name	Moonlight Shadow
cover	Moonlight Shadow (Mike Oldfield).jpg
artist	Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly
album	Crises
b-side	"Rite of Man"
released
format	7-inch vinyl12-inch vinyl
genre	Pop rock
length
label	Virgin Records
writer	Mike Oldfield
producer	Mike OldfieldSimon Phillips
chronology	Mike Oldfield
last single	"Mistake" (1982)
this single	"Moonlight Shadow" (1983)
next single	"Shadow on the Wall" (1983)
misc	}}

"Moonlight Shadow" is a pop song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983 and included in the album ''Crises'', of the same year. The vocals were performed by Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had joined Mike Oldfield in 1980. It is Oldfield's most successful single to date.

Release

The single peaked at number 4 in the British charts, making it Oldfield's second highest ranked single after "Portsmouth" which reached number 3 in 1976. "Moonlight Shadow" was successful throughout Europe, It reached number 1 in countries including Italy, Austria, Switzerland for four weeks and Norway for six weeks. It spent four weeks at number 2 in Germany and also hit number 6 in Australia. It was re-released as a maxi-CD single in 1993 to promote Oldfield's ''Elements'' box set, charting at number 52.

A 12" single (later reissued on a 3" CD single) featured an extended version of the song with an extra verse and the single B-side was "Rite of Man" which was a rare instance of Oldfield singing lead vocal. The extended mix also appears on his compilation album ''The Platinum Collection''.

In 1991 the song was re-released in France and in 1993, it was featured on promos for ''Elements'' in France and Spain.

Live performances

Maggie Reilly sang "Moonlight Shadow" live when she toured with Oldfield in the 1980s. However since then, other singers have performed the song live with Oldfield including, Anita Hegerland (during the late 1980s), Pepsi Demacque (at the ''Tubular Bells III'' premiere and at the Live Then & Now '99 tour), Miriam Stockley (at the Millennium concert) and Rosa Cedrón (at Nokia Night of the Proms).

Artwork

The original cover art is an enlargement of the lower right corner of the ''Crises'' album cover by UK artist Terry Ilott. This shows a man with his foot on a ledge with the sea and sky in the background. The moon, the tower and its shadow from the album cover cannot be seen on the single cover.

The artwork for the 1993 reissue followed the style of the ''Elements'' artwork in most countries.

Production

An early version of the song was entitled "Midnight Passion" with vocals by British singer Hazel O'Connor. Along with Maggie Reilly, a girlfriend of one of the roadies when Oldfield was on tour, Oldfield used a rhyming dictionary and recorded many of the lyrics word by word. According to Oldfield, Virgin Records were immediately happy with the song and wanted more pieces similar to it. Reilly also sang on "Foreign Affair" on ''Crises''.

Oldfield later sampled the drums from "Moonlight Shadow" for the song "Man in the Rain" on his 1998 album, ''Tubular Bells III''.

Lyrical content

It has been suggested that the lyrics of the song are a reference to the murder of John Lennon despite the fact that the events in the song do not correspond with those of Lennon's murder. Lennon was shot four times just before 11pm, whereas in the song the time is 4am and the number of shots is six. When asked if Moonlight Shadow is a reference to John Lennon's murder in a 1995 interview, Oldfield responded:

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Video

There are two versions of the video, the full-length original, and a shorter one which omits a verse - the reason for the shorter version was for the requirements of some TV broadcasters, and the way both versions are edited suggests that Oldfield's touring guitarist "Ant" (Anthony Glynne) performed the second, overdriven half of the guitar solo, which is not the case. Also in the video is Oldfield's touring drummer, Pierre Moerlen, miming the part played by Simon Phillips on the recording.

Track listing

7-inch vinyl

# "Moonlight Shadow" (7" mix) – 3:37 # "Rite of Man" – 2:21

12-inch vinyl

# "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 5:18 # "Rite of Man" – 2:21

German vinyl

# "Moonlight Shadow" – 3:37 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 5:18 # "Rite of Man" – 2:21 # "To France" – 4:43 # "Jungle Gardenia" – 2:45 (Mike Oldfield) # "Taurus 3" – 2:25

1988 CD

# "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 5:18 # "Rite of Man" – 2:21 # "To France" – 4:44 # "Jungle Gardenia" – 2:44

1993 CD

# "Moonlight Shadow" – 3:35 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 5:18 # "In the Pool" – 3:40 # "Bones" – 3:19

Chart positions

The song performed particularly well in European charts, reaching number one in countries such as Norway, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. {|class="wikitable sortable" |- !align="left"|Chart (1983) ! style="text-align:center;"|Peakposition |- |align="left"|Norwegian Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|1 |- |align="left"|Italian Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|1 |- |align="left"|Swedish Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|1 |- |align="left"|Dutch Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|2 |- |align="left"|Eurochart Hot 100 | style="text-align:center;"|1 |- |align="left"|Swiss Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|1 |- |align="left"|South African Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|7 |- |align="left"|German Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|2 |- |align="left"|Austrian Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|1 |- |align="left"|UK Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|4 |- |align="left"|Australian Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|6 |}

Personnel

Mike Oldfield: Guitars, Fairlight CMI, writer, producer

Maggie Reilly: Vocals

Rick Fenn: Guitar

Phil Spalding: Bass guitar

Simon Phillips: Drums, Producer

Appearances and influence in other media

The song has been used in other media, such as:

It appeared on the soundtrack of the Italian comedy ''Vacanze di Natale'' (1983).

It is the theme song for Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior, a character in the BBC TV comedy series ''The Fast Show''.

The French television station Direct 8 used a guitar-based instrumental cover version of "Moonlight Shadow" as its main jingle in 2005.

Banana Yoshimoto's novella, ''Kitchen'', has a story called "Moonlight Shadow", which is influenced by this song.

Cover versions

Numerous cover versions of "Moonlight Shadow" have been performed over the years, including by Groove Coverage and The Shadows (a band whom Oldfield was influenced by) on their 1986 album ''Moonlight Shadows''. Notably Oldfield had also covered a Shadows song, "Wonderful Land".

Other versions over the years have included: In 1989, Annie Haslam formerly of Renaissance covered the song on her self-titled third solo album produced by Larry Fast.

In 1990, as part of their ''Plays Synthesizer World Hits'' album the Italian spacesynth band Koto covered a instrumental version of "Moonlight Shadow" using electronic synthesizers.

In 1997, a dance version of the song was produced by Missing Heart. A techno remix of the Missing Heart cover was later released by DJ Mystik.

Austrian band 'Code 7' covered the track.

In 2001, Serbian punk rock band KBO! recorded a version on their 2001 cover album ''(Ne) Menjajte Stanicu'' (''(Do Not) Change the Station'').

In 2002, the band 1000 Years covered "Moonlight Shadow" on the compilation ''Crazy Mix 2002''.

In 2002, Japanese artist Kokia included a cover version on her 7th single, "Ningen-tte Sonna Mono ne".

In 2002, child singer Aselin Debison covered it on her ''Sweet Is the Melody'' album.

In 2003, German band X-Perience covered "Moonlight Shadow" as a planned single (including remixes by DJs@Work) for 2006, but their record label changed this plan and this version remain unreleased.

In 2004, German gothic rock band Elane recorded a ballad version on their album ''The Fire of Glenvore''.

In 2005, Italian power metal band Skylark covered the song on their album ''Fairytales''.

In 2005, Frédérique covered the track on their ''Irish Ties'' album.

In 2005, a cover of the song appeared as a hidden track on the album ''Command to Charge'' by German melodic death metal band Suidakra.

In 2007, hardcore group Noize Incorporated also covered the song for their 2007 album ''Mutilation''.

In 2007, the track appeared as a B-side on the single "Y Ahora Voy a Salir (Ranxeira)" by Spanish folk metal band Mägo de Oz.

In 2008, on his album ''Recollection'' French pop singer Laurent Voulzy covered "Moonlight Shadow" in the medley track "Jukebox".

In 2009, Finnish heavy metal band Deathlike Silence covered the song for their album ''Saturday Night Evil''.

In 2009, the original singer, Maggie Reilly recorded another version of the song for her album ''Looking Back Moving Forward''.

Non-English cover versions

Foreign language covers of "Moonlight Shadow" include:

Greek singer Stelios Rokos reseased a Greek-language version of the song, titled "Mia fotia stin ammo" (Gr:Μια φωτιά στην άμμο) which translates as "A fire on the sand/beach".

Juliane Werding released a German-language version of the song, titled "Nacht voll Schatten".

In 2004, Icelandic singer Margrét Eir released an Icelandic-language version of the song, titled "Í næturhúmi".

In 2006, Russian power metal band Miriada included a Russian language cover version on their album ''Иллюзия Любви'' (''Illusion of Love'') entitled "В Свете Лунной Тени" (Literally "In light of the lunar shadow").

In 2009, Argentinian singer and composer Marcela Morelo adapted the lyrics to Spanish and recorded it for her album ''Otro Plan''.

Live cover performances

Live covers of "Moonlight Shadow" include:

In 1998, Ukrainian singer Ruslana covered the song for a live radio performance.

In 2002, British band Renaissance covered the song on the live album ''In the Land of the Rising Sun'' continuing an affinity for the tune first covered solo by vocalist Annie Haslam (see above).

Groove Coverage cover version

name	Moonlight Shadow
cover	Groove Coverage - Moonlight Shadow.jpg
artist	Groove Coverage
from album	Covergirl
released	2002
format	12" single CD Single, Maxi
genre	Eurodance
label	Zeitgeist (Universal) Suprime:Music
last single	"Are U Ready"(2002)
this single	"Moonlight Shadow"(2002)
next single	"God is a Girl"(2002) }}

In 2002 a dance version of "Moonlight Shadow" by Groove Coverage reached the German Top 10 (simultaneously, a similar version of Oldfield's "To France" by Novaspace was in the German Top 30). "Moonlight Shadow" appeared on Groove Coverage's debut album, ''Covergirl''.

Track listings

CD single

# "Moonlight Shadow" (Radio version) – 2:52 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Original radio edit) – 2:54 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 6:56 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Rocco remix) – 6:58 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Warp Brothers remix) – 7:37 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Video) – 2:53

Maxi single

# "Moonlight Shadow" (Radio version) – 2:52 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Original radio edit) – 2:59 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) – 6:58 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Rocco remix) – 6:58 # "Beat Just Goes" – 3:53

Remix single

A-side # "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended version) B-side # "Moonlight Shadow" (Club version) # "Beat Just Goes" (Club mix)

US maxi single

# "Moonlight Shadow" (Josh Harris Radio Edit) – 3:46 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Josh Harris Club Mix) – 7:21 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Josh Harris Dub) – 6:39 # "Moonlight Shadow" (French Club Mix) – 6:36 # "Moonlight Shadow" (French Short Cut) – 3:05 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Plastic Men UK Mix) – 6:16 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Warp Brothers Remix) – 7:36 # "Moonlight Shadow" (North Starz Remix) – 6:57 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Alternate Radio Version) – 2:51 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Original Mix) – 2:53 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Extended Mix) – 6:54 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Rocco Remix) – 6:56 # "Moonlight Shadow" (A cappella) – 1:50 # "Moonlight Shadow" (Pure & Direct Version) – 4:17

Chart positions

{|class="wikitable sortable" |- !align="left"|Chart (2002) ! style="text-align:center;"|Peakposition |- |align="left"|German Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|3 |- |align="left"|Austrian Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|5 |- |align="left"|Europe Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|12 |- |align="left"|Australian Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|39 |- |align="left"|Swiss Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|52 |}

References

External links

Mike Oldfield Discography - ''Crises'' at Tubular.net

Category:Mike Oldfield songs Category:1983 singles Category:European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in Switzerland Category:Number-one singles in Norway Category:Number-one singles in Italy Category:Number-one singles in Sweden Category:Number-one singles in Austria Category:1993 singles Category:2002 singles Category:Groove Coverage songs Category:Maggie Reilly songs Category:Songs written by Mike Oldfield

cs:Moonlight Shadow es:Moonlight Shadow fr:Moonlight Shadow it:Moonlight Shadow ja:ムーンライト・シャドウ pl:Moonlight Shadow pt:Moonlight Shadow ru:Moonlight Shadow sv:Moonlight Shadow

name	Mike Oldfield
landscape	yes
background	solo_singer
birth name	Michael Gordon Oldfield
birth date	May 15, 1953
birth place	Reading, Berkshire, England
instrument	Guitar, keyboards, Percussion, vocals, Bass guitar, drums, piano, organ, glockenspiel, mandolin, banjo, tubular bells, Chapman stick
genre	Ambient, Celtic fusion, classical, Synthpop, experimental, minimalist, Honky-Tonk, Neoclassical, new age, Neofolk, pop, progressive rock, rock and roll, world
occupation	Musician, Songwriter, Producer, Game designer
years active	1967–present
label	Virgin (1972–1991)Warner Bros. (1992–2003)Mercury (2005–present)
associated acts	Maggie Reilly, Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt, David Bedford, Anita Hegerland, Pekka Pohjola
website	www.mikeoldfieldofficial.com }}

Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953, Reading, Berkshire) is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature. He is best known for his hit 1973 album ''Tubular Bells'', which launched Virgin Records, and for his 1983 hit single "Moonlight Shadow". He is also well known for his hit rendition of the Christmas piece, "In Dulci Jubilo".

Biography

Oldfield's parents are Raymond Oldfield, a general practitioner, and his wife Maureen Liston, a nurse. His sister Sally and brother Terry are successful musicians in their own right and have appeared on several of his albums. Mike Oldfield was born in the Battle Hospital, Reading, Berkshire, and he attended St Joseph's Convent School, Highlands Junior School in Tilehurst, St Edward's Preparatory School, and Presentation College in Reading. When he was 13 he moved with his parents to Harold Wood in northeast London, where he attended Hornchurch Grammar School. He only stayed there long enough to take one GCE examination, in English, as he had already begun his music career.

Early career

Oldfield's career began fairly early, playing acoustic guitar in local folk clubs. At this time, he already had two fifteen-minute instrumental pieces in which he would "go through all sorts of moods", a precursor to his landmark 1970s compositions. In his early teens, Oldfield was involved in a 'beat group' playing Shadows-style music (he has often cited Hank Marvin as a major influence, and would later cover The Shadows' song "Wonderful Land"). In 1967 he and his sister Sally formed the folk duo The Sallyangie and were signed to Transatlantic Records after exposure in the local folk scene. An album, ''Children of the Sun'', was issued in 1968. After Sallyangie disbanded, he formed another duo with his brother Terry, called Barefoot, which took him back to rock music.

In 1970 he joined The Whole World - backing group to vocalist Kevin Ayers, formerly of the Soft Machine - playing bass guitar and occasionally lead guitar. The band also included keyboardist and composer David Bedford, who quickly befriended Oldfield, and encouraged him in his composition of an early version of ''Tubular Bells''. Bedford would later arrange and conduct an orchestral version of that album. Oldfield is featured on two Ayers albums, ''Whatevershebringswesing'' and ''Shooting at the Moon''.

Having recorded a demo version of ''Tubular Bells'', Oldfield attempted to persuade record labels to take the project on. In 1972 he met the young Richard Branson who was setting up his own record label, Virgin Records, and after playing the demo to engineers Tom Newman and Simon Heyworth, he began recording the 1973 version of the album.

Virgin years (1973–1991)

''Tubular Bells'' became Oldfield's most famous work. The instrumental composition was recorded in 1972 and launched on 25 May 1973 as the inaugural album of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label. The album was groundbreaking, as Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments in the multi-layered recording made in Branson's Manor studios, and its style moved through many diverse musical genres. Its 2,630,000 UK sales put it at No.34 on the list of the best selling albums in the UK. In the US, it received attention with the opening theme appearing in the soundtrack to ''The Exorcist''. The title track subsequently became a Top 10 hit single in the US as well and is today considered to be a forerunner of the New Age movement. In 1974, Oldfield played guitar on the critically acclaimed album ''Rock Bottom'' by Robert Wyatt. In the autumn of 1974, the follow-up LP, ''Hergest Ridge'', was No.1 in the UK for three weeks before being dethroned by ''Tubular Bells''. Although ''Hergest Ridge'' was released over a year after ''Tubular Bells'', it reached No.1 first. ''Tubular Bells'' spent 11 weeks (10 of them consecutive) at No.2 before its one week at the top. In 1979, Oldfield's music was used as the musical score for ''The Space Movie'', a Virgin movie that celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.

Like ''Tubular Bells'', ''Hergest Ridge'' is a two-movement instrumental piece, this time evoking scenes from Oldfield's Herefordshire country retreat. It was followed in 1975 by the pioneering world music piece ''Ommadawn'', and 1978's ''Incantations'' which introduced more diverse choral performances from Sally Oldfield, Maddy Prior, and the Queen's College Girls Choir. In 1975 Oldfield recorded a version of the Christmas piece "In Dulci Jubilo" which charted at number four in the UK. Oldfield's 1976 rendition of "Portsmouth" remains his highest charting single on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number three.

In 1976 Oldfield and his sister Sally joined his friend and band member Pekka Pohjola to play on his album ''Mathematician's Air Display'', which was released in 1977. The album was recorded and edited at Oldfield's Througham Slad Manor in Gloucestershire by Oldfield and Paul Lindsay.

Around the time of ''Incantations'', Oldfield underwent a controversial self-assertiveness therapy course known as Exegesis. Possibly as a result, the formerly reclusive musician staged a major European tour to promote the album, chronicled in his live album ''Exposed'', much of which was recorded at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham, the first-ever concert there.

In 1975, Oldfield received a Grammy award for Best Instrumental Composition in "Tubular Bells – Theme from ''The Exorcist''". In 1979, he recorded a version of the signature tune of the popular British Children's Television programme, ''Blue Peter'', which was used by the show for 10 years.

The early 1980s saw Oldfield make a transition to mainstream pop music, beginning with the inclusion of shorter instrumental tracks and contemporary cover versions on ''Platinum'' and ''QE2'' (the latter named after the ocean liner). Soon afterwards he turned to songwriting, with a string of collaborations featuring various lead vocalists alongside his characteristic searing guitar solos. The best known of these is "Moonlight Shadow", his 1983 hit with Maggie Reilly. The most successful Oldfield composition on the US pop charts during this period was actually a cover version — Hall & Oates's remake of Oldfield's "Family Man" for their 1982 album ''H₂O''. Released as the album's third single, it hit the Top 10 during the spring of 1983 and was a hugely popular MTV music video.

Oldfield later turned to film and video, writing the score for Roland Joffé's acclaimed film ''The Killing Fields'' and producing substantial video footage for his album ''Islands''. ''Islands'' continued what Oldfield had been doing on the past couple of albums, with an instrumental piece on one side and rock/pop singles on the other. Of these, "Islands", sung by Bonnie Tyler and "Magic Touch", with vocals by Max Bacon (in the U.S. version) and Glasgow vocalist Southside Jimmy (in other versions), were the major hits. In the U.S., the Virgin America airline promoted the song "Magic Touch" to a large extent, making it a success, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard album rock charts. During the 1980s, Oldfield's then-wife, Norwegian singer Anita Hegerland, contributed vocals to many songs including "Pictures in the Dark".

''Earth Moving'' was released in July 1989, and was a moderate success. The album was the first to exclusively feature rock/pop songs, several of which were released: "Innocent" and "Holy" in Europe, and "Hostage" in the USA for album rock stations. This was, however, a time of much friction with his record label. Virgin Records reportedly insisted that any future instrumental album should be billed as ''Tubular Bells 2''. Oldfield's rebellious response was ''Amarok'', an hour-long work featuring rapidly changing themes (supposedly devised to make cutting a single from the album impossible), unpredictable bursts of noise, and a very cleverly hidden Morse code insult directed at Richard Branson. Although regarded by many fans as his greatest work, it was not a commercial success. His parting shot from the Virgin label was ''Heaven's Open'', which continued the veiled attacks on Branson but was notable for being the first time Oldfield had contributed all the lead vocals himself. It was the only album he released under the name 'Michael Oldfield'.

Warner years (1992–2003)

The very first thing Oldfield did when arriving at his new label, Warner Bros., was to write and release ''Tubular Bells II'', the sequel to his first record on Virgin, as his final insult to his former label. It was premiered at a live concert at Edinburgh Castle. He then continued to embrace new musical styles, with ''The Songs of Distant Earth'' (based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel of the same name) exhibiting a softer "New Age" sound. In 1994 he also had an asteroid named after him, 5656 Oldfield.

In 1995 Oldfield further continued to embrace new musical styles by producing a Celtic-themed album, ''Voyager''. In 1992 Oldfield met Luar na Lubre, a Galician Celtic-folk band (from A Coruña, Spain). The band's popularity grew after Oldfield covered their song "O son do ar" ("The sound of the air") on his ''Voyager'' album.

In 1998 he produced the third ''Tubular Bells'' album (also premiered at a concert, this time in Horse Guards Parade, London), drawing from the dance music scene at his then new home on the island of Ibiza. This album was still inspired by themes from ''Tubular Bells'', but differed in lacking a clear two-part layout.

During 1999 Oldfield released two albums. The first, ''Guitars'', used guitars as the source for all the sounds on the album, including percussion. The second, ''The Millennium Bell'', consisted of pastiches of a number of styles of music that represented various historical periods over the past millennium. The work was performed live in Berlin for the city's millennium celebrations in 1999–2000.

He added to his repertoire the MusicVR project, combining his music with a virtual reality-based computer game. His first work on this project is ''Tr3s Lunas'' launched in 2002, a virtual game where the player can interact with a world full of new music. This project appeared as a double CD, one with the music, and the other with the game.

In 2003 he released ''Tubular Bells 2003'', a re-recording of the original ''Tubular Bells'', on CD, and DVD-Audio. This was done to "fix" many "imperfections" in the original due to the recording technologies of the early 1970s and limitations in time that he could spend in the recording studio. It celebrated the 30th anniversary of ''Tubular Bells'', Oldfield's 50th birthday and his marriage to Fanny in the same year. At around the same time Virgin released an SACD version containing both the original stereo album and the 1975 quadraphonic mix by Phil Newell. In the 2003 version, the original voice of the 'Master of Ceremonies' (Viv Stanshall) was replaced by the voice of John Cleese, Stanshall having died in the interim.

Mercury years (since 2004)

On 12 April 2004 Oldfield launched his next virtual reality project, ''Maestro'', which contains music from the ''Tubular Bells 2003'' album and also some new chillout melodies. The games have since been made available free of charge on Tubular.net. A double album, ''Light + Shade'', was released on Mercury Records in 2005, with whom Mike had recently signed a three-album deal. The two discs contain music of contrasting moods, one relaxed (''Light'') and the other more edgy and moody (''Shade''). Oldfield headlined the German Night of the Proms tour, consisting of 18 concerts in December 2006.

His autobiography ''Changeling'' was published in May 2007 by Virgin Books. In March 2008 Oldfield released his first classical album, ''Music of the Spheres''; Karl Jenkins assisted with the orchestration. In the first week of release the album topped the UK Classical chart and reached number 9 on the main UK Album Chart. A single, "Spheres", featuring a demo version of pieces from the album was released digitally. The album was nominated for a Classical Brit Award, the NS&I; Best Album of 2009.

In 2008 Oldfield contributed an exclusive song ("Song for Survival") to a charity album called ''Songs for Survival'', in support of the Survival International. Oldfield's daughter, Molly, played a large part in the project.

In 2008 when Oldfield's original 35-year deal with Virgin Records ended, the rights to ''Tubular Bells'' and his other Virgin releases were returned to him, and then they were transferred to Mercury Records. Mercury issued a press release on 15 April 2009, noting that Oldfield's Virgin albums would be re-released, starting 8 June 2009. These releases include special features from the archives. On 6 June 2009, an International Bell Ringing day took place, to promote the reissue of his first album, ''Tubular Bells''. The next two albums were reissued in June 2010 along with the launch of a new official web site. ''Incantations'' was reissued in July 2011.

In March 2010 ''Music Week'' reported that publishing company Stage Three Music (now a part of BMG) had acquired a 50% stake in the songs of Oldfield's entire recorded output in a seven-figure deal. In 2010 lyricist Don Black said in an interview with ''Music Week'' that he had been working with Oldfield. In early 2011 Mike Oldfield was in a studio with German producer Torsten Stenzel, collaborating on a chill-out track for a forthcoming album by Torsten Stenzel's York project.

Personal life

Oldfield and his siblings were raised Roman Catholic, the faith of their Irish mother. In the late 1970s, Oldfield briefly married Diana D'Aubigny (the sister of the Exegesis group leader), but this lasted just a few weeks.

Mike Oldfield has seven children. In the early 1980s, he had three children with Sally Cooper (Molly, Dougal and Luke). In the late 1980s, he had two children (Greta and Noah) with Norwegian singer Anita Hegerland. In the 2000s, he married Fanny Vandekerckhove (born 1977), whom he met during his time in Ibiza; they have two sons together (Jake and Eugene).

Oldfield is a motorcycle fan and has five bikes. These include a BMW R1200GS, a Suzuki GSX-R750, a Suzuki GSX-R1000, and a Yamaha R1. He also says that some of his inspiration for composing comes from riding them. Throughout his life Oldfield has also had a passion for aircraft and building model aircraft. Since 1980 he has also been a licensed pilot and has flown fixed wing aircraft, the first of which was a Beechcraft Sierra and helicopters including the Agusta Bell 47G which featured on the sleeve of his cover version of the ABBA song "Arrival" as a parody of their album artwork. He is also interested in cars and has owned a Ferrari and a Bentley which was a gift from Richard Branson as an incentive for him to give his first live performance of ''Tubular Bells''. He has endorsed the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in the Mercedes UK magazine. Oldfield also considers himself to be a Trekkie (fan of the popular science fiction television series ''Star Trek''). He also noted in an interview in 2008 that he had two boats.

In November 2006, musician Noel Gallagher won a Spanish court case against Oldfield. Gallagher had bought an Ibiza villa for £2.5 million from Oldfield in 1999, but quickly discovered that part of the cliff-top property was falling into the sea. According to ''The Sun'', the resulting court case awarded Gallagher a six-figure sum in compensation. Suspicion abounds in the music industry that the law-suit was initiated because of embarrassment that Gallagher brought on himself by not having a proper survey done on the property before buying it. This included making an immediate and noisy complaint about someone's yacht tied up at the villa's jetty before it was pointed out that the yacht came with the villa and was, in fact, his.

In 2007 Oldfield caused a minor stir in the British press by criticizing Britain for being too controlling and protective, specifically concentrating on the smoking ban which England and Wales had introduced that year. Oldfield then moved from his Gloucestershire home to Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He has lived outside the UK in the past, including living in Los Angeles and Ibiza in the 1990s, and Switzerland in the mid-1980s, for tax reasons. He also currently has a home in Monaco. In 2009 he decided to move to the Bahamas, and put his home in Mallorca up for sale; the asking price was around €3.5 million, but has since been lowered, and as of August 2011 is still listed as available for sale by a major international real estate agency.

Instruments

Oldfield is a multi-instrumentalist; however he considers himself to be predominantly a guitarist.

Guitars

Over the years Oldfield has used a various selection of guitars, some of the most noted being:

A 1963 (also quoted as 1961 and 1962) salmon pink (fiesta red) Fender Stratocaster serial no.L08044 – used by Oldfield from 1984 (''Discovery'' album) until 2006 (Night of the Proms, rehearsals in Antwerp) – Sold for £30,000 at Chandler Guitars.

A 1989 amber PRS Artist Custom 24 – used by Oldfield from the late 1980s to the present day.

A 1966 blonde Fender Telecaster serial no. 180728 – the only electric guitar used on ''Tubular Bells'' and also previously owned by Marc Bolan – went up for auction at Bonhams in June 2007, with the money going to the SANE charity.

Various Gibson Les Paul and SGs – used by Oldfield extensively in the 1970s and 80s.

Oldfield used a modified Roland GP8 effects processor in conjunction with his PRS Artist to get many of his heavily overdriven guitar sounds from the ''Earth Moving'' album onwards. Oldfield has also been using Guitar synthesizers since the mid-1980s, using a 1980s Roland GR-300/G-808 type system, then a 1990s Roland GK2 equipped red PRS Custom 24 (sold in 2006) with a Roland VG8, and most recently a Line 6 Variax.

Oldfield has an unusual playing style, using both fingers and fingernails and several ways of creating vibrato: a "very fast side-to-side vibrato" or "violinist's vibrato". Oldfield has also stated that his playing style originates from his musical roots playing folk music and the bass guitar.

Recording

Oldfield has self-recorded and produced many of his albums, and played the majority of the instruments that feature on them, largely at his home studios. In the 1990s and 2000s he has been mainly using DAWs such as Apple Logic, Avid Pro Tools and Steinberg Nuendo as recording suites. For composing classical music Oldfield has been quoted as using the software notation program, Sibelius, combined with Apple Macintoshes. He also used the FL Studio DAW on his 2005 double album ''Light + Shade''. Among the mixing consoles Oldfield has owned are an AMS Neve Capricorn 33238, a Harrison Series X, and a Euphonix System 5-MC.

Keyboards

Over the years Oldfield has owned and used a vast number of synthesizers and other keyboard instruments. In the 1980s he composed the score for the film ''The Killing Fields'' on a Fairlight CMI. Some examples of keyboard and synthesized instruments which Oldfield has made use of includes Sequential Circuits Prophets (notably on ''Platinum''), Roland JV-1080/JV-2080 units (in the 1990s), a Korg M1 (as seen in the "Innocent" video), a Clavia Nord Lead, and Steinway pianos among an almost endless list of others. In recent years Oldfield has also made use of software synthesis, such as Native Instruments products, notably on his ''Light + Shade'' album.

Discography

Oldfield has had more than 30 charting albums and 25 charting singles on the British charts, and many more around the world.

Main albums

{| style="width:100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" |- valign="top" |style="width:50%"|

''Tubular Bells'' (1973)

''Hergest Ridge'' (1974)

''The Orchestral Tubular Bells'' (1975)

''Ommadawn'' (1975)

''Incantations'' (1978)

''Exposed'' (1979)

''Platinum'' (1979)

''QE2'' (1980)

''Five Miles Out'' (1982)

''Crises'' (1983)

''Discovery'' (1984)

''The Killing Fields'' (1984)

''Islands'' (1987)

|style="width:50%"|

''Earth Moving'' (1989)

''Amarok'' (1990)

''Heaven's Open'' (1991)

''Tubular Bells II'' (1992)

''The Songs of Distant Earth'' (1994)

''Voyager'' (1996)

''Tubular Bells III'' (1998)

''Guitars'' (1999)

''The Millennium Bell'' (1999)

''Tr3s Lunas'' (2002)

''Tubular Bells 2003'' (2003)

''Light + Shade'' (2005)

''Music of the Spheres'' (2008)

|}

Quotation

''NME'' - April 1979

See also

Sally Oldfield

Terry Oldfield

Kevin Ayers

Maggie Reilly

Rick Fenn

Maddy Prior

Anita Hegerland

New Age music

Electronic music

Virgin Records

Bibliography

References

External links

; Official sites MikeOldfieldOfficial.com – The official Mike Oldfield website

* Mike Oldfield official Universal store

MikeOldfield.org – The official Mike Oldfield information service

; Fan-based sites

Tubular.net – The largest and most well-established Mike Oldfield website, for news and information.

; Other sites

Category:1953 births Category:Living people Category:English songwriters Category:English guitarists Category:English multi-instrumentalists Category:English buskers Category:English New Age musicians Category:English composers Category:British people of Irish descent Category:People from Reading, Berkshire Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Virgin Records artists Category:Mercury Records artists Category:English Roman Catholics Category:Warner Bros. Records artists Category:FL Studio users Category:People educated at Presentation College, Reading Category:People educated at The Highlands School, Reading

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name	Maggie Reilly
background	solo_singer
born	September 15, 1956
origin	Glasgow, Scotland
genre	Pop, Folk, Soft Rock
years active	1970spresent
label	EMI, Red Berry Records
associated acts	Cado Belle, Mike Oldfield
website	Official website
notable instruments	}}

Maggie Reilly (born 15 September 1956 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed the vocals on the song ''Moonlight Shadow'', which was an international hit in 1983.

Career

Reilly first came to prominence as a member of the 1970s white-soul outfit Cado Belle, and released one album with them in 1976.

She is best known for her collaborations with the composer Mike Oldfield between 1980 and 1984, especially by co-writing and performing the vocals on "Family Man" and other tracks on the album ''Five Miles Out'' (1982), "Moonlight Shadow" (1983), "Foreign Affair" (1983), and "To France" (1984).

In 1992, she issued her debut solo album ''Echoes'', from which the singles "Everytime We Touch", "Tears in the Rain" and "Wait" were the most successful. A series of solo albums were released over the next seventeen years.

She has also worked with many other artists, including Mike Batt (on his ''Hunting of the Snark'' album), Jack Bruce, Dave Greenfield & Jean-Jacques Burnel, Nick Mason & Rick Fenn, Michael Cretu, Lesiëm, Ralph McTell, Simon Nicol (of Fairport Convention), Stefan Zauner (of Münchener Freiheit), Runrig, The Sisters of Mercy, and Smokie.

Maggie and song writing partner Stuart MacKillop are collaborating (2009) with novelist and screenwriter Tom Stevens on a movie project entitled 'Lilith: the last temptation of Adam'. Maggie and Stuart are writing the movie soundtrack which will also be released on CD. Maggie Reilly Fan Site Maggie, Stuart and Tom Stevens together with Pauline Richards are part of Green Chapel Films movie production company.

Discography

Solo albums

''Echoes'' (1992)

''Midnight Sun'' (1993)

''All the Mixes'' (1996)

''Elena'' (1996)

''Elena: The Mixes'' (1997)

''The Best of Maggie Reilly, There and Back Again'' (1998)

''Starcrossed'' (2000)

''Save It for a Rainy Day'' (2002)

''Rowan'' (2006)

''Looking Back, Moving Forward'' (2009)

Solo singles

"As Tears Go By" (1984)

"What About Tomorrows Children" (1991)

"Everytime We Touch" (1992)

"Wait" (1992)

"Tears in the Rain" (1992)

"Follow the Midnight Sun" (1993)

"Every Single Heartbeat" (1993)

"Don't Wanna Lose" (1994)

"Walk on By" (1996)

"Walk on By" - The Mixes (1996)

"To France" - The Mixes (1996)

"Listen to Your Heart" (1996)

"To France" - The Mixes II (1997)

"Listen to Your Heart" - The Mixes (1997)

"Listen to Your Heart" - The Mixes II (1997)

"One Little Word" (1998)

Collaborations with Mike Oldfield

''QE2'' (1980)

''Five Miles Out'' (1982)

''Crises'' (1983)

''Discovery'' (1984)

''The Complete'' (1985)

''Earth Moving'' (1989)

''Elements - The Best of Mike Oldfield'' (1993)

''XXV: The Essential'' (1997)

Collaborations with other artists

Cado Belle - ''Cado Belle'' (1976)

Jim Wilkie - ''The Waxer'' (1979)

Doll by Doll - ''Grand Passion'' (1982)

Dave Greenfield & J.J. Burnel - ''Fire & Water'' (1983)

Peter Blegvad - ''Naked Shakespeare'' (1983)

Nick Mason & Rick Fenn - ''Profiles'' (1985)

Flairck - ''Sleight of Hand'' (1986)

Mike Batt - ''The Hunting of the Snark'' (1986)

Jack Bruce - ''Willpower'' (1989)

The Sisters of Mercy - ''Vision Thing'' (1990)

Flairck - ''Sleight of Hand'' (1986)

Jack Bruce - ''Somethin' Else'' (1992)

Jack Bruce - ''Cities of the Heart'' (1993)

The Lenny MacDowell Project - ''Lost Paradise'' (1993)

Artists For Nature - ''Earthrise, The Rainforest Album'' (1994)

Colm Wilkinson - ''Stage Heroes'' (1994)

Juliane Werding - ''Du Schaffst Es'' (1994)

Jack Bruce - ''The Collectors Edition'' (1996)

Jack Bruce - ''Sitting on top of the World'' (1997)

Simon Nicol - ''Before Your Time / Consonant Please Carol'' (1998)

Smokie - ''Wild Horses'' (1998)

Smokie - ''Our Swedish Collection'' (1999)

Lesiëm - ''Times'' (2003) / ''Auracle'' (2004)

Current band members

Stuart MacKillop - Keyboards

Mark Hornby - Guitars and Backing vocals

Simon Little - Basses and Backing vocals

Steve Alexander - Drums and Percussion

External links

Maggie Reilly on MySpace Music

Heartsong, an unofficial fansite

Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:People from Glasgow Category:Scottish female singers

cs:Maggie Reilly da:Maggie Reilly de:Maggie Reilly et:Maggie Reilly es:Maggie Reilly fr:Maggie Reilly it:Maggie Reilly hu:Maggie Reilly nl:Maggie Reilly ja:マギー・ライリー no:Maggie Reilly pl:Maggie Reilly pt:Maggie Reilly fi:Maggie Reilly sv:Maggie Reilly

Name	Aselin Debison
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Aselin Debison
Birth date	June 27, 1990
Origin	Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada
Genre	Pop
Years active	2002–present
Label	Sony Music CanadaEpicAselin Music Inc.
Website	AselinDebison.com }}

Aselin Debison (born June 27, 1990) is a Canadian pop and Celtic music singer.

Career

Debison began her singing career in 1999, when she was asked to sing at a rally of protesting miners in her hometown. Soon after this performance she began working on a Christmas album ''The Littlest Angel'' which was released in 2001. In 2002, she was spotted by Sony Classical president Peter Gelb at the East Coast Music Awards. Her debut album ''Sweet Is the Melody'' appeared that same year.

In October 2002, Debison was chosen to sing for Queen Elizabeth II at the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Ontario, during her visit to Canada for her Jubilee celebration.

Debison sang with country music artist and Runrig vocalist Bruce Guthro on a CBC (and later a PBS) special entitled "Aselin Debison: Sweet Is the Melody". She performed selections from her debut album and also classic Cape Breton Island songs, such as the Island's anthem. During her tour to promote ''Sweet Is the Melody'', she performed in New York, Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, Korea.

One track from the ''Sweet Is the Melody'', Debison's cover of the distinctive Israel Kamakawiwo'ole medley arrangement Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World, became popular in Korea and Japan. (This song has been frequently, and incorrectly, attributed to American singer Norah Jones.) Thanks to its inclusion in soft pop compilation albums such as Sony Music Korea/Splash Music's 2003 ''Crossover Romance'', it became a firmly established element of ambient music in many parts of east Asia. Debison also did covers of "Driftwood" a song by the Scottish band Travis and Garth Brooks' Christmas song "Gift." Several other tracks from ''Sweet Is the Melody'' were also included in Korean and Japanese pop compilations. Debison's version of Mike Oldfield's "Moonlight Shadow" entered the pop music top 20 in many parts of Japan. "Sweet is the Melody" peaked at album number 10 on the Billboard charts and 55 on the authoritative Oricon pop charts in Japan. In Jan 2010, Debison's Asian success extended to Hong Kong, with "Sweet as the Melody" reaching number 60 on the KKBox Hong Kong classical album chart and the single "Moonlight Shadow" reaching number 46

In March 2005 Debison released her second album, ''Bigger than Me'', and the singles "Life" and "Faze" have been popular on light rock and pop radio. Whereas Debison's early recordings consisted of cover versions, for ''Bigger than Me'' she wrote the material herself with assistance from Dave Thomson (co-founder of teen pop band Wave) and producer Thomas "Tawgs" Salter (initially renowned as a member of the 1990s Canadian rock band Dunk).

Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has hailed Debison as the next Céline Dion. Debison received official congratulations for her musical success in a resolution from the Nova Scotia provincial legislature in April 2002.

Personal life

Since her last album, Debison has been almost completely out of the public eye. However, a fourth album called "Homeward Bound" has recently been released on her own label and is available to buy on cdbaby.com and itunes. The new single "Close to You" has been released.

She is currently enrolled at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, studying Human Kinetics and planning to continue on in Education

She has many uncles, aunts, and cousins in Glace Bay and all over Cape Breton Island.

She is engaged to be married to fellow musician Jonathan Ettinger.

Discography

Studio albums

Date of Release	Title	Label
2001	''The Littlest Angel''	[Aselin Music Inc.]
October 2002	''Sweet Is the Melody''
February 2005	''Bigger Than Me''
2010	''Homeward Bound''	[Aselin Music Inc.]

Filmography

''Easter Seals Telethon'' (1998) TV Series .... Herself

''Sweet is the Melody'' (2003) Public TV Special ... Herself

''Rita MacNeil's Cape Breton'' (2007 – CTV) TV Series .... Herself

References

External links

Official Facebook Fan Page

CBC program guide

"Life" music video

Muchmusic biographical page

Category:1990 births Category:Canadian female singers Category:Living people Category:People from Glace Bay Debison,Aselin Debison,Aselin

de:Aselin Debison es:Aselin Debison it:Aselin Debison ja:アゼリン・デビソン

name	Dana Winner
birth name	Chantal Vanlee
birth date	October 02, 1965
birth place	Hasselt, Belgium
death date
nationality
occupation	singer }}

Dana Winner is the stage name of ''Chantal Vanlee'' (born in Hasselt, 10 February 1965). She is a Belgian singer who is famous especially in Flanders and the Netherlands.

Biography

In 1990 she released her first single ''Op het dak van de wereld'', (Dutch: "On the roof of the world"), a cover of The Carpenters' ''Top of the World'' from 1973. In 1993 she became really popular with ''Woordenloos'' (Dutch: Without words"). However, it was only in 1995 that she released her only hit single so far to reach the Dutch Top 40, ''Westenwind''. This was a cover of the former hit ''One Way Wind'' by the Volendam group The Cats.

After her first success, Dana Winner also became well known in Germany and South Africa. At the end of the 1990s, she began singing in other languages and did not release an album in Dutch between 2000 and 2006. It was also in 2006 that she got a permanent memento in Bornem, along the SIM-route.

References

Official homepage

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:Belgian female singers Category:Belgian singers

af:Dana Winner da:Dana Winner de:Dana Winner fr:Dana Winner nl:Dana Winner no:Dana Winner pl:Dana Winner