Timo writes:
Mike Oldfield quits Britain over smoking ban
Yesterday, when the article went online, and last I checked, there were 22 comments by readers. Each one of the comments said they fully understood Mike's decision and that they would do the same if only they had the cash at hand. (Some were expats who had already moved, welcoming Mike to Spain.)
This morning I noticed The Mail had disabled commenting on the article and the comments already posted are no longer visible.
The article puts emphasis on the smoking ban, but I understand Mike's dissatisfaction is more general than that. (After all, he had 54 Acres of land surrounding his estate at Gloucestershire, surely he could smoke freely there?)
Recently BBC news reported that there are 4.2m CCTV cameras in Britain - about one for every 14 people. The average citizen in the UK is caught on CCTV cameras 300 times a day.
Mike is about to release a new album. If this is a publicity stunt I applaud him for originality! If, on the other hand, this is truly a 'libertarian' voting-with-your-feet, I applaud him for that too.
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I don't have an overview of the situation by any stretch, but there are things which indicate that Britons have gotten too tense for their own good. But I think this obsession with "security" (in the broadest definition) is happening world wide. Some countries are just not so far yet.
By the way, I wanted to check Mike Oldfield out a bit more, especially Tubular Bells. So I look around for a few samples. But then I find out that I already have Tubular Bells 2003 in iTunes, but I just haven't had time to listen to it yet! I don't even remember when or how I got it...
I don't think I spend much time finding new music, and yet I often find songs I bought or downloaded months or years ago, but haven't yet listened to once. I wonder how people who are really into music find time to listen to it all?
8 comments:
Security is a load of crap. It's probably the most poorly defined concept of all time. Right next to "good taste" and "common sense".
Maybe you feel secure being watched by a bunch of CCTV cameras on the bus, but I don't. I feel quite secure without the cameras, mind. Maybe you don't feel secure being out by yourself at night, but I do. I don't feel secure in a car or plane though, which may be irrational, but it's no more irrational than ever more stringent "security" measures.
I think Mike Oldfield is a clever chap. However, it seems like most of the world is headed the same way, so in a few years he'll probably have to move again.
That being said, giving up freedom for security is just not acceptable. Smoking, on the other hand, is a completely retarded habit. If you want to do it, fine. I don't care, as long as you don't force your smoke on others. Keep it to yourself. It's not like I wave my sword around in a school, and most people have the sense not to drive while drunk. All the same to me.
Mike Oldfield has released 23 albums. Of those, the first four are masterpieces (my personal favourite being #3 Ommadawn), the rest vary from very good to almost junk. Generally the albums have gotten gradually worse over the years, especially since 1996.
Tubular Bells 2003, which Eolake mentions, is a re-recording of the classic album, Tubular Bells. It features more accurate playing, better quality recording and more modern production than the original. While it may be perfect in its execution, many say it lacks the spirit of the original.
Previously Oldfield had already released two sequels to the forementioned classic: Tubular bells II (1992) and Tubular Bells III (1998). While structurally and thematically similar to the original, these are different compositions. Both are very good.
Oldfield's forthcoming album, Music of the Spheres (2008), is played by a symphony orchestra. The album, already finished, was originally scheduled for release this November. However, a couple of weeks ago it was announced that the release will be delayed until January 2008 for "personal reasons", namely that Oldfield wouldn't be available to promote it until then.
So, yesterday we learned what those personal reasons are. But don't you wonder how he explained this to his record company, Universal Music?
Hi, this is Mike. Sorry, I know this was intended to be in the shops for the holiday season, but ... I can't stand the smoking ban here in Britain, so I must move to Spain right now. Let's release the album in January. Talk to you later. Bye.
Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells was a pivotal album for the label he was recording on. It was a lesser known label then called Virgin, run my a Mr Branson.
Tubular Bells is also known for its use in the film "The Exorcist".
Oldfield also recorded the theme for Blue Peter back in the late70's/early 80's. His skill is not only in composition, but playing. I believe he was the only musician in Tubular Bells.
I believe Niel Innes from The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, the Rutles, and RWT was responsible for the lyrics/introductions in the original Tubular Bells.
"Tubular Bells was a pivotal album for the label he was recording on."
It was Virgin Records' first album release. It was what started the whole empire.
"I believe Niel Innes from The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band ... was responsible for the ... introductions in the original Tubular Bells."
You are thinking about Vivian Stanshall.
Yes, Oldfield is an excellent electric guitarist. One of the very few who pick with nails. (Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler also don't use a plectrum but they pick with flesh.)
Coming back to the topic, some believe that his dissatisfaction with the smoking ban can't be the primary reason for his move, and that there is some other reason that triggered it.
See 15 years ago I knew all those facts, now they are a hazy part of my earlier life. I wanted to say 1st, I wanted to say VS, but I had nagging doubts, and didn't want to Google the facts.
I cannot see someone quitting a country over smoking alone. Someone with 30+ years of fame would have the resources to opt out at almost any time. It seemed like a swift blanket ban in the UK, in CA they spread the ban over 10 years from no smoking in place of work to defining a bar as a place of work. The UK ban seemed to be a bolt from the blue.
In the US bars are not the same as pubs. In the UK most people used to go the pub, even tea totallers like my mum went to the pub. That is a much larger part of the community to impact than her in the CA.
Every two weeks I talk to my parents, and it seems that there is something new in the news about a health and safety reg. Bonfire night is coming soon, let's see how many towns pony up then insurance money for the displays, and let's see how many can't afford it. I've heard school plays, village fetes and car boot sales are all diminished because of new regulations.
The Nanny State that Britain is turning into would be great if it were coddling everyone and nurturing them. However I hear all the horror stories of how there is no discipline because any bad kid cannot be punished without the teachers being threatened with legal action. I hear how the NHS is in decline (still) as is the education system.
In CA there are many safety regs. They don't seem as limiting as in the UK. Sure we have new play equipment and some activities have been dropped from the schools, but we don't have to sign a waiver to eat a steak medium rare.
My parents are always amazed that on a six figure income I can barely afford a 2 bedroom house, and how I have to pay gobs of money for medical insurance. But I am also often told that I am well off out of the UK.
I see the UK and CA tackling similar issues in different directions, both will ultimately become nanny states, but CA seems less reactionary than the UK.
The UK has been up Dubya's ass too long. Let the truth be known. Britain, AKA "Little America."
The UK has been up Dubya's ass too long. Let the truth be known. Britain, AKA "Little America."
That is a curious comment; that is rather a short term analysis.
Back in the 40's there are references in literature to the UK as "Airstrip One", a launching pad for the US in Europe. There are many USAF bases in Britain, I believe including SAC (Greenham Common amongst others). Ronnie and Maggie had a close relationship. The Gulf war of the early 90's used the UK as jump off point for US air strikes.
Dubya is a recent incarnation of this relationship.
There are times when it seems the UK is socially a couple of years behind US socially, and it seems that the US is greatly influenced by UK culture (musically more than literature and film).
This may change as the ethnic balance in Britain changes, but there has been a long relationship with the US which is ongoing, and predates George Bush (GB?)
"some believe that his dissatisfaction with the smoking ban can't be the primary reason for his move, and that there is some other reason that triggered it."
Cherchez la femme. There's probably a woman involved. There always is.
"The Nanny State that Britain is turning into would be great if it were coddling everyone and nurturing them. However I hear all the horror stories"
In France it's called "drowning the fish". Draw the attention from the issues by inventing other issues and focusing on those instead. Much simpler than actually improving the country where it counts the most! ):-P
That's the way Lebanon has been (dys)functioning for the last 32 years. And counting. More than two thirds of Philippino, Ethiopian and Bengladesh housemaids are treated practically like slaves with no human rights, in spite of Lebanon having signed all the treaties, because the Government always has "more urgent issues to handle". Translation: they bicker about who's going to rule, loot and plunder the country next term.
"but CA seems less reactionary than the UK."
Yes, it's amazing how decently good a Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has turned out to be. Political experience is no replacement for integrity. :-)
I find it ironic, that after the rather bitter Independance War, the USA have ended up such bedmates with the UK. And that politically speaking, most of the world now perceives the UK as an American colony!
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