Popular musician
Mike Oldfield recorded an arrangement of the instrumental in 1976. Released as a
single, it is Oldfield's highest-charting single in the United Kingdom, where it reached number three.
Background In an attempt to repeat the success of his previous year's Christmas hit, "
In Dulci Jubilo", Mike recorded another traditional folk melody dating from 1701 (first known publication), again using
Leslie Penning on
recorders. The single was just as successful as its predecessor, charting at number 3 in the
UK, and became his first non-album single to be issued in the USA. It also charted at number 2 in
Ireland, and was Oldfield's highest-charting single there until 1983's "
Moonlight Shadow", which spent a week at number 1 in Ireland. Mike Oldfield plays acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, accordion, mandolin,
ARP string synthesiser, tambourine, kettle drum and
bodhran (Irish drum), and both Oldfield and Penning are credited with "
feet". This track, plus two others chosen as the B-side in different countries, had been released the month before as three of four new tracks on the compilation album
Boxed. They were mixed and encoded for SQ
quadraphonic sound, the only format this album was issued in, and all issues of these tracks in vinyl and tape formats have the encoding, even if they only say "stereo" on the label, as do all single releases. "Argiers" is another traditional folk tune, performed by Leslie Penning on recorders and Mike Oldfield on acoustic guitar and
ARP string synthesiser. An unusual feature of this arrangement is that it is in a minor key, having been converted from its original major key via
diatonic transposition. "Portsmouth" and "Argiers" were both recorded in January 1976 at Througham,
Gloucestershire, Oldfield's new home studio, shortly after he moved from his previous home in
Hergest Ridge, which was the location of his previous home studio, the Beacon. The single has been issued three times in France, in 1976, 1977, and 1980, each with different sleeves.
Music video A music video was made for this track, and can be found on the DVD,
Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield. Shot in Oldfield's Througham studio, it shows four female folk dancers who dance barefoot around the studio, while Oldfield is seen playing various instruments. As in the video for his previous single, "In Dulci Jubilo", the video emphasizes that Oldfield plays all the instruments, even though this is not strictly true. (Leslie Penning does not appear in the video)
In popular culture The piece was featured in the 1979
NASA documentary film by
Tony Palmer,
The Space Movie. It also featured during the TV series ''
I'm Alan Partridge''. The piece has become synonymous with English football club,
Portsmouth F.C., who play the tune before games at their home stadium,
Fratton Park. Notably it was played during their victorious
FA Cup 2008 campaign, including after the final game against
Cardiff City on 17 May 2008 at
Wembley. In April 2010 two groups were set up on the social networking site
Facebook to encourage people to download the single "Portsmouth" via sites such as
iTunes in the week commencing 3 May 2010, in a hope to get into the
UK Singles Chart, before Portsmouth F.C.'s
FA Cup Final appearance against
Chelsea. Oldfield himself commented on the campaign. It however did not chart.
Charts Year-end charts == References ==