Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English musician, songwriter, and producer best known for his debut studio album Tubular Bells (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a guitarist, Oldfield plays a range of instruments, which includes keyboards and percussion, as well as vocals. He has adopted a range of musical styles throughout his career, including progressive rock, world, folk, classical, electronic, ambient, and new age music.
Tubular Bells is the debut studio album by the British musician Mike Oldfield, released on 25 May 1973 as the first album on Virgin Records. It comprises two mostly instrumental tracks. Oldfield, who was 19 years old when it was recorded, played almost all the instruments.
Sally Patricia Oldfield is an Irish singer-songwriter. She is the sister of composers Mike and Terry Oldfield.
Exposed is the first live album by English musician Mike Oldfield, released as a double album on 27 July 1979 by Virgin Records in the UK. It was recorded at various locations across Europe during Oldfield's debut concert tour as a solo artist, following the release of his fourth studio album Incantations (1978). The album features Incantations and his debut album Tubular Bells (1973) performed in their entirety, plus Oldfield's 1979 non-album single "Guilty" as the encore.
Hergest Ridge is the second studio album by English musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 2 September 1974 by Virgin Records. The unexpected commercial and critical success of his debut album, Tubular Bells (1973), affected Oldfield, who decided against touring and avoided the press with his newfound fame. Instead, he retreated to Hergest Ridge on the England–Wales border and wrote the follow-up, which he recorded in 1974 at The Manor in Oxfordshire, with Tom Newman returning as co-producer. Similar to Oldfield's first, the album is a single composition split into two parts covering different moods and musical styles.
Ommadawn is the third studio album by English musician, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 3 November 1975 on Virgin Records.
Incantations is the fourth studio album by English musician, songwriter, and producer Mike Oldfield, released on 1 December 1978 by Virgin Records. Following the release of his previous album Ommadawn (1975), Oldfield moved into a new home in Bisley, Gloucestershire, where he set up a new recording studio. He started on a follow-up in 1977 which took form as a double album with one, side-long track on each side of the LP record. Oldfield wished to use real incantations in the music, but ended up using folklore as a loose running theme, such as Dianna the Huntress. Though primarily instrumental, lyrical sections are adapted from works by poets Henry Longfellow and Ben Jonson. Oldfield completed the self-awareness seminar Exegesis while recording Incantations.
The Complete Mike Oldfield is a compilation album by Mike Oldfield, released on 21 October 1985 by Virgin Records in the UK.
Thomas Dennis Newman is an English record producer and musician. In 1970 he began working with Richard Branson and helped to found The Manor Studio in Oxford for the nascent Virgin Records. There he produced the recording of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.
The Orchestral Tubular Bells is an orchestral version of Mike Oldfield's album Tubular Bells, arranged by David Bedford and recorded in 1974 by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Oldfield himself playing the guitar. Excerpts from the album were featured in the 1979 NASA film The Space Movie. It peaked at #17 on the UK Albums Chart in 1975.
This is the albums discography of English musician Mike Oldfield.
"Mike Oldfield's Single " is the debut single by the English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1974.
"Portsmouth" is a traditional English folk dance tune, similar to an Irish or Scottish hornpipe melody. It is sometimes referred to as the "Portsmouth Hornpipe".
Boxed is a 1976 compilation album of music written and performed by Mike Oldfield. It features four channel quadraphonic remix versions of his first three albums:Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn. An additional fourth LP contains new musical collaborations with other artists.
XXV: The Essential is a compilation album written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield and released in 1997. The Roman numerals XXV are to represent that this is a compilation of pieces of the first 25 years of Oldfield's work.
The Platinum Collection is a 2006 Virgin Records compilation album written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield. It contains most of Oldfield's best known work, and some rare mixes of songs that had previously only been available as B-sides to singles.
Elements Box is a 4CD box set by Mike Oldfield released in 1993.
Elements - The Best of Mike Oldfield is a video collection by Mike Oldfield released in October 1993. It was released by Virgin Records on VHS and LaserDisc. A DVD edition of the video release, including additional extras, was produced in 2004.
John Trevor Key was a British photographer and designer, best known for his work for musical artists of the 1970s and 1980s. One of his best-known covers was for Mike Oldfield's 1973 debut album Tubular Bells. Other artists that he produced cover artwork for include Joy Division, the Sex Pistols, Phil Collins, Roxy Music, Wham!, Can, China Crisis, System 7, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and New Order.
Return to Ommadawn is the twenty-sixth and final studio album by English musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield. It was released on 20 January 2017 on Virgin EMI Records and is the sequel to his 1975 album Ommadawn. The CD/DVD-Audio set contains a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album. Return to Ommadawn is the last studio album Oldfield released before the announcement of his retirement in 2023.
