Tubular what?!

There can't be many artists that launched a major reccord label; OK I suppose there were if I bothered to research it more but Mike Oldfield did give a hell of a kick start to Virgin Records with what has become a seminal album of the early 70's.  Both lauded and critisized at the time (and probably even now); there was very much a 'What the....?' at the time.  But after all this time and listening to it more times than I can remember I still think it stands as one of the all time great recordings at one of the great 'turning points' in musical history.

I was at University when I first saw Mr. Oldfield, a 16 year old playing with his sister Sally as the duo 'The Sallyangie'.  I had their album and had pursuaded a few friends to attend the gig in our rather small union building events room in the middle of a roundabout by Tower Hill Station in London.  We were about the only ones in the audience but whatever anyone thought about the group, we were all blown away by the skill of this young guitarist. 

So apart from his stints with various bands over the 2 years since leaving Sallyangie (including Kevin Ayers and Edgar Broughton), the appearance of Tubular Bells in 1971 came as a kind of bolt out of the blue; very little like it had been heard of in the popular music cannon, a kind of modern clssical record.  But one which quickly gathered an ardent band of fans, myself included; here was this still under-20 musician showing expertise on a wide range of stringed and keyboard instruments and producing an album that really did stand out from the rest at the time.

Thus started my life-long apprecation and collection of his music, and, yes, not all were that 'good' for my tastes (Amarok for instance) but often coming up with real gems.  Long may he last..... and thank you Richard for taking the chance!