Tubular Bells

Brand new sealed double album to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of this classic album

LOS ANGELES – MARCH 31, 2023 – On May 26, Mike Oldfield’s iconicTubular Bells has been reissued on double vinyl to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Available to pre-order now, this special collection features an unreleased demo made five years ago which, at the time, was intended to be the start of a new 50^th anniversary version of the work. Then, Oldfield retired, and the eight-minute introduction was shelved. Now seeing the light of day, “Tubular Bells 4 Intro,” is the conclusion to this historic album’s incredible life and may well be the last thing to ever be recorded by Oldfield.

With the whole project overseen by Oldfield, the 2LP 50^th anniversary edition of Tubular Bells contains a brand new half-speed master of the original 1973 mix of the album mastered at Abbey Road by Miles Showell and a second record that unites several beguiling versions of Oldfield’s masterwork for the first time.

Receiving its first outing on vinyl is “Tubular X,” Oldfield’s take on Mark Snow’s iconic “X-Files” theme, recorded in 1998. There is the “Tubular Beats” remix collaboration with YORK as well as the original “Mike Oldfield’s Single (Theme From Tubular Bells)” which was made in response to an unauthorized American single containing an excerpt from “Tubular Bells.” And, for the first time since a very limited run in 2012, Oldfield’s stunning “Tubular Bells/In Dulci Jubilo (Music for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games)” is also included.

 

TUBULAR BELLS – 50^th ANNIVERSARY EDITION TRACKLIST
Double LP (V2001-50LP)
LP1
Side One
1. Tubular Bells – Part One (2023 Half-Speed Master by Miles Showell)
Side Two
2. Tubular Bells – Part Two (2023 Half-Speed Master by Miles Showell)

LP2 
Side One
1. Tubular Bells 4 Intro (previously unreleased demo 2017)
2. Tubular Bells/In Dulci Jubilo (Music for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games)
Side Two
1. Tubular X
2. Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield & YORK Remix)
3. Mike Oldfield’s Single (Theme From Tubular Bells)

Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, recorded when he was 19 and released in 1973 when he was 20.

It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success. Vivian Stanshall provided the voice of the "Master of Ceremonies" who reads off the list of instruments at the end of the first movement. The opening piano solo was used briefly in the soundtrack to the William Friedkin film The Exorcist (released the same year), and the album gained considerable airplay because of the film's success.

The following year the piece was orchestrated by David Bedford for The Orchestral Tubular Bells version. It had three sequels in the 1990s, Tubular Bells II (1992), Tubular Bells III (1998) and The Millennium Bell (1999). Finally, the album was re-recorded as Tubular Bells 2003 at its 30th anniversary in 2003. A newly mixed and mastered re-issue of the original album appeared in 2009 on Mercury Records, with bonus material.

For the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics, Oldfield rearranged segments from Tubular Bells for a segment about the National Health Service. This rendition appears on the soundtrack album, Isles of Wonder, and is included on the official BBC DVD release.