The Whole World recorded their album Shooting at the Moon (1970) at Abbey Road Studios over several months in 1970, when Oldfield was 17. Oldfield learned to play the guitar at an early age, and as a teenager he became the bass player for the Whole World, a band put together by former Soft Machine member Kevin Ayers. In 2010, Tubular Bells was one of ten classic album covers from British artists commemorated on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail. Its contribution to British music was recognised when Oldfield played extracts during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London.
A remastered edition was released in 2009. It was followed by the albums Tubular Bells II (1992), Tubular Bells III (1998), The Millennium Bell (1999), and a re-recorded version, Tubular Bells 2003, for its 30th anniversary. It has sold more than 2.7 million copies in the UK and an estimated 15 million copies worldwide.Īn orchestral version produced by David Bedford was released in 1975 as The Orchestral Tubular Bells.
It reached number three on the US Billboard 200, and number one in Canada and Australia. It stayed in the top ten of the UK Albums Chart for one year from March 1974, during which it reached number one for one week. This led to a surge in sales which increased Oldfield's profile and played an important part in the growth of the Virgin Group. Tubular Bells initially sold slowly, but gained worldwide attention in December 1973 when its opening theme was used for the soundtrack to the horror film The Exorcist.
Oldfield, who was 19 years old when it was recorded, played almost all the instruments. It comprises two mostly instrumental tracks. Tubular Bells is the debut studio album by the English musician Mike Oldfield, released on as the first album on Virgin Records.
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