Mike Oldfield - 1999-07-25 - Katowice, Poland

Mike Oldfield
1999-07-25
Spodek Hall, Katowice, Poland
Then & Now Tour 1999
FM Broadcast Recording, very good quality
Available in both Lossless (FLAC) and Mp3 (320 kbps) versions

To wrap up this brief look at Mike Oldfield's career: As the eighties wore on, and with relentless pressure from his record company to make more commercial music, Mike did what he could to balance his musical and artistic goals with pop song limitations, but harbored increasing bitterness, resentment, and feuds with Virgin regarding his music. The success of the pop aspects of Crises (1983) and Discovery (1984) only made things worse as Virgin pushed even harder for more pop/rock songs with 'hit potential'. This resulted in even less room on Mike's subsequent albums for his trademark extended instrumentals, culminating in Earth Moving (1989), which consisted entirely of  short pop songs and no instrumentals. Not surprisingly, this album is generally considered the lowpoint of Mike's career. Fed up by the label's interference in his music, Mike rebelled and just wanted out of his contract, and for his next album, Amarok (1990), Mike purposely made an album that Virgin (and owner Richard Branson) would hate. He went back to his full album long-form instrumental, but in this case also made it more disjointed and experimental and impossible to subdivide into 'singles' (He even included a literal F-U to his record company, as an embedded morse code message of 'Fuck you RB' referring to Richard Branson. The album was released and progressive fans hailed it as a return to form for Mike and one of his greatest works. Virgin was less impressed, and if Mike was going to do an instrumental album, they wanted a sequel to Tubular Bells, but Mike refused. He finished out his his contract with Virgin with a hastily put together mixed bag album of different pop/rock songs and styles (Heaven's Open (1991), and then he was free again to do the music he wanted. His first album with his new label (Warner Bros.) was the long-awaited sequel to Tubular Bells, Tubular Bells II (1992), just to rub it in to his former label. It was a remarkable re-imagining of the original, taking the same themes and structure and doing different variations and extrapolations on them. In subsequent Warner albums, he explored new and varied musical styles, from a softer new age sound on a concept album based on an Arthur C. Clarke novel (Songs of Distant Earth-1994) to Celtic themes (Voyager (1996) to an all-guitar album (Guitars-1999). He also did another sequel to Tubular Bells with Tubular Bells III (1998). His career has continued to explore varied musical styles but he always also returns to the ethereal long-form instrumentals of his early albums. Most recently, Mike released a long-awaited sequel to Ommadawn, Return to Ommadawn (2017), which has received much praise and acclaim. The show featured here is from 1999 and consisted primarily of sections from his recent albums Songs of Distant Earth, Guitars, and a nearly complete Tubular Bells III, in addition to a couple of his singles and 'Ommadawn'. A very nice show to highlight his 1990's work, and to cap this look at the fantastic and innovative musician that is  Mike Oldfield.
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Tracklist:
01. In The Beginning
02. Let There Be Light
03. Supernova
04. Crystal Clear
05. Shadow On The Wall
06. Ommadawn Part 1
07. Band Intro
08. Cochise
09. Embers
10. Summit Day
11. Muse
12. The Source Of Secrets
13. The Watchful Eye
14. Jewel In The Crown
15. Outcast
16. Serpent Dream
17. The Inner Child
18. Secrets
19. Far Above The Clouds
20. Moonlight Shadow
21. Family Man
22. Far Above The Clouds Encore

Time.: 02:25:32
 
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Mike Oldfield - 1984-09-10 - Milan, Italy

Mike Oldfield
September 10, 1984
Teatro Tenda Lampugnano, Milano, Italy
Audience recording, very good quality
Available in both lossless (FLAC) and Mp3 (320 kbps) versions

Following his successful 1981 European tour, Mike Oldfield returned to the studio to work out how to better juxtapose his favored extended instrumentals along with some more pop-friendly songs and vocals. And with his next album, Five Miles Out (1982), Mike achieved more of a balance between these opposing forces, fashioned some genuine rock songs (as well as a bit more progressive rock), and released his best album of this period, and even sang some lead vocals himself for the first time. The album cracked the British top ten for the first time since Ommadawn, and even had some singles success with 'Five Miles Out' and 'Family Man' (which would later be a hit for Hall and Oates), with Maggie Reilly again contributing some stellar vocals. Following a similar format (Side one - single extended instrumental, side two - shorter pop-rock songs), Crises (1983) was even more successful, climbing to #6 in the UK and near the top of the charts throughout Europe and Scandanavia, due to the success of the singles 'Moonlight Shadow' and 'Shadow on the Wall'. The album again featured vocals by Maggie Reilly, as well as additional guest vocals from Jon Anderson (Yes) and Roger Chapman (Family). 'Moonlight Shadow' (vocals by Maggie Reilly) became the biggest hit (single) of Mike's career. However, rather than being pleased with this success, Oldfield's record label (Virgin) used this only to increase the pressure on Mike to write more 'pop hits', rather than his preferred instrumentals. Thus, on Discovery (1984). more shorter pop songs were included and only a single (shorter) instrumental. Barry Palmer (formerly of Triumvirat) sang vocals on some tracks, as well as Maggie Reilly again. Although containing some good songs, overall a less impressive and less successful album than either Crises or Five Miles Out indicating diminishing returns with too many of the 'pop' style songs. Here is a fine concert from this period, from the Discovery Tour, which features the complete albums of both Crises and Discovery, as well as several songs from previous albums Five Miles Out and QE2, but only a shortened 'Tubular Bells Part 2' to represent his earlier work. 

Tracklist:
01 Platinum (excerpts)
02 Tubular Bells Part 2
03 In High Places
04 Foreign Affair - Mount Teide
05 Taurus 1 & 2
06 The Lake
07 Five Miles Out
08 Crises
09 To France
10 Poison Arrows
11 Crystal Gazing
12 Tricks Of The Light
13 Discovery
14 Talk About Your Life
15 Saved By A Bell
16 Moonlight Shadow
17 Shadow on the Wall
18 Taurus III

Mike Oldfield - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Harold Zuschrader - fairlight synthesiser
Mickey Simmonds - keyboards
Barry Palmer - vocals
Maggie Reilly - vocals
Phil Spalding - bass and guitar
Simon Phillips - drums, percussion

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Mike Oldfield - 1981-04-02 - Eilenreidhalle, Hannover, Germany

Mike Oldfield
April 2, 1981
Eilenriedhalle, Hannover, DE
'Adventure In Hannover' Live 1981
Soundboard recording, excellent quality
Available in both Lossless (FLAC) and Mp3 (320 kbps) versions

More from Mike Oldfield! Despite his early phenomenal success, by the end of the '70's, as the popularity of progressive rock among the general public was declining, Oldfield's albums also saw declining sales. And his last album, the double album Incantations (1978), which consisted of a single 72 minute song broken into 4 sidelong parts and took 3 years to release, was his weakest and least warmly received (even many Oldfield fans thought it a bit too dull and repetitive). Thus, Oldfield was under increasing pressure from his record company to deliver more popular music and move up the charts. Thus, on his next several albums Oldfield mixed his longer instrumental-oriented tracks with a series of shorter, more pop-friendly tracks, as well as including cover songs and more traditional vocals (with lyrics). The first of these albums was Platinum (1979), with side one a long-form instrumental (but broken into 4 separate parts), and side two containing shorter songs, some with vocals (by Wendy Roberts). However, there was another change that also occurred around this time. During the recording of Incantations, Mike began undergoing assertiveness training, which helped him with his confidence, personal interactions, and anxieties about performing live. Thus emboldened, in 1979 Mike went on his first full-fledged tour to support his albums. The next album, QE2 (1980) followed a similar format, and marked the first time Mike worked with vocalist Maggie Reilly, and the beginning of a successful partnership. But this change in style for Mike was not initially very well-received, with the more progressive fans feeling somewhat betrayed and accusing Mike of selling out, and pop audiences just were not really embracing his quirky songs and style. However, the extensive 1981 European tour that followed was very successful and helped expand his audience, and several excellent recordings exist from this tour.
    Here is a wonderful show from Mike's 1981 European Adventure Tour, a superb soundboard recording featuring some unique arrangements of Oldfield's signature long-form tracks as well as some of the newer shorter tracks from recent albums, and featuring a crack supporting band and vocals from Maggie Reilly.

Tracklist:
CD 1
1. Welcome  0:39.67
2. Taurus I  11:10.66
3. Sheba  3:34.49
4. Mirage  5:07.73
5. Introducing  1:16.27
6. Platinum 1-4  15:09.14
7. Tubular Bells Part 2  7:19.17
8. Sailor's Hornpipe  2:34.03
9. Conflict  5:27.64
Total Disc Time: 52:20.05

CD 2
1. Ommadawn  20:54.70
2. Tubular Bells Part I  17:29.17
3. QE2 / Portsmouth  7:46.48
4. Punkadiddle  6:35.35
Total Disc Time: 52:46.20

Mike Oldfield - Guitar, vocals
Maggie Reilly - Vocals
Morris Pert - Percussion
Tim Cross - Keyboards
Rick Fenn - Bass, guitar
Mike Frye - Percussion

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Mike Oldfield (& Friends) - 1973-06-25 - London - Tubular Bells Live Premiere Concert

Mike Oldfield (& Friends)
1973-06-25
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, UK
Tubular Bells Live Premiere Concert
 Pre-FM Broadcast recording, excellent quality
Available in both Lossless (FLAC) and Mp3 (320 kbps) versions

And now, we come to perhaps the most surprising and unlikely pioneer, architect, and icon of  Progressive Rock, the shy, reclusive master guitarist-composer-multi-instrumentalist, Mike Oldfield. Born in Reading, UK in 1953, Mike taught himself to play guitar while still a child, and by 13 was writing extended compositions and playing at folk clubs as well as part of a beat group. He formed a folk duo with his sister Sally (The Sallyangie), got a record deal and released a folk album at 15. Following that, he was in a rock band, Barefoot, with his older brother Terry. In 1970, he joined Kevin Ayer's backing band, The Whole World, which also featured keyboardist David Bedford, as well as playing guitar in the musical Hair and also playing with Alex Harvey around this time. By 1971 (and still a teenager), he had also made a series of solo home demo tapes featuring extended instrumental compositions and multiple overdubbed parts (the beginnings of 'Tubular Bells') that he tried to shop around to any record label that would take on the project, but he was rejected by them all. That is, until September 1971, when playing as a session musician at a recording session at Manor Studios, he played some of his tapes for engineers Tom Newman and Simon Heyworth, who liked them and brought them to young entrepreneur Richard Branson, who owned the studio (and was also interested in starting his own record company). Branson was impressed enough with the tapes to give Oldfield one week's worth of recording time at the studio to record his work.
          At the end of that week, Oldfield had completed what he then called 'Opus One' (which later became 'Part One' of  'Tubular Bells'), a 25+ minute instrumental composition in which Oldfield played all the parts himself (over twenty different instruments) in numerous overdubs, and that defied all categorization, as it combined elements of folk, rock, classical, etc., into a seamless meandering tone poem that introduced main themes and variations before moving on to other themes and variations, and presented with new and different sounds and styles throughout. However, the second part ('Part Two') took much longer to complete because now Mike had to record in the studio off-hours and when it wasn't booked by others. By early 1973, the complete work was finished (Mike still only 19), and by this time it was decided that Tubular Bells would be the first release of Branson's new record company, Virgin Records. It was released on May 25, 1973, and was a truly groundbreaking release, re-defining what 'progressive rock' could be, and unlike any album previous released within the pop-rock world. Although it received near-unanimous praise, it still did not quite fit in anywhere, and rock critics in particular were more subdued in their reception because they did not consider it 'rock' at all. Following the album release, Branson planned a live concert event to promote the album, but Oldfield was reluctant to perform, and tried to back out right up until the concert date (It's been told that Branson gave Oldfield his Bentley on the trip down to the concert in London to keep Oldfield from backing out)  That show, a live concert performance of the entire album, with Oldfield and numerous guest musicians and session players, including other 'progressive' artists such as Kevin Ayers, Steve Hillage, Pierre Moerlen, David Bedford, as well as Mick Taylor of The Rolling Stones, was performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on June 25, 1973 and broadcast live on the BBC (and that is the performance that is presented here). By most accounts the performance was a success, but Oldfield himself was not happy with it and only performed live a few times over the next several years.

     The album became quite popular in England, but was too eclectic for the U.S. and did not attract much attention until much later in 1973, when, quite by accident, the opening theme of the album was used in the the most talked about film of the year, William Friedkin's The Exorcist. After the exposure from the film, the album became a huge International hit, (selling over 15 million copies worldwide). This was also a groundbreaking and world-changing album for me personally (and BTW, I heard and bought the album long before The Exorcist film came out), shaping my musical world and the possibilities of where progressive rock could take you. Just magical. Oldfield followed this masterpiece with a couple more albums that, although not receiving the same level of success or popularity, were just as wonderful, accomplished, evocative, and inspiring (and some would say even better than TB, although different in their own ways), in Hergest Ridge (1974) and Ommadawn (1975), and these three albums solidified his early, impressive career. So, here now, is that first live concert premiering Tubular Bells to the World, as it was presented back in 1973.  

Tracklist:
01. Tubular Bells (Part One)
02. Tubular Bells (Part Two)

Musicians for Queen Elizabeth Hall performance:
Mike Oldfield – acoustic and electric guitars, bass, Lowrey organ, mandolin, "prehistoric poem"
Kevin Ayers – bass guitar
David Bedford – grand piano, accordion, organ, choir master, string arrangements
Steve Broughton – drums
Jon Field – flute
Fred Frith – electric guitar, bass guitar
John Greaves – Davoli electric piano, Farfisa organ, tin whistle, Vox organ
Nick Haley – violin
Tim Hodgkinson – Farfisa organ, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Vox organ
Steve Hillage – electric guitar
Simon Ingram Hill – cello, organ
Geoff Leigh (misspelt on the programme as "Jeff Leig") – flute
Ashley Mason – viola
Pierre Moerlen – cymbals, glockenspiel, gongs, tam-tam, tubular bells, timpani
Tom Newman – nasal chorus
Terry Oldfield – flute
Ted Speight – electric guitar
Vivian Stanshall – master of ceremonies
Mick Taylor – electric guitar
Janet Townley – violin
Vulpy – viola
Girlie Chorus: Sarah Greaves, Kathy Williams, Sally Oldfield, Maureen Rossini, Lynette Asquith, Amanda Parsons, Maggie Thomas, Mundy Ellis, Julie Clive, Liz Gluck, Debbie Scott, Hanna Corker.

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