Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

No.486: "Hergest Ridge" by Mike Oldfield (1974)


With Oldfield's groundbreaking Tubular Bells still in the charts a year after it's release, Mike Oldfield was understandably getting rather itchy as were his record company Virgin for new material. Hergest Ridge was the result, a rather low-key and meandering piece compared to the varied themes of it's predecessor but a fine, mellow album all the same which hit the No.1 spot a for a week before sliding away unnoticed whilst Tubular Bells carried on like that other behemoth of 1973 by a group called Pink Floyd.
Annoyingly, they have blocked all the official versions of this album on YouTube, but I did find this shortened medley of the album's excerpts.

Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

Did he really? What way to go though if he had!
Superb Yes album, yes. many more of theirs to come.

Good idea with the Here Comes The Night video mate. I didn't post it as it wasn't on the album but it's from the same year and released only as a single I believe. Yeah, would be good to see it thanks

Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

No.485: "Surrealistic Pillow" by Jefferson Airplane (1967)


Grace Slick, Paul Kantner and the rest of the psychedelic gang with their glorious debut album, following their transition from The Great Society which were one of the leading bands of the fledgling San Francisco psych scene. Two videos here, 'Somebody To Love' from Woodstock and the classic alternative to Alice In Wonderland, 'White Rabbit'.

Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

And I'll leave you today with this one...

No.484: "Nine Tonight" by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (1981)


Following the great success of Seger's Live Bullet album a few years previously, he did the right thing and returned with an update covering songs from the albums he recorded since. Nine Tonight (or 'Tonite' in America!) featured some great tracks from such albums as Stranger In Town, of which two are featured here. A song from the same era as the recording of the beautiful 'We've Got Tonight' (or 'tonite!'), and because it won't feature in a post anywhere else, I have to show you this more recent teaming up with Bruce Springsteen from a few years back of one of Seger's best-loved recordings 'Old-Time Rock 'n' Roll'. Take it away guys...




I welcome your comments as always, a few more albums tomorrow.

Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

Surprisingly I can still enjoy Surrealistic Pillow.I had a girlfriend at the time who never took it off the record player.
Mike Oldfield seems like a nice bloke but Tubular Bells.What was all the fuss over that about ???.So I never took much interest in him after.Probably missed out but there you are ,you can't like everything.

Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

I guess it's a number of things with Mike Oldfield, PS.
The way he assembled Tubular Bells when he was still in his teens playing something like 48 instruments solo and multi-tracking them in the studio and just 20 years old when the album was released. It was also the first record on Richard Branson's Virgin label and set his empire in motion. Also, the album is full of tuneful melodies and was used in The Exorcist when that film came out also.

I enjoy listening to it occasionally but I think there are far too many reboots of it. That's going too far. Anyway, we haven't seen Tubular Bells yet, so I best save a little to speak about when (or if?) it does make an appearance.

Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

So we've got him to thank for Branson as well.I remember the first Virgin stores,they had turnstiles.

Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

I don't go that far back mate. Living in Hull I used to love going down to London and visiting the Virgin Megastore, along with the flagship HMV store and Tower in Piccadilly. Used to spend a fortune in those shops.

Virgin was a small shop in Notting Hill Gate to begin with dealing mostly in Krautrock bands when Branson and some other businessmen came across Mike Oldfield. He recorded Tubular Bells at Branson's Manor Studios and the rest is history. The shop carried on and so did the label releasing Krautrock records and more Mike Oldfield stuff until the Sex Pistols debut came out in 1977, when the label embraced the punk and new-wave scene.

So love him or hate him, Branson gave us some great bands over the years.

Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

One of the true greats of English music and, unfortunately much more appreciated now than during his short lifetime.

Re: Floydy's All-Time Top 1000 Favourite Albums

I got into his music quite late on to be fair, only about five years ago when I saw a BBC4 documentary about him. Such a shame when these lads go so young.