The Twisted Bell

Unbelievable News

Date: Sat Apr 01 16:03:52 1995
Subject: Mike is on the Net!

Hi folks,

Just got some unbelievable news. I found this really cool web-page (http://kramer.usyd.edu.au/~u857692/oldfield.html) devoted to Mike, and along with all the lyrics to his albums (including three different versions of "Gimme Back"!) and some groovy gifs of Mike replacing broken guitar strings, it has Mike's Internet address!

Yep, the Man himself is at:

horseback@2hergestridge.ushd.com

I e-mailed him today and he wrote back! Here's what he said:

Dear Rory,

Thanks for your enthusiastic (!) e-mail saying what a wonderful musician I am and asking for an autographed copy of the running-order sheets for Amarok. Unfortunately I misplaced them in the move to L.A. to start on Tubular Bells II, but rest assured that they will turn up one day, along with the original Tubular Bells master-tapes, the glider from the Hergest Ridge cover-shoot, and all the other things you asked me to send you. If there are any other goodies you want, don't hesitate to ask.

You ask if there are any plans to release all my old b-sides and rare tracks on CD. Actually, I have already done so in a private pressing of a 10-CD boxed set which I send out to every fan who writes to me. Your copy is on its way now.

Yes, I am working on a new project. After TSODE I decided to write my own symphony (David Bedford helped with the scoring), which should be premiered by the London Symphony Orchestra before the end of the year. Working title: "Mike Oldfield - No. 1 in C - 'The Symphony of a Thousand (Instruments)'". Paul McCartney, eat your heart out.

Actually, speaking of Paul, just today I was noodling in the studio with Rosa, and afterwards I decided to record some music. Seeing what day it was and all, what better than a cover version of "The Fool on the Hill"? (Tell me if you use a Macintosh and SoundMaster and I'll ftp the sound file for you. Sorry, it's 1.4 gigabytes so I hope you have a PowerMac and lots of hard disk space.)

Best wishes,

Mike Oldfield
---------------------------------------------
Mike Oldfield <horseback@2hergestridge.ushd.com>

   Yes, I'm the guy who did the music for The Exorcist (sigh).

      Kids! Finger this site for a chance to WIN my back-catalogue!

What a blast, eh?

Boy, I'll be e-mailing him again! Get your letters to the Man flying down that wire now!

 

Date: Mon Apr 03 12:07:29 1995
Subject: I can't believe that worked!

From: AnnMarie Scott
Date: Sun, 2 Apr 1995 14:44:15 +1030 (CST)
Subject: Mike's on the net..

I've been getting e-mail from people who are confused by the fact that the address Rory posted doesn't work. There is a very good reason for this, which becomes obvious (hopefully!) when you check the date of Rory's post. A little unfair, granted - Australia being a few hours ahead of the rest of the majority of subscribers, who may not have been on the lookout for April Fool's Day postings at that time, but a joke nonetheless.

[Peals of maniacal laughter]

Sorry, gang, I jes' couldn't resist.

People really tried to mail to a domain which reads "To-Hergest-Ridge-you-should-come"?

Ahh, the power of the Net.

If anyone does find the Man's e-mail address (and scores the 'free 10-CD box', the T. Bells master tapes, the glider, the Amarok notes and the 1.4 gigabyte sound file) do let me know!

The Twisted Bell

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©2001 Rory Ewins