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Blue Dolphin Offline




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Posted: May 10 2007, 17:24

Quote (glasgow_tubular @ May 10 2007, 10:25)
Got my copy yesterday, took the really annoying waterstones sticker off the front only for it to take half the glossy tubular bell on the front cover with it  :(  should i take it back? or is that being silly?

Oh damn! I HATE stickers!! Had some terrible experiences with them when I removed them from LP covers. I say, take it back! They did put the sticker on the book after all!

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-The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it-

Mike Oldfield - 1980
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Tubularman Offline




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Posted: May 10 2007, 20:25

mine will take weeks and i cant wait :(
maybe i have it next month.. i have no idea..
:/


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clotty Offline




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Posted: May 11 2007, 03:24

Now here's a thing... between pages 90 and 91 there are a few pictures, one of which is the one of all the instruments as per Boxed. It seems to have been reversed and Mike therefore has a set of left handed guitars!

A mistake or are they simply trying to draw out the anorak types that would point this mistake out on an Internet forum?

DOH, they got me. ;-)


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Clotty
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larstangmark Offline




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Posted: May 11 2007, 11:49

I don't have it yet, but I get the feeling from other people's posts that the book was a bit of a disappointment. That's more of an extended essay based on interviews avialable elsewhere. Is it so?

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"There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste"
Mark E Smith
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ian Offline




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Posted: May 11 2007, 12:32

Its the 10th and I just went into W H Smith and no Mike book. Typical.
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TOBY Offline




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Posted: May 11 2007, 13:23

Quote (larstangmark @ May 11 2007, 11:49)
I don't have it yet, but I get the feeling from other people's posts that the book was a bit of a disappointment. That's more of an extended essay based on interviews avialable elsewhere. Is it so?

Its not based on interviews given elsewhere but it does read like an extended interview with Mike doing all the talking. But thats how these ghost written books tend to read so I'm not surprised. Is it a disappointment? Yes and no but you'll have to judge for yourself.
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ThisName Offline




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Posted: May 11 2007, 14:30

I am coming to the last few pages of the book (got it from play.com ages ago, shame others are having troubles getting their copy)

Overall I have enjoyed reading it. Lots of good stuff about his early years in great depth. Am disappointed that he talks relatively little about his music, we often get anecdotes about tricks and pranks he and RB played often at great lengths that I found I didn't really want to know that much about.

Ommadawn got much less time then I imagined and things like Incantations are only touched upon.

Even Amarok is a couple of pages at best.

I think its a great book, a good read, but missing some bits about the process of composition, but I guess an autobiography is not suppose to be about the music so much?


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ian Offline




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Posted: May 12 2007, 14:14

Just got my copy and after a quick flick through I am supprised there are not more photos of his family. There arn't even any of his father or kids. Strange.

I see what you mean about most of the book being about his early life.
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clotty Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 04:25

Quote (ian @ May 12 2007, 14:14)
I see what you mean about most of the book being about his early life.

Changeling II ?

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Clotty
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ian Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 04:43

Read up to Pimlico and I am supprised that he was out till the early hours etc, living the life of a student when he was 12 or13. Its very interesting though as I have never really known much about his family life in detail. It's rather sad really.
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captainjjb Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 06:37

I read the book yesterday.  The most interesting parts for me were the musical references and also I enjoyed the financial elements.   The thought of Mike getting £25.00 a week (plus luncheon vouchers, wow!;) whilst being number 1 just about everywhere, is really quite funny.  Also the bit where he gets around 1 million and has to give most of it away to tax, well that was the late 70’s, amazing.  I like the way he describes his musical intuition and also the years of practice he did to make himself into a great guitarist.  There are some great passages on his musical attitude and quasi religious/spiritual thoughts, which are interesting.

I didn’t enjoy all the mental strife and wacky psychobabble seminar stuff, but then I simply don’t understand it.    Overall I thought Mike came across as a bit of a moaner at times.  There doesn’t seem to be much recognition that he has had great fortune to have essentially had the life of his choice.  And moaning about fame?  Well he’s surely not THAT famous anyway.  Amongst fans, sure, but in Sainsburys?  Surely not.

I think I'll stick to listening to the music, which says far more about him than any book can.
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AlexS Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 07:53

My copy arrived from Amazon (UK) on Friday. Although on the website it was still listed as not yet published.

Anyway it's here! And I'm really looking forward to reading it :-)


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Tati The Sentinel Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 09:21

Quote (clotty @ May 13 2007, 06:25)
Quote (ian @ May 12 2007, 14:14)
I see what you mean about most of the book being about his early life.

Changeling II ?

But it was Mike's idea to focus the book on that period 1953-1978,I've read somewhere...

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"But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014

"I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011
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larstangmark Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 10:57

Quote (clotty @ May 13 2007, 04:25)
Quote (ian @ May 12 2007, 14:14)
I see what you mean about most of the book being about his early life.

Changeling II ?

Sure! Then Changeling III, the Millenium Changeling and the Best of Changeling.

Someone mentioned Mike being a moaner. Face it, all great artists are moaners. Take Lou Reed and Roger Waters for example. Then they make a great albums and then they're happy for five minutes...


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"There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste"
Mark E Smith
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ian Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 14:45

Sounds like he is a bit of a loner and doesn't really have any friends. Amy Laurer used to say that.
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Tati The Sentinel Offline




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Posted: May 13 2007, 16:47

Quote (ian @ May 13 2007, 16:45)
Sounds like he is a bit of a loner and doesn't really have any friends. Amy Laurer used to say that.

His personality IMO is a bit hard to deal with.That's why he hasn't got many friends...

But that's the Mike Oldfield I like.


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"But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014

"I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011
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speedm Offline




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Posted: May 14 2007, 04:55

Hi folks,
I read the book in two sittings over the weekend. I've followed MO since c. 1979, but knew relatively little about him, so I found the book really very compelling. Oldfield's story really is truly remarkable; that he's still here is a miracle, let alone that he's still here, writing music, touring etc.

The book seems to balance very well the tough material, from the challenges of his early life, with the light hearted stories, and with a not too technical commentary on musical composition. Coverage of the dispute with Virgin and its executives is well judged, in my view; you get a sense that they stitched him up, but at the same time they were all finding their way through new territory; and you get a strong sense that often people don't mind being screwed over, so long as the it is done in an utterly charming and ludicrously enthusiastic manner.

I think that the book's structure is very well judged; the most compelling part of his story is how a dazed and confused introvert rose to the top of rock music at extraordinarily young age, and then how he coped after that precocious peak.

Great book about a very unusual character; should be enjoyed by non-Oldfield fans, because the story is so remarkable.

Also: does Jon Anderson really believe in fairies?
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Marky Offline




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Posted: May 14 2007, 07:32

I have finished the book now over Friday to Monday, and feel its voice is very definitely authentic Mike Oldfield. Its content is clearly consistent with him. I did expect a few more happy anecdotes about his later recording work - but it deals mainly with his relationship with Branson & Virgin, with his mental state, his family and his therapy. I sometimes wondered if he was leaving the period after the early 1980s for a separate volume, but having finished the book I feel he has simply said what he wanted to. He isn't a natural story teller and admits this.

Its notable that he keeps nearly all the names of his girlfriends and wives and children and private details out of the book. That's wholly consistent with who Mike is. In that way, its not the sort of ravagingly honest warts and all soul baring volume one can find. Mike is simply too private for that, and maybe too respectful of others. He hardly mentions his marriage to Sally or time with Anita - its almost as if they hardly existed. And maybe that's what they would want too. Did I want that sort of information? Well, yes, a little - in so far as I know that a book of my life would not be complete without reference to significant others.

On the plus side, its Mike's voice very distinctly. It is interesting learning about his family life as a child, which has been so much of an issue for the rest of his life and his music. It is well written - simply put, but touchingly expressed. His delicate soul is apparent. It was fun to learn about the balloon ride with Branson and about Clyde the lion - something I'd not heard a full story of before, only rumours.

There will not be a second book unless its about his philosophy of things in some way. There are short break away chapters for that in this book, so again, I think he has said his piece now. This is probably all we will get from him until and unless somebody decides to rake his life over and somehow opens up others to talk about him. And I don't see that happening (a) because its hard work and his friends seem to respect his privacy and (b) because he's not bankable at the moment and while that could change, the prospects for it seem limited.

Its an interesting book, Changeling. But its not as great an insight as I was hoping for, and in the end, I suppose, it tells us what most of the seasoned listeners or readers already know about him, only in his own words. That's still useful and welcome, but if you have been a very long time Oldfield fan (and lets face it there are plenty of us around: I got into MO in 1984) I think the book is less than you might have hoped for. I hope that sounds fair, even if its a trifle disappointing.
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ian Offline




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Posted: May 14 2007, 12:35

I am about 2 3rds into it and I am enjoying it. I have always been fascinated by photos of Mike around the time of Ommadawn, the people, houses etc and its interesting to hear what they were like and what he did while he lived there. I only drove through Hereford the other month and saw signs for Kington. I would like to take a closer look sometime. I always wondered what "Penrhos Court" was from the T shirt of Mike's in the boxed booklet, now I know.

I can't belive that he put 1800 odd overdubs of guitar on one section of Ommadawn, and that he can remember that amount. Thats a ridiculous amount.

The story of how he came to do the Queen Elizabeth hall gig differs from R Branson's a fair bit. Branson says (In his book) that Oldfield saw people outside the hall waiting to go in and said he couldn't do it. Branson then drove him round the block and offerd him his car. Mike says that he asked Branson for the car before the gig was arranged, otherwise he wouldn't do it.


There are a few other differences from other's accounts but it doesn't really matter. On the whole I am enjoying it but the only criticism is the repetitive use of the word "panic attack" etc etc. That gets a bit wearing. He tends to repeat himself a bit too but thats old age :-) I also highly recommend the other 2 books "Making Of Tubular Bells" and "A Man And His Music" as good suppliments to Changeling.

Its quite uncanny  how our lives are similar in some instances, the family breakdown, dad leaving, arguments, shouting and violence in the night, loss of confidence, obsession with music, hating school. Yes, been there mate ! ! ! (but definatley NOT smoking as I hate it)
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Blue Dolphin Offline




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Posted: May 14 2007, 18:14

I wonder if he talks about his experience with the Exegesis? What he exactely did? How he thought of his behavior after the est.

Oh by the way, I realise it's 15th May. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!! :)


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-The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it-

Mike Oldfield - 1980
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