Sally Oldfield’s only hit single, and a song she revisited in 2000, when a remixed version became a dance hit at clubs in Spain. This was the only single released from Oldfield’s 1978 Water Bearer album.
Mike’s sister only had one hit, but it got her on Top of The Pops twice!
Where did the inspiration for Mirrors come from?
“It happened because my label, Bronze, told me that the Water Bearer album could do with an extra song. A single. They even suggested I do something with a trumpet intro. This really annoyed me. Right after that meeting, I had to drive straight home to Wales, where I lived at the time, and I was so angry about what the label had said to me that I couldn’t get it out of my head. And suddenly, from nowhere, the idea for this song just came to me. I was so happy that I bounced up and down. Other drivers must have thought I was drunk!“
What was the reaction to it?
“It didn’t really fit in to what else was going on at the time. But maybe that’s why it did so well. Because it was different.”
Did you feel like a pop star?
“Well, I appeared twice on Top Of The Pops, and that was an experience. I don’t think the audience knew how to react to me in my hippy dress, or the song. So, I wouldn’t say I was ever regarded as a pop star by anyone, least of all myself.”
Was having a hit a blessing or a curse?
“I see myself as an artist, not somebody who pursues commercial success, so for me it was just one more step on the road.”
Mirrors b/w Night Of The Hunter’s Moon
(Bronze, 1978)
Highest UK chart position: no. 19
