[peel] Tubular Bells TX Top Gear 29/5/73

[Paul Webster]

Here is what Richard Branson had to say about it in his autobiography
(Losing My Viginity - ISBN 978-0-7535-1020-9 - pages 125-127 in paperback)

For the first two weeks, sales of Tubular Bells were stillborn. Then I
invited John Peel over to Alberta* for lunch. We had known each other since
I had interviewed him for Student**. He had also started his own record
label, Dandelion. He was the only person who played serious rock music on
the radio, and his show was our only chance of winning air time for Tubular
Bells. We all had lunch on Alberta and then settled down on the sofas. I put
on Tubular Bells. He was amazed.
'I've never heard anything like it.' John finally said.
Later that week we listened to John Peel's laconic voice coming out of the
radio. I was sitting on the deck of the houseboat with Mike Oldfield and
everyone from Virgin.
'Tonight I'm not going to play a whole lot of records. I'm just going to
play you one by a young compose called Mike Oldfield. It's his first record
and it's called Tubular Bells. I've never heard anything like it in my life.
It's released by Virgin, a brand new record label and it was recorded at
Virgin's own studios in Oxfordshire. You'll never forget this.'
With that, Tubular Bells started. I was lying on the sofa. Everyone was
lounging around in deep armchairs or on the rug, and we passed round beer
and wine, cigarettes and joints. I tried to relax. I could see everyone else
lying there totally spellbound by the music. But I kept worrying. I find it
impossible to stop my brain from churning through all the ideas and
possibilities facing me at any given moment.. I wondered how many people
were listening to The John Peel Show, how many of those would go out and buy
Tubular Bells the next day; whether they would wait until Saturday or would
have forgotten about it by then.

...

But Tubular Bells was extraordinary; something must happen from tonight's
broadcast. Virgin would never be able to afford to buy such a length of
radio time to advertise it.

...

All the next day the phones rang with orders from record shops for Tubular
Bells. As well as choosing to break all traditions by playing it in its
entirety, John Peel reviewed Tubular Bells for The Listener.
 "On the all too frequent occasions when I'm told that a record by a
contemporary rock musician is a work of 'lasting importance' I tend to reach
for my hat and head for the wide open spaces. Today these experts would
probably tell you that in twenty years time collectors will still be
enthusing over the records of such weighty bands as Yes and Emerson, Lake
and Palmer. I'm ready to bet you a few shillings that Yes and ELP will have
vanished from the memory of all but the most stubborn and that the Gary
Glitters and Sweets of no lasting value will be regarded as representing the
true sound of the 1970s.
 Having said that, I'm going to tell you about a new recording of such
strength, energy and real beauty that to me it represents the first
breakthrough into history that any musician regarded primarily as a rock
musician has made. Mike Oldfield ..."


*Alberta - Branson's houseboat
**Student - Branson's magazine

Paul Webster
> -----Original Message-----
> From: peel@yahoogroups.com [mailto:peel@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of ken
> garner
> Sent: 21 June 2007 01:19
> To: peel@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [peel] Tubular Bells TX Top Gear 29/5/73
>
>
> Here's a nutty Q for you all. The myth is that Peel played Tubular
> Bells in its entirety. Mike Oldfield says so himself: "Someone said
> John Peel was going to play Tubular Bells. I switched on the radio to
> listen and he played the whole thing � both sides of it, an hour's
> music. I sat there completely stunned. After he played it people
> started to believe in it. It went on to sell millions and topped the
> charts for nearly two years. So really I owe him my life." But I can
> only find in the scripts one play from it, on 29/5/73 (4 days after
> release) and timing the rest of the records listed in the show plus
> allowing say 8 minutes for his total links between 23 items (I remember
> Peel telling me once that he set an absolute limit of 11 minutes for
> himself in a two hour show; normally aiming for 7/8 minutes, or an
> average of about 15 secs per link), leaves a max of 25 minutes in the
> show, time for side one only. The Tubular Bells item says it's only '15
> minutes', which is clearly intended to be diplomatic. Is the script
> correct? Do you know? Did anybody hear or even tape it?
>
> KG
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