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starfish Group: Members Posts: 93 Joined: June 2009 Posted: June 05 2010, 18:46 What are the chances that 'The Orchestral Tubular Bells' will get a re-issue at some point alongside the other Virgin works? OTB has always been something of an oddity. Is it even a 'proper' Mike Oldfield album? It was released as part of the Virgin HDCD range but then deleted, only to be reissued in 2003. So who owns the rights to this now? Was it part of the Virgin package that reverted to Mike's ownership recently, or is it still in the hands of Virgin, off-limits to Universal/Mercury for their 'Deluxe Edition' range? After all, the album itself is credited to David Bedford and the Orchestra, with Mike himself taking more of a back seat. By rights it should really have seen a re-release by now, seeing as how it was originally issued in the gap between HR and Ommadawn back in the 1970s. And if it were to be eventually re-released in 'Deluxe' format, would there be a possibilty of a second disc containg the Orchestral Hergest Ridge? Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: June 05 2010, 20:15 I haven't heard anything about plans for a re-release, unfortunately, and I can only assume that the situation with the rights is the same as with all the others. I do have a rough idea of what Universal's plans are for the near-ish future, though I'll be held up against a wall and mercilessly beaten with a bent bell (or at least it'll be bent by the time they're finished) for saying anything about them...but suffice to say that the Orchestral Tubular Bells doesn't feature. Some things make me think they might be waiting until later to perhaps collect more orchestral stuff (like the Orchestral Hergest Ridge) together, but that's really just me guessing. I can try asking, though! Back to top

Herod Group: Members Posts: 85 Joined: Jan. 2004 Posted: June 06 2010, 03:50 Well, it would be the opportunity for having it released with a PROPER sound quality -------------- The last 80 seconds of 'Amarok' are one of the reasons for being happy to live in this planet. Back to top

starfish Group: Members Posts: 93 Joined: June 2009 Posted: June 06 2010, 07:01 Quote (Korgscrew @ June 05 2010, 20:15) I haven't heard anything about plans for a re-release, unfortunately, and I can only assume that the situation with the rights is the same as with all the others. I do have a rough idea of what Universal's plans are for the near-ish future, though I'll be held up against a wall and mercilessly beaten with a bent bell (or at least it'll be bent by the time they're finished) for saying anything about them...but suffice to say that the Orchestral Tubular Bells doesn't feature. Some things make me think they might be waiting until later to perhaps collect more orchestral stuff (like the Orchestral Hergest Ridge) together, but that's really just me guessing. I can try asking, though! Thanks for the reply, Korgscrew, much appreciated. Assuming it is now in the hands of Mercury, that seems quite promising. After all, with Virgin no longer able to exploit it, the album is now officially deleted until such time as Mercury choose to re-issue it. And the fact that Virgin have re-issued it on CD more times than any other MO album (other than the original Tubular Bells, of course) seems to indicate that there is still a market for it. I can imagine that there's a crossover appeal - the classic bell logo on the cover would make it desirable to the general public (and Mike Oldfield fans in particular), whilst the lure of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra would presumably also make it a must-buy for the classical buffs. Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4761 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: June 06 2010, 07:51 Quote (starfish @ June 06 2010, 07:01) it is now in the hands of Mercury, = in the lap of the gods?   Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: June 07 2010, 19:35 Quote (nightspore @ June 06 2010, 13:51) Quote (starfish @ June 06 2010, 07:01) it is now in the hands of Mercury, = in the lap of the gods?   Good one, Daniel. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Cudsie Group: Members Posts: 48 Joined: Mar. 2010 Posted: June 08 2010, 01:46 I think its an interesting question. Virgin obviously thought it was canon by including it in their 2000 remaster series but do we all think of it as part of Oldfield's legacy? After all it is a version of "Tubular Bells" and it does have Mike twiddling away on a guitar in it at some point... The sad fact is the recording doesn't sound good sonically these days and the actual playing by the orchestra is actually sub par. The Hergest Ridge recordings are even worse and of course don't feature Mike at all. But we do know Orchestral Mike Oldfield does sell. Music of the Spheres did phenomenally well in the classical charts and OTB when it was originally released made it to 14 in the mainstream chart! If there was a guarantee of a return of investment the ideal situation would be to re-record the pieces using todays classically trained engineers and an orchestra that enjoys playing modern avant garde pieces (in fact most of them relish this nowadays). Would Mike contribute to the guitar bits? probably not. But there's no shortage of people who probably would. Back to top

Herod Group: Members Posts: 85 Joined: Jan. 2004 Posted: June 08 2010, 03:16 It will hardly happen... Mike didn't agree with the orhestral idea at all, as he states even in "Changeling"...   And it's a shame... I'd really like to hear a big orchestra today playing the Holy Trilogy   -------------- The last 80 seconds of 'Amarok' are one of the reasons for being happy to live in this planet. Back to top

Thea Cochrane Group: Musicians Posts: 445 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: June 08 2010, 05:45 Clearly they are going to do OTB2 and OTB3, The Orchestral Millennium Bell, then do a re-recording of OTB for an orchestral boxset. Or I might be making all that up. Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1759 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: June 08 2010, 06:27 Quote (Mat Cochrane @ June 08 2010, 05:45) Or I might be making all that up. Or you might remember the "Orchestral Earth Moving" thread on this forum. Some people took that pretty seriously!   -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: June 14 2010, 05:08 I just sent off an email to Universal about this and got a fairly quick reply, saying that they may revisit the orchestral works once all the other albums have been released. So, nothing concrete, but there's hope... Back to top

starfish Group: Members Posts: 93 Joined: June 2009 Posted: June 15 2010, 14:44 Quote (Korgscrew @ June 14 2010, 05:08) I just sent off an email to Universal about this and got a fairly quick reply, saying that they may revisit the orchestral works once all the other albums have been released. So, nothing concrete, but there's hope... Hi Korgscrew, Once again, many thanks for taking the time out of your day to raise the issue. We can but hope! Back to top

Gambit Group: Members Posts: 43 Joined: Feb. 2007 Posted: Mar. 02 2011, 23:54 I would love to see this done. Have the original on it, then a brand new recording of it from 2011. New instruments, new arrangement. Because I know when it was first released , Mike was not happy with how it was done. So it would be good to see how he envisioned it. Back to top

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