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Olivier Group: Super Admins Posts: 1868 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: May 08 2007, 09:10 You can order Mike Oldfield's autobiography Changeling at Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, and Amazon.de. Back to top

Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: May 08 2007, 10:07 Strange that the book still isn't available at Amazon.com. I just ordered it yesterday at my local book shop. It's a bit pricey but I can get discount 'cause my girlfriend works there.   Hope to have it in a week. On oldfield.de I saw a picture of someone who already received a copy of the book! That's quicker than Virgin books announced. -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

onion Group: Members Posts: 104 Joined: July 2005 Posted: May 08 2007, 10:12 I´m not gonna buy this untill it is made into an audiobook with Vincent Prices voice and the theme from "SHAFT" played in the background! Mike -------------- Are soft boiled eggs supposed to make a crunchy noise when you eat them? Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1767 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: May 08 2007, 13:43 Quote (Blue Dolphin @ May 08 2007, 10:07) Strange that the book still isn't available at Amazon.com. I just ordered it yesterday at my local book shop. It's a bit pricey but I can get discount 'cause my girlfriend works there.   Hope to have it in a week. On oldfield.de I saw a picture of someone who already received a copy of the book! That's quicker than Virgin books announced. That's a real fan! "I saw a picture of someone who had received a copy..."   -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: May 08 2007, 15:07 Quote (larstangmark @ May 08 2007, 13:43) [quote=Blue Dolphin,May 08 2007, 10:07] That's a real fan! "I saw a picture of someone who had received a copy..."   I also think it strange (and disappointing) that it isn't available through Amazon.com yet. I realize that the US is rather backward when it comes to MO-appreciation, but I can't say that I understand it. I had visited four local cd stores recently and none of them had any MO stocked. That wasn't a huge surprise since I usually can't find the music I want at my shops, but considering his significant output, I'd expected to find something. So, I really rely on Amazon.com. -------------- "I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: May 08 2007, 17:25 I got my copy about 10 days ago from Play.com. Just order it from them if you can't get it from Amazon. Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: May 08 2007, 17:58 Quote (TOBY @ May 08 2007, 19:25) I got my copy about 10 days ago from Play.com. Just order it from them if you can't get it from Amazon. But afaik,Play.com don't send to the US or South America! -------------- "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 Back to top

Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: May 08 2007, 18:13 Quote (larstangmark @ May 08 2007, 19:43) Quote (Blue Dolphin @ May 08 2007, 10:07) Strange that the book still isn't available at Amazon.com. I just ordered it yesterday at my local book shop. It's a bit pricey but I can get discount 'cause my girlfriend works there.   Hope to have it in a week. On oldfield.de I saw a picture of someone who already received a copy of the book! That's quicker than Virgin books announced. That's a real fan! "I saw a picture of someone who had received a copy..."   Ok, that sounded a little strange I realize now. @ TOBY --> So, how is the book in your opinion? Things people didn't know yet? How about rare pictures? -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: May 09 2007, 04:00 Blue Dolphin - there's a thread on the book in the general discussion area that has my comments. Generally though the book is good, there's some photos though not many you won't have seen before in some guise. There's a couple of early shots of Mike's family which will be new. The book focuses on Mike's life up to and including his Exegesis therapy in the late 70's and how that set him on the emotional and musical road he is on today. There is not much, about 25 pages worth, about his life since then which I found a bit weird and a touch disappointing. There's a few things I would have liked to see Mike talk about, his life on Ibiza for example,   discussing his ideas behind MVR, but on both the pages where he discusses these two chapters in his life all he thinks we're interested in knowing is that he lost a lot of money doing them 'a fortune' on his house on Ibiza and 'about three hundred thousand' making TresLunas. For a musician so against the trappings of fame and commercial success Mike comes across as fairly obsessed with the later. Mike doesn't want to tell us anything about the time he went to live in a tent in his garden in protest of the commercial obsession with chart music fairly shortly after he brought out Earth Moving. Pot Kettle etc. Other than that sort of thing though the book is a good emotional read with some fun little stories you won't have heard before - he used to be friends with the writer Laurie Lee and tried to read 'Cider with Rosie ' but it wasn't for him. There' quite a few fun little stories to off set all the dark emotional stuff. Back to top

ian Group: Members Posts: 473 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: May 09 2007, 12:50 I am gutted. I ordered this with Amazon 2 weeks ago. Now they are telling me it will be delayed past the release date. Why?????? Other poeple have manged to get a copy well before the release date. I'm going to cancel with Amazon. Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: May 09 2007, 13:10 Quote (ian @ May 09 2007, 14:50) I am gutted. I ordered this with Amazon 2 weeks ago. Now they are telling me it will be delayed past the release date. Why?????? Other poeple have manged to get a copy well before the release date. I'm going to cancel with Amazon. Me also,but Amazon.co.uk is the cheapest way to get the book for me here in Brazil   -------------- "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 Back to top

Blue Dolphin Group: Members Posts: 1232 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: May 09 2007, 14:37 Thanks for your reaction TOBY! Sound dissapointing about some things... (strangeley I'm not very suprised). I will await the book. -------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it- Mike Oldfield - 1980 Back to top

ian Group: Members Posts: 473 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: May 09 2007, 16:58 So not just his later albums are dissapointing, his book too :-( I would have liked to read more about his feelings post 70s, Ibiza etc. I already have " A Man And His Music" and "The making Of Tubular Bells" which pretty much fills me in on his early life anyway. Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: May 09 2007, 18:08 Quote (ian @ May 09 2007, 16:58) So not just his later albums are dissapointing, his book too :-( I would have liked to read more about his feelings post 70s, Ibiza etc. I already have " A Man And His Music" and "The making Of Tubular Bells" which pretty much fills me in on his early life anyway. I wouldn't go so far as to say its disappointing but its probably not the in depth warts and all book you were maybe expecting, certainly not as far as the later half of his career is concerned anyway. Like I said in another post the Making of TB book is a far better chronicle of the making of that particular album at that particular time along with the birth of Virgin. Changeling is a fairly short read and a lot of it it reads like Mike is talking which makes me think a fair amount of it was transcribed from interviews given to the ghost writer (which is how these books are often written) I'd be very interested to hear what other fans think of Changeling once everyone's read it, what conclusions others draw from it. If you know the details of Mike's career well you'll see some glaringly different takes on certain events and the fact that Mike still seems to look up to Branson heavily comes across in the fact that beyond a certain point in the book Branson's name is mentioned on almost every single page. Though the fact that the book is focused on the 1970's chapter of Mike's life perhaps makes that understandable. ps just flicking though it just now I noticed Mike refers to Phil Newell as a 'very gumpy engineer' . Coming from a man who by his own admission in the book isn't always in the best of moods leaves me wondering just how grumpy must Phil Newell be   Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: May 09 2007, 21:15 I'm here thinking why his life in the 90s and 00s wasn't much discussed on the book,was it because are lots of articles out there about it? -------------- "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 Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: May 10 2007, 03:47 Quote (Tati The Sentinel @ May 09 2007, 21:15) I'm here thinking why his life in the 90s and 00s wasn't much discussed on the book,was it because are lots of articles out there about it? I guess because the book needed to have some sort of focus. They probably decided early on that it was more economical and practical not to have an autobiography that was 500 or more pages covering every part of Mike's career. I guess also from the publishers point of view the 70's era Mike Oldfield stuff is possibly of interest beyond the die hard fan base   since Branson was a bigger part of Mike's career in that era, possibly anyway. Back to top

glasgow_tubular Group: Members Posts: 215 Joined: July 2006 Posted: May 10 2007, 04:25 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? -------------- www.myspace.com/allaroundmyhat Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: May 10 2007, 08:43 My copy is on its way to meeee,finally   -------------- "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 Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: May 10 2007, 08:49 Quote (TOBY @ May 10 2007, 05:47) Quote (Tati The Sentinel @ May 09 2007, 21:15) I'm here thinking why his life in the 90s and 00s wasn't much discussed on the book,was it because are lots of articles out there about it? I guess because the book needed to have some sort of focus. They probably decided early on that it was more economical and practical not to have an autobiography that was 500 or more pages covering every part of Mike's career. I guess also from the publishers point of view the 70's era Mike Oldfield stuff is possibly of interest beyond the die hard fan base   since Branson was a bigger part of Mike's career in that era, possibly anyway. Yep,that's true.I can't wait to read about Mike's early days,to understand more him as a person,there was a gap for me regarding this type of stuff until now with the book. Now a question for the ones who had the chance to read the book - do you recommend the book for a friend who needs help to face life,to get off from the edge of society,like Mike felt? -------------- "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 Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: May 10 2007, 13:47 I think you could recommend it to someone who has problems, and not just Mike Oldfield fans with problems. Mike obviously does have a lot of insight into the sort of issues he deals with in the book and does have some perceptive ideas that would help others. Obviously he went to quite extreme lengths with the Exegesis therapy but not everyone needs to go that far. Interestingly Mike does talk about his Tonic charity which he started in the early 90's and what it achieved and what became of it. Its all this sort of stuff the book is focused on rather the whys and wherefores of individual albums or his way of making music. But anyone who's followed Mike's career closely will no that he's not big on the whys and why nots of his music anyway, which is fair enough lots of artists aren't. Back to top

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