For  a man in his early twenties, the
possibilities   now   seem  virtually
limitess.'

With   these   words,  in  1975,  the
Guardian's  Rock critic summed up his
feelings  in  a review of 'Ommadawn',
convinced  that there was still a lot
of  music from a young player who had
already  given much.  'Tubural Bells'
under it's working title 'Opus I' set
the   direction  for  Mike  Oldfield,
establishing  him  as one of the most
creative and original of contemporary
composers.   But  the accuracy of the
Guardian's    judgement    has   been
thoroughly  underlined  by all of his
work source.

Born   on   the  25th  may,  1953  in
Reading, England, Mike Oldfield first
attrached attention at the age of 14,
alongside  his  sister  Sally  in the
folk  due  'Sallyangie'.   Even then,
however,   the  young  guitarist  was
interested  in  more complex forms of
expressions and he separated from his
sister    after    only    a    short
collaboration  to start his own band,
'Barefeet',   which   proved   to  be
equally  short-lived.   He found more
satisfying possibilities for artistic
expression  in  'Kevin  Ayers And The
Whole  World',  a  group he joined in
1969, originally as bassist.  In this
unit 'Soft Machine' founder Ayers had
gathered   together   such  radically
different  musicians as Robert Wyatt,
David  Bedford  and Lol Coxhill.  The
varied  talents  fo  this  eccentric,
colourful  troupe,  whose  repertoire
overturned   cliched  forms  of  rock
music  and  threw  in  smatterings of
jazz    and    minimalism,    had   a
considerable  influence on Oldfield's
later   solo   work.    The   Group's
archetypically   English   sense   of
humour  -  ranging  from whimsical to
iconoclastic    -    also   lingered.
Oldfield  left  Ayers' group in 1971,
working  mostly  as a studio musician
but  also  taking  time to develop an
idea he had sketched out - a piece of
music  that  wa destined to bring him
instant  worldwide  fame in 1973.  It
was 'Tubular Bells', a composition of
which  he  can  still justifiably say
today  ,  'I am very proud if it as a
piece  of  music  and always wil be.'
His  subsequent  releases,  with  the
same  degree  of  artistic intensity,
have   continued   to   reflect   his
restless  creativity,  his  shifts of
orientation   and  his  ever-maturing
musicianship.

On  extensive tours Mike Oldfield has
also presented his works live.  Among
the   most   spectacular   of   these
concerts   were   his   1983   London
Jubilee,   his   1979   debut   tour,
undertaken  with  an almost 50-strong
backing  band  and  the  London  live
premiere  of  'Tubular Bells' held in
June  1973  at  the  Queen  Elizabeth
Hall.   The  cast  assembled for that
first  public  perfomance  read  like
Who's    Who   of   the   progressive
underground  of  the  day.  Musicians
from  'Henry  Cow'  and  'Gong',  the
'Edgar  Broughton Band', Kevin Ayers,
'Bonzo  Dog' boss Viv Stanshall, Mick
Taylor (then a 'Rolling Stone', later
Dylan's  guitarist)  and  avant garde
composer David Bedford, all took part
in   this   event   that   made  rock
headlines.

Ten   years   later,  in  1983,  Mike
Oldfield  administered  the finishing
touches to a creative decade with the
memorable  'Crises'  concert  at  the
London  Wembley  Arena.   To mark his
jubilee   he  also  founded  his  own
record  label.   The first release on
'Oldfield  Music' presented an artist
whose  work  had  influenced Mike and
who   had   supported  him  from  the
beginning:  David Bedford.  His 'Star
Clusters',  'Nebuleae  and  Places in
Devon  / The Song Of The White Horse'
was issued in the summer of '83.

Since   then   Oldfield  has  focused
increasingly  on the possibilities of
electronic   sound   production.   He
built  up  his  'Discovery'  album by
harnessing technological potential of
the    'Fairlight'    computer    and
concurrently  composed the film score
for  'The Killing Fields' on which he
uncovered    exotic    harmonie   and
unorthodox   combinations  of  sound.
These  works  form the basis of a new
search  for  expressive  forms.   The
title 'Discovery' also had a symbolic
meaning  in  1984.   What  the future
holds  remains  to be seen, but there
is  still  no  limit in sight for all
those glimsed more than a decade ago.

Typed  from  cover  of the album 'The
Complete Mike Oldfield'.


 Fat Agnus/Reality