![]() | This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
![]() | This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||
|
>>> The article states "The opening theme, which was eventually chosen for the 1973 film The Exorcist, gained the record considerable publicity and is how many people have probably first heard the work." Does 99.99999999999% constitute "many"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.67.104.4 ( talk) 16:52, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
That's not "Plus tubular bells" (classic cut-n-pasted miscreant misquote), that's not "Glass tubular bells" (though sounding close), please listen to the actual track at 22:50-55 before changing this: brass... tubular... bells!
Well, I've listened to the actual track, and the 2003 version with John Cleese as MC and it seems to me that it's "Plus... tubular bells". Furthermore, in the discography by Richard Carter hosted at mikeoldfield.org it says "Plus", and it seems a quite reliable source. Whadayathink? :)
I agree with the above. I've listened to it and I can't hear it being anything else than "Plus". Also, due to the evidence of the 2003 version as well as that website which is, to my knowledge, one of the best sources of accurate information on Mike Oldfield, that the main article should be edited to show this. Bennity 02:43, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
Of course it's "plus"!NH 78.147.153.185 ( talk) 17:38, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
According to my knowledge, Mike Oldfield tried to sell the first version of Tubular Bells to different music labels, but all refused to release it. When he met Richard Branson, Branson decided, together with Nik Powell that they will take the chance to publish the record, because they were convinced, that this could be sold successfully. This record was the economical basis for Virgin Records and Bransons further business success story. Could anyone confirm or correct this or it this just a myth? Floridaadler 09:21, 21 Febuary 2006 (UTC)
The timeline is somewhat different. The album was recorded in Richard Branson's Studio, The Manor. Mike Oldfield took up residence there and recorded as and when there was available down time in the sudio. This allowed him to record it without any backer to pay for the costs. When the Album failed to attract interest from established record labels, Branson decided to release it as the first Virgin Records Album. But Branson essentially mentored Mike Oldfield and provided the support for him to create, reherse and record in the studio. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.155.245.106 ( talk) 23:41, 20 January 2018 (UTC)
Floridaadler, you´re right in that this recording became the basis of the virgin empire, at least in the beginning. But they weren´t too convinced that it would be succesful, and after they recorded it they tried to sell it to a music label at the MIDEM in Cannes, being only Mercury Records (the one mike is with now) interested on it, but requiring mike to add vocals on it.
They didn´t like it, so Branson thought that, as he already had considered to launch virgin music stores' own label, that could be its first album. But without too much hope on it...
Geltrú.
I didn't think it was called virgin music stores until after Virgin Records became successful - the name Virgin records comes from it being a label for "virgin" artists - i.e. artists that haven't had record deals before. They didn't stick to this, but AFAIK, that was the origin of the name, and it just stuck. The significance of this album for the Virgin empire is significant enough that the airline has named an aircraft after it [ Tubular Belle].
Also, shouldn't "Tublar Bells (edit)" be mentioned, which was released as a single.
Rjmunro 14:50, 14 September 2006 (UTC)
It has been mentioned in many bios', and by Oldfield himself, that the original title of the piece was "Opus 1" and in fact in his original home recording there were no tubular bells. Shouldn't this be noted in the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.255.249.210 ( talk) 10:44, 3 March 2010 (UTC)
"The demos comprised three shorter melodies ... and a longer piece he had provisionally titled "Opus One."but there is then a narrative that provides the explanation. There is no explanation of "which part of TB" Opus One became but, as Halmyre suggest above, it may be hard to determine this, but it's probably most of Part 1. No more to offer here, sorry. Martinevans123 ( talk) 22:33, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
One piece has a series of lyrics that sounds like they're sung in Klingon. I would certainly welcome a discussion on this matter; the current article fails to mention it entirely.
-- Pjf 04:58, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
The vocal passage that you are referring to in Part Two is indeed discussed here. These vocals by Mike are credited as "Piltdown Man".
EPC
This is what sounds like "shuggah wah nath dog wah now!" This is clearly a part of the influence of the music being included in the soundtrack of the Exorcist, IMHO. The book calls for the girl to scream blasphemies, which could not be played and accepted by very many listeners. The fact that it says "dog" is clear evidence that it is backward-masked English for God. I have Adobe Audition, which allows reverse playing; I have heard the "Hidden Message" in Pink Floyd's "Empty Spaces". I will have to load in Tubular Bells, reverse it, and see if I can give a transcription here. Nirigihimu 18:18, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
"I wanna fuck (hush!?)" repeated about 4x; the hush also sounds as if it could be "wash", "Elvis", and "boys", or all four, in that order. "Hush, hush, hush" or whatever about 3 times, howls and screams, "I wanna fuck, I wanna fuck!" more howls and screams "Hush, hush, hush!" howls and screams. I did not find any mention of the name of Jesus, which is the in the book by Wm. Peter Blatty. Have a nice day! Nirigihimu 19:47, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
I can't believe none of you have tried listening to that section backwards. Piltdown Man is almost perfectly intelligible if you play it in reverse. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.92.57.196 ( talk) 11:39, 20 March 2010 (UTC)
This needs to be handled better somehow:
Can someone please a) find a reference, and b) improve how this info is incorporated in the article? As it stands it's bad form. 18.173.1.42 15:37, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
In the UK, a copy of the original studio recording of this album was given away with the Mail on Sunday on 22 April 2007. 217.43.197.166 12:17, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
Actually, the first part is not entirely in 7/8. Let's say every note played is 1/16th, then it is 7/16 - 7/16 - 7/16 - 9/16. Listen closely, after 3 repeats of the 7/16 riff, it is repeated with two additional notes, making it 30/16 altogether. Of course, if every played note counts as 1/32nd then we would have 30/32 altogether, which reads better. I will correct this soon. Regards, 84.56.125.45 08:29, 24 April 2007 (UTC) MikeB
I agree with this reading - (3 x 7) + (1 x 9) - it all adds up to 30 which gives 15/8, but 7 + 8 is not the 'feel' that I hear, rather, 3 'shorts' + 1 long...i.e. (4 + 3) + (4 + 3) + (4 + 3) + (4 + 2 + 3)...comments please?
The first bar is actually in 7/8 then a bar of 8/8. Which overall is 15/8. Mike explains this on page 111 of his Autobiography, Changeling. Mankind 2k 16:33, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
la-mi-si-mi-sol-la-mi do-mi-re-mi-si-do-mi (7/8) + si-mi-la-mi-si-mi-sol-la mi-do-mi-re-mi-si-do-mi (4/4)
Horacio Aguilar
23:42, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
MikeB has it correct. Find the sheet music and the guitar tabs and you'll see. Though I've seen it quoted as 7/8 7/8 7/8 9/8. The fact that it adds up to "30" as someone says above, makes sense I guess for the "15/8" argument, but yeah if you listen to all four bars, the last one certainly has an extra beat in there so I'd argue for the 9/8 change. The leading note will fool you, so don't forget to put the leading note in the previous measure when you are counting :). User:feelie75 5:53am, 16 Sep 2006 (UTC)
Was Trevor Key really inspired by Magritte's "Castle in the Pyrenees" or is it just very similar? They are almost identical, but i have found no real references for it. Anyone know for sure? Mankind 2k 16:28, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
Wow, lets fuck up wikipedia with lame dhtml - why the hell is there suddenly a "contents" field floating over the text (bad design that is why) hopefully this will go away and a return to proper normal html will be seen.
Magma drummer/leader Christian Vander claims that Oldfield had listened to Magma record before he wrote the album, and that Oldfield stole some of Magma's music in Tubular Bells. He has stated so in several interviews, such as I have reproduced below: "A man called Mike Oldfield did steal my music - to be more precise, extracts from "Mekanik" and "La Dawotsin". When we recorded "Mekanik Kommandoh" in 1972, Oldfield was waiting for recording "Tubular bells", which is in fact an extract from my music. I played this music for him, without guessing that h would steal it for him." Source: http://members.aol.com/sleeplessz/batmag.htm
Perhaps this could be incorporated into a Controversy section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.84.181.248 ( talk) 08:46, August 28, 2007 (UTC)
I feel that this article's intro section should be entirely rewritten to more generalize the content of the article. It should say at least SOMEthing about the influence this album has had on the music industry. Tubularbells1993 ( talk) 19:22, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
bumting maytee ;)
The opening part was also used, I believe, in a commercial for Esso in the mid-70's. It featured a tiger romping through deep snow in slow motion. Probably a lot of people in England heard the piece via this commercial before The Exorcist ever came out... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.128.193 ( talk) 08:03, 22 August 2010 (UTC)
The current text reads, in part:
The single was released only in the US, where it peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on May 11, 1974, making Oldfield a One Hit Wonder on the US charts.
I purchased the single in Canada when it was first released, and it was identical to the U.S. version. The above text should perhaps be altered to read "only released in the US and Canada." Comments welcome. The News Hound 12:47, 9 November 2011 (UTC)
Most of this article now reads like a bad essay for music theory class or something! The is wikipedia! No original research please! 67.190.86.13 ( talk) 19:37, 7 April 2012 (UTC)
The first version of Tubular Bells that I ever heard was on vinyl with the length of each side printed on the record. This was a used copy that I heard in 1979 or 1980. It contained a piano solo before the Sailor's Hornpipe section. The piano solo disappeared from later editions (which also removed the times for each side). However, the piano solo later re-appeared elsewhere as "The Theme from Cosmos" credited to Vangelis. Does anyone know the story behind the disappearing piano solo? It would be great if an explanation could be added to the Wikipedia entry. Kmarkus ( talk) 18:51, 20 April 2012 (UTC)
For those of you who don't know, Death Note is a very famous anime about a man who despises evil and founds a notebook who can kill persons if the name is written upon it. This series makes theme songs for almost every main character. One of the characters (called "L") has his own theme song which is strikingly similar to Tubular Bells. Should we put that on the article? Because is an incredible resemblance. I'll leave you a link to discuss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYqBjBNcvqs — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.204.39.210 ( talk) 15:08, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
Could 'You and Me' by SHM be included in the cover versions list? It is another happy hardcore song involving the original song's opening melody - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeL6Y7Dwad4#t=50 -- Arpaleggia ( talk) 15:48, 15 August 2012 (UTC)
In the list of instruments that MO played, it lists "Piltdown Man", but it links to the article about the fossil. Is this correct? 194.28.125.14 ( talk) 04:13, 26 September 2012 (UTC)
In NYC during the late 1980's and early 1990's there was a mime who performed every Sunday (perhaps other days as well but unbeknownst to us) in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue, (80th to 84th Street), using Tubular Bells as his musical theme. It was about a 15 minute performance that he would repeat over the course of the day. He was quite good - very dramatic and mysterious - dressed head-to-toe in white, as I recall - with that eerie ethereal TB music piping forth from his portable CD player. My young son and I made that visit practically every Sunday and we were transfixed by that performance. I would love to get a message to him - wherever he is now - that he is fondly and pleasantly remembered. Hperess ( talk) 05:33, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
I don't feel that this review is worthy of a link, as it is obvious to me that Christgau didn't listen to more than 5 minutes of TB before writing the review. Of course, I suppose it does balance the list of reviews somewhat. I'm just bothered by the obvious lack of effort on the reviewer's part. --| Uncle Milty | talk | 12:34, 4 June 2013 (UTC)
From the article: The newly founded Virgin Records released Oldfield's debut album Tubular Bells as its first album; hence the catalogue number V2001.
Um... why "2001"? If it was their first album, why not V1 or V0001 or something similar? The album was released nearly three decades before the year 2001, so that's not an explanation. But if this number is of some significance, then this statement does require some further explanation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.206.185.142 ( talk) 05:20, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
Hit #1 in Canada before any other country? AMCKen ( talk) 07:57, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
There are at least 6 versions of Tubular Bells on vinyl. This one is missing in the article: http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/QQ-bells.htm
There is also mix with the additional aircraft noise at the end of the album released on the picture disc, I have it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eder~plwiki ( talk • contribs) 16:14, 17 October 2016 (UTC)
I don't know if anybody apart from TubularWorld is really looking at this article on a regular basis, but looking ahead I think this ought to be a good candidate for GA. There's a lot of good information here already – it's the presentation and order of it that needs work, to my mind... just looking at the contents list makes my head hurt. I won't be able to get there for some months (maybe not for a year), but I have access to the British Library so I could probably get hold of old copies of NME, Melody Maker, etc. from 1973 and find if they have any original reviews of the album – a critical reception section seems to be the major thing that's missing. Any thoughts or suggestions? Richard3120 ( talk) 01:47, 3 August 2016 (UTC)
@ Richard3120: I can't remember why I was talking about this with somebody the other day (probably something to do with "guitars sounding like bagpipes"), but I've done a bit more work on the article. I still think it needs a bit of a trim in places, and we need more sources, but it's finally coming together for a GA. One sticking point, the BBC4 documentary is probably one of the best sources we can get, but unless it's been released commercially or is available for anyone to watch at any point, I have a nagging doubt it falls foul of our verifiability policies. I just tried to access it on the BBC website, but it's not available. You can get, er, "other" versions on YouTube but that's also problematic. I can't remember the specifics. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 00:14, 17 April 2018 (UTC)
Reference to "Jeff Leig (flute)".... this should be 'Geoff Leigh" surely? Of Henry Cow fame - the flautist/sax player who joined the rest of H Cow to back Oldfield on early performances - inc the 1973 BBC broadcast. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.147.59.129 ( talk) 18:48, 27 November 2016 (UTC)
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:
You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. — Community Tech bot ( talk) 07:52, 7 September 2020 (UTC)
I've been binge-watching The Exorcist recently. It had been a while since I'd seen it, and the first few times through I was really surprised by how Tubular Bells is NOT a major presence in the film. In my memory, it was playing as Father Merrin arrives at the MacNeil home, bathed in that shaft of light. But in reality it plays for a few moments as Ellen Burstyn walks through a sunny Georgetown afternoon, and in the background on two or three other very brief instances. Anyhow... after thinking of it as "the Exorcist theme" since I was a teenager I'm now curious as to how what is - at most - a few moments of incidental music became one of the most iconic musical themes in movie history. PurpleChez ( talk) 03:30, 22 April 2021 (UTC)
Purely from memory, I read a long time ago that director William Friedkin, was having trouble getting suitable music from the composer, Lalo Schifrin, and Friedkin went and got a copy of Tubular Bells and played the intro to Schifrin, saying that he wanted "something like this". Whether Schifrin retorted "Well why don't you just use that?" I really can't remember but the important thing is that TB had already been released and Friedkin heard a copy. This is backed up by this quote from Friedkin from the "Dangerous Minds" website:
"After listening to and discarding everything after a few bars, I came across a track called “Tubular Bells” by someone named Mike Oldfield on a new label in England, Virgin Records. After the opening motif, which I found haunting, the rest of the track was a kind of demonstration of the sound made by various bells. But, that opening motif, it was perfect." 89.241.206.185 ( talk) 14:35, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
Earlier versions of article had info about 2009 editions https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Tubular_Bells&oldid=1046820232#Track_listing — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.22.35.71 ( talk) 15:07, 18 December 2021 (UTC)
Was the amount of instruments (28) a record in itself for Mike oldfield during the making of tubular bells Nicolausbovill72 ( talk) 09:47, 25 September 2023 (UTC)
Tubular Bells was also remade by the 80’s Goth-Synth band Book Of Love. 2601:645:E7E:1250:24CB:4FE9:BEA:3D3E ( talk) 03:40, 4 June 2024 (UTC)
![]() | This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus. |
![]() | This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||
|
>>> The article states "The opening theme, which was eventually chosen for the 1973 film The Exorcist, gained the record considerable publicity and is how many people have probably first heard the work." Does 99.99999999999% constitute "many"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.67.104.4 ( talk) 16:52, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
That's not "Plus tubular bells" (classic cut-n-pasted miscreant misquote), that's not "Glass tubular bells" (though sounding close), please listen to the actual track at 22:50-55 before changing this: brass... tubular... bells!
Well, I've listened to the actual track, and the 2003 version with John Cleese as MC and it seems to me that it's "Plus... tubular bells". Furthermore, in the discography by Richard Carter hosted at mikeoldfield.org it says "Plus", and it seems a quite reliable source. Whadayathink? :)
I agree with the above. I've listened to it and I can't hear it being anything else than "Plus". Also, due to the evidence of the 2003 version as well as that website which is, to my knowledge, one of the best sources of accurate information on Mike Oldfield, that the main article should be edited to show this. Bennity 02:43, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
Of course it's "plus"!NH 78.147.153.185 ( talk) 17:38, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
According to my knowledge, Mike Oldfield tried to sell the first version of Tubular Bells to different music labels, but all refused to release it. When he met Richard Branson, Branson decided, together with Nik Powell that they will take the chance to publish the record, because they were convinced, that this could be sold successfully. This record was the economical basis for Virgin Records and Bransons further business success story. Could anyone confirm or correct this or it this just a myth? Floridaadler 09:21, 21 Febuary 2006 (UTC)
The timeline is somewhat different. The album was recorded in Richard Branson's Studio, The Manor. Mike Oldfield took up residence there and recorded as and when there was available down time in the sudio. This allowed him to record it without any backer to pay for the costs. When the Album failed to attract interest from established record labels, Branson decided to release it as the first Virgin Records Album. But Branson essentially mentored Mike Oldfield and provided the support for him to create, reherse and record in the studio. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.155.245.106 ( talk) 23:41, 20 January 2018 (UTC)
Floridaadler, you´re right in that this recording became the basis of the virgin empire, at least in the beginning. But they weren´t too convinced that it would be succesful, and after they recorded it they tried to sell it to a music label at the MIDEM in Cannes, being only Mercury Records (the one mike is with now) interested on it, but requiring mike to add vocals on it.
They didn´t like it, so Branson thought that, as he already had considered to launch virgin music stores' own label, that could be its first album. But without too much hope on it...
Geltrú.
I didn't think it was called virgin music stores until after Virgin Records became successful - the name Virgin records comes from it being a label for "virgin" artists - i.e. artists that haven't had record deals before. They didn't stick to this, but AFAIK, that was the origin of the name, and it just stuck. The significance of this album for the Virgin empire is significant enough that the airline has named an aircraft after it [ Tubular Belle].
Also, shouldn't "Tublar Bells (edit)" be mentioned, which was released as a single.
Rjmunro 14:50, 14 September 2006 (UTC)
It has been mentioned in many bios', and by Oldfield himself, that the original title of the piece was "Opus 1" and in fact in his original home recording there were no tubular bells. Shouldn't this be noted in the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.255.249.210 ( talk) 10:44, 3 March 2010 (UTC)
"The demos comprised three shorter melodies ... and a longer piece he had provisionally titled "Opus One."but there is then a narrative that provides the explanation. There is no explanation of "which part of TB" Opus One became but, as Halmyre suggest above, it may be hard to determine this, but it's probably most of Part 1. No more to offer here, sorry. Martinevans123 ( talk) 22:33, 4 January 2020 (UTC)
One piece has a series of lyrics that sounds like they're sung in Klingon. I would certainly welcome a discussion on this matter; the current article fails to mention it entirely.
-- Pjf 04:58, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
The vocal passage that you are referring to in Part Two is indeed discussed here. These vocals by Mike are credited as "Piltdown Man".
EPC
This is what sounds like "shuggah wah nath dog wah now!" This is clearly a part of the influence of the music being included in the soundtrack of the Exorcist, IMHO. The book calls for the girl to scream blasphemies, which could not be played and accepted by very many listeners. The fact that it says "dog" is clear evidence that it is backward-masked English for God. I have Adobe Audition, which allows reverse playing; I have heard the "Hidden Message" in Pink Floyd's "Empty Spaces". I will have to load in Tubular Bells, reverse it, and see if I can give a transcription here. Nirigihimu 18:18, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
"I wanna fuck (hush!?)" repeated about 4x; the hush also sounds as if it could be "wash", "Elvis", and "boys", or all four, in that order. "Hush, hush, hush" or whatever about 3 times, howls and screams, "I wanna fuck, I wanna fuck!" more howls and screams "Hush, hush, hush!" howls and screams. I did not find any mention of the name of Jesus, which is the in the book by Wm. Peter Blatty. Have a nice day! Nirigihimu 19:47, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
I can't believe none of you have tried listening to that section backwards. Piltdown Man is almost perfectly intelligible if you play it in reverse. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.92.57.196 ( talk) 11:39, 20 March 2010 (UTC)
This needs to be handled better somehow:
Can someone please a) find a reference, and b) improve how this info is incorporated in the article? As it stands it's bad form. 18.173.1.42 15:37, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
In the UK, a copy of the original studio recording of this album was given away with the Mail on Sunday on 22 April 2007. 217.43.197.166 12:17, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
Actually, the first part is not entirely in 7/8. Let's say every note played is 1/16th, then it is 7/16 - 7/16 - 7/16 - 9/16. Listen closely, after 3 repeats of the 7/16 riff, it is repeated with two additional notes, making it 30/16 altogether. Of course, if every played note counts as 1/32nd then we would have 30/32 altogether, which reads better. I will correct this soon. Regards, 84.56.125.45 08:29, 24 April 2007 (UTC) MikeB
I agree with this reading - (3 x 7) + (1 x 9) - it all adds up to 30 which gives 15/8, but 7 + 8 is not the 'feel' that I hear, rather, 3 'shorts' + 1 long...i.e. (4 + 3) + (4 + 3) + (4 + 3) + (4 + 2 + 3)...comments please?
The first bar is actually in 7/8 then a bar of 8/8. Which overall is 15/8. Mike explains this on page 111 of his Autobiography, Changeling. Mankind 2k 16:33, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
la-mi-si-mi-sol-la-mi do-mi-re-mi-si-do-mi (7/8) + si-mi-la-mi-si-mi-sol-la mi-do-mi-re-mi-si-do-mi (4/4)
Horacio Aguilar
23:42, 27 May 2007 (UTC)
MikeB has it correct. Find the sheet music and the guitar tabs and you'll see. Though I've seen it quoted as 7/8 7/8 7/8 9/8. The fact that it adds up to "30" as someone says above, makes sense I guess for the "15/8" argument, but yeah if you listen to all four bars, the last one certainly has an extra beat in there so I'd argue for the 9/8 change. The leading note will fool you, so don't forget to put the leading note in the previous measure when you are counting :). User:feelie75 5:53am, 16 Sep 2006 (UTC)
Was Trevor Key really inspired by Magritte's "Castle in the Pyrenees" or is it just very similar? They are almost identical, but i have found no real references for it. Anyone know for sure? Mankind 2k 16:28, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
Wow, lets fuck up wikipedia with lame dhtml - why the hell is there suddenly a "contents" field floating over the text (bad design that is why) hopefully this will go away and a return to proper normal html will be seen.
Magma drummer/leader Christian Vander claims that Oldfield had listened to Magma record before he wrote the album, and that Oldfield stole some of Magma's music in Tubular Bells. He has stated so in several interviews, such as I have reproduced below: "A man called Mike Oldfield did steal my music - to be more precise, extracts from "Mekanik" and "La Dawotsin". When we recorded "Mekanik Kommandoh" in 1972, Oldfield was waiting for recording "Tubular bells", which is in fact an extract from my music. I played this music for him, without guessing that h would steal it for him." Source: http://members.aol.com/sleeplessz/batmag.htm
Perhaps this could be incorporated into a Controversy section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.84.181.248 ( talk) 08:46, August 28, 2007 (UTC)
I feel that this article's intro section should be entirely rewritten to more generalize the content of the article. It should say at least SOMEthing about the influence this album has had on the music industry. Tubularbells1993 ( talk) 19:22, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
bumting maytee ;)
The opening part was also used, I believe, in a commercial for Esso in the mid-70's. It featured a tiger romping through deep snow in slow motion. Probably a lot of people in England heard the piece via this commercial before The Exorcist ever came out... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.128.193 ( talk) 08:03, 22 August 2010 (UTC)
The current text reads, in part:
The single was released only in the US, where it peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on May 11, 1974, making Oldfield a One Hit Wonder on the US charts.
I purchased the single in Canada when it was first released, and it was identical to the U.S. version. The above text should perhaps be altered to read "only released in the US and Canada." Comments welcome. The News Hound 12:47, 9 November 2011 (UTC)
Most of this article now reads like a bad essay for music theory class or something! The is wikipedia! No original research please! 67.190.86.13 ( talk) 19:37, 7 April 2012 (UTC)
The first version of Tubular Bells that I ever heard was on vinyl with the length of each side printed on the record. This was a used copy that I heard in 1979 or 1980. It contained a piano solo before the Sailor's Hornpipe section. The piano solo disappeared from later editions (which also removed the times for each side). However, the piano solo later re-appeared elsewhere as "The Theme from Cosmos" credited to Vangelis. Does anyone know the story behind the disappearing piano solo? It would be great if an explanation could be added to the Wikipedia entry. Kmarkus ( talk) 18:51, 20 April 2012 (UTC)
For those of you who don't know, Death Note is a very famous anime about a man who despises evil and founds a notebook who can kill persons if the name is written upon it. This series makes theme songs for almost every main character. One of the characters (called "L") has his own theme song which is strikingly similar to Tubular Bells. Should we put that on the article? Because is an incredible resemblance. I'll leave you a link to discuss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYqBjBNcvqs — Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.204.39.210 ( talk) 15:08, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
Could 'You and Me' by SHM be included in the cover versions list? It is another happy hardcore song involving the original song's opening melody - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeL6Y7Dwad4#t=50 -- Arpaleggia ( talk) 15:48, 15 August 2012 (UTC)
In the list of instruments that MO played, it lists "Piltdown Man", but it links to the article about the fossil. Is this correct? 194.28.125.14 ( talk) 04:13, 26 September 2012 (UTC)
In NYC during the late 1980's and early 1990's there was a mime who performed every Sunday (perhaps other days as well but unbeknownst to us) in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue, (80th to 84th Street), using Tubular Bells as his musical theme. It was about a 15 minute performance that he would repeat over the course of the day. He was quite good - very dramatic and mysterious - dressed head-to-toe in white, as I recall - with that eerie ethereal TB music piping forth from his portable CD player. My young son and I made that visit practically every Sunday and we were transfixed by that performance. I would love to get a message to him - wherever he is now - that he is fondly and pleasantly remembered. Hperess ( talk) 05:33, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
I don't feel that this review is worthy of a link, as it is obvious to me that Christgau didn't listen to more than 5 minutes of TB before writing the review. Of course, I suppose it does balance the list of reviews somewhat. I'm just bothered by the obvious lack of effort on the reviewer's part. --| Uncle Milty | talk | 12:34, 4 June 2013 (UTC)
From the article: The newly founded Virgin Records released Oldfield's debut album Tubular Bells as its first album; hence the catalogue number V2001.
Um... why "2001"? If it was their first album, why not V1 or V0001 or something similar? The album was released nearly three decades before the year 2001, so that's not an explanation. But if this number is of some significance, then this statement does require some further explanation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.206.185.142 ( talk) 05:20, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
Hit #1 in Canada before any other country? AMCKen ( talk) 07:57, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
There are at least 6 versions of Tubular Bells on vinyl. This one is missing in the article: http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/QQ-bells.htm
There is also mix with the additional aircraft noise at the end of the album released on the picture disc, I have it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eder~plwiki ( talk • contribs) 16:14, 17 October 2016 (UTC)
I don't know if anybody apart from TubularWorld is really looking at this article on a regular basis, but looking ahead I think this ought to be a good candidate for GA. There's a lot of good information here already – it's the presentation and order of it that needs work, to my mind... just looking at the contents list makes my head hurt. I won't be able to get there for some months (maybe not for a year), but I have access to the British Library so I could probably get hold of old copies of NME, Melody Maker, etc. from 1973 and find if they have any original reviews of the album – a critical reception section seems to be the major thing that's missing. Any thoughts or suggestions? Richard3120 ( talk) 01:47, 3 August 2016 (UTC)
@ Richard3120: I can't remember why I was talking about this with somebody the other day (probably something to do with "guitars sounding like bagpipes"), but I've done a bit more work on the article. I still think it needs a bit of a trim in places, and we need more sources, but it's finally coming together for a GA. One sticking point, the BBC4 documentary is probably one of the best sources we can get, but unless it's been released commercially or is available for anyone to watch at any point, I have a nagging doubt it falls foul of our verifiability policies. I just tried to access it on the BBC website, but it's not available. You can get, er, "other" versions on YouTube but that's also problematic. I can't remember the specifics. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 00:14, 17 April 2018 (UTC)
Reference to "Jeff Leig (flute)".... this should be 'Geoff Leigh" surely? Of Henry Cow fame - the flautist/sax player who joined the rest of H Cow to back Oldfield on early performances - inc the 1973 BBC broadcast. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.147.59.129 ( talk) 18:48, 27 November 2016 (UTC)
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:
You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. — Community Tech bot ( talk) 07:52, 7 September 2020 (UTC)
I've been binge-watching The Exorcist recently. It had been a while since I'd seen it, and the first few times through I was really surprised by how Tubular Bells is NOT a major presence in the film. In my memory, it was playing as Father Merrin arrives at the MacNeil home, bathed in that shaft of light. But in reality it plays for a few moments as Ellen Burstyn walks through a sunny Georgetown afternoon, and in the background on two or three other very brief instances. Anyhow... after thinking of it as "the Exorcist theme" since I was a teenager I'm now curious as to how what is - at most - a few moments of incidental music became one of the most iconic musical themes in movie history. PurpleChez ( talk) 03:30, 22 April 2021 (UTC)
Purely from memory, I read a long time ago that director William Friedkin, was having trouble getting suitable music from the composer, Lalo Schifrin, and Friedkin went and got a copy of Tubular Bells and played the intro to Schifrin, saying that he wanted "something like this". Whether Schifrin retorted "Well why don't you just use that?" I really can't remember but the important thing is that TB had already been released and Friedkin heard a copy. This is backed up by this quote from Friedkin from the "Dangerous Minds" website:
"After listening to and discarding everything after a few bars, I came across a track called “Tubular Bells” by someone named Mike Oldfield on a new label in England, Virgin Records. After the opening motif, which I found haunting, the rest of the track was a kind of demonstration of the sound made by various bells. But, that opening motif, it was perfect." 89.241.206.185 ( talk) 14:35, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
Earlier versions of article had info about 2009 editions https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Tubular_Bells&oldid=1046820232#Track_listing — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.22.35.71 ( talk) 15:07, 18 December 2021 (UTC)
Was the amount of instruments (28) a record in itself for Mike oldfield during the making of tubular bells Nicolausbovill72 ( talk) 09:47, 25 September 2023 (UTC)
Tubular Bells was also remade by the 80’s Goth-Synth band Book Of Love. 2601:645:E7E:1250:24CB:4FE9:BEA:3D3E ( talk) 03:40, 4 June 2024 (UTC)