe
I am looking for the DVD of a live concert which included a bagpipe scene near the end. Might have been the Acropolis

Hi, I think you refer to the TBII DVD (live in Edinburgh in front of the Castle). And by the way, you can sign a message by using four tildes (~). Fram 11:21, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

iTunes Tubular Bells Download
I have added a download part due to the mystery surrounding the Tubular Bells version available on iTunes, or at least the Crown Records version. If anyone can add any information about this it would assist a lot of fans who are wondering about it at the moment.


 * I'll remove this section again, as it is a minor speculation on some fan pages without any reliable sources (the source given in the article is about a record label that folded in 1969! and has no reference to Oldfield at all). I have checked on Google, and there are no good sources for this (or even for the fact that "a lot of fans are wondering"). E.g. on Tubular.net (arguably one of the larger Oldfield fora), there is no mention at all of "crown records". Fram 12:04, 15 March 2007 (UTC)


 * What is the minor speculation? This is an iTunes download that has been made available on numerous iTunes sites, i.e. the various 'iTunes shops'. At first us Oldfield fans were confused as it was unheard of, however it has now been sourced to the Crown Record label and their history has become clearer too. The fact that you have found little information about this release, is exactly why I entered it into the article, it (was) quite a rarity and sounds completely different from the original / re-master / quad mixes etc... I don't understand why you seem to want to stifle this information. Stephenjh 22:40, 18 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Minor speculation: I have found speculation about it on one German fan site, and nowhere else. I probably missed a few, but e.g. Tubular.net, the largest English language Oldfield site / forum, does not discuss this download at all. In fact, on rechecking, all other (bar one, mp3get.net) sites that "discuss" this download are just wiki-mirrors. Please give me some good sources for your statements about this being speculated upon, and I may reconsider. And then please provide better sources than a link to a Crown Records site which states that it folded in 1969 (i.e. four years before the release of TB), and which has no mention of Oldfield or Tubular Bells at all. For now, all we have is some WP:OR by you, but no reliable sources indicating either the accuracy or the importance of this information. This is the reason I want to "stifle this information": it violates our main policy, WP:ATT, completely. Fram 06:13, 19 March 2007 (UTC)


 * This item is discussed on Tubular.net's forum . There, the opinion seems to be that it is not Oldfield, but that iTunes have broken no copyright laws as the music is Tubular Bells, and the music was written by Mike Oldfield. iTunes were informed about this download over a year ago but have not removed it from there global shops / sites. Personally, I don't think the 'opinion' on the Tubular.net Forum proves whether it is, or it isn't, Oldfield. Someone has also suggested that it is a 'Studio Group' replicating his music, which may be possible too.


 * It seems to me that the fact that there is an iTunes download available of Tubular Bells(Parts One and Two) should at least be mentioned on the Tubular Bells Wiki' page (as a variant), if not on the Oldfield Discography. I'm not convinced I can 'prove' to you it is Oldfield anymore than you can 'prove' to me it isn't, without verification from Oldfield himself, but this version exists and it's worthy of an entry. In fact, I'm listening to it right now, do you have your own copy? Have you listened to it all the way through? Stephenjh 08:44, 19 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, for starters it apparently is made by CrownStar records, not by Crown Records, which explains why your source had absolutely no info on it, and why I couldn't find the discussion on Tubular.net. Secondly, I don't have a copy and don't plan to download one (or buy a physical one). Why would I. Please check out original research policy. Finally, most comments and common sense point in the direction of this being a cover version (like there are many), which is not listed in any official discography, and which does not belong on the main Mike Oldfield page without good, reliable sources (not fan forums). We don't list Duo Sonare, Paul Hardcastle or Da Boy Tommy here either, even though they all made partial or complete TB covers. This is just not important (41 google hits for tubular bells plus crownstar... ), and has no reliable sources (all we have are websites offering a download, which only shows existence, and fan fora discussing it, which aren't reliable sources: there is not one reliable source discussing this download, so we should not discuss it either). It still fails WP:ATT. Fram 09:09, 19 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Actually, I don't understand what you said there. I am going to put the download information on the Tubular Bells page under 'cover versions', for now, but with a note that the artists playing are un-named. OK? Stephenjh 09:19, 19 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Perfect, thanks. Fram 12:01, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

See Also section
Hey whats with all the additional bands / artists there - It made sense when Sally and Terry were listed, and I could agree with David Bedford, but are all the others justified - cos not all of the linked pages even mention Mike - not sure enough of thereasoning here so havent done any edits, whats the opinion? Alimat 21:26, 30 April 2006 (UTC)
 * It looks to me like only the two Oldfields, the two genres, and perhaps the list of songs link, are correct here. The other ones should be considered as similar artists, perhaps, but then many more can be added, and such lists seem to me more useful when discussing a genre, not under the heading of an artist. If needed and if sources ar given, lists of artists influencing Mike Oldfield (from Sibelius over Bert Jansch to Vangelis), and lists of artists influenced by Oldfield (like Orbital) can be added. Fram 12:18, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Froggy Went Courting
Does anyone know if Mike Oldfield's FROGGY WENT A COURTING made it onto a CD or DVD ?? All I can find are a few EP records. Thanks, Norm 211.31.242.235 07:44, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

I think it was the B side of the 1974 single titled "Mike Oldfield's Single" which was subtitled "Excerpt from Tubular Bells" but was really not an excerpt at all but a newly recorded version of a portion of part two, slowed down). I don't know if it has turned up anywhere else.


 * This might have been the demo tape Radio One received. See the new section below. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.70.112.105 (talk) 21:37, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

Pre-Tubular Bells
Shouldn't there be some details about his musical activity prior to releasing TB ? How did he get a record contract ? -- Beardo 09:56, 28 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Done. Needs a wee bit of expansion, though. --Stevefarrell 12:25, 2 June 2006 (UTC)


 * See my new section below. I wasn't quite an eyewitness, but very much mixed up in the team just afterwards. I went on to rather a hefty career in diplomacy, so like Mike, prize my anonymity. Fame isn't what it's made out to be. If a bot comes chasing attributions, smack it on it's way: music's about musicians making music. For example, the crazy little music shop in Petts Wood saw Sir Geraint Evans, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Emma Johnson and yours truly as customers - the horrible wooden recorder became one of the first low whistles, and a session with Paddy Moloney exploring what it could do in Irish music (Edinburgh Harp Festival c1986). LotR is beckoning. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.70.112.105 (talk) 21:32, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

Possible error in page regarding The Space Movie soundtrack
The album used in The Space Movie was Ommadawn, and NOT tubular bells, however the IMDB entry for this film is practically devoid of any information. Can anybody verify this fact?


 * AFAIK (it is about ten years since I heard the complete Space Movie once), they used TB (orchestral), Hergest Ridge (orchestral: only appearance of this outside one testpressing and bootlegs), Ommadawn, Incantations, and some small other pieces. The easily available part of The Space Movie (on the Elements DVD) does only contain the Incantations part though. Fram 19:14, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Dates of Works:Collaborations
no doubt the CD of "Variations on a Theme By..." was Released in 1995, but it was recorded in the early 1970s, right?

Postman pat?
I am sure I heard on BBC Radio 2 that Mike Oldfield was doing a sound track for a postman pat movie? Maybe my ears are deceiving me as I cannot find any collaborating info on the internet. --anewman 21:36, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Voyager Oldfield.jpg
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BetacommandBot 04:42, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Genre: Trance?
I don't think it's correct to say that Trance is one of the genres mike has played, in reference to Light + Shade, since in that album only one song is truly Trance, I think the others can be considered being Electronica or Ambient, but not Trance. You may listen to any album from, e.g, Paul Van Dyk or Tiesto, for any doubt.

I mean, if we include Trance in the list of genres due to only one track, then we should also include more genres, for instance Reggae (Gimme Back in Heaven's Open). Ilyes 20:44, 5 August 2007 (UTC)


 * You have a good point there; i might switch it with Classical.... TubularWorld 10:55, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
 * IMO, Mike can't really be pigeonholed into a few genres. Amarok alone comprises, by my count, at least 20 distinct genres. Looking at his collective work, that number grows even larger. Kel - Ex-web.god 19:11, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Medwyn Goodall
I know Medwyn has credited Mike as a huge influence on his own work. In "The Essence," off the Essence of Magic album, I was not too surprised to hear Mike's distinctive guitar work and assumed Medwyn had brought his hero in to contribute to the recording. However, I can't find anyplace where Mike is credited. Was this due to legalities? --Bluejay Young 01:41, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Mike's Guitars
Over the last year, Mike appears to have auctioned off many of his trademark instruments including his salmon pink Stratocaster (referred to by other Wikipedia pages as his favourite guitar). Some information here, look at the panel on the right. Danny Darko (talk) 19:34, 13 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I was thinking about adding an instruments section on here a while back, but couldn't think how best to do it (in an encylopedic way). Of course we can't have something the size of tubular.net's list. I might get round to it later this week, when I'm not busy. SkeletorUK (talk) 19:54, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

The Sun
I'm surprised to see that an article in the English "redtop" (tabloid) The Sun is given as a source for anything. My memories of the "Street of Shame" column in Private Eye suggest that The Sun will publish anything whatever that it thinks will appeal to its readers; mere facts aren't its concern. Is it now regarded as an "encyclopedic" source? Morenoodles (talk) 07:13, 11 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Not to mention that pretty much the whole Sun article was added to this entry. Unless someone can find additional sources, I'd suggest removing at least the "he and his girlfriend spent the summer of 2006 there" part (the Sun article doesn't mention what summer) and the part about the yacht.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.252.236.219 (talk) 09:56, 30 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I've gotten rid of the info that is not really necessary. Feel free to reword it, or find some different references. TubularWorld (talk) 12:56, 30 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I'd agree that The Sun is not a scholarly source and therefore not appropriate for use as a source in an encyclopaedia. I'm just compelled to highlight the irony of using Private Eye as evidence of how inappropriate The Sun's is. Semafore (talk) 22:09, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Virgin
What was the dispute with Virgin about. Money? Bastie (talk) 18:33, 17 December 2008 (UTC)


 * It appears to have been about a lot of things, including Oldfield's original contract, the promotion of his albums, and pressures to create a lot of 'pop music'.--TubularWorld (talk) 18:36, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Synthesis of published material?
Quoting from the article: "This theory is supported by the fact that Heaven's Open is the only album that Oldfield released as Michael Oldfield, not Mike Oldfield." As a reasonably new editor to wikipedia I feel ill qualified to judge. Do you consider this to be original research, in particular "Synthesis of published material which advances a position"? Semafore (talk) 22:09, 12 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I have removed that statement. TubularWorld (talk) 22:12, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Anita Hegerland
I find it strange that there is almost no mention of his collaboration with this Norwegian singer. She contributed considerably in the vocal department for a period in the 80's. Mortyman (talk) 21:30, 5 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Fixed. Thanks for pointing that out. TubularWorld (talk) 21:42, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Six-figure sum
The following appears in the Personal life section:

"The resulting court case awarded Gallagher a six-figure sum in compensation."

This tells us little since the range of six-figure sums is so broad, from 100,000 to 999,999. This vagueness is compounded by not being told the currency: the values of pounds, pesetas, and euros diverge pretty widely. --O&#39;Dea (talk) 15:33, 15 May 2010 (UTC)


 * It appears this information comes from The Sun, so I would consider it highly unreliable anyway. Ericje (talk) 04:46, 21 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Why is this an issue? It is perfectly routine to refer to matters such as settlements in terms of the number of figures. It's not 10 quid; it is in the 6-figure range.
 * A settlement between two Britons as reported by a UK tabloid implies an amount in golden guineas, crowns, shillings and pence rather than Bulgarian stotinki, does it not? Even if the amount were in euros, that would not alter the order of magnitude, and it would be "a six-figure sum" regardless, ¿verdad?
 * Varlaam (talk) 15:44, 29 August 2010 (UTC)


 * The point is there was a settlement of a substantial amount, as opposed to no award, on the one hand, or an award of 1 «put your unit here», on the other, as a token acknowledgement of moral rectitude.
 * Varlaam (talk) 16:02, 29 August 2010 (UTC)


 * What is this trivial brief incident doing in the encyclopedia? We've got a whole paragraph here that's just a minor rewrite of a tabloid gossip column. NebY (talk) 18:22, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Cover versions
I have deleted this sentence from the main article since it is irrelevant there. It refers to "Moonlight Shadow":


 * This song has been covered by various other artists, including Aselin Debison (Canadian folk singer) and German duo Groove Coverage (electronic/techno).

There should be a Cover Versions section where this information would be appropriate.

Varlaam (talk) 15:30, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Olympics opening ceremony relevance
As I watched the opening ceremony, as Mike appeared as one of the performers, I personally was deeply surprised, astonished even. But as the event further progressed, there was quite a number of musicians performing, and the relevance of him being invited to be part of this once in a lifetime show quickly dwindled in my eyes. Of the whole ceremony, I can only say: More is Less.

But that is all just my personal opinion; the question is: Is the fact that Mike Oldfield performed at the 2012 London Olympic Games opening ceremony relevant to this article?--$\color{Blue}\mathcal{M}$$\color{Blue}\vec{( e\ ,}$$\color{Blue}t )$ = ? 14:34, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

Oldfield also composed special music for the royal wedding of Prince Charles to Diana. Shouldn't that warrant a mention? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.246.125.126 (talk) 16:53, 24 January 2013 (UTC)
 * This has now been added, although it may be wise to find a better reference. TubularWorld (talk) 17:32, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Personal life
This section seems a bit thin. For example, there's next to nothing on the various relocations that have taken place throughout MOs adult life and the reasons for them. --Ef80 (talk) 21:11, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
 * Nor on his experimentation with LSD, his prolonged debilitating mental distress (which may have been precipitated by that drug use) and his later participation in the Exegesis programme. Following the success of Tubular Bells he became quite reclusive by all accounts. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:53, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

Let's see - is it possible that the death of his mother, coming when it did, caused some difficulties which were exacerbated by the reaction - out of all proportion for a first album - to Tubular Bells when he was only 19? Put yourself in his place, anyone. One doesn't need to be worked over by LSD or other drugs.184.145.93.252 (talk) 19:25, 9 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Quite agree. Loss of a parent can be traumatic for anyone. And at any age. But use of LSD is perhaps a less common event. It does now get a brief mention, I see. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:54, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified (January 2018)
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musical scales
surprised that there's no discussion of the more interesting technical aspects of MO's works.65.94.117.207 (talk) 22:15, 20 June 2021 (UTC)

Origins
The history actually started slightly before Branson. Sally got to discussing her brother's activities with Mike Smith, the Program Controller of the University Radio Station, at the Loughborough Folk Festival at Easter 1974, and he sent a demo tape off to Radio One. Branson was then roped in because he knew where to get disks cut (this was the birth of Virgin), and Mike started to dive for cover, because he was getting way out of his depth. Not before getting Kraftwerk launched, though. I'd joined the Radio Station with a track record in stage production at Alleyn's School, and took it on when Mike finally said enough. 5.70.112.105 (talk) 21:00, 24 September 2022 (UTC)rahere@mail.com

children
"Oldfield has been married four times and has seven children." However, the Guardian and the Daily Mail both refer to nine children. ? 64.229.175.25 (talk) 21:20, 2 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I removed the sentence as a) it's unsourced, b) the total number of children he has isn't super important, and c) the statement about how many times he's married is actually probably wrong. He lived with and had children with Anita Hegerland, and data-scraping "who dated who" websites commonly report they were married, but I can't actually find good sources for a legal marriage; some sources explicitly say that he was married three times total. Yspaddadenpenkawr (talk) 22:05, 4 September 2023 (UTC)

WP:EXTRAORDINARY
I removed some weird anecdote:

In June 1978, during the recording of Incantations, Oldfield and his siblings completed a three-day Exegesis seminar, a controversial self-assertiveness programme based on Werner Erhard's EST training programme. The experience had a significant effect on Oldfield's personality, who recalled that he underwent a "rebirth experience" by reliving past fears. "It was like opening some huge cathedral doors and facing the monster, and I saw that the monster was myself as a newborn infant, because I'd started life in a panic." Following the Exegesis seminar, the formerly reclusive Oldfield granted press interviews, posed nude for a promotional photo shoot for Incantations, and went drinking with news reporters. He had also conquered his fear of flying, gained a pilot's licence, and bought his own plane.

Unsurprisingly, that did not happen. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary sources; and I did a quick Google search but found nothing of the sort. Polygnotus (talk) 13:00, 20 December 2023 (UTC)


 * Mike Oldfield attended a three day Exegesis seminar in 1978, together with his sister, Sally, and brother, Terry. There are naked photos, in the style of the Discobulus and Rodin's The Thinker, from that same year.  In time he learned to fly, and bought a plane.  The interviews of the time make their observations that this marked a significant change in how he behaved, compared to before the seminar.  Which particular aspect of this paragraph do you believe did not happen?  The quotation that mentions cathedral doors is from another interview (a transcription of a radio appearance from 1992), so may be a hangover from previous revisions.  Otherwise, the details of the seminar attendance and the behaviour afterwards appear in the linked sources.  This section may deserve re-writing, but what are your objections to its presence? TheHappyReturn (talk) 06:31, 24 December 2023 (UTC)

What's so extradordinary about the whole event? The sources were good enough so I restored the passage to the article, though in a different place. Str1977 (talk) 23:06, 18 April 2024 (UTC)