Monday 13 May 2013

Music of 1983: Mike Oldfield has huge hit with 'Moonlight Shadow'

A decade after multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield broke through with his seminal 'Tubular Bells' album, he had his biggest hit single to date. 'Moonlight Shadow', released in May 1983, was a completely different proposition to his 1970s classic, being a short pop-rock number with vocals provided by Scottish singer Maggie Reilly. (Some credit the song as by Mike Oldfield, featuring Maggie Reilly).

The song was an international hit, reaching number one in several European countries and charting as high as number 4 in the UK singles charts. The song practically revived his career and re-established him in the public consciousness, as it was his first hit for several years. Still his most popular song, 'Moonlight Shadow' has been re-issued several times and a further re-issue of the album it came from ('Crises') is set to feature an unplugged mix of the song.

In the video, Oldfield's touring guitarist Anthony Glynne is shown performing the second part of the guitar solo, however on record Oldfield played both parts. The video for 'Moonlight Shadow' can be seen below:


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