Shadow on the Wall

"Shadow on the Wall"
Single by Mike Oldfield
from the album Crises
B-side	"Taurus 3"
Released	September 1983
Format	7" 12" vinyl
Recorded	Denham November 1982 – April 1983
Genre	Hard rock[1]
Length	3:09
Label	Virgin
Writer(s)	Mike Oldfield
Producer(s)	Mike Oldfield Simon Phillips
Mike Oldfield singles chronology
"Moonlight Shadow" (1983) "Shadow on the Wall" (1983) "Crime of Passion" (1984)
Music video "Shadow on the Wall" on YouTube

"Shadow on the Wall" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1983 by Virgin Records. English rock singer Roger Chapman performs vocals on the song and it is taken from Oldfield's Crises album.^[2] The song was a hit single especially in Germanic countries.

The music video for "Shadow on the Wall" depicts an interrogation scene and was directed by Keith McMillan.^[3] The song also features on Roger Chapman's compilation albums, such as 1994's King of the Shouters where the song has been 'remastered'.

An "acoustic" mix and a 5.1 surround sound mix were released on the 2013 reissue of Crises.

The song has been covered by a number of artists including Swedish metal band Arch Enemy,^[4] and Finnish rock group Zero Nine.

B-side

The B-side is "Taurus 3", a short, fast-paced guitar piece, which is notably different from Oldfield's long multi-themed pieces, "Taurus" and "Taurus 2", on QE2 and Five Miles Out respectively.

Track listing

7 inch

1. "Shadow on the Wall" – 3:09
2. "Taurus 3" – 2:25

12 inch

1. "Shadow on the Wall" (Extended version) – 5:07
2. "Taurus 3" – 2:25

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (1983) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 5 Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[7] 5 Germany (Official German Charts)[8] 3 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] 10 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 9 Spain (AFYVE)[11] 10 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 4 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[13] 95

Year-end charts Chart (1983) Position Netherlands (Single Top 100)[14] 88

Personnel

• Mike Oldfield – guitars, banjo, bass, Fairlight C.M.I., Roland strings
• Roger Chapman – vocals
• Ant – guitars
• Simon Phillips – Tama drums
• Phil Spalding – backing vocals (extended version)^[15]

References

1. Blum, Jordan (29 August 2012). "Mike Oldfield: Two Sides: The Very Best of Mike Oldfield". PopMatters. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
2. "Singles". Amadian. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
3. The Wind Chimes (VHS rear cover credits). Mike Oldfield. Virgin Vision. 1988. VVD 353.
4. "Arch Enemy – War Eternal". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
5. "Austriancharts.at – Mike Oldfield and Roger Chapman – Shadow on the Wall" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
6. "Ultratop.be – Mike Oldfield and Roger Chapman – Shadow on the Wall" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
7. "Radio 2 Top 30 : 24 december 1983" (in Dutch). Top 30. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
8. "Musicline.de – Mike Oldfield and Roger Chapman Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
9. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Mike Oldfield and Roger Chapman search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Mike Oldfield and Roger Chapman – Shadow on the Wall" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
11. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
12. "Swisscharts.com – Mike Oldfield and Roger Chapman – Shadow on the Wall". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
13. "Mike Oldfield: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
14. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1983" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
15. "Mike Oldfield – Crises". Phil Spalding. July 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics