"Guilty" is a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by musician

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

, released in 1979 on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

. It reached number 22 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It is notable for being Oldfield's first obvious attempt to capitalise on a current musical trend, in this case disco/

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...

. The UK 12" edition was originally issued on pale blue vinyl.

Recording

The composition came from Oldfield's desire to create an up-tempo tune based on a more interesting chord structure than what was typical to disco music; it is built on the

circle of fifths In music theory, the circle of fifths is a way of organizing the 12 chromatic pitches as a sequence of perfect fifths. (This is strictly true in the standard 12-tone equal temperament system — using a different system requires one interval of ...

chord previously used as the leitmotif of the musician's album ''

Incantations An incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremo ...

''. When Oldfield was in New York recording ''

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

'' and "Guilty" he recorded a disco arrangement of his first album, ''

Tubular Bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

''. A version of Free's "

All Right Now "All Right Now" is a song by English rock band Free. It originally appeared on the band's third album '' Fire and Water'' (1970), which Free recorded on the Island Records label, formed by Chris Blackwell. Released as the album's second single ...

" was also recorded during these sessions.

Music video

The music video for "Guilty" is in a colourful cartoon style. A promo video for "Guilty 2013" was released by

earMusic Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in Hamburg. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and po ...

, which features a shortened version of the "Guilty Electrofunk Mix" from the Oldfield/

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

remix album ''

Tubular Beats ''Tubular Beats'' is a remix album containing collaborations between Mike Oldfield and York (Torsten Stenzel), that was released on 1 February 2013. Unlike previous club mixes, the album is a true two-sided collaboration between Oldfield and Sten ...

''. In 2011 Moist Creations had released a screenshot from this titled "Guilty 2011".

Track listing

7" single

# "Guilty" Mike Oldfield – 4:00 # "Excerpt from Incantations" Mike Oldfield – 4:10

12" super giant 45

# "Guilty (Long version)" Mike Oldfield – 6:44 # "Guilty" Mike Oldfield – 4:02

Personnel

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, producer * Kurt Munkacsi -

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Roddy Hui - assistant engineer * Chris Parker - drums * Garry Guzio -

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

* Dana McCurdy - synthesiser *

David Tofani Dave Tofani is an American saxophonist and woodwind player, and composer. As a session musician he has performed on over 500 jazz, pop, and rock recordings such as the clarinet solo on "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" by Soft Cell.AllMusic Dave Tofani ...

- sax * Raymond L. Chew -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

Neil Jason Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. ...

- bass * Steve Winwood - organ * Iris Hiskey -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Patricia Deckert - vocals * David Anchel - vocals * Phil Gavin Smith - vocals *

Christa Peters Christa Peters (1933–1981) was a German fashion photographer. Peters worked for many magazines, including ''Twen ''Twen'' was a West German magazine that was published from 1959 to 1971, and known for its innovative design and typography. ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

* Cooke Key - sleeve

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1979 singles Mike Oldfield songs Songs written by Mike Oldfield Virgin Records singles