Release History
This single was released at the height of Oldfield's popularity, in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Australia; yet it remains one of his most obscure records. It appears to have been withdrawn shortly after issue, and never charted anywhere. Virgin Records usually allowed its offices in other countries to maintain their own issue program, and keep records in print as long as they wished, but in this case the British parent company may have ordered it to be withdrawn worldwide before most Oldfield fans were aware it existed, as there has never been a re-issue in any country, despite a demand from collectors. Any edition (in decent condition) can easily fetch at least £100 on the collectors' market.
French, German and Italian issues each came with a different picture cover (2 different covers in Germany, one marked "English version" for reasons explained below). There is no cover for British and Australian editions.
In early 1975, a longer version of this song with timing of 6:04 appeared on a Virgin Records compilation double LP album titled V. It was also featured on the rare Greek-only CD compilation Progressive Rock, issued 1997 (Virgin 7243 84277 420).
It seems likely the song had appeared on no compilations until 2006, when the song appeared on The Platinum Collection.
The version of "In Dulci Jubilo" which appears on this record was even scarcer; it had never been re-issued until 2010 when in June the album Hergest Ridge was re-released in the deluxe edition series. This rare "Dulci Jubilo (for Maureen)" appeared as bonus track, making its CD debut some 36 years after its first vinyl release. The subtitle, "(for Maureen)" was only used for this specific version of the track, refers to Oldfield's late mother Maureen.
Read more about this topic: Don Alfonso (song)
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