Islands (Mike Oldfield album)

1987 studio album by Mike Oldfield

Islands

Studio album by

Mike Oldfield

Released| 28 September 1987 (1987-09-28)
Recorded| 1986–1987 in Megève, France[1]
Genre| Progressive rock, pop, rock
Length| 48:11
Label| Virgin
Producer| Michael Cretu
Geoffrey Downes
Tom Newman
Mike Oldfield
Simon Phillips
Alan Shacklock
Mike Oldfield chronology
| The Killing Fields
(1984)  | Islands
(1987)  | Earth Moving
(1989)

|
|

Alternative cover

Original United States cover

Singles from  Islands

1. "Islands"
Released: 7 September 1987[2]
2. "The Time Has Come"
Released: 30 November 1987 (UK)[3]
3. "Magic Touch"
Released: November 1987 (US)[4]
4. "Flying Start"
Released: 1 February 1988

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [5]

Islands is the 11th album by Mike Oldfield, released on 28 September 1987 by Virgin in the UK.[6] Guest singers on the album are Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, Anita Hegerland, Max Bacon, and Jim Price. A different track list and cover was used for the American edition.

## Music videos, producers and singers

[edit]

Islands was also released as a full-length VHS video album. For each track a video was made and released, often mixing state of the art (for the time) computer-generated images with real life images. This was released as part of The Wind Chimes video.

The album boasts the largest number of co-producers out of all of Oldfield's work; production was handled by Michael Cretu (later of Enigma fame), Geoffrey Downes, Tom Newman, Simon Phillips, Alan Shacklock, and Oldfield himself. Singers on the album are Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, Anita Hegerland, Max Bacon, and Jim Price.

## Album artwork

[edit]

The UK front cover artwork was of a tropical island, and hidden in the surrounding sea is a large number of hand shapes. The hand images are based on a still frame from the longform video released at the same time as the album; a couple of scenes in the video, which was mainly filmed in Bali, feature a group of natives performing a ritualistic dance which involves hand-waving movements. The American cover is completely different; it displays two cube shapes. The photography on the back of the US version was by Jerry Uelsmann.

## Charts

[edit]

### Weekly charts

[edit]

Chart (1987)  | Peak
position

|

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[7] | 10
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8] | 71
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] | 9
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[10] | 9
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[11] | 4
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12] | 12
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] | 4
UK Albums (OCC)[14] | 29
US Albums Billboard | 138

### Year-end charts

[edit]

Chart (1988)  | Position

|

German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] | 75

The major single in Europe was the title track, "Islands", which was sung by Bonnie Tyler. In the United States, "Magic Touch" was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts in early 1988.

## Certifications

[edit]

Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

France (SNEP)[16] | Gold  | 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[17] | Gold  | 250,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[18] | Platinum  | 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[19] | Gold  | 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] | Gold  | 100,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks composed by Mike Oldfield.

1987 UK release

Side one

1. "The Wind Chimes (Part One and Part Two)" – 21:49

Side two

1. "Islands" – 4:19
2. "Flying Start" – 3:36
3. "North Point" – 3:33
4. "Magic Touch" (New Jim Price Vocal) – 4:14
5. "The Time Has Come" – 3:51
6. "When the Night's on Fire" (Bonus track on CD version) – 6:41

Original 1988 US release

Side one

1. "The Wind Chimes (Part one)" – 2:33
2. "The Wind Chimes (Part two)" – 19:14

Side two

1. "Magic Touch" (Original Max Bacon vocal) – 4:14
2. "The Time Has Come" – 3:51
3. "North Point" – 3:31
4. "Flying Start" – 3:36
5. "Islands" – 4:19

|

## Personnel

[edit]

* Mike Oldfield – guitars, Danelectro Electric sitar guitar on Flying Start, bass, keyboards, percussion, vocals
* Micky Moody – electric guitars
* Rick Fenn – acoustic and electric guitars
* Phil Spalding – bass
* Mickey Simmonds – keyboards
* Anita Hegerland – vocals (on "The Wind Chimes", "North Point", "The Time Has Come", "When the Night's on Fire")
* Bonnie Tyler – vocals (on "Islands")
* Kevin Ayers – vocals (on "Flying Start")
* Max Bacon – vocals (on "Magic Touch" [1988 US Issue]; backing vocals on "Islands")
* Jim Price – vocals (on "Magic Touch" [1987 UK Issue])
* Mervyn Spence – (backing vocals on "Magic Touch")
* Raf Ravenscroft – saxophone (on "Islands")
* Andy Mackay – saxophone, oboe
* Björn J:son Lindh – flute (on "The Wind Chimes")
* Simon Phillips – drums (on "The Wind Chimes")
* Pierre Moerlen – drums, vibes
* Tony Beard – drums
* Benoit Moerlen – vibes, percussion

## Singles

[edit]

Four singles were released from the album, two of which were released in 1987, "Islands" (as Mike & Bonnie) and "The Time Has Come", and two in 1988, "Flying Start" and "Magic Touch".

### "Flying Start"

[edit]

"Flying Start"

Single by Mike Oldfield with Kevin Ayers
from the album  Islands
Released| 1 February 1988 (1988-02-01)[21]
Genre| Progressive rock, pop rock
Label| Virgin
Songwriter(s)| Mike Oldfield
Producer(s)| Mike Oldfield
Simon Phillips (co-producer on B-side)
Mike Oldfield singles chronology
| "Magic Touch"
(1988)  | "Flying Start"
(1988)  | "Earth Moving"
(1989)

|
|

"Flying Start" was released as the third single from Islands on 1 February 1988.[21] It features Kevin Ayers on vocals who had collaborated with Oldfield in his band, the Whole World, even prior to Oldfield's debut album, Tubular Bells.[22] Oldfield used a Danelectro Coral sitar on this song, an instrument that does not feature on many of Oldfield's releases.[23] The music video features various computer generated elements.

Unusually for an Oldfield 12-inch at that time, the extended duration was achieved simply by a short introductory instrumental that bears no musical relation to the rest of the song and is separated from it by a short pause; the song itself is identical to the album and 7-inch versions. Prior to this, Oldfield had usually extended his songs for their 12-inch versions by incorporating an extra verse and/or instrumental section within the main body of the track. The 12-inch version has since appeared on the 2006 compilation album, The Platinum Collection.

A different version of the song produced by Colin Fairley was also released on Kevin Ayers' own album Falling Up in February 1988.[21]

#### Track listing

[edit]

7-inch

1. "Flying Start" – 3:37
2. "The Wind Chimes" (Excerpt from part 2) – 3:58

12 inch

1. "Flying Start" (Extended version) – 4:50
2. "The Wind Chimes" (Excerpt from part 2) – 3:58

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Oldfield 2008, p. 238.
2. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 35.
3. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 18.
4. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (12 March 1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 603\. ISBN 978-0-86241-541-9.
5. ^ Islands review at AllMusic. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
6. ^ "British album certifications – Mike Oldfield – Islands". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
7. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Mike Oldfield – Islands" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
8. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Mike Oldfield – Islands" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
9. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Mike Oldfield – Islands" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
10. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Mike Oldfield – Islands". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
11. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (2015). Sólo éxitos 1959–2012 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 978-84-8048-866-2.
12. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Mike Oldfield – Islands". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
13. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Mike Oldfield – Islands". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
14. ^ October 1987/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
15. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
16. ^ "French album certifications – Mike Oldfield – Islands" (in French). InfoDisc. Select MIKE OLDFIELD and click OK.
17. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Mike Oldfield; 'Islands')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
18. ^ Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990 (in Spanish), Iberautor Promociones Culturales, 2005, ISBN 8480486392, retrieved 3 May 2019
19. ^ "Gold & Platinum Awards 1987" (PDF). Music and Media. American Radio History Archive. 26 December 1987. p. 46. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
20. ^ "British album certifications – Mike Oldfield – Islands". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
21. ^ a b c Lemieux, Patrick (April 2014). The Mike Oldfield Chronology. Across The Board Books. ISBN 9780991984060. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
22. ^ "Mike Oldfield – Islands Press Kit". Tubular.net. 24 September 1987. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
23. ^ "Islands – Mike Oldfield Discography". Tubular.net. Retrieved 22 August 2015.

Sources

* Oldfield, Mike (2008). Changeling: The Autobiography of Mike Oldfield. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-753-51307-1.

## External links

[edit]

* Mike Oldfield Discography – Islands at Tubular.net
* Islands lyrics at Tubular.net

* v
* t
* e

Mike Oldfield

* Albums
* Singles

Studio albums|

* Tubular Bells
* Hergest Ridge
* Ommadawn
* Incantations
* Platinum
* QE2
* Five Miles Out
* Crises
* Discovery
* The Killing Fields
* Islands
* Earth Moving
* Amarok
* Heaven's Open
* Tubular Bells II
* The Songs of Distant Earth
* Voyager
* Tubular Bells III
* Guitars
* The Millennium Bell
* Tres Lunas
* Tubular Bells 2003
* Light + Shade
* Music of the Spheres
* Man on the Rocks
* Return to Ommadawn

Live albums|

* The Orchestral Tubular Bells
* Exposed
* The Art in Heaven Concert

EPs|

* Take Four
* The Singles
* The Mike Oldfield EP

Singles|

* "Mike Oldfield's Single"
* "Don Alfonso"
* "In Dulci Jubilo"
* "Portsmouth"
* "William Tell Overture"
* "Cuckoo Song"
* "Take Four"
* "Guilty"
* "Blue Peter"
* "Arrival"
* "Sheba" / "Wonderful Land"
* "Five Miles Out"
* "Family Man"
* "Mistake"
* "Moonlight Shadow"
* "Shadow on the Wall"
* "Crime of Passion"
* "To France"
* "Tricks of the Light"
* "Étude"
* "Pictures in the Dark"
* "Shine"
* "In High Places"
* "Islands"
* "The Time Has Come"
* "Magic Touch"
* "Flying Start"
* "Earth Moving"
* "Innocent"
* "(One Glance Is) Holy"
* "Heaven's Open"
* "Gimme Back"
* "Sentinel"
* "Tattoo"
* "The Bell"
* "Hibernaculum"
* "Let There Be Light"
* "Women of Ireland"
* "Man in the Rain"
* "Far Above the Clouds"
* "To Be Free"
* "Thou Art in Heaven"
* "Spheres"

Other songs|

* "Foreign Affair"
* "The X-Files Theme"
* "Introduction 2003"
* "Surfing"
* "Song for Survival"

Video albums|

* The Space Movie
* Exposed
* The Essential Live
* Live at Montreux 1981
* The Wind Chimes
* Tubular Bells II Live
* Elements
* Tubular Bells III Live
* The Art in Heaven Concert

Compilation albums|

* Boxed
* Music Wonderland
* Episodes
* The Complete Mike Oldfield
* Elements 4 CD Boxset
* Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield
* XXV: The Essential
* The Best of Tubular Bells
* Collection
* The Complete Tubular Bells
* The Platinum Collection
* The Mike Oldfield Collection 1974–1983
* Two Sides
* Icon
* Tubular Beats
* Moonlight Shadow: The Collection
* The 1984 Suite

Other media|

* Changeling
* MusicVR
* Tres Lunas
* Maestro

Related articles|

* Sally Oldfield
* Terry Oldfield
* Anita Hegerland
* Maggie Reilly
* The Sallyangie
* Children of the Sun
* Isles of Wonder
* 2012 Olympics opening ceremony

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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