0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:05 > 0:00:06LAPPING WATER
0:00:06 > 0:00:08We've been a bit short of music this season
0:00:08 > 0:00:10and tonight we're going to make up for it.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13The piece is called Tubular Bells.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17It was written by a young Englishman, Mike Oldfield, when he was 17.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19He worked for nine months to compose Tubular Bells,
0:00:19 > 0:00:23which takes up both sides of this LP.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Oldfield used 20 instruments to make the original recording
0:00:27 > 0:00:29of that music, all of which he played himself.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Grand piano, bass guitar, electric guitar, tin whistle,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35Hammond organ, it goes on like the Guinness Book Of Records...
0:00:35 > 0:00:37It's like yesterday.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40It doesn't feel a long time ago at all.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44It was such a special time in my life.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49It was strange - right after I'd finished it, I didn't
0:00:49 > 0:00:53want to know about it, because it was such a big thing.
0:00:53 > 0:00:59That kind of got it out of my system and for about, five, even ten years.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01I just...I didn't want to know about it...
0:01:02 > 0:01:07I find it astonishing that it's lasted this long and I'm here
0:01:07 > 0:01:09talking to you 40 years later all about it.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15It's very close and dear to my heart. I put on the old tapes,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19and it's like I'm instantly transformed back to 1972, November 1972,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22which was when I started working on it.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24MUSIC: "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Very few people knew who he was.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32It was sort of talked about in reverential tones.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36An album with one track on it, over two sides.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39You know - that's different.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42It sold millions in the first couple of years of release.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46But it never stopped selling, so they now quote the figure of 16 million.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50In the '70s, everyone had a copy of Tubular Bells.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53If you were in any gathering of people for any length
0:01:53 > 0:01:56of time, at some point Tubular Bells would come on the turntable.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Virgin going into space most likely wouldn't have existed
0:01:59 > 0:02:02if we hadn't had that particular, that particular instrument.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08When we made it Michael was a mental wreck.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12He would walk round with his eyes wet with tears nearly all the time.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14He was in a terrible state.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20Mike had a very difficult time with the fame of Tubular Bells.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Lots of people calling him saying, "We want you to do this,
0:02:23 > 0:02:27"we want you to do that..."
0:02:27 > 0:02:29"No, go away!"
0:02:45 > 0:02:48I was born in Reading, in Berkshire.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50In 1953.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55The name of the road was Western Elms Avenue.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58My father was a doctor, a GP.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02My mother used to be a nurse, before she had us.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09I've got two older siblings, a brother Terry and a sister Sally.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15He was very, very lively, very energetic, always dashing around
0:03:15 > 0:03:18and...creating things.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22He had a gang of friends and he was the ringleader.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26Telling jokes and...he was very outgoing, very extrovert.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33There was a little bit of music in the family.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38There was always a guitar hanging on the wall which my dad would take
0:03:38 > 0:03:42down every Christmas and he'd play three songs with three chords.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44I, you know, played folk guitar,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47so I showed Mike the three basic chords.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50And I thought, "Well, that will keep him quiet for a few months."
0:03:50 > 0:03:53And I think it was about two weeks later, and he was doing this
0:03:53 > 0:03:55extraordinary...
0:03:55 > 0:03:58you know, running up and down the keyboard, loads of other chords...
0:03:58 > 0:03:59He just taught himself.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06When I was about 14, and Mike would have been ten then.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Our mother definitely had some problems.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Because I have a lot of memories from that period.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17After me, she got pregnant again.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21I remember feeling her tummy and feeling the baby moving in there.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28One day, she just wasn't there and she was gone for a long time.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32All I know is we had a garage full of baby things,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34and the baby didn't come home.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38And we were told he had a hole in his heart
0:04:38 > 0:04:41and we were spun all sorts of yarns about it.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Our dad told us that the baby had died
0:04:46 > 0:04:49and that Mummy wasn't coming home, she was going to go
0:04:49 > 0:04:51to a nice place by the sea.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Then later found out that the boy actually survived for a year...
0:04:58 > 0:05:02And he didn't have a hole in his heart, it was Down's Syndrome.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04His name was David.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08He must have been very frail, cos he only survived for a year or so.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12But then when she came home eventually, it was then...
0:05:14 > 0:05:15..the problems started.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22She started being prescribed barbiturates
0:05:22 > 0:05:24which are lethally addictive.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28The doctors prescribed them for insomnia.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Sometimes I would go into my mother and father's bedroom
0:05:32 > 0:05:35and I'd see her sitting on the bed just rocking
0:05:35 > 0:05:39backwards and forwards howling. Almost inhuman.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45Then it became very dark, very difficult.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49We tended to lock ourselves in our bedrooms
0:05:49 > 0:05:52and do our own things, and, I think, that's when Mike...
0:05:52 > 0:05:56really started to hone his craft.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Mike just used to play and play and play.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07He sort of shut himself in his room a lot.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09And we didn't see him.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Whenever you went into his bedroom, he would be...
0:06:12 > 0:06:16incredibly fast guitar-playing and he became a prolific
0:06:16 > 0:06:18guitarist very, very quickly.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28We used to travel around with my friends playing in folk clubs
0:06:28 > 0:06:30from a very early age.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Got paid £2 a night for a gig there.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40I was 16/17, and Mike was 12/13.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45We all, actually, at this point were looking up to him.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48And, I suppose, being envious of the fact he could
0:06:48 > 0:06:51just do this so naturally without seemingly having to put in
0:06:51 > 0:06:55any effort or work into it, it just came out of him.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56And we were all...
0:06:56 > 0:06:59busting a gut, as it were, to try and keep up with him.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02MUSIC: "A Sad Song For Rosie" by Sallyangie
0:07:12 > 0:07:15It was 1968 and that was a very, very powerful year
0:07:15 > 0:07:17in the '60s.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22If you wanted to do something, you tended to just go and do it.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29I was just coming up to do my Finals and I said,
0:07:29 > 0:07:30"I don't want to do this any more.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33"No, I'm going to be a pop singer.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36"I'm going to get a record deal, I want to make record now."
0:07:36 > 0:07:38So, I was going to go and see Transatlantic.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41I had my demo. Walked in to see...
0:07:41 > 0:07:45it was Nat Joseph, who was the MD, and he listened and said,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48"Oh, that's interesting, that's really unusual.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50"Yes, I'm interested.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53"But we need some musicians, I don't think just you and the guitar's
0:07:53 > 0:07:55"quite enough."
0:07:55 > 0:07:58And I said, "No problem, I've got a younger brother,
0:07:58 > 0:08:00"he's a brilliant guitarist, shall I bring him in?"
0:08:00 > 0:08:03MUSIC: "Banquet On The Water" by Sallyangie
0:08:05 > 0:08:08I first came across Mike Oldfield when he was in this duo
0:08:08 > 0:08:11with his sister, Sally, called the Sallyangie.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17He was a very fine guitarist - there's no
0:08:17 > 0:08:19getting away from that - and he knew it.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23And he wanted to be treated with respect.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25And he was only bloody 15, you know, come on!
0:08:30 > 0:08:34I remember one particular instance, Sally berated him...
0:08:35 > 0:08:38At that time, he thought - "I'll hit 1,000 notes,"
0:08:38 > 0:08:39and Sally would stop and say,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42"Too many notes, Michael, you've got too many notes!"
0:08:43 > 0:08:48London was full of virtuoso guitar players, and he was such
0:08:48 > 0:08:51a precocious little prick, he really got up my nose,
0:08:51 > 0:08:56but he had a great potential. I was quite disappointed
0:08:56 > 0:08:58that we didn't hear anything more of them.
0:09:02 > 0:09:03The demise started
0:09:03 > 0:09:07when I had the bright idea that we ought to do a bit of styling.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Unfortunately, went to see a dressmaker and asked her advice,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and she came up with this idea of, er,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18pink velvet for me, lime green for Mike.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21It didn't go down well at all!
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Mike was on to better things by that time!
0:09:35 > 0:09:38I next came across Mike when he joined Kevin Ayers' band,
0:09:38 > 0:09:40The Whole World.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43The Whole World was part of a different scene, a general scene.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47# I just came in off the street
0:09:48 > 0:09:51# Looking for somewhere to eat... #
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Kevin was the front man.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56# I find a small cafe... #
0:09:56 > 0:09:57Tall, looking film star-ish.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01# Then I say, may I?
0:10:03 > 0:10:05# Sit and stare at you? #
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Mike was a good bass player.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11He had very clear ideas the way he wanted the bass to play.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15He said, "I don't want it just going, boom, boom, boom, boom!"
0:10:15 > 0:10:17# Sit and stare at you
0:10:18 > 0:10:20# For a while... #
0:10:20 > 0:10:22You've got to remember, I was only 16 when I joined.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25To have two strings taken away from me and just four bass strings.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28I wasn't happy with that, so I would keep hitting
0:10:28 > 0:10:32the bass note of the chord in between, I'd play little melodies.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34# That's all. #
0:10:37 > 0:10:42Around that time, Mike, Sally and I experimented with LSD.
0:10:42 > 0:10:48Our present opinion about LSD is that LSD is something like an amplifier
0:10:48 > 0:10:53or catalyst which just manifests the unconscious processes in the brain.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58When he was very, very young, he did LSD, and I think that probably had
0:10:58 > 0:11:00an effect on him that he...
0:11:00 > 0:11:04probably still has resonances even now.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06DISCORDANT MUSIC
0:11:06 > 0:11:09I was living in a little flat, actually - number one Victoria Square
0:11:09 > 0:11:11in Pimlico.
0:11:12 > 0:11:18And I do remember one extremely disturbing evening where...
0:11:18 > 0:11:22people didn't look like anything recognisable.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26They almost looked like machines, biological machines.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29And it completely...disturbed me.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33SHRIEKING
0:11:35 > 0:11:39You never believed a bad trip existed until you had one.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Just your worst fears, your worst nightmares.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46You know, hallucinating and all that, you think it's cool
0:11:46 > 0:11:49and really good fun until it starts going wrong, and then you think,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52"Wow, this is not good."
0:11:53 > 0:11:56At the time, when I was 17, it was the end of the world for me.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59I didn't know what was going to happen, I was going to cease to exist.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03"Am I going to die...?" It scared the life out of me.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09From that time on, I think he had trouble. It triggered
0:12:09 > 0:12:12something in him which created an instability,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14which took him years to get over.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17He had to transform all that misery
0:12:17 > 0:12:19into something...
0:12:19 > 0:12:22you know, in his own psyche that kept him sane.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27What it did was it made me retreat even more into my music.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32In a way, music was more real to me than, erm, normal reality.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38Here's this guy who finds life so hard...
0:12:38 > 0:12:40and music is his only escape.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45He described the music as a creature.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49It's this lovely creature...
0:12:49 > 0:12:53who...cuddles up against me and makes me feel better.
0:13:00 > 0:13:01I moved into the house
0:13:01 > 0:13:04with Kevin Ayers on the top of Seven Sisters Road.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09The deal was - Kevin would do the cooking,
0:13:09 > 0:13:10and we had to do the washing up.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16That lasted - not that long - maybe six, nine months, I suppose.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18And then one day, erm, Kevin came to me
0:13:18 > 0:13:21and he said, "This is not working for me..."
0:13:21 > 0:13:23And he, basically, disbanded the group.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25And, erm...
0:13:25 > 0:13:28but part of that, he offered to lend me his tape recorder.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32It was a simple tape recorder - two tracks.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34"I can make some demos, I've got a tape recorder."
0:13:34 > 0:13:35So, I took it up to my little room.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41I also borrowed the Farfisa organ from the keyboard player.
0:13:43 > 0:13:44And then I was thinking,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48"I want to make some repetitive thing at the front."
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Thought of A Rainbow In Curved Air, Terry Riley...
0:13:54 > 0:13:56This sort of underground synthesiser
0:13:56 > 0:13:58or the birth of the synthesiser.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04And, erm, I just played it straightaway, like this...
0:14:04 > 0:14:06MUSIC: "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield
0:14:08 > 0:14:11That is the Farfisa organ, these are the original tapes.
0:14:13 > 0:14:14For Tubular Bells.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19I made the demos, I took them to EMI.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22There was a chap there called Nick Mobbs who kind of quite liked it,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and he said he'd get back to me but never did.
0:14:25 > 0:14:31Erm...I remember taking them to CBS who just thought I was crazy,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35cos it...it didn't have any vocals, didn't even have any drums.
0:14:35 > 0:14:36And I gave up then.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43So, what's interesting about this story is how the two main
0:14:43 > 0:14:46protagonists come to meet.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50You have Mike Oldfield, retreated in his bedroom writing
0:14:50 > 0:14:56his masterwork, and there you have Richard Branson who is also obsessed -
0:14:56 > 0:14:59he's obsessed with getting on with his future.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01He's been doing the Student magazine
0:15:01 > 0:15:05and he's looking for a business opportunity.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08I decided not to risk launching the first issue of Student
0:15:08 > 0:15:12unless we had managed to get hold of enough cash from advertising
0:15:12 > 0:15:15to cover both printing and paper costs.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19He started a magazine called Student which was a DISASTER!
0:15:19 > 0:15:23Nothing he'd done up until then had really succeeded.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27We'd started a mail-order company that would sell any record
0:15:27 > 0:15:32from any record manufacturer for 10%, 25% less than the commercial price.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37He was a chancer. He was prepared to gamble and go for it.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41He was perceived as a visionary, putting it all together.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45But, really, he was importing records illegally and flogging them.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48He was a second-hand car salesman.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Being independent, one of the major advantages we have is that
0:15:51 > 0:15:54we can make policy decisions quickly.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56If we want to produce a record we don't have to have
0:15:56 > 0:15:58a mass of meetings, we can immediately say,
0:15:58 > 0:16:00"Yes, let's go ahead and produce it."
0:16:00 > 0:16:04So, the saga continues that Richard Branson looks to investing
0:16:04 > 0:16:09in The Manor, the first proper live-in, recording studio in Britain.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20I found The Manor in... it was in the Country Life magazine.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Richard was 19, I was 29...
0:16:29 > 0:16:32We'd bought his old manor house in Oxford.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35I'd managed to get a mortgage from the bank and then
0:16:35 > 0:16:37on the second mortgage managed to find...
0:16:38 > 0:16:42..er, an aunt to lend us 10,000 on a second mortgage.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50We thought that silver-spoon Richard had got all this easily,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52but he had to pay back
0:16:52 > 0:16:56about 5% above the bank rate to Auntie Joyce on a regular basis.
0:16:56 > 0:16:57She gave him no favours at all.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01And, lo and behold, who goes there but Mike Oldfield.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Doing some recording as a session man.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Michael came to me with this little reel.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10He was very bad at social intercourse.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12And he poked his face and he was like,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15"You've got to listen to this!" he said.
0:17:15 > 0:17:16And I said, "Ah!"
0:17:16 > 0:17:18- HE LAUGHS - "All right, I'll listen to this."
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- And it was a little three-inch reel. - Yeah.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24The sort of tape you used to send to your mummy in Australia -
0:17:24 > 0:17:26"Hello, Mum." You know, that kind of stuff.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29BOTH LAUGH
0:17:29 > 0:17:33And I said, "All right, I'll listen to it." "Now!" he said. So, I...
0:17:33 > 0:17:36I...we were all stopped, so I took it upstairs anyway.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40And listened to it on a tape recorder I had upstairs.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44- And I was just captivated.- It was the most beautiful piece of music.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47I mean, to this day, I can still hear it in my head.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49They made a copy...
0:17:49 > 0:17:52They kept a copy and they said, "We'll speak to...Richard...
0:17:52 > 0:17:55"Simon Draper, and we'll let you know."
0:17:59 > 0:18:02I took it into London next time I went to London.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06And played it to Richard...no, I didn't play it to Richard, actually,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09because we all knew that Richard wouldn't know...
0:18:09 > 0:18:12- No, no, we didn't play it to Richard. - No! We played it to Simon.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14- Yes.- The other Simon, Simon Draper.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Tom played me the demo and I loved it and I thought
0:18:21 > 0:18:26this was absolutely bound to be...successful. I had no...
0:18:26 > 0:18:28real means of gauging what success meant,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30but I just knew this thing would make an impact.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34We discussed the problem of Richard being...being Richard!
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Whose favourite record was Bachelor Boy.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41# He said, son You are a bachelor boy
0:18:41 > 0:18:44# And that's the way to stay... #
0:18:44 > 0:18:47When I went to work at Virgin, I had quite strong views
0:18:47 > 0:18:51about what sort of record label we should start.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54The only person there who knew very little about music was Richard.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57I don't think he even had a record player at home.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03I got a call from Simon Draper, who had heard the demo tape
0:19:03 > 0:19:08of Tubular Bells, and he was excited by this tape
0:19:08 > 0:19:11and wanted to come over to the houseboat to play it to me.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14PHONE RINGS
0:19:14 > 0:19:17I picked up the phone, and it was Simon Draper.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20And he said, "We've been listening to your demos..."
0:19:20 > 0:19:21I said...
0:19:21 > 0:19:24And he said, "We'd like you to come over to Richard's boat
0:19:24 > 0:19:27"to have dinner." And I said, "Oh, all right, then."
0:19:28 > 0:19:32We said we loved it, we didn't really have any spare money
0:19:32 > 0:19:36to record his album, but we told him just to go and live at The Manor,
0:19:36 > 0:19:40and in between recording sessions, he could record his album.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43I said, "Well, I am going to need some instruments."
0:19:43 > 0:19:46And he said, "Just write down what you need, and we'll get it for you."
0:19:50 > 0:19:53We were a bit astounded at all these instruments that Mike was ordering,
0:19:53 > 0:19:55cos he needed a lot of instruments.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Acoustic guitar...
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Spanish guitar... Electric guitar, bass guitar...
0:20:02 > 0:20:05And they looked horribly expensive to me.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07And later on, there was a concert timpani...
0:20:07 > 0:20:09there was a glockenspiel...
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Glockenspiel...
0:20:11 > 0:20:14£9. Possibly mandolin, I'm not sure.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16We didn't know anything about anything.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18We were fighting to survive in those days.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24There was a truck which was, erm, delivering my stuff and taking
0:20:24 > 0:20:28out stuff of the previous musician, who was John Cale.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32As they were taking his stuff out, I just watched this set
0:20:32 > 0:20:37of Tubular Bells going past, and I just said to the chap,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39"Er...can you leave those?"
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Never though that the word tubular bells was going to play
0:20:44 > 0:20:47such an important part in our lives, and even for the fact that,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50I suppose, that...like Virgin going into space most likely wouldn't have
0:20:50 > 0:20:53existed if we hadn't had that particular...
0:20:53 > 0:20:55that particular instrument!
0:20:55 > 0:20:59And, erm, there I was in a real studio, which I could use...
0:20:59 > 0:21:02a proper multi-track studio, 16 tracks.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07And I was amazed that so quickly Mike had gone from this little 2-track
0:21:07 > 0:21:10in his bedroom to this huge mixing desk, cos in those days,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12they were vast.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15This is the original master.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19The piano was recorded to a clockwork metronome ticking away.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And, erm, I've got live bass here...
0:21:24 > 0:21:26And, er, can play around with some keyboards.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Starts off with the piano, familiar piano...
0:21:29 > 0:21:32then a glockenspiel comes in, and the Farfisa organ, so...
0:21:35 > 0:21:37MUSIC: "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield
0:21:39 > 0:21:41And the glock...
0:21:42 > 0:21:43And the Farfisa...
0:21:51 > 0:21:53It's the same old pattern here...
0:22:02 > 0:22:04And I've got the live bass now...
0:22:28 > 0:22:30And a little harmony comes in there...
0:22:33 > 0:22:34And then we wanted to have...
0:22:34 > 0:22:37it was supposed to be... you know when...
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Erm, horns go "Ba!" like in, you know, those...
0:22:41 > 0:22:45big-band sound, but we couldn't have a horn section, so I just sort of...
0:22:45 > 0:22:47organ, miked it up.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Played it really loud like "DA!" like that, you see.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22HE COUGHS
0:23:22 > 0:23:26And then...this is the introduction of that 3/4 time.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28To me, that represented a human heartbeat
0:23:28 > 0:23:30made on the left-hand of a piano.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35If you can listen, the piano's going...
0:23:37 > 0:23:39"Dum," like a heartbeat.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48And then, erm...
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Bit later on...just coming up, guitars start,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56the thing builds up to a big climax.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59What we are listening to here is unmixed, so it's just completely
0:23:59 > 0:24:00as it was recorded.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07But, erm...I can plug in my guitar and I'll show you that if you like.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Hang on a minute...
0:24:09 > 0:24:12- CLATTER - Ah!
0:24:12 > 0:24:13Whoops.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15LAUGHTER
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Idiot.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27There's the guitar, I missed it, you see.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Then...
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Then we've got these two, erm...
0:24:57 > 0:24:59fuzzy guitars coming in in a minute.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03And it builds up to the big climax.
0:25:03 > 0:25:04I think those start on this...
0:25:28 > 0:25:30And then there's a lead up...
0:25:33 > 0:25:35The melody comes in, the flute comes in...
0:25:35 > 0:25:38and then, I was telling you yesterday about this organ chord
0:25:38 > 0:25:39that's supposed to go...
0:25:39 > 0:25:42"Whoo...!" like that. There it is...
0:25:42 > 0:25:44And the big beautiful melody comes...
0:25:56 > 0:25:58The point really, I suppose, that people would not understand
0:25:58 > 0:26:03was that when we made it, Michael was a mental wreck.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06He would walk round with his eyes wet with tears nearly
0:26:06 > 0:26:08all the time, he was in a terrible state.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12He found it an enormous disquiet.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17About the idea of being mortal flesh. And yet what was going on
0:26:17 > 0:26:22in his head was...eternal and beautiful and everlasting, you know.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27And that really...my heart went out to him.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33He always had fag packets in his pocket
0:26:33 > 0:26:37and he would suddenly stop and he would write in tiny little writing -
0:26:37 > 0:26:41he'd slash five staves on it and write a little tune on it.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45And put it back in the fag packet and then...carry on.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49So...he was constantly...you know...
0:26:49 > 0:26:50er, working.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05What's so interesting about Tubular Bells, if you view it
0:27:05 > 0:27:11in totality, it's like a compendium of tunes, textures, ideas.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15There's a honky-tonk piano, you see.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18That's all the kitchen staff from The Manor.
0:27:18 > 0:27:19CROWD HUMMING
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Got them all in from their cooking and...
0:27:21 > 0:27:24that was a honky-tonk piano like my grandma's.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Oldfield had been sort of working up to this point for a number of years,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30so not surprisingly,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32therefore, you get elements of the school band in it.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35You remember that - "Dum, de, dun, de, dun, da, da, da"?
0:27:49 > 0:27:50I like this bit...
0:27:51 > 0:27:52I'll turn it up...
0:27:59 > 0:28:01You see, it's got everything in it. It's got the pub piano, it's got
0:28:01 > 0:28:03the, you know, the thrash rock.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12The big question when you've got this compendium of tunes
0:28:12 > 0:28:16is how do you find a kind of climax point?
0:28:16 > 0:28:19How do you find a tune which is going to burn a hole in people's souls?
0:28:25 > 0:28:28DEEP BASS CHORDS
0:28:28 > 0:28:32- I mean, the tension there, you see. - Yeah, it's phenomenal, isn't it?
0:28:32 > 0:28:34This is the build-up to the riff.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36This is the build-up to the bass guitar riff...
0:28:41 > 0:28:43The bass line was very hard work.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49Because the one I hired wasn't particularly nice to play.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53I had to play it all in one go for about seven minutes.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56And that whole part, right from there to the very end,
0:28:56 > 0:28:58was all in one take.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28See, even now...
0:29:28 > 0:29:30my muscles are starting to tire.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Feel a little bit of sweat coming out of my...
0:29:34 > 0:29:36But I had to keep going on...
0:29:45 > 0:29:48So I'm starting to get tired now.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50Had to keep going...
0:30:04 > 0:30:07The accident of getting Vivian Stanshall involved in that
0:30:07 > 0:30:08was great as well.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12Vivian was with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band,
0:30:12 > 0:30:14and they'd been recording already.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16Vivian was around and getting drunk,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19cos he could drink a bottle of brandy, you know, for tea.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24You couldn't keep him out of anything, he would just blunder in
0:30:24 > 0:30:26and, "Hello, dear boy, what's going on in here?"
0:30:26 > 0:30:31- HE IMITATES GUFFAW - And that was it, you had to give in to him.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36HORN MUSIC
0:30:36 > 0:30:40And from behind the magnificent 20th-century Norman portal,
0:30:40 > 0:30:44you'll find the downstairs lavatory and me seated,
0:30:44 > 0:30:46toying with my worms.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49Michael said to me, "Wouldn't it be great to get Vivian to introduce
0:30:49 > 0:30:51"the instruments?"
0:30:51 > 0:30:53I said, "Well, go and ask him?"
0:30:53 > 0:30:55"I'm sc... Oh! I can't do that, I'm scared!"
0:30:56 > 0:30:58BOTH LAUGH
0:30:58 > 0:31:00And eventually, I made him go and ask him.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02I said, "Go and ask him, go and ask him.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04"Ask him. Say you want a slug of his brandy."
0:31:04 > 0:31:07While you're watching, why not have a glass of Chateau Tilbury?
0:31:07 > 0:31:09At river temperature, it's absolutely delicious.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12I just gave him the words and... I wrote them down...
0:31:12 > 0:31:14just the cast in order of appearance.
0:31:14 > 0:31:15It starts with the grand piano.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18We could not cue the fucker at all. It was a nightmare.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21- He was impossible.- He was...
0:31:21 > 0:31:24"Oh, grand piano!" In completely the wrong place, you know.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34Next comes in at the beginning, reed and pipe organ.
0:31:34 > 0:31:35- VIVIAN:- Reed and pipe organ.
0:31:35 > 0:31:36"Reed and pipe organ."
0:31:36 > 0:31:38- HE LAUGHS - I love it!
0:31:48 > 0:31:50I couldn't believe my luck, especially when he said,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53"Plus tubular bells," and the bells hit.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56I-I was over the moon, cos he just sounded so perfect.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59Plus...tubular bells.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10The thing about the tubular bells is that it's an instrument
0:32:10 > 0:32:12that normally is quite far back in an orchestra.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17And, you know, in this case, we wanted the tubular bells to be
0:32:17 > 0:32:19the loudest instrument.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23We had a lot of arguments about that, me and Tom.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26He was asking for the impossible, virtually.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30- Within the technology we had.- Nearly came to blows about it, you know.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33It's got to be loud, and the bell's got to be that loud.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36I don't care if we had to bring the whole track down...
0:32:36 > 0:32:39And then he would say, "Then it will sound too quiet on the radio."
0:32:39 > 0:32:41It doesn't matter...the bell...
0:32:41 > 0:32:44Let them turn all...all them turn their radios up.
0:32:44 > 0:32:45I said...
0:32:45 > 0:32:49Cos they come with this neat little hammer with the leather on one end.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52And copper on the other end, I think, and it was...
0:32:52 > 0:32:54even hitting it with the copper didn't work.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58- So, we got a real hammer.- Got a real claw hammer, a bloody great...
0:32:58 > 0:32:59BOTH LAUGH
0:32:59 > 0:33:03..12-ounce claw hammer. I said, "Look, just hit it..."
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Here we have the bell...
0:33:08 > 0:33:09Tubular bells...
0:33:09 > 0:33:11BELL CHIMES
0:33:29 > 0:33:30We worked all night,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33finished side one about eight or nine in the morning.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39And, erm...a copy was sent off to London, and I didn't hear
0:33:39 > 0:33:41anything until...
0:33:41 > 0:33:42that evening.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Richard's reaction to the first side of Tubular Bells was,
0:33:48 > 0:33:50"It hasn't got any vocals on it."
0:33:51 > 0:33:56It was a major nightmare in his head about what we do with this.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02We went to the Midem Music Conference in Cannes
0:34:02 > 0:34:05in order to try and gauge interest in our product.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07We hadn't released anything,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09obviously, at this point. And see whether we could set up
0:34:09 > 0:34:11overseas licensing deals.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15I definitely remember when I took the tape
0:34:15 > 0:34:18around some record companies, one of the record company bosses
0:34:18 > 0:34:21saying he wanted to put some vocals on it.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26If we put some vocals on it, he would sign Mike up.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29What Richard did when he came back. He said, "Should we try and put vocals on it?"
0:34:29 > 0:34:31And he may well have mentioned it to Mike,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34but I don't think anyone else thought this was a good idea.
0:34:34 > 0:34:35And...certainly Mike didn't.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Eventually, it was decided I could stay on in the house,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51and whenever the studio wasn't being used, I could go in
0:34:51 > 0:34:53and work on Side Two of Tubular Bells.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57I had all the sections mapped out.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02I had the Caveman mapped out. I had the beautiful, peaceful tune.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09When the time came to choose the sleeve, the design and so on,
0:35:09 > 0:35:11we introduced Mike to Trevor Key.
0:35:13 > 0:35:14He did all this on his own.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18And I just looked at it and went, "Oh, wow!"
0:35:19 > 0:35:23My jaw dropped at just how amazingly beautiful it was.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25This is a real...an actual real object,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29which was built, but then it was chromium-plated...
0:35:29 > 0:35:32As I understand it, it didn't have a back, so it wasn't like...
0:35:32 > 0:35:35completely solid all the way round.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37Trevor asked me, "What kind of typeface?"
0:35:37 > 0:35:41And I said, "I don't want it big, plastered all over it.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43"Leave this beautiful picture.
0:35:43 > 0:35:44"You can put Tubular Bells..."
0:35:44 > 0:35:48I chose the colour... "And put my name very small."
0:35:48 > 0:35:52Cos I didn't want the type to destroy the image, you see.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57Tubular Bells became the premiere Virgin release, there it was.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01V2001, 25th of May 1973,
0:36:01 > 0:36:05the label was launched with this piece of music.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08An album with one track on it, over two sides.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10You know, that's different.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17Richard Branson rang me up -
0:36:17 > 0:36:20"How would you like to come up to my recording studio
0:36:20 > 0:36:22"and meet Mike Oldfield?"
0:36:23 > 0:36:25Now, Mike was hard work.
0:36:25 > 0:36:31He didn't want to answer the sort of questions I wanted to ask.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33- (MUMBLES)- You know what I mean...
0:36:33 > 0:36:38I remember I hated it. He was asking me all these personal questions.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40"Tell me about Tubular Bells."
0:36:40 > 0:36:42Mumble, mumble, mumble.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44He was not the greatest interviewee in the world,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46especially at this time.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48"Why did you write Tubular Bells?"
0:36:50 > 0:36:51What a weird question.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53It's a bit silly, isn't it?
0:36:53 > 0:36:54I think it is.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58I can't imagine me asking such a question, it's a stupid question.
0:36:58 > 0:36:59Er...
0:36:59 > 0:37:02I racked my brains for 20 minutes and I couldn't think...
0:37:02 > 0:37:04There wasn't a reason.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06I didn't want to have a...
0:37:07 > 0:37:10I didn't do it for that, you know, it's just...
0:37:11 > 0:37:13HE SIGHS
0:37:14 > 0:37:15And at the end, I said, "How was that?
0:37:15 > 0:37:17"It wasn't all that painful, was it?"
0:37:17 > 0:37:19He said, "I feel as if I've been raped."
0:37:22 > 0:37:26I was taken into a room by Richard, Tom...
0:37:26 > 0:37:29I think the lot of them, and they sat me down and said,
0:37:29 > 0:37:31"You are going to have to do this live."
0:37:31 > 0:37:34I said, "No, absolutely not."
0:37:34 > 0:37:36I'd become a bit of a rebel by that time.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42I hadn't realised quite how big a problem that we had with Mike.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45To be frank, he had a sort of mental problem
0:37:45 > 0:37:48and he wouldn't disagree with that,
0:37:48 > 0:37:49at that time.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54He said he didn't want to go on tour, but he agreed to do one concert.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59I was pushed and pushed, and there was no getting out of it.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01"Oh, what have I let myself in for?"
0:38:01 > 0:38:04We assembled a group of musicians, many of whom were signed
0:38:04 > 0:38:07to the label by this time, so it was members of Hatfield
0:38:07 > 0:38:11and The North, Henry Cow, and then Mick Taylor played guitar on it.
0:38:13 > 0:38:18The Queen Elizabeth Hall was suggested - nice size,
0:38:18 > 0:38:21predominantly a classical venue.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25Interesting, isn't it, that Branson decided that for the one live
0:38:25 > 0:38:28appearance of Tubular Bells, it should be in one of the great,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31hallowed bastions of culture.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33Yeah, he wouldn't put it in a rock venue.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36So, it's quite a strong statement behind that, I think - he wanted it
0:38:36 > 0:38:39to be seen as a piece of...artwork.
0:38:41 > 0:38:46I'd started getting nervous about it by then, cos I was thinking,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48"Oh, my God, I've got to do this live."
0:38:49 > 0:38:52There was no sampling then, no backing tracks,
0:38:52 > 0:38:53you had to...
0:38:53 > 0:38:55you all had to play everything.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58As we got closer to the gig, Michael got more and more scared, I mean,
0:38:58 > 0:39:00he was really scared.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06I remember the rehearsals, we were going over and over this piece,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10and Mike suddenly burst into tears and left the room,
0:39:10 > 0:39:13because he just couldn't handle it, he was so emotionally...
0:39:14 > 0:39:16..it was so difficult for him.
0:39:19 > 0:39:24I'd been given an old beaten-up Bentley for my wedding present.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28So I was driving him to the concert, and suddenly he turned to me
0:39:28 > 0:39:34and said, "Richard, I'm sorry, I just can't do it. I just can't do it."
0:39:34 > 0:39:36And this was about an hour and a half...
0:39:36 > 0:39:40and the concert was sold out, and I kept driving, and he just said,
0:39:40 > 0:39:44"Richard, you're not taking me seriously. I'm not going on stage."
0:39:44 > 0:39:46And I was just desperately trying to think,
0:39:46 > 0:39:48"What the hell do I do now?"
0:39:48 > 0:39:51And then I just turned to him and said, "Look, Mike, if I give you
0:39:51 > 0:39:54"the keys to this car, and you can drive this car off after
0:39:54 > 0:39:58"the concert, do you think you can overcome whatever's bothering you?"
0:39:59 > 0:40:03ANNOUNCER: Our Live from London radio concert comes tonight from
0:40:03 > 0:40:05The Queen Elizabeth Hall.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09And features Michael Oldfield performing his composition, Tubular Bells.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11We got up on the stage and started...
0:40:11 > 0:40:13MUSIC: "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield
0:40:15 > 0:40:19David Bedford came in out of time, and Mick Taylor's guitar
0:40:19 > 0:40:20wasn't quite in tune...
0:40:30 > 0:40:34I was just waiting for the silence and the boos.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38Fruit they were going to throw at me, cos it was so awful.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40And the...just to my amazement, there was this roar.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45APPLAUSE AND WHISTLING
0:40:45 > 0:40:48Everybody...standing ovation, straightaway, it was instant.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51We all had tears in our eyes, and, you know,
0:40:51 > 0:40:54Tubular Bells was born, Mike Oldfield was born,
0:40:54 > 0:40:56Virgin Records was born...
0:40:56 > 0:41:00He couldn't understand it. He said, "What the fuck are they standing up clapping for?
0:41:00 > 0:41:03"That was crap!" I mean, he was really amazed.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06I felt that I'd done it so badly that...
0:41:08 > 0:41:10..perhaps I didn't deserve that...
0:41:11 > 0:41:14..you know, that reaction, that reward.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18John Peel came to the boat one day.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21Simon and myself played him the whole album,
0:41:21 > 0:41:24and he absolutely loved it and he chose to play the whole album
0:41:24 > 0:41:27on his radio show, which was unheard of.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30I've been introducing Top Gear for nearly six years now,
0:41:30 > 0:41:31but I think that that is...
0:41:31 > 0:41:34certainly one of the most impressive LPs I've ever had the chance
0:41:34 > 0:41:36to play on the radio.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39Really a remarkable record from Mike Oldfield
0:41:39 > 0:41:42and one of the first releases on the new Virgin label.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46John Peel was responsible for breaking so many bands.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49It was a very influential club, it was a very select club.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51It was like, "Let me let you in on this secret."
0:41:53 > 0:41:58I remember a kid coming into school with a copy of Tubular Bells,
0:41:58 > 0:42:02and us all just looking at the sleeve and thinking, "What is it?"
0:42:03 > 0:42:07We had a mate's house we'd go to. He lived near school.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10So we were able to get a fix at lunchtime, as well.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12And we'd go off and listen to it there.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15Records used to happen through word of mouth then.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18Somebody would buy it, take it home, play it, and another person
0:42:18 > 0:42:20would then want to buy it.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22There was no internet or no communication like that.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26It just began to explode, it evolved.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29I can remember going to an Italian restaurant in Little Venice
0:42:29 > 0:42:32with Richard shortly before the record actually came out.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34And we were trying to guess what it would sell
0:42:34 > 0:42:37- and we absolutely had no idea. - We knew nothing about the industry
0:42:37 > 0:42:39but thought we might sell 4,000 copies.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44It took a while, you see. It crept and crept and crept.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48It didn't do it like things do nowadays, they go in at number one.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50It took about, probably, a year.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52It was quite a warm summer, and I can remember hearing it
0:42:52 > 0:42:53coming out of windows,
0:42:53 > 0:42:56and you thought, "Boy, this is happening.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57"This is word of mouth."
0:43:00 > 0:43:03But I think what made it different was the fact
0:43:03 > 0:43:04it sort of kept on going.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07It started to attract
0:43:07 > 0:43:11much bigger audiences. It became a talking point.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14I suppose as it started getting successful, I was thinking,
0:43:14 > 0:43:17maybe I'd had the opportunity
0:43:17 > 0:43:21to not get involved and do the...
0:43:21 > 0:43:24be a star or anything but just to get out, go away.
0:43:25 > 0:43:31Mike had a very difficult time with the fame of Tubular Bells.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35He locked himself on the top of the remotest hill he could find
0:43:35 > 0:43:36in Wales!
0:43:37 > 0:43:40And lots of people calling him, saying,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43"We want you to do this, we want you to do that."
0:43:44 > 0:43:46"No, go away!"
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Every year, it seems, a film is released with scenes
0:43:51 > 0:43:53in it so disgusting or so disturbing
0:43:53 > 0:43:57that controversy is stirred up over whether it should be shown or not.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00A strong contender for the title this year is this film
0:44:00 > 0:44:03The Exorcist, which was released yesterday in London.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05The Exorcist, which was one of the biggest box-office hits
0:44:05 > 0:44:08of all time, opened late in 1973.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10But very close to the opening,
0:44:10 > 0:44:12they'd thrown out the original score and were looking
0:44:12 > 0:44:14for music to fill the gap.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16The director, William Friedkin,
0:44:16 > 0:44:19was in the offices of Ahmet Ertegun, head of Atlantic Records
0:44:19 > 0:44:20in America.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23And he came across an anonymous record with a white label.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26And he took it out the sleeve and he put it on the record player
0:44:26 > 0:44:28there in Ertegun's office and he put the needle on,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31and it went, "Da, dum, dum, dum..."
0:44:31 > 0:44:32and he went, "That!"
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Mum, you should have seen this, a man came along
0:44:35 > 0:44:36on this beautiful grey horse...
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Firstly, he heard, the childlike thing,
0:44:39 > 0:44:41cos, obviously, the centre of The Exorcist is the story
0:44:41 > 0:44:44of a young girl who's possessed by some demon.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46The second thing he heard
0:44:46 > 0:44:48was that the notes are very simple, but there is something
0:44:48 > 0:44:50about the time structure
0:44:50 > 0:44:52that's...that's odd.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55The way it is, it's one bar, seven, one bar, eight.
0:44:55 > 0:44:56So it'll be...
0:44:56 > 0:45:00- IN TIME WITH UNDERSCORED MUSIC - ..one, two, three, four, five, six, SEVEN,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,
0:45:03 > 0:45:06ONE, two, three, four, five, six, SEVEN...
0:45:06 > 0:45:11If that was just two simple bars, all of eight notes each bar,
0:45:11 > 0:45:16the brain would switch off after a while, but because every other one
0:45:16 > 0:45:21trips you up, you can't not concentrate on it.
0:45:21 > 0:45:22- I think I'll walk home tonight. - OK.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24Take that, drop it by my house.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26'There's a couple of moments when it appears.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29'Chris comes walking down the street.'
0:45:29 > 0:45:32As she comes round the corner and starts walking down the street,
0:45:32 > 0:45:35you hear... # Dun dun dun der-dun... #
0:45:35 > 0:45:37SOUNDTRACK REPLACES SUNG VERSION
0:45:40 > 0:45:42'There are these kind of strange little gusts of wind.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45'A group of kids run by wearing Halloween marks
0:45:45 > 0:45:49'which is sort of an indicator of stuff that's to come.'
0:45:49 > 0:45:51KIDS YELL EXCITEDLY
0:45:56 > 0:45:59'There's a low-angle shot of nuns with their habits
0:45:59 > 0:46:02'blowing in a slightly Gothic way.'
0:46:02 > 0:46:06Later on, when the doctors are trying to diagnose what's happened
0:46:06 > 0:46:09to Regan, you see a closed-circuit television feed of her
0:46:09 > 0:46:13in a hospital bed raging.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16It looks like a type of disorder that's rarely ever seen any more,
0:46:16 > 0:46:22except in primitive cultures. We call it somnambular form possession.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26'And so you have this really strange thing which is these very'
0:46:26 > 0:46:29brief uses of that piece of music.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32Somehow it becomes the theme from The Exorcist.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37The Exorcist was hugely important in breaking Mike in America.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40The album went top five. I mean, it won the Grammy
0:46:40 > 0:46:42for Best Instrumental Album.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47And at that juncture, Mike could've gone and capitalised on that
0:46:47 > 0:46:51and could've been a huge American star.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57After The Exorcist, where obviously he'd become very well-known,
0:46:57 > 0:46:59I think he was really in quite a bad way.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03I think, really, he had nobody to turn to.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09He seemed very distressed, he seemed very alone.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13It wasn't unusual to find him on his own,
0:47:13 > 0:47:16because we'd always known he'd lock himself in his bedroom
0:47:16 > 0:47:19and do his music, but it was a very different type of loneliness,
0:47:19 > 0:47:21I got the impression.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25I do remember my mother coming and visiting,
0:47:25 > 0:47:29and she was going very much downhill at the time.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33And I do remember sitting in a car with her...
0:47:33 > 0:47:36That's probably the last time I saw her, actually.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38I was suffering too, and she looked at me and she said,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41"You know what it's like, Mike, don't you?"
0:47:41 > 0:47:43And I said, "Yeah...yeah, I do."
0:47:52 > 0:47:55And then, of course, the question came, you know...the follow-up.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00We were talking about Tubular Bells, but the follow-up was a nightmare.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09What Mike needed - and obviously what Virgin needed as well -
0:48:09 > 0:48:13was for Mike not to be just known for Tubular Bells,
0:48:13 > 0:48:15and it was important that Tubular Bells...
0:48:15 > 0:48:19the name "Tubular Bells" didn't become bigger than Mike Oldfield.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Richard was so eager for me to do something that...
0:48:23 > 0:48:25I looked at the first thing and I said,
0:48:25 > 0:48:27"What's that?" "Oh, it's Hergest Ridge."
0:48:27 > 0:48:30"All right. Well, I'll do an album called Hergest Ridge
0:48:30 > 0:48:34"and I'll make it about kind of old, legendary things,
0:48:34 > 0:48:35"and it'll have little whistles in it
0:48:35 > 0:48:38"and things that sound like wild horses and all that."
0:48:39 > 0:48:43He didn't want to do a follow-up that quickly, because it was...
0:48:43 > 0:48:46he'd drained himself. He'd spent himself completely.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51I was kind of disappointed with lots of the ideas I was coming up with,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54waiting for...you know, "the big one".
0:48:54 > 0:48:57Didn't realise that I'd already done the big one.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02It's really tough to follow such an enormous album like Tubular Bells.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04It didn't capture people's imagination
0:49:04 > 0:49:06in the same way that Tubular Bells did.
0:49:06 > 0:49:11To be honest, it's not my favourite album, either.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15I remember I was recording with Tom, and we kind of got bored.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19It was a nice, sunny day, so we went flying model aeroplanes instead.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24After Ommadawn, his third album,
0:49:24 > 0:49:28we then went through a sort of lull period for a while.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32We had other artists that did reasonably well, but we then needed...
0:49:32 > 0:49:34we needed a new shot in the arm.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37# Babylon's burning
0:49:37 > 0:49:40# You're burning the street
0:49:40 > 0:49:45# You'll burn your houses with anxiety... #
0:49:45 > 0:49:47By the time we got to punk, the reaction was,
0:49:47 > 0:49:49"Don't play me that hippy shit."
0:49:49 > 0:49:52# Babylon's burning Babylon's burning... #
0:49:52 > 0:49:54The whole thing with punk was three chords and the truth
0:49:54 > 0:49:56in and out under three minutes.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58The idea of putting on one side of an album
0:49:58 > 0:50:01and it being one piece of music was complete anathema.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04The whole punk thing happened, and they were calling me
0:50:04 > 0:50:06rude names in the press for no reason.
0:50:08 > 0:50:13We had The Sex Pistols and Magazine and The Skids and so on,
0:50:13 > 0:50:16The Ruts. Virgin started having a lot of hit singles.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18I must say I felt betrayed, because Richard suddenly
0:50:18 > 0:50:21jumped on that bandwagon, and Virgin became the punk label.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26After a year or two, I'd just run out of steam
0:50:26 > 0:50:30and I didn't know what to do, and I got really...depressed.
0:50:30 > 0:50:35I started maybe drinking too much alcohol.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38It was in about 1978, I got involved with this
0:50:38 > 0:50:41self-awareness group called Exegesis.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46TV ANNOUNCER: This group of 58 people has just completed a seminar
0:50:46 > 0:50:49which many of them now believe has transformed their lives.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53It lasted three days and cost them £175 each.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56One of their...they called them "processes"
0:50:56 > 0:51:00seemed to me a combination of primal scream therapy
0:51:00 > 0:51:02and rebirth therapy.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06This seminar does not function under the same laws and rules
0:51:06 > 0:51:08that your life does out there.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12I had to lie down on the floor, and he said, "OK, it's the time now."
0:51:12 > 0:51:15I thought, "Oh, my God, it's going to be
0:51:15 > 0:51:18"like facing a firing squad for me." You know, it's terrifying.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21He said, "Just start making a noise."
0:51:21 > 0:51:25Start to put the feelings of your body into a sound.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29'Gradually, the noise I made became louder and louder and louder
0:51:29 > 0:51:30'until it turned into'
0:51:30 > 0:51:34a kind of a shouting and then it turned, after a few minutes,
0:51:34 > 0:51:37into a scream like you wouldn't believe.
0:51:37 > 0:51:38WAILING
0:51:38 > 0:51:41I was screaming at the top my voice.
0:51:41 > 0:51:42WOMAN SCREAMS
0:51:42 > 0:51:47Stop it, stop it, stop it!
0:51:47 > 0:51:49What they did was they held me up by my feet,
0:51:49 > 0:51:53and these people all round me pushed these cushions
0:51:53 > 0:51:57into my body, so I felt completely cocooned,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01and then, very gradually, I calmed down, and they laid me down
0:52:01 > 0:52:07on the ground, and I cannot describe the feeling that I felt,
0:52:07 > 0:52:13because I felt the wetness of a newborn infant.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16That's it, good night.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18APPLAUSE
0:52:18 > 0:52:22I was on a high like you wouldn't believe and I did all kinds
0:52:22 > 0:52:25of strange things which I'd never done before,
0:52:25 > 0:52:27like instead of shunning all interviews,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30I almost suddenly wanted to talk to everybody.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33JAUNTY PLUCKED GUITAR
0:52:35 > 0:52:38'And it turned him into a kind of mini-monster for a period.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40'Firm handshake,'
0:52:40 > 0:52:43leaning forward into it. It was so uncharacteristic and wrong.
0:52:43 > 0:52:48TAPE REWINDS INCONSISTENTLY
0:52:48 > 0:52:50MUSIC: "Blue Peter" theme tune
0:52:50 > 0:52:52The hair is cut, the beard is gone,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55he's got no clothes on on the front of music mags,
0:52:55 > 0:52:57he's doing a version of the Blue Peter theme.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59PLAYS ALONG WITH THEME TUNE
0:53:02 > 0:53:05'It's just this completely different character,'
0:53:05 > 0:53:09and bear in mind, he's still not...30.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13The worst thing he ever did was to do that rebirthing thing.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16TAPE LOOPS AND WHIRRS
0:53:16 > 0:53:19That might sound cruel, because I'm sure
0:53:19 > 0:53:24he's more comfortable in himself dealing with the rest of the world.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28MASS CHANTING
0:53:28 > 0:53:30'I think that since that rebirthing thing,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33'he's found it very hard to reach the places
0:53:33 > 0:53:36'where the real music came from,'
0:53:36 > 0:53:40because I think the music that Michael made was...
0:53:40 > 0:53:45was the grist of his pain. He didn't want to do the pain any more.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47Quite reasonably so, I suppose.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50But it was the pain that was bringing the music through.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54SCREAMING AND APPLAUSE
0:53:57 > 0:54:00APPLAUSE FADES
0:54:00 > 0:54:05MUSIC: "Ommadawn Part One" by Mike Oldfield
0:54:09 > 0:54:13About five years that lasted, and I did all the things
0:54:13 > 0:54:16I hadn't been able to do. It was like an incredible high.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18It sort of wore off.
0:54:20 > 0:54:25It really worked for Mike, but it didn't last,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28because all it does is give you a glimpse,
0:54:28 > 0:54:33but then all the automation kicks in again after a few weeks.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36The emotional undercurrents were so strong, which had been held back
0:54:36 > 0:54:41for so long, the powerful force of that anguish was still there
0:54:41 > 0:54:43and it was trying to come through.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47Then there was the passing away of my mother,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50had to deal with the grief of that.
0:54:50 > 0:54:51That was a terrible loss.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56Best way I can describe that was a big balloon bursting full of grief,
0:54:56 > 0:54:58and I had to let it out.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11Right now, I'd see that Mike is opening up in a way
0:55:11 > 0:55:12that he's never opened up before.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Because the music that Mike's come up with has touched people
0:55:17 > 0:55:22in a way that's just so amazing. He's given so much...
0:55:23 > 0:55:25..he deserves something back.
0:55:25 > 0:55:30Not just the money, which he spends...HAS SPENT in the past
0:55:30 > 0:55:33to create a wall, build big walls around himself.
0:55:33 > 0:55:35The money doesn't help.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41TUBULAR BELLS PLAYS IN REVERSE
0:55:41 > 0:55:43Our starting point was music.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46For the second sequence in the Olympic ceremony,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48it was Tubular Bells
0:55:48 > 0:55:52that we wanted to actually make a cornerstone
0:55:52 > 0:55:54of 20 minutes of the evening.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58ANNOUNCER: Please welcome Mike Oldfield
0:55:58 > 0:56:02and the staff of the United Kingdom National Health Service.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05'It's tricky, because you think, "How's he going to react?"
0:56:05 > 0:56:08'We're not going to be able to play all 40-odd minutes of it,
0:56:08 > 0:56:11'it's going to be a cut-down version,'
0:56:11 > 0:56:14and I have to say, of all the collaborators that we worked with
0:56:14 > 0:56:16on it, he was extraordinary.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22'Not only the ability to manipulate that tune in different ways,
0:56:22 > 0:56:25'but also his appetite for it was amazing.'
0:56:30 > 0:56:33He's had to be very protective of the work, understandably,
0:56:33 > 0:56:35but with us he was like, "Oh..."
0:56:39 > 0:56:42We started to put it together with this sequence which was borne
0:56:42 > 0:56:45out of children's literature and caring
0:56:45 > 0:56:47and the villains in children's literature,
0:56:47 > 0:56:49because the theme tune of The Exorcist,
0:56:49 > 0:56:52that made sense as a starting point for it,
0:56:52 > 0:56:55and then the celebratory sense of Tubular Bells was also good,
0:56:55 > 0:56:57because we wanted to celebrate the NHS
0:56:57 > 0:57:01and we wanted to use a lot of the staff from the NHS to learn dancing.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07'Here we are, 40 years later, this little piece of music I had
0:57:07 > 0:57:11'when I was in this terrible, panic-stricken situation,'
0:57:11 > 0:57:13I was standing there on the stage live
0:57:13 > 0:57:16in front of this massive audience and thinking,
0:57:16 > 0:57:18"I remember writing that all those years ago,"
0:57:18 > 0:57:22and here's these thousands of people and millions of people
0:57:22 > 0:57:25watching it, and it was going out across the planet.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27It was...magnificent.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33GUITAR SOLO PLAYS
0:57:35 > 0:57:37I think he'd arrived at a point where he thought,
0:57:37 > 0:57:40"This would be a wonderful way to celebrate the album nationally."
0:57:40 > 0:57:42Because he lives abroad now, but it does belong to Britain.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45I think it is borne out of our culture.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56The most extraordinary pleasure in the album
0:57:56 > 0:57:58is that he brings it all together,
0:57:58 > 0:58:01that feeling of something experimental being brought together
0:58:01 > 0:58:06and complete. Because everyone can experiment and everyone can doodle
0:58:06 > 0:58:09and go off strange places, and they're fascinating,
0:58:09 > 0:58:11but to complete it and to give a sense of wholeness,
0:58:11 > 0:58:15that he brings you to the end of a journey is amazing, really,
0:58:15 > 0:58:17and it feels, the sense...
0:58:17 > 0:58:20The sense of satisfaction and completion you get from that
0:58:20 > 0:58:22is the reason that it's successful.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25To have that kind of mainstream public appeal for something
0:58:25 > 0:58:30so weird without vocals, over such a long space of time,
0:58:30 > 0:58:35to have that much public appeal means it's a masterpiece, I think.
0:58:35 > 0:58:43SOFT ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC PLAYS OVER LAPPING WAVES
0:59:09 > 0:59:11Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd