Helen of Troy may have been the face that launched a thousand ships, but Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells can be credited with launching innumerable crafts, starting with the original recording released on May 25, 1973. The album was in the top ten of the UK chart from March 1974 to 1975 and sold 2.7 million copies in the UK and 15 million worldwide. Shocker Headline: It’s been fifty years already. Time flies since those foggy afternoons in the red tartan suburban basement rec room in Burlington, Ontario. See now, I’ve already taken you from the sublime to the pedestrian. Let’s plod on.
I am not a musical scholar, and I won’t survey all the musical inspirations that spring from Oldfield’s revolutionary masterwork, but if you look around the internet, there are many fine souls who will. We will continue moving and stick to the high street.
Richard Branson. Tubular Bells was the first release that launched Virgin Records. Would there be a Branson as you know him today had he not done in 1973 what (I suppose) Branson does and just said yes to producing the album that was rejected by all the established record companies? Would there be Virgin Phones, Virgin Airlines, or Virgin spaceships? No comments on whether this is good or bad.
The Exorcist. A fairly scary film with dated special effects and some decent acting (I’m a fan of von Sydow) that people remember primarily for Linda Blair’s head spinning. Tubular Bells was not written for the film but without it, you’d never feel a chill from hearing its opening piano sequence and the film would be easily forgotten. As above, no comments allowed.
Mike Oldfield. Don’t misunderstand me – Oldfield is brilliant. But in 1973 he was a bit of a gloomy teen hiding in the garret and experimenting (as one does) with music and drugs. Branson called him “a bedroom genius” and tried to encourage him to stay on track with performances and publicity which Oldfield rejected. But the album succeeded anyway, giving its creator time to grow into his role as a renown composer. Now THAT is a good thing.
For me, the music has mystical qualities that speak more to folk (fairy) stories rather than to demonology. I incorporated Tubular Bells part 1 into my novel The Irish Within Us to highlight the significance of the moment and David’s fated role in it. When I considered the magical elements of bell, book and candle, I knew I had to have Tubular Bells. The music enchanted me out of that suburban basement and into the bigger world all those years ago. I think it has been on my mind for fifty years.
Finally, I’m kidding about the comments. Leave as many as you wish.
#theirishwithin us #tubularbells
C.A. Logan Author 