| Tubular Bells | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 25 May 1973 | |||
| Recorded | November 1972 – April 1973 | |||
| Studio | The Manor, Oxfordshire | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 49:18 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer |
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| Mike Oldfield chronology | ||||
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| Tubular Bells series chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Tubular Bells | ||||
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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.
Tubular Bells initially sold slowly, but gained worldwide attention in December 1973 when its opening theme was used for the soundtrack to the horror film The Exorcist. This led to a surge in sales which increased Oldfield's profile and played an important part in the growth of the Virgin Group. It stayed in the top ten of the UK Albums Chart for one year from March 1974, during which it reached number one for one week. It reached number three on the US Billboard 200, and number one in Canada and Australia. It has sold more than 2.7 million copies in the UK, and an estimated 15 million copies worldwide.
An orchestral version produced by David Bedford was released in 1975 as The Orchestral Tubular Bells. It was followed by the albums Tubular Bells II (1992), Tubular Bells III (1998), The Millennium Bell (1999), and a re-recorded version, Tubular Bells 2003, for its 30th anniversary. A remastered edition was released in 2009. In 2010, Tubular Bells was one of ten classic album covers from British artists commemorated on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail. Its contribution to British music was recognised when Oldfield played extracts during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London.
- ^ Hardy, Phil (1995). The Da Capo Companion to 20th-century Popular Music. Da Capo Press. p. 705. ISBN 978-0-306-80640-7.
The album became a progressive rock sensation in Britain, where it remained on the charts for nearly five years and in America, where its success was aided by the inclusion of extracts on the soundtrack of The Exorcist (1973).
- ^ Donnelly, Kevin J. (2002). Pop Music in British Cinema: A Chronicle. British Film Institute. p. 61. ISBN 0-8517-0863-3.
- ^ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "Progressive Rock (And Simpler Pleasures)". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 363. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
- ^ Birosik, Patti Jean (1989). The New Age Music Guide. Collier MacMillan. p. 138. ISBN 0-02-041640-7.