Crises is the eighth studio album by English musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 27 May 1983 on Virgin Records. Oldfield started recording the album towards the end of his 1982 tour supporting his previous record, Five Miles Out. It marked a continuation of Oldfield's experimentation with more accessible music which began in the late 1970s; side one contains the 20-minute "Crises" and side two contains a collection of shorter songs which feature vocalists Maggie Reilly, Jon Anderson, and Roger Chapman. Oldfield produced Crises with drummer Simon Phillips, who also plays on the album.
"Moonlight Shadow" is a song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983 by Virgin Records, and included in the album Crises of the same year. The vocals were performed by Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had collaborated with Mike Oldfield since 1980. It is Oldfield's most successful single, reaching number one on a number of charts around Europe.
Islands is the 11th album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1987 by Virgin. Guest singers on the album are Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, Anita Hegerland, Max Bacon, and Jim Price. A different track list and cover was used for the American edition.
Heaven's Open is the 14th record album performed by Mike Oldfield, released in 1991. It was his last album on Virgin, and also the only album he released under the name Michael Oldfield, instead of Mike Oldfield. The producer of the album, Tom Newman's name is also spelled out in a similar manner, as Thom Newman.
Earth Moving is the 12th record album by British musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1989. Unlike Oldfield's albums released prior to Earth Moving, the album contains no instrumental tracks.
Anita Hegerland is Norway’s biggest selling solo artist. She is a singer and actress, most known for her childhood career in Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and subsequent vocal contributions to Mike Oldfield's work, among others. She is one of Norway’s best-selling female artists in history. In 1971, she was, along with Michael Jackson, the world’s best-selling child singers.
"Pictures in the Dark" is a song by Mike Oldfield released as a single mainly in Europe in 1985. Singers on this single includes his girlfriend at the time, Anita Hegerland, Barry Palmer and well-known Welsh choirboy Aled Jones.
"Innocent" is a single by British musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1989. It is from the album Earth Moving and features vocals from Anita Hegerland.
"Magic Touch" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1988. It is from the album Islands.
"To France" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1984. It is from the album Discovery and features Maggie Reilly on vocals.
"Shadow on the Wall" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1983 by Virgin Records. English rock singer Roger Chapman performs vocals on the song and it is taken from Oldfield's Crises album. The song was a hit single especially in Germanic countries.
"Family Man" is a pop rock song written by Mike Oldfield, Tim Cross, Rick Fenn, Mike Frye, Morris Pert, and Maggie Reilly. It became a hit song in 1982 for Mike Oldfield with Maggie Reilly as the vocalist. Hall & Oates achieved success a year later with their cover version. In 2009, Maggie Reilly recorded another version of the song for her solo studio album Looking Back Moving Forward.
"William Tell Overture" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1977. It is a rendition of the last movement from Gioachino Rossini's William Tell Overture, played in a deliberately much slower arrangement than Rossini's original piece. This version of the William Tell Overture did not have much of an impact on the UK charts. It is the first of the two non-album singles released by Mike Oldfield in 1977.
"Mike Oldfield's Single" is the debut single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1974. The A-side is a variation of one of the themes from Oldfield's 1973 debut album, Tubular Bells, and was made in response to an American single containing an excerpt from Tubular Bells which Oldfield did not authorise. After its use in the box office success The Exorcist, "Tubular Bells" reached #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
"Chime" is the first single from the British electronic group Orbital. It was originally recorded on cassette tape and allegedly cost less than £1 to produce. The track was originally released in December 1989 and was a big underground success. In 1990, it had a wider release on FFRR Records, and reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.
"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".
The Wind Chimes is a video album by Mike Oldfield released in 1988 on VHS and Laserdisc by Virgin. It features the full video album for 1987's Islands along with a number of Oldfield's other music videos from the 1980s.
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 Laser disc. A DVD edition of the video release, including additional extras, was produced in 2004.
"The X-Files" is an instrumental recorded by American film and television composer Mark Snow and released as a single in 1996. On its parent album, The Truth and the Light: Music from the X-Files, the track is given the title "Materia Primoris". It is a remixed version of the original theme Snow composed for the science fiction television series The X-Files in 1993. The composition achieved major chart success, particularly in France, where it reached number one on the singles chart. The composition has since been covered by many artists, including DJ Dado and Triple X; DJ Dado's version was a major hit in Europe while Triple X's version reached number two in Australia.
Man on the Rocks is the twenty-fifth studio album by British musician Mike Oldfield, released on 3 March 2014 on the Virgin EMI label. The album is Oldfield's second full album of exclusively songs with no long or instrumental pieces, the first being 1989's Earth Moving.
