Tati The Sentinel
Group: Members
Posts: 3360
Joined: Feb. 2002 |
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Posted: June 22 2004, 15:21 |
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From good ol' FAQ about Mike that you can find in its full version on Tubular.net,here it is:
.9 Why is Heaven's Open credited to 'Michael Oldfield' instead of 'Mike Oldfield'?
First what Thom Newman himself said, in an interview with David Porter:
"It was part of a pathetically half-hearted attempt at reinventing oneself, I suppose. A bit of silly nonsense. One of the things that we seem to get good at when we're in each other's company."
(Source: Spanish book by Jose Cantos.) He was going to sign as Michael Oldfield (it was originally an idea from Richard Branson for Tubular Bells so this would imply more respectability than the familiar Mike, at least with an unknown artist like him at this age).
And then what fans thought:
Heaven's Open was an album which was done very quickly and cheap to get out of the contract of Virgin records. Mike had long been unhappy with the way they treated him (See 3.10).
Amarok is Mike's 'goodbye' to Virgin and you hear it everywhere on it:
'Happy?'
'.. I really didn't know I could dance..'
secret (?) Morse code saying "FUCK OFF RB" (Africa I:Far dip - section) (Richard Branson was the chief of Virgin)
After that Mike only had to write one single album to fulfill his contract and so he rushed out Heaven's Open (Right at the end of Music From The Balcony there is a voice which clearly says "fuck off". It doesn't mention RB or anyone else, though.). He even sings his songs himself to make this quick and cheap. To separate this album from the others, "Michael Oldfield" is printed on the cover, Tom Newman is called "Thom", and even Virgin Records is spelled "Virgin Recordes".
But there might also be another reason. He might have used his full name for the same reason that he sang the songs with his own voice. Because he really felt those lyrics - in Gimme Back there is one lyric which literally says "I need my voice..." These songs are unashamedly autobiographical in nature and Mike could have realized that having another persons voice to sing them would be a travesty. Have you noticed how in interviews, Mike's closest friends and family actually use his full name i.e.: "Michael"?
There's also the fact that, at the same time, Sally Oldfield put out an album using her middle name, Natasha.
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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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