Editing Mike Oldfield (section)

===1971–1991: Virgin years===
====''Tubular Bells''====
By mid-1971, Oldfield had assembled a demo tape containing sections of a longform instrumental piece initially titled "Opus One". Attempts to secure a recording deal to record it professionally came to nothing. In September 1971, Oldfield, now a session musician and bassist for the [[Arthur Louis|Arthur Louis Band]], attended recording sessions at [[The Manor Studio]] at [[Shipton-on-Cherwell]], [[Oxfordshire]], owned by businessman [[Richard Branson]] and run by engineers [[Tom Newman (musician)|Tom Newman]] and Simon Heyworth.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/> Branson already had several business ventures and was about to launch [[Virgin Records]] with Simon Draper. Newman and Heyworth heard some of Oldfield's demos and took them to Branson and Draper, who eventually gave Oldfield one week of recording time at The Manor, after which Oldfield had completed what became "Part One" of his composition, ''[[Tubular Bells]]''. He recorded "Part Two" from February to April 1973.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tubular.net/articles/2001_08 |title=The Making of Tubular Bells |work=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |date=August 2001 |access-date=12 January 2012}}</ref> Branson agreed to release ''Tubular Bells'' as the first record on the Virgin label and secured Oldfield a six-album deal with an additional four albums as optional.<ref name=TT13>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/9811942/Mike-Oldfield-Tubular-Bells-made-me-a-million-but-the-tax-bill-came-to-860000.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/9811942/Mike-Oldfield-Tubular-Bells-made-me-a-million-but-the-tax-bill-came-to-860000.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Mike Oldfield: 'Tubular Bells made me a million but the tax bill came to £860,000'|date=20 January 2013|work=The Telegraph|first=Sarah|last=Ewing|access-date=26 February 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

''Tubular Bells'' was released on 25 May 1973. Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments in the [[Overdubbing|multi-layered recording]], and its style moved through diverse musical genres. Its 2,760,000 UK sales puts it at No.&nbsp;42 on the list of the best-selling albums in the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=The best-selling albums of all time on the Official UK Chart |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-best-selling-albums-of-all-time-on-the-official-uk-chart__15551/ |website=Official Charts |date=11 April 2019 |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The title track became a top-10 hit single in the US after the opening was used in the film ''[[The Exorcist]]'' in 1973. It is today considered to be a forerunner of the [[New-age music|new-age music movement]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Patti Jean |last=Birosik |title=The New Age Music Guide |year=1989 |publisher=Collier MacMillan |page=138 |isbn=0-02-041640-7}}</ref>

====''Hergest Ridge'' to ''Incantations''====
In 1974, Oldfield played the guitar on the critically acclaimed album ''[[Rock Bottom (album)|Rock Bottom]]'' by [[Robert Wyatt]].

In late 1974, his follow-up LP, ''[[Hergest Ridge (album)|Hergest Ridge]]'', was No.&nbsp;1 in the UK for three weeks before being dethroned by ''Tubular Bells''. Although ''Hergest Ridge'' was released over a year after ''Tubular Bells'', it reached No.&nbsp;1 first. ''Tubular Bells'' spent 11 weeks (10 of them consecutive) at No.&nbsp;2 before its one week at the top. Like ''Tubular Bells'', ''Hergest Ridge'' is a two-movement instrumental piece, this time evoking scenes from Oldfield's [[Herefordshire]] country retreat. It was followed in 1975 by the pioneering [[world music]] piece ''[[Ommadawn]]'' released after the death of his mother, Maureen.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amadian.net/biography1.htm |title=''Amadian - The Mike Oldfield Biography (II)'' website |access-date=26 January 2015 |archive-date=24 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124155547/http://www.amadian.net/biography1.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1975, Oldfield recorded a version of the Christmas piece "[[In Dulci Jubilo (Mike Oldfield)|In Dulci Jubilo]]" which charted at No.&nbsp;4 in the UK.

In 1975, Oldfield received a [[Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition|Grammy award for Best Instrumental Composition]] in "Tubular Bells – Theme from ''The Exorcist''".

In 1976, Oldfield and his sister joined his friend and band member [[Pekka Pohjola]] to play on his album ''[[Mathematician's Air Display]]'', which was released in 1977. The album was recorded and edited at Oldfield's Througham Slad Manor in [[Gloucestershire]] by Oldfield and Paul Lindsay. Oldfield's 1976 rendition of "[[Portsmouth (Mike Oldfield single)|Portsmouth]]" remains his best-performing single on the [[UK Singles Chart]], reaching No.&nbsp;3.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.everyhit.com|title=Mike Oldfield – "Portsmouth"|publisher=EveryHit|access-date=8 July 2010}}</ref>

Oldfield recorded the double album ''[[Incantations (album)|Incantations]]'' between December 1977 and September 1978. This introduced more diverse choral performances from [[Sally Oldfield]], [[Maddy Prior]] and the [[Queen's College, London|Queen's College]] Girls Choir. When it was released on 1 December 1978, the album went to No. 14 in the UK and reached platinum certification for 300,000 copies sold.

In 1979, Oldfield supported ''Incantations'' with a European tour that spanned 21 dates between March and May 1979. The tour was documented with the live album and concert film, ''[[Exposed (Mike Oldfield album)|Exposed]]''. Initially marketed as a limited pressing of 100,000 copies, the strength of sales for the album were strong enough for Virgin to abandon the idea shortly after, transferring it to regular production.<ref name=G97/> During the tour Oldfield released the disco-influenced non-album single "[[Guilty (Mike Oldfield instrumental)|Guilty]]", for which he went to New York City to find the best session musicians and write a song with them in mind. He wrote a chord chart for the song and presented it to the group, who completed it in the studio.<ref name=TS12/> Released in April 1979, the song went to No. 22 in the UK and Oldfield performed the song on the national television show ''[[Top of the Pops]]''.

Oldfield's music was used for the score of ''[[The Space Movie]]'' (1980), a [[Virgin Films]] production that celebrated the tenth anniversary of the [[Apollo 11]] mission.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mikeoldfieldspacemoviedvd.com/|title=''The Space Movie'' website|access-date=25 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100517093522/http://mikeoldfieldspacemoviedvd.com/|archive-date=17 May 2010}}</ref> In 1979, he recorded a version of [[Blue Peter (instrumental)|the signature tune]] for the BBC children's television programme ''[[Blue Peter]]'', which was used by the show for 10 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newtalent/under_16/showcase_bp.shtml |title=Blue Peter's theme tune |publisher=BBC New Talent |date=April 2007 |access-date=20 June 2010}}</ref>

====''Platinum'' to ''Heaven's Open''====
Oldfield's fifth album, ''[[Platinum (Mike Oldfield album)|Platinum]]'', was released in November 1979 and marked the start of his transition from long compositions towards mainstream and pop music. Oldfield performed across Europe between April and December 1980 with the [[In Concert 1980]] tour.

In 1980, Oldfield released ''[[QE2 (album)|QE2]]'', named after the [[Queen Elizabeth 2|ocean liner]], which features a variety of guest musicians including [[Phil Collins]] on drums. This was followed by the European Adventure Tour 1981, during which Oldfield accepted an invitation to perform at a free concert celebrating the [[Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer|wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana]] in [[Guildhall]]. He wrote a new track, "Royal Wedding Anthem", for the occasion.<ref name=G97/>

His next album, ''[[Five Miles Out]]'', followed in March 1982, with the 24-minute track "Taurus II" occupying the whole of side one. The Five Miles Out World Tour 1982 saw Oldfield perform from April to December of that year. ''[[Crises (Mike Oldfield album)|Crises]]'' saw Oldfield continue the pattern of one long composition with shorter songs. The first single from the album, "[[Moonlight Shadow]]", with [[Maggie Reilly]] on vocals, became Oldfield's most successful single, reaching No. 4 in the UK<ref name=G97/> and No. 1 in nine other countries. The subsequent Crises Tour in 1983 concluded with a concert at [[Wembley Arena]] to commemorate the tenth anniversary of ''Tubular Bells''. The next album, ''[[Discovery (Mike Oldfield album)|Discovery]]'', continues with this trend, being the first single "[[To France]]" and subsequent Discovery Tour 1984.

Oldfield later turned to film and video, writing [[The Killing Fields (album)|the score]] for [[Roland Joffé]]'s acclaimed film ''[[The Killing Fields (movie)|The Killing Fields]]'' and producing substantial video footage for his album ''[[Islands (Mike Oldfield album)|Islands]]''. ''Islands'' continued what Oldfield had been doing on the past couple of albums, with an instrumental piece on one side and rock/pop singles on the other. Of these, "[[Islands (Mike Oldfield song)|Islands]]", sung by [[Bonnie Tyler]] and "[[Magic Touch (Mike Oldfield song)|Magic Touch]]", with vocals by [[Max Bacon]] (in the US version) and [[Glasgow]] vocalist Jim Price (Southside Jimmy) in the rest of the world,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southsidejimmy.co.uk/site/pages/biog.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705163422/http://www.southsidejimmy.co.uk/site/pages/biog.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=5 July 2008 |title=Southside Jimmy Biography |publisher=Southside Jimmy |access-date=2 November 2008}}</ref> were the major hits. In the US "Magic Touch" reached the top 10 on the [[Billboard charts|Billboard album rock charts]] in 1988. During the 1980s, Oldfield's then-partner, Norwegian singer [[Anita Hegerland]], contributed vocals to many songs including "[[Pictures in the Dark]]".

Released in July 1989, ''[[Earth Moving]]'' features seven vocalists across the album's nine tracks.<ref name=G97/> It is Oldfield's first to consist solely of rock and pop songs, several of which were released as singles: "[[Innocent (Mike Oldfield song)|Innocent]]" and "[[(One Glance Is) Holy|Holy]]" in Europe and "Hostage" in the US.

For his next instrumental album, Virgin insisted that Oldfield use the title ''Tubular Bells 2''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=20 May 2013|title=How we made: Richard Branson and Mike Oldfield on Tubular Bells|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/may/20/how-we-made-tubular-bells|access-date=12 October 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Oldfield's rebellious response was ''[[Amarok (Mike Oldfield album)|Amarok]]'', an hour-long work featuring rapidly changing themes, unpredictable bursts of noise and a hidden [[Morse code]] insult, stating "Fuck off RB", allegedly directed at [[Richard Branson|Branson]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/mar/20/mike-oldfield-interview-tubular-bells-drugs |title=Mike Oldfield: 'We wouldn't have had Tubular Bells without drugs' |newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 March 2014 |access-date=2 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://tubular.net/faq/ |title=FAQ |publisher=Tubular.net |access-date=26 October 2013}}</ref> Oldfield did everything in his power to make it impossible to make extracts and Virgin returned the favour by barely promoting the album.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mikeoldfield.org/amarok |title=Amarok |date=18 April 2013 |publisher=Dark Star Magazine |access-date=23 May 2020}}</ref>

in February 1991, Oldfield released his final album for Virgin, ''[[Heaven's Open]]'', under the name "Michael Oldfield". It marks the first time he handles all lead vocals. In 2013, Oldfield invited Branson to the opening of St. Andrew's International School of The Bahamas, where two of Oldfield's children were pupils. This was the occasion of the debut of ''Tubular Bells for Schools'', a piano solo adaptation of Oldfield's work.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tribune242.com/news/2013/oct/21/famous-faces-for-bahamas-debut-of-tubular-bells/ |title=Famous faces for Bahamas debut of Tubular Bells for Schools |publisher=Tribune 242 |date=21 October 2013 |access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref>