{"id":463102,"date":"2026-05-27T19:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/463102\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T19:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:34:13","slug":"why-mike-oldfield-had-to-reinvent-himself-with-crises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/463102\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Mike Oldfield had to reinvent himself with Crises"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2021 Mike Oldfield <\/a>told Prog about his eighth album Crises, his satisfaction at returning to the charts after several years in the creative doldrums, and how the 1983 release took him back to his first musical love.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to Richard Branson, Virgin were looked on as a hippie label that wasn\u2019t really serious,\u201d says Mike Oldfield of his situation in 1977. \u201cI was their one hit artist, so they were feeling a little foolish, I suppose, and that\u2019s why they signed the punk acts and switched all their attention onto them. At the time Richard was quite a close friend \u2013 he was my manager as well \u2013 but I felt a little brushed under the carpet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It was a decade that many prog musicians had made their own; and few had done so as spectacularly as Oldfield. With 1973 debut Tubular Bells he\u2019d expanded musical possibilities for good, demonstrating that if an artist had the instrumental facility, they could \u2013 through overdubbing and more than a little inspiration \u2013 produce large-scale pieces almost entirely solo; in this case, one that sold vast amounts worldwide and almost single-handedly kept Virgin afloat.<\/p>\n

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Tubular Bells had been fresh, new and perfectly tuned to the zeitgeist. But four years down the line, progressive rock had done what no other popular musical movement had before \u2013 provoked an enormous backlash. The genre was under fire from punk rock and sections of the music press, which all coincided with Oldfield reaching something of a creative impasse.<\/p>\n

\u201cTubular Bells was fantastically successful and then Hergest Ridge (1974) was very successful; but on the back of Tubular Bells it got critically attacked. Ommadawn<\/a> (1975) was very well received critically and that sold pretty well, and then I had this Incantations album [1978], which took me three years \u2013 and my heart wasn\u2019t really in it, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Oldfield – Moonlight Shadow ft. Maggie Reilly – YouTube
\n\"Mike<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Oldfield was faced with both creative frustration and an industry in a state of flux. \u201cIn a way I had to reinvent myself,\u201d he admits. He participated in Exegesis \u2013 a form of alternative therapy involving rebirthing \u2013 travelled to New York to record and embarked on a number of tours, \u201ctossing the chips in the air to see where they would land.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new tack didn\u2019t yield instant results. With subsequent albums Platinum and QE2 featuring some less than convincing songs, cover versions of music by the likes of Gershwin and ABBA, and ill-advised, jocular excursions like the punk-folk instrumental Punkadiddle, Oldfield was in danger of heading into a creative cul-de-sac. But on Five Miles Out [1982] he balanced the 25-minute, largely instrumental Taurus II with shorter pieces, of which Family Man signalled an improvement in his songwriting.<\/p>\n

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He further refined his approach on 1983\u2019s Crises \u2013 not only was it artistically his best album since Ommadawn, it charted at Number 6, the highest position since the earlier album\u2019s Number 4, and yielded an international hit single with Moonlight Shadow. \u201cSuddenly I was popular with the record company again, with people going: \u2018Mike, Mike, hello! Where have you been?!\u2019\u201d he recalls, clearly amused at the memory.<\/p>\n

With another side-long instrumental title track and a group of shorter songs, Crises kept his original fans on board while appealing to a pop audience. But was he worried that in taking this approach he might fall between two stools? \u201cNo \u2013 I never think I\u2019d better do something because of this or because of that,\u201d he counters. \u201cIt just felt like the right thing to do at the time. I don\u2019t really make plans for things.<\/p>\n

\u201cI first started out making music in folk clubs when I was about 11 or 12. I used to write these little songs, they weren\u2019t very good at all, but then I would make long instrumentals on steel\u2013stringed acoustic guitar. So I have always had these two aspects: short songs and long instrumentals.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

Mike Oldfield – Shadow On The Wall – YouTube
\n\"Mike<\/p>\n

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The 20-minute title track weighs is formed from a number of sections. Did he have an idea of an overall structure when he began composing it? \u201cThere\u2019s usually a long period of coming up with little bits and then seeing how I could fit them together, with musical motifs that crop up throughout the piece, or a theme that links it all,\u201d he explains. \u201cI throw out a lot of ideas that don\u2019t even get to the drawing board.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I sit down and try and write something, it doesn\u2019t usually work out very well. But there are times when out of the blue a little tune, motif or harmonic progression will appear in my brain, and I\u2019ll go: \u2018Ah, thanks!\u2019 I\u2019ve likened it to receiving a cosmic email from someone, or some force. I suppose that\u2019s called inspiration, but I\u2019ve never really got to the bottom of it. I\u2019ve learned not to question it \u2013 just follow it if I get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I was remixing it I thought: \u2018Oh God, I\u2019ve got to listen to my voice.\u2019 But it wasn\u2019t that bad actually<\/p>\n

A new name appeared on the credits for the first time alongside Oldfield: the prodigiously talented drummer Simon Phillips<\/a>, who was originally drafted in as a session player, but who ended up with credits as assistant producer. Although he was new to working in the control room, he learned quickly and did a lot of the engineering when Oldfield overdubbed guitars or keyboards.<\/p>\n

Although Phillips wasn\u2019t involved compositionally, he did make his mark musically, particularly on the title track, which feels sleeker and better integrated than the similarly lengthy Taurus II on Five Miles Out. His drumming helps to knit the elements together, especially when playing his near-melodic tom-tom patterns with Oldfield\u2019s sequencers.<\/p>\n

Oldfield was not blessed with much of a voice, but on the title track his brief snatches of singing are urgent and effective, most notably on the \u2018Watcher in the tower\u2019 section. \u201cFunnily enough, when I was remixing it I was dreading that, as I thought: \u2018Oh God, I\u2019ve got to listen to my voice.\u2019 But it wasn\u2019t that bad actually \u2013 it sounds alright,\u201d he concedes.<\/p>\n

Crises (Remastered 2013) – YouTube
\n\"Crises<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

But if some of his previous songs had come across as a tad self-effacing and a bit like makeweights, the songs on Crises sound more fully realised and far more confident \u2013 particularly the single Moonlight Shadow. After a long pause, Oldfield responds: \u201cThey ended up like that, but they didn\u2019t start off like that,\u201d he explains. \u201cFor example, Moonlight Shadow \u2013 I got the musicians together, scribbled out some chords and said: \u2018Here you go, boys, let\u2019s play this,\u2019 and bashed out this backing track that sounded marvellous straight off.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I thought: \u2018What is it? Is it an instrumental? Is it a song? What should I do with it?\u2019 Something in me thought it would make a great song, but then I had to think of lyrics and a singer.\u201d He invited Hazel O\u2019Connor to write her own words and have a go at singing, but it wasn\u2019t quite what he wanted. After thinking it over for months, he booked Maggie Reilly, who\u2019d sung on Family Man on Five Miles Out for a session, and forced himself to come up with lyrics.<\/p>\n

Maggie Reilly wanted to sing it as a rock song. And I thought that wasn\u2019t going to work<\/p>\n

\u201cI sat down one night with a lovely bottle of Chateau Latour, a rhyming dictionary, thesaurus, pen and pad,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThe first thing that came into my mind was that it was night; there had to be \u2018moon\u2019 in it. The Moon was making shadows of the trees and I thought, \u2018Alright, I\u2018ll have some of that in.\u2019 Ideas and phrases and words poured out in a great big mixture onto the pad, and I started fitting them together. At about five o\u2019clock in the morning I had something that looked like a reasonable song.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaggie turned up next day. She wanted to sing it out in a soulful way \u2013 belt it out as rock song. And I thought that wasn\u2019t going to work, so I put the mic up very close to her mouth and said: \u2018Maggie, just whisper it, like you\u2019re whispering in someone\u2019s ear,\u2019 which she\u2019d never done before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, when Oldfield was putting on his guitar solos, he and Phillips agreed that there should be two: one clean, and one that should sound \u201calmost like a saxophone.\u201d Then after an all-night mixing session, the song was finally complete. Moonlight Shadow reached Number 4 in the UK and Number 1 in many European countries. \u201cI\u2019m pleased with all the work that went into it,\u201d says Oldfield, \u201cbecause it was successful and it still sounds very good today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Oldfield – Crime Of Passion ft. Barry Palmer – YouTube
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Reilly also sings on the seductive, cyclical melody of Foreign Affair, again with a light touch. The one instrumental on the second side is the concise but flamboyant acoustic guitar-based instrumental, Taurus 3. Jon Anderson<\/a> helped create another highlight with In High Places; having left Yes<\/a> and already achieving success with Vangelis<\/a>, he was looking for other collaborations, and got in touch with Oldfield \u2013 who recalls that the song was put together in a completely different way to Moonlight Shadow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just around the time I was doing The Killing Fields<\/a> soundtrack. It was at Jon\u2019s house in Kensington and Vangelis was there \u2013 he\u2019d just done Chariots Of Fire with David Puttnam, who was now working on The Killing Fields, so I was able to pick his brains about technical things in film music, like syncing up.<\/p>\n

Roger Chapman belted it out and it made your hair stand up. It became a sort of anthem in the Eastern Bloc before the Berlin Wall came down<\/p>\n

\u201cI had another bit of backing track which I thought could make a song and Jon took it off on a cassette and wrote some lyrics. Simon and I flew off to Paris in the morning to record \u2013 Jon was a tax exile at the time \u2013 and flew back late at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other outstanding vocal performance is by Roger Chapman<\/a>, formerly of Family, and by then leading The Shortlist. Oldfield had recorded another backing track at the same time as Moonlight Shadow, but he had a far more concrete idea of what to do with it. He\u2018d been reading about the subjugation of the Polish trade union Solidarity and its leader, Lech Walesa. Having travelled a lot in Germany and the rest of Europe, Oldfield had experienced the stark contrast between the Iron Curtain countries and the West, all of which inspired the song Shadow On The Wall.<\/p>\n

Oldfield had auditioned for Family after leaving Kevin Ayers in 1971, but although he didn\u2019t get the job, he remembered some encouraging words and \u201cgood vibes\u201d from Chapman. \u201cHe belted it out in one take and it made your hair stand up,\u201d Oldfield says. \u201cIt became a sort of anthem in the Eastern Bloc before before the Berlin Wall came down, which is great.\u201d His guitar playing sounds tougher and grittier than usual. \u201cWell, it had to be for that song,\u201d he agrees, adding, \u201cbut then I always go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Mike\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Crises saw Oldfield sharpening his artistic focus and effectively setting himself up for the second phase of his career by re-establishing himself as a composer of large scale, intricately structured instrumental suites, while taking his songwriting onto another level and into the charts. He was firmly back in the spotlight. The following tour included a headline show Wembley Arena in July 1983 \u2013 but it wasn\u2019t quite all plain sailing from there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing that makes you more popular with your record company than having a hit,\u201c Oldfield reflects. \u201cRichard was so happy; he said I should do more albums of songs like that. As a result I came up with a couple of albums that I wouldn\u2019t have done otherwise, that were all songs \u2013 Discovery<\/a> and Islands. They aren\u2019t really my best work, although there is the occasional good idea on them. But that was a result of Crises and the success of Moonlight Shadow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen came Amarok (1990), which was one hour of only hand-played instruments; a crazy, mad, wonderful thing. I\u2019d swung right back to my first love in music \u2013 the long instrumental.\u201d<\/p>\n

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