Mike Oldfield’s haunting Tubular Bells being remixed and re-released this year

I’m guilty of having Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells tune bellow from my phone while receiving a call, all tinny and distorted as a cheap knock-off ring tone.

The tune is forever synonymous with The Exorcist, despite being recorded some time before the film began post production.  The story goes that director WIlliam Friedkin was struggling to find certain pieces of music to fit the tones he was seeking during the mixing of The Exorcist.  While searching the archives of unsigned artists who had forwarded material to Warner Brothers, he stumbled upon a demo of Tubular Bells and knew instantly it was what he was looking for.  Mike Oldfield was promptly signed to the record division of Warner Brothers and the song was featured in the film, going on to be an instant classic and helping the Tubular Bells album go on to be one of the greatest selling instrumental albums of all time.

On June 6 2009, the 35 year-old classic is about to undergo a re-release, with Mike Oldfield himself behind the remaster, re-mixed, re-packaged album. Smarthouse has the full details on their website.

Click the player below to listen to the original Tubular Bells as it appears on The Exorcist soundtrack.

[audio:http://www.captainhowdy.com/audio/Exorcist Soundtrack – Georgetown-Tubular Bells.mp3]