On 26 May, Mike Oldfield's iconic Tubular Bells is being reissued in double vinyl and CD formats as well as a Bluray exclusively with Super Deluxe Edition, 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 50th anniversary version of the work. Then, Mike 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 Mike, the vinyl version of Tubular Bells – 50th Anniversary Edition contains a brand new half-speed Abbey Road master of the original 1973 mix of the album 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, Mike’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 unauthorised American single containing an excerpt from Tubular Bells. And, for the first time since a very limited run in 2012, Mike’s stunning Tubular Bells/In Dulci Jubilo (Music for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games) is also included.
Tubular Bells is a cornerstone of popular culture. But, before its world fame, the 16 or so million sales, the Royal Mail stamp, its selection for the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, originally, there was the music.
