Inkanta
Group: Admins
Posts: 1453
Joined: Feb. 2000 |
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Posted: Sep. 18 2005, 11:48 |
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I think it's great! Hmm...in reading through the CD's insert information, while there are remarks Re: many other songs on the CD, MS isn't mentioned. The annotation for Moonlight Shadows reads, "Over 60 minutes of the Shadows unique interpretations of classic tracks." Nice to see Mike's "Moonlight Shadow" considered a "classic track." 
IMHO, Mike would have been thrilled that they covered it. Here are some excerpts from articles available through tubular.net mentioning the Shadows. I've included the relevant sections, but you may wish to read the entire pieces, as well:
Musik Express July 1999 & translated by Rainer Muenz:
Q: Which record was the first in your collection, and how old have you been?
A: "Shadows"! I was seven.
Guitar Player 1978. In response to "Did you play mainly folk music," Mike said, "Yes. I did a little bit of it with the 6-string, but it didn't last long. I switched over to electric when I was about 12 or 13. I had a Futura II guitar that cost about six pounds. So then I had a little amp - I don't remember what kind. It was a little 6-watt thing with a loose speaker that I kept in a cardboard box. I had a little electric group, too. We played in youth clubs and at dances, doing songs by groups like the Shadows."
Mike Oldfield 1991 Virgin Biography:
"In fact, the track on QE2 which caused the most initial interest was an instrumental cover version of Wonderful Land, certainly one of the biggest hits for The Shadows. Oldfield remains an affectionate admirer of Shadows lead guitarist Hank B. Marvin, but then so do numerous other lead guitarists. The Oldfield version was released as a single, but became a rare failure. "
Dave Thompson, Goldmine July 18, 1997 reported in "Not Totally Tubular":
Oldfield switched to electric guitar when he was 12, playing in a youth club band modelled on Cliff Richard's backing group (and, of course, solo hit makers) the Shadows. Years later, Oldfield would remember those early shows when he recorded his own version of the Shadows' "Wonderful Land"; at the time, however, simply aping that band represented the peak of his ambition.
Last but hardly least, from Seven More Days that Rocked the World: Tubular Bells, written and presented by Stuart Maconie Broadcast on BBC Radio 2, 26 April 2001 and transcribed by Stephen Byrne:
STUART: Michael Gordon Oldfield was born in Reading, Berkshire on May 15h, 1953. As a child, young Michael would gaze longingly at the instrument above the fireplace that his father, Raymond, had acquired while serving in the Royal Air Force in Egypt, during World War II. It was an instrument of mystery and wonder to the young Oldfield, taken down every Christmas Eve by his dad for his annual performance of Danny Boy. Soon, though, Mike had persuaded his dad to pass on his rudimentary repertoire of chords, and to buy him his own guitar, at the age of 7, where he soon learned to emulate his infant heroes, Bert Weedon and Hank Marvin of The Shadows.
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"No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From: Moongarden's "Solaris."
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