Editing Mike Oldfield (section)

==Early life==
Michael Gordon Oldfield was born in [[Reading, Berkshire]], on 15 May 1953, to Raymond Henry Oldfield (1923–2016),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fasmer |first1=B. T. |title=Raymond Henry Oldfield Died |url=https://newagemusic.guide/new-age-music/raymond-henry-oldfield-died/ |website=New Age Music Guide |access-date=7 April 2023 |date=24 August 2016}}</ref> an English [[general practitioner]], and Maureen (''[[née]]'' Liston), an Irish nurse from [[Charleville, County Cork]], who emigrated to England to pursue career in nursing.<ref name="omnotes">{{cite web |url=http://www.amarok.ommadawn.net/mike/discog/extras/ommadawnnotes.htm |title=Ommadawn |website=amarok.ommadawn.net |first=Rob |last=Miles |access-date=11 July 2008 |archive-date=10 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710225841/http://www.amarok.ommadawn.net/mike/discog/extras/ommadawnnotes.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=HAE02>{{cite web |url=https://tubular.net/articles/2002_08d/Interview-with-Mike-Oldfield-from-BBC-1s-Heaven-and-Hearth |title=Interview with Mike Oldfield from BBC 1's Heaven and Hearth |work=Heaven and Earth |via=Tubular.net |first=Alice |last=Beer |date=25 August 2002 |access-date=12 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |section=Oldfield Mike |section-url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.013.20694 |title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |first=Colin |last=Larkin |author-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |edition=4th |date=2006 |isbn=9780199726363}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Famous musical 'son' comes back to his Charleville roots |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/corkman/entertainment/famous-musical-son-comes-back-to-his-charleville-roots-38534985.html |access-date=7 April 2023 |work=The Corkman |date=28 September 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Oldfield has two elder siblings, sister [[Sally Oldfield|Sally]] and brother [[Terry Oldfield|Terence]].{{sfn|Dewey|2013|p=8}} When Oldfield was seven, his mother gave birth to a younger brother, David, who had [[Down syndrome]] and died in infancy.{{efn|The parents lied about this to their other children, and told them that the baby had died - they later discovered that he had survived for a few years in an institution.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/music/article/todays-britain-rings-hollow-for-mr-tubular-bells-jvltxvp5l|title=Today's Britain rings hollow for Mr Tubular Bells|last1=Thring|first1=Oliver}}</ref>}}  His mother was prescribed [[barbiturate]]s, to which she became addicted, and developed mental health problems.  She spent much of the rest of her life in mental institutions and died in early 1975, shortly after Oldfield had started writing ''[[Ommadawn]]''.<ref name=D92>{{cite web |url=https://tubular.net/articles/1992_12/Saved-by-the-Bells |title=Saved by the Bells |work=Details |via=Tubular.net |first=William |last=Show |date=December 1992 |access-date=12 September 2019}}</ref><ref name=2010CD>{{cite AV media notes |title=Ommadawn [2010 Reissue] |year=1975 |id=532 676-2 |publisher=Mercury Records |type=Booklet essay |pages=3–5, 7–9 |first=Mark |last=Powell}}</ref> Oldfield attended [[The Highlands School, Reading|Highlands Junior School]], followed by St. Edward's Preparatory School<ref name=changeling>{{cite book |title=[[Changeling (Mike Oldfield autobiography)|Changeling]] |first=Mike |last=Oldfield |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-85227-381-1 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]]}}</ref> and [[Elvian School|Presentation College]], all in Reading. When he was thirteen, the family moved to [[Harold Wood]], [[Essex]], and Oldfield attended [[Emerson Park Academy|Hornchurch Grammar School]] where, having already displayed musical talent, he earned one [[General Certificate of Education|GCE]] qualification in English.{{sfn|Moraghan|1993|pp=11–12}}

Oldfield took up the guitar aged ten, first learning on a 6-string acoustic which his father had given to him.<ref name=GP78/> He learned technique by copying parts from songs, by folk guitarists [[Bert Jansch]] and [[John Renbourn]], that he played on a portable record player. He tried to learn musical notation but was a "very, very slow" learner, saying: "If I have to, I can write things down. But I don't like to."<ref name=SOS13/> By the time he was twelve, Oldfield played the electric guitar and performed in local folk and youth clubs and dances, earning as much as £4 ({{Inflation|UK|4|1965|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) per gig.<ref name=GP78/><ref name=SOS13/><ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08b2fvr |title=Mike Oldfield, The First Time With... - BBC Radio 6 Music |website=BBC}}</ref> During a six-month break from music that Oldfield had around this time, he took up painting. In May 1968, when Oldfield turned fifteen, his school headmaster requested that he cut his long hair. Oldfield refused, left abruptly and never returned. It was at this point when he decided to pursue music on a full-time, professional basis.{{sfn|Moraghan|1993|pp=11–12}}<ref name=GP78>{{cite web|url=https://tubular.net/articles/1978_xx/Mike-Oldfield-A-Rare-Interview-With-The-English-Guitarist-Studio-Wizard-and-Composer-of-Tubular-Bells|title=Mike Oldfield: A Rare Interview With The English Guitarist, Studio Wizard, and Composer of "Tubular Bells"
|work=Guitar Player|via=Tubular.net|date=1978|access-date=12 September 2019}}</ref>