MIKE OLDFIELD - TUBULAR BELLS | FIRST TIME SOLO REACTION | True Genius Debut Album
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
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#mikeoldfield #tubularbells
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A very special thanks to you Nick for using the version I had requested of you. To others this may not be the version they're accustomed to, but this is my favorite version I wanted to share with Nick. I'm so very glad that you appreciated this, and as always sharing you views. Thanks so much my dear friend!
What version is this? Is it the one from the video were he has the invited musicians? I have the album with the original version.
Never heard this version but I immediately noticed the synth stabs are less jarring on the ears.....so an improvement right off the bat!
Nah, it's the best version
@@SDsailor7 This is remastered from 2003, and it sounds quite different than original, but probably I like this remade version more..
But above all Oldfields albums my favourite is TB II... Also Crisis, Ommadawn, The Songs of Distant Earth, Hergest Ridge, Voyager.. simply plenty of genial melodies from music Genius of Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield's Ommadawn is one of my favourite pieces of music. I get withdrawal symptoms if I don't listen to it from time to time.
Agree, TB is great, Ommadawn is better!
Personal favourite is Hergest Ridge
I agree Ommadawn is more complete, shows his muscianship and composing much better.
@@lemming9984 Agreed. But Amarok is the best.
No question.
BTW Oldfield didn't take the Exorcist theme to "play something on top of it"! What you hear in the movie is Tubular Bells. Oldfield himself apparently wasn't very happy with his music getting used in a horror movie but it boosted the sales of his album.
I think it was quite appropriate because Mike was going through a mental health crisis and the music goes deep.
I heard this as a teenager when it was played in its entirety on a local station. I had the flu and I took NyQuil just before! I think I had a religious experience! 😂 I went out the next day while still sick to buy the LP. I have dearly loved this all my life since then.
Me too. In 1976. Only thing is I got The Orchestral Tubular Bells by mistake and had to take it back and exchange it for the real thing. This is still my top top album of all time. It's the best thing I have ever heard and it just gets better.
And thus the Virgin business empire was born...
Yes this was the high point, all downhill from there on
@@jameswiglesworth5004😂 spot on
I was a big fan of this after seeing this performed live on the BBC 1st Dec 1973. He had an ensemble of musicians working with him, including Steve Hillage. It has been replayed a few times over the decades. Available on YT, of course.
I don't remember how many years ago the BBC performance turned up on YT, but until then, I wasn't aware of it. Having bought the original studio album around 1974, I was amazed how good the BBC live performance was, so faithful to the original!
There is nothing creepy at all, it’s beautiful!
AGREEEEEED!!!!!!
It's perceived as such by many due to its use in The Exorcist.
The Exorcist used the opening and looped it.
I don’t think of it as associated with that film, as I knew the music for years before I saw the movie (and I found the movie mostly funny or boring).
@@jonathanroberts8981 I don't remember if I saw the movie first in '73, but I didn't associate the album with it when I bought it.
BTW, seeing the Exorcist was a big deal then.
We stood in line going around the block on a cold December day in Chicago.
Everyone was talking about how scary it was... and it didn't disappoint.
The album that opened my eyes and ears to long tracks, instrumental music, and prog. I heard it back in 1978, I was 13 years old.
Also, this was the first album on Virgin records.
Yes and it also launched Richard Branson from nonentity to successful buisness giant
Been watching your videos for ages - I am British but grew up just outside Munich (my Dad is ex-RAF) so was even happier when the Munich related sign(s) first appeared. So happy you’ve discovered the genius that is Mike Oldfield. I have been a fan since 1985 and have been lucky enough to see him live 3 times, most recently in 1998. Tubular Bells is great but his masterpiece is Ommadawn (another 2-part instrumental opus).
Indeed This is a musical classic
The most amazing thing is Mike played every single musical instrument on this album!
There's someone else doing drums on side 2.
The version I am listening to is the first 1973 version* Standard stereo black vinyl with the catalogue number V2001. Reissued in 2009 as part of the Back to Black series. There are about 8-9 other versions I didn't go with because they all had been released after or were remasters etc.
*1973 Virgin Vinyl Standard stereo black vinyl with the catalogue number V2001. Reissued in 2009 as part of the Back to Black series.
1973 Virgin Vinyl Standard stereo black vinyl (distributed by Atlantic Records) with the catalogue number VR 13-105. Original US version.
1975 Virgin Vinyl Quadraphonic version in black vinyl with the catalogue number QV 2001 and number QD13-105 in the US. The first 40,000 copies are not true quadraphonic sound, but doctored versions of the stereo mix. This was corrected on subsequent copies, but there is no indication on the record that this substitution was made.[54]
1978 Virgin Vinyl Catalogue number VP 2001. A picture disc version showing the bent bell on a skyscape. This is a stereo remix of the quadraphonic version, the only difference being in the sound of the "reed and pipe organ" during the finale of Part One. This version was included on the Boxed compilation.
1981 Virgin Vinyl Re-mastered by Ray Janos at CBS Recording Studios on the CBS DisComputer System.[55]
1983 Virgin Vinyl, CD, cassette Tenth anniversary limited edition released at the same time as Oldfield's album Crises (1983). First CD issue of the album with a catalogue number of CDV2001.[56]
2000 Virgin CD, HDCD Remastered by Simon Heyworth.
2001 Virgin SACD Includes the 2000 remaster and uses the quadraphonic mix from Boxed for the multi-channel part. This release contains liner notes by David Laing and the SACD release notes were by Phil Newell and Heyworth. Some copies were labelled as the "25th Anniversary Edition".
I have to check what issue my vinyl is!
If you happen to have an actual true quadraphonic setup, the entire album is mind numbingly good. You hear things you cannot pick up on in any stereo version I've ever heard. ✌😎
There's also a 50th anniversary 2023 dolby atmos version.
And that one also contains the original 1973 stereo mix, the 1975 quad mix, the 2009 5.1 mix and some other stuf. 👍
a great reaction and fun to hear the whole side in its entirety. Hadn’t heard that in a long time a very nice request and a great reaction Nick and Greybeard. I remember this piece haunted my radio all the time in 1972. The exorcist was an R-rated movie. If I remember correctly at any rate, I was too young to go see it. My parents wouldn’t take me. But my friend and I crawled over the fence at the local drive-in and watch the whole thing. It was a warm summer night and I remember going home with tubular bells in my head and looking over my shoulder the whole time. 👍👍
I listen to it for the first time when I was 13 years old in 1973 in Honduras, a very good friend of my older brother who was a concert pianist played it for me and invited me to participate in a workshop for young music lovers, it was about 15 of us kids no one older than 14 years old, and she played a melody and each kid picked up an instrument and we augmented the melody it was very cool experiement inspired by tubular bells and its layers and variations of themes. After that day I went to the record store and bought me a copy it has been in my collection every since.
In 1979 Virgin released Mike Oldfield - Exposed which is a live double album. Sides 1&2 are Incantations and sides 3&4 are Tubular Bells. Selections from the tour were broadcast on the BBC Rock Hour as well. In order to reproduce his compositions live, Oldfield needed an army of multi-instrumentalists. The ingenious arrangement of the instruments on stage make it possible for the artists to run to the next station in order to play the instruments needed for a particular movement. It's brilliant. I saw the 1982 Five Miles Out Tour and it was flawless. I didn't want it to end.
Oh ya
Such a great album and artist
He plays everything too
If you get a chance watch the documentary making of tubular bells
His whole catalog is amazing
Loved the studio engineers [ i think ] relating to the actual recording of the tubular bell part and the hammers being to small so they purchased builders claw hammers from a diy shop and the effect was perfect.
This guy is an absolute genius. 19 when he recorded this. He played 20 instruments on this album. I thought I did well with 4. Shout out for Viv Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Daa Band. I'm actually a "Ommadawn" fan
I love this album, my mother used to always put it on when working around the house when I was growing up. This is one of the reason I love pro rock! Glad you got to hear this.
I love that.... music to do housework by!
Same ❤
I’m 65 now. I was about 14 when this was released . This album is what put Richard Branson on the road to billionaire hood!
Mike Oldfield composed this and played every instrument on it as a teenager. He hawked it around all the major record labels, but no one was interested in signing him up and releasing the album.
A young University student who ran an underground student magazine called Richard Branson got involved, loved the recording, founded his own record label, named it “Virgin” and his first signing was Mike Oldfield !
Around the same time the punk movement was exploding and Virgin got in first with many of the up & coming punk bands where the established labels were hesitant, and the rest is history…..
Before you knew what was happening, Tubular Bells was Number One in the album charts, the Sex Pistols were selling bigtime and Branson was laughing all the way to the bank.
I was listening to this a few months ago and my 8-year-old granddaughter commented, "that music's so beautiful."
Still astonishing to me listening to it again all these years later. And to create this masterpiece at age 19 AND playing all the instruments. Genius.
Really enjoyed this, hadn't heard it in years. Great reaction Nick, cheers!
I got this LP with 12 ...now I am 60 and it is still my favourite album of all time.......a genius......but too young too big......that was so difficult for him...TUBULAR BELLS will sound forever....thank you MIKE
My favourite album of his is Incantations - it's truly a work of art.
On a side note - it's totally worth checking out the Live in Montreux version of this - it's a completely different arrangement, entirely guitar - and he absolutely rips on that - even though he played almost every instrument on Tubular Bells (and most of his albums) - he's primarily a guitarist, and should be ranked as one of the best of his time, but is often forgotten on lists. He has a unique way of playing guitar too, all finger style with a wild sideways/violin vibrato that is really hard to replicate.
My favorite too.
Incantations is my favourite my a mile also, second is the 1976 version of Hergest Ridge, then First Excursion, then The Phoenician Games and Ommadwwn, then Tubular Bells, Taurus II, Amarok,The Lake and Crises equal 4th.
There are two guitarists that have enthralled me from the first time I heard them: STEVE HACKETT and MIKE OLDFIELD. They are absolutely iconic and brilliant. Their tones are so recognizable and I adore their playing styles. This album is brilliant, but there's so much more amazing music to explore. Saw him live in the early 80s and he was simply amazing. Great reaction, Nick!
I was 20yo when this came out. It appealed to me on so many levels. (Still does today) I have always considered it a "modern symphony". If a classical composer time traveled to 1973, this is what he would create. The fact that Oldfield played all the instruments and layered them together in production is mind boggling.
Just how he put this together, playing every instrument is amazing.
I first heard this album in 1974 at the age of 17 it blew me away and changed how I saw music forever.
I went into my local record store and the manager said listen to this new release.I went into one of the old sound booths and was stunned.Never heard anything like it.A masterpiece...and loved ever since.
Thanks for a great reaction Nick...you had the same reaction I did when I bought it in 1973! It was truly revolutionary, and I still love it after probably hundreds of listens. Oldfield followed "Tubular Bells" up with more genius long-form instrumentals in the 1970s. In the 80s he veered somewhat towards shorter, poppier material, but the 90s saw him release some stunningly beautiful longer-form albums, for example "The Songs of Distant Earth" which is my favourite after "Tubular Bells" and "Ommadawn" from the 70s. The 1990s also saw the release of "Tubular Bells 2" and "Tubular Bells 3" which saw Oldfield revisit the themes of the original but with complete reworkings. They're both superb.
Your list of famous albums from the early 70s made me realise how lucky I was to be a young teenager during those years. Every week there was a new, innovative, amazing album from somebody. We lived in the era of musical riches, although I am sad it lasted so briefly and that we won't see its like ever again. In England we were truly in heaven.
Thanks again Nick!
Wow Greybeard. An inspired choice! Yes Nick, Side 2 is definitely as good as Side 1. This was indeed a huge seller in the UK, anyone who was anyone had a copy and I was no different. It was the first album released on Virgin Records and Richard Branson took a big chance on Mike Oldfield, giving him the space to do his thing, something that no-one else was doing at that time. I seem to remember Branson, who had started his business career with his Virgin Mail Order Record stores, using his retail skills and selling early issues of Tubular Bells at a discount price and all of us snapped them up. Just to clarify, the album was made and released before William Friedkin heard it and asked to use the opening sequence for The Exorcist. When I was planning and developing my CD store in Cape Town I read Richard Branson's autobiography for inspiration, and the chapters on his relationship with Mike are fascinating, with many ups and downs, and the challenges he faced to persuade Mike to play Tubular Bells live in concert are the stuff of legend! Well worth investigating! What an incredible reaction Nick, you did this famous piece justice, and I can't wait for you to do Side 2 with us all.
Back in the '70s, many nights I fell asleep by putting this on my turntable before going to bed.
So pleased you chose this (banger!) and enjoyed it so. There is also a wonderful live performance of this filmed on the BBC with Mike Oldfield and a bunch of other (progressive) musicians who were in London at the time, such as Steve Hillage, Fred Frith and Mick Taylor (!) on guitars and Karl Jenkins and Mike Ratledge on keyboards. Check it out if you have some time... ruclips.net/video/nbYQYOM66MA/видео.html
Wow, Greybeard! Long overdue! Ever since I heard the “Whack!” of that single piano key early on, I was hooked as a young person. Can you imagine anyone being allowed to release this today, especially as a nineteen year old? I hear some Tchaikovsky in this, as well as Irish folk music. For that reason, I listen to this more at Christmas than Halloween. By the way, Lalo Schifrin wrote the original theme music. When someone played Oldfield’s demo for William Friedkin, he literally took Schifrin’s score and threw it out a window.
Where would music be today without incredibly gifted people like Mike Oldfield, probably in the sewer along with all the other reality TV SHITE such as talent shows.
I was a teenager when Tubular Bells was released and over 50 years later this album still has the power to transport me right back to that magical moment in time .
@@Dave-hb7lx Yes, he was clearly a prodigy. On the other hand, he peaked very early, which is always psychologically difficult.
Mike Oldfield said his hands were in so much pain from the bass doing the last sections riff, and was the first recording done for virgin records and the beginning of a Richard Bransons empire
In the early 70s, we used to put the vinyl on and let it play as the background of parties all night
What you say drives me crazy. The fact that young people used to play this in parties... wow! You know, I was born in 74, ejoyed all the great music of the eighties, also lots of music from the seventies and I can see how low music has fallen to this day. Young people listening to tracks like this, for fun, sounds like science fiction nowadays. You, and me, enjoyed the best music in our youths... I consider that's a blessing.
This piece of genius by Mike Oldfield was a game-changer that launched Virgin and was the making of Richard Branson. I would listen to it for hours as a teenager, it is simply enchanting. By coincidence I now live close by the Herefordshire cottage by the Welsh border where he had his studio during his reclusive “hermit” period from 1973, and where he composed and recorded “Hergest Ridge” (the name of a hill overlooking the village less than a mile away.) He used to walk the surrounding hills which I like to think inspired his music at that time. If you enjoyed Tubular Bells, I strongly suggest you check out the “Tubular Bells III - Live Concert” performed at Horse Guards Parade in London, which you can find here on RUclips.
Wow Nick it's so good you are finally reacting to Tubular Bells. You are just the kind of person who will get this music. My all time favorite piece of music. I love how there's nothing synthetic. Where it needs a bell sound, he uses bells, where it needs reed and pipe organ, he uses that, and of course tubular bells! He is so good at knowing which instrument to use in each part. And he is a master guitar player. Right after I saw The Exorcist I went out and bought the vinyl of Tubular Bells because I was so moved by that little snippet that was used in the movie. Over the next year I painstakingly learned the whole album on guitar and organ by ear. It was a labor of love. It's too bad you listened to the remastered version Nick. It is not as good as the original, which was also mixed by Mike Oldfield. The transitions are where I really notice how this version is just mixed wrong. I don't blame you because how could you know? But do yourself a favor and listen to the original version mixed by Mike himself. He is really the best person to know how it should be mixed. Here is the original mix: ruclips.net/video/LGK26e10w90/видео.html. I saw him in Chicago in 1975 with a twenty piece band and they played Tubular Bells. Mike played guitar. It was awesome! Sorry this was so long, but this is such an incredible piece of work. Now you must hear Tubular Bells part 2.
Part 2 of tubular bells is also amazing!
The opening bars are actually in 15/8. amazing piece I heard back in High school ( I am 67) , our art teacher allowed us on Friday afternoons to listen to music and 1 week she brought this album in. This was back in 74. I was in awe of it back then as I am still today.
We got to live at the best time in history, the 60s, 70s, and 80s .
Your art teacher new what art was…kudos to him!
Basically a beautiful symphony of rock instruments elegantly produced and performed.
I've owned this album, in various formats, since its release. It still ranks as one of the best ever in my opinion. I don't listen to it every day any more, but it's still one of the coolest albums I've ever heard.
As a teenager I suffered from bad migraine. The only thing that gave me some relief was lying down in a darkened bedroom with Tubular Bells playing on my record deck.
Thank you for the great response. I have almost all of the records on vinyl and even today, at my age (78), I still listen to the various records regularly and at my leisure.
Not only is Mike Oldfield a genius at composing prog music, at the other end of the spectrum he also came out with one of the all time great pop singles: "Moonlight Shadow". Check it out and react please! :)
I love the end bass guitar section. I love the fact that Oldfield doesn't rush it, but is happy to repeat and repeat, so that the slow introduction of more guitars is subtle. Brilliant.
Obra maestra del Mike ! Gracias por analizar este álbum !! Belleza inclasificable
You mentioned it could go on for another 20 minutes....it does on side 2! Mike Oldfield is a wonderful artist with many albums to discover. The crescendo at the end of side one always gets me every time.
He could have brought part one to a huge, crashing finish, but instead fades to the solo guitar. A very smart and tasteful choice.
I remember buying this when it was first released, the first release by the Virgin Record label if I remember correctly.
Got it home and sat and listened to it straight through ... mind blowing stuff.
Oh for the seventies 😍
The instrument announcements by Viv Stanshall were in there because Mike liked what he did on "The Intro and the Outro" by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
Mike Oldfield used to live just over a mile from me 😎
Takes me back to my youth 😂. To imagine that albums like Tubular Bells, Dark Side Of The Moon, Selling England by the Pound or Brain Salad Surgery were all released in the same year. This is amongst the milestones of progressive rock.
That’s what constantly blows our minds!!! 🤯
People in the record companies had little idea of what might work, outside of the mainstream, so they’d take chances. Now there are fewer companies and the executives think they know everything. So we get singers who all sound like each other and need a dozen backup dancers to perform.
Viv Stanshall, the MC towards the end of this side and co-founder of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, was one of the great English eccentrics.
He was also a compulsive practical joker. There's a story that before a gig in one university town he checked into his hotel and noticed there were road works going on beneath his window. Knowing it was Rag Week, he called the police and told them a group of students were digging up the road as a prank. He then went down to tell the road workers that they could soon expect a visit from some students dressed up as police officers, after which he returned to his room to watch the ensuing chaos unfold.
Lol that's great practical joke
The live tv special in the BBC studio is fantastic
His remake Tubular Bells 2 live in Scotland is available on dvd
Of all his versions
I like it the best
I got to see him live on the five miles out tour in the 80s
It follows the form of TB, but with twenty more years of composition experience. Comes off like the original sideways, if I make myself unclear. 🤪
There's great footage of Oldfield and several musicians performing this live on stage. It's AWESOME!!!
In 1973 I was 14. My best friend’s parents were Bang and Olufson fans and passionate about music. They did a trip to London as a family and were kind enough to take me along too. I remember us passing a record shop and us going in to have a look. It only seemed to be selling one album and that was Tubular Bells. The whole shop was decorated with the cover artwork. Of course my friend’s parents bought the album. When we got back home they played it through and it became the soundtrack to my secondary school years. I’ve loved the album ever since. Years later I was talking about the piece to my then college geography lecturer at a party and she piped up “Oh yes, I met Mike Oldfield on holiday! He was in our hotel on [some Greek island]. Yes he played bits of that for us. Nice bloke.”
This album was offered to 12 different record labels who all turned it down. Richard Branson started Virgin Records just to release this album and it was massive. Branson's entire empire was built on this 1 album
WOW!!!!! Wow, wow, wow!!!!! Fantastic commentary and first impressions!
Introductions by Vivian Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
Check em out!!
My pink half of the drain pipe agrees
This and Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds were the first two vinyl LPs I bought with my saved pocket money when I was around 8 years old in 1981. I was absolutely in love and obsessed with the music on both of these albums back then as a child. Both of them a huge inspiration to me.
Wow! Watching you hear this for the first time made me feel like I was listening to it for the first time as well, instead of the 100 plus times. I watched in anticipation of your reaction knowing exactly what was coming. And still as fresh and new as it ever was to a new listener after 50 years. Yes, 50 years.
Awesome reaction! If you end up doing the follow up albums (Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn) at some point, I just wanted to point out the 'correct' versions, which are on Spotify, as this can be a bit of a confusing mess when listening to Mike Oldfield.
- Hergest Ridge Part One - 1974 Stereo Mix
- Hergest Ridge Part Two - 1974 Stereo Mix
The 1974 mix of Hergest Ridge is hidden on disc 2 of the Deluxe edition, which can be found on Spotify - It's easy to accidentally listen to the 2010 mix which opens this edition. The 2010 mix has a lot of balance/mixing issues and drastic structural changes with some sections that are missing. A lot of the ambience and interplay of the instrumental layers is lost in favour of very shrill and dominating lead instruments. So definitely make sure it's the original 1974 Stereo mix. Of course this is also the version most folks here will have grown up with.
- Ommadawn Pt.1 - 1975 Stereo Mix
- Ommadawn Pt.1 / On Horseback -1975 Stereo Mix
Evidently, there is a titling mistake on Spotify, where Pt.2 (which includes "On Horseback"), is named "Pt.1". In the case of Ommadawn, I actually quite like the 2010 Mix, as it remains quite faithful to the original, while being a bit cleaner and brighter with more bass. The 2010 mix however lacks the dynamic range, and stays quite static instead of effectively building to its climaxes. For the sake of authenticity I'd, again, go for the original 1975 mixes.
Anyways, there is plenty more great Mike Oldfield that follows these first few albums, but these are a great place to start! So I hope you'll keep these considerations in mind if you get to these in the future!
Isn't it superb watching a person who appreciates good music, listening to a piece of absolute genius for the first time, which you have heard over one hundred times….mibbe more? I thought this video was class.😎✌🏻
the new age vivaldi .bach etc all in one. he played edinburgh castle here in scotlant, with a full everything . you have to check it out man. this guy is genius
I was there, it was fantastic
First album, first masterpiece aged 19, he played all instruments. Amazing music. Mike is a genius. You lucky have tons of wonderful music to dive in.
You have to watch and listen to this version : MIKE OLDFIELD Tubular Bells (Live at the BBC, 1973) [HQ] (search onYT)
I first heard this in May 1974 when I had just left college and moved to London. I had a job in a hotel bar (accommodation provided) and when the bar closed at 1am there were a few tourists still up - they were Dutch - and I sat with them and chatted - and the conversation was about this album, and their favourite parts of it. A true 'conversation piece'. In Julia Phillips book 'You'll Never eat Lunch in this town again' she tells of how a stoned Stephen Spielberg called her from London and played this album over the phone!
Tubular Bells was for me a Majestic Musical Journey, my ears cannot believe what i was listening !
Mike Oldifield is the Mozart of modern era. He composed this when he was 17 and recorded at 19. Virgin exists because of him; he played all instruments and recorded with almost no technology. No drums , no lyrics! Place yourself in 1973…This was the beginning of ambient music, the creation of a new genre. He is also a phenomenal guitar player. Simply a genius !!
Finally Mike Oldfield 🙏 True genius musician. My favorite song by Mike Is Ommadawn pt.1, it's one of the most emotional and beautiful pieces ever. But Mike wrote a lot of masterpieces both prog and 80s pop. You will love his work. Thanks by this video. I was waiting for him for a long time. I'm from Russia and could not make a request, so I just decided to wait, because Mike is must have for every music enjoyer.
Ans the fact that he playing all of that by himself..
P.S. also it's was the first album on Virgin record, Richard Branson had his own studio in his house and wanted to start record company but he didn't know what album should be first. He gave his studio for many bands and still was struggling to chose, he wanted new Beatles, and his assistants insisted that Virgin first album should be Tubular bells which was written by a modest 18-year-old boy, a multi-instrumentalist who recorded something in the studio in it's free time. Richard was against this idea, but in the end he took the advice of his assistants, who explained to him that the guy (Mike) is a genius. This album took off and became the beginning of the huge history of Virgin records, from which Virgin Galactics would then emerge, and Richard Branson would become one of the richest people in the world
Greybeard strikes again! 🔥
The first time I heard Tubular Bells was on Derek Jewell's radio show "Sounds Interesting" in May '73. Mike Oldfield's music got me through my teenage years at school and was the only thing I listened to while revising for exams.
I remember thinking at the time how pivotal '73 was and how no year after that came close; not only because of the albums you mentioned but especially as this was the year of Ziggy Stardust's demise and the birth of Aladdin Sane.
I've always assumed it was more to do with my teenage brain and that everyone thinks the same about whatever was going on in their teens; but maybe I just got lucky and happened to be around to hear ELP, Pink Floyd, Bowie, etc. in my formative years.
Of course many older friends, and people of my parents age, dismissed any thoughts of the 70s being a special time because they were young adults in the 60s and nothing that came after that could compare to those memories.
I can think only one reason for mike had composed this music. : he was touched for a divine spirit
I was 20 when I first heard this on our local FM station. My world stopped until it ended, as did the DJ's. CHOM-FM in Montreal played it several times a day for the next few weeks. All of us were gobsmacked. Brilliant composition. It was not written for the movie soundtrack. The Exorcist came later. 1973 was the peak as you noted. We lucky ones of that generation had no idea how blessed we were to be witnesses of such a unique genre.
What an amazing album, truly groundbreaking, and an introduction to other aspects of music, for me! Great reaction, too!
You absolutely have to listen to Ommadawn part 1. For most of Mike's fans, it's his best piece of music
My introduction to this album was in a tiny neighborhood bar.
I was in my early 20s, not a drinker. Still, I made friends in this bar that I still fondly remember, including the bartender.
The bartender and I talked a lot (occupational habit for him, habit for me). We talked al sorts of things, including music, and after some months he got to know me pretty well. He was a fan of film scores, ages before it was 'cool' to differentiate between John Williams and Hans Zimmer. He insisted on loaning me his "Tubular Bells" album, which I took home and played. And was FLOORED.
It's been 50 years or so, and I still love that album.
Thank you for reawakening a lovely memory.
I especially appreciate your commentary; it was value-added.
I despaired of ever seeing a reaction to the entire LP of "Tubular Bells" but this is awesome - and the fact that you chose the original 1973 recording is beyond praise. I bought this when it first came out, and then also got "Hergest Ridge" and "Ommadawn", "Incantations" and "Crises" - anything Mike Oldfield produced, in fact. Thanks so much. I'm 18 years old again! (and at 69 that's saying something).
Thank you so much! I am beyond happy you enjoyed this!!
2007, game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park. I got the tickets when the CEO of the company I was working for was stranded in Chicago and couldn’t make it back to Boston. It poured rain all day and up to an hour before the start of the game. I walked into the stadium just as the rain was stopping. Most of the crowd was still keeping dry in the local bars. There was a very thick fog on the field and you couldn’t even see across to the opposite sections. Tubular Bells was playing loud over the PA while clips of Red Sox history was being shown on the huge scoreboard display. Two men, one in a trench coat, the other in a Sox jacket walked out of the fog towards the front row where I was temporarily standing. As they got closer, I saw that it was Dwight Evans and Carl Yastrzemski. The most surreal moment of my life. An hour later, Dustin Pedroia was hitting a home run over the Green Monster and the rest is baseball history.
That is an amazing story. The magic of baseball.
He takes you on journey and sets you down easy at the end….
I loved this when it first came out… a d love it now.
When this came out in 1973, when i started high school, i became hooked on prog rock music. You need to listen to the whole album, happy days. Thanks i will dig out my cd andcplay again...
Great to see you guys.
NooB subscriber here enjoying what you guys are about.
It's an amazing and groundbreaking work but he actually exceeded it IMO with the two following albums, Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn.
i was six when i first heard this, on an old phonobox record player
Went to high school one day in 1974, and English class was listening to Tubular Bells. On a Garrard Zero 100 turntable, Marantz receiver, and Dahlquist speakers. Thank you Mr. Bush for rocking my world!
I spent alot of time in "73" laying on the floor listening to album after album in the dark using Koss cans. What a year.!!
Wow nick..i used to listen to this with my guitar mad elder brother who taught me about music.layers and textures and the story of where music takes you as for my love of genesis who are the best story tellers ever..❤
I remember buying a 45 rpm from the J.C. Penney department store. I was twelve at the time and was left without supervision for four or five hours each weekday & nine hours on Saturday. I felt like I was soaring listening, by the end of summer (12 straight weeks [no Teachers] to help with a harvest ?) I had worn the grooves out of that little piece of vinyl. Good memories, Thank you for Posting.
This is the soundtrack from the film “The Exorcist”which when I was a teenager; it scared my paints off.
I discovered Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells in the early 80s, while having a get-together with teenage friends who were music aficionados. Same time that we were listening to Pink Floyd, Rush, Tangerine Dream... We all had older siblings whom had introduced us to these marvels. Even today, if I'm watching Rush's Xanadu, I imagine hearing the voice of Mike Oldfield saying "Tubular Bells!" as Neil is hitting them with his hammer... Great reaction!
I'm glad that you mentioned the "minimalistic" feeling this music inspires. I came to Mike Oldfield around the same time I was discovered Philip Glass. To me, they are related - musically and spiritually.
This album changed my life when I was 15, I'm now 65, and a musician, this album made me pick up my ears and a guitar. There was a big hippy dude lived next door to me who played it every day, loud.
Loved your reaction to Oldfields work of true genius. As you say 1973 was a vintage year, I was a rock head at this time buying albums by the ton and it blew me away. The voice introducing the instruments was Viv Stanshall fo the Bonzo Dog DoDa Band a true English eccentric. Go gofor r Part 2. Cheers
Side 2 of the record is even better .. I got to learn this album , i think when i was 15 or 16 . It was wonderful to play during reading books or while studying ..
I was working on a ship when I first heard this album. Someone had it playing ( the full version ) on a Dutch radio station. I thought the record had got stuck and was laughing at the fact the DJ hadn’t noticed . So I waited to see how long before it played on , when it did ……. I was hooked ! I’ve been a fan of his for over 50 years since.
haven't hesrd this in ages and really enjoyed your reaction to it. we all had this album in our collections in the seventies, his album was the reason we had virgin music it was all done on the money branson made off tubular bells
1973 arguably had some of the greatest albums ever, this, of course and Dark Side of the Moon. Not a bad soundtrack to the end of my schooldays. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
It's worthwhile to watch the live BBC 1973 performance of piece. Also, read about how nervous Mike was immediately before the performance (he almost didn't show up).
Agree with others here: Ommadawn, but also, Hergest Ridge are both stupendous. Interesting hearing this mix; quite different.
after 1.2 and 3. you are going to be blown away. ommadawn herges ridge. endless music. so glad your doing this
Part three of “Incantations” is a high point to my ears as well.
We were very lucky in the 70's with the music, as the Beatles announced they were splitting up, we have the likes of Pink Floyd, ELP, Genesis, Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull coming to the fore. Mike, as you say, was a genius at his age to bring together this magnum opus, not knowing how it would be received. He certainly had to convince Richard Branson that this should be the first Virgin record, in itself history making. As a young adult I had not heard anything like it before and I suppose that's why I started listening to Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Tangerine Dream, and Klaus Schulze and other genres of music. I never get tired of listening to Tubular Bells or Mike's other pieces so thanks for playing Nick.