"Platinum" is the fifth studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on November 23, 1979, on Virgin Records. This album marked a departure from his earlier works, featuring shorter songs and music written by others for the first time. The album was reissued in the U.S. and Canada under the title Airborn.
To promote Platinum, Oldfield embarked on The In Concert 1980 tour, which ran from April to December of that year. The album achieved commercial success, particularly in Germany, where it peaked at number 11. Over time, the album has been reissued with additional bonus material.
The first side of Platinum consists of the 19-minute title track, divided into four parts: "Airborne," "Platinum," "Charleston," and "North Star/Platinum Finale." "Airborne" is a slow-tempo section with many changes, featuring melodies primarily played on electric guitar. This section served as the theme for the 1980s BBC children's quiz show First Class. "Platinum" introduces a simple groove and repetitive song structure. "Charleston" is a light-hearted, swinging piece with a rhythm section and a prominent horn section. The track includes humorous, wordless vocals by a female vocalist, along with Oldfield's scat singing. "North Star/Platinum Finale" incorporates elements from the 1977 Philip Glass composition North Star, including the use of a choir. The section features a driving bass line, funky guitar riffs, and a lead guitar melody. Engineer Kurt Munkacsi, who worked frequently with Glass, contributed to the track.
Side two features "Woodhenge," an instrumental track named after the ancient monument near Stonehenge. On the U.S. version of the album (Airborn), this track was replaced by "Guilty." "Sally" is a song written and sung by Oldfield and Nico Ramsden as a tribute to Sally Cooper, Oldfield's girlfriend at the time. She also played tubular bells on the album. Shortly after release, Sally was replaced with "Into Wonderland," sung by Wendy Roberts. The earliest pressings of the LP still list "Sally" in the track listing, even when the album had already been updated with the new song. The first 50 seconds of "Punkadiddle" are actually derived from Sally, preserving the melody of its chorus as a bridge into the next track. "Punkadiddle" was written as a parody of punk rock, and Oldfield and his band performed it live without shirts as part of the performance. "I Got Rhythm" is a cover of the classic song by George and Ira Gershwin. Oldfield transforms the lively original into a Broadway-style ballad, complete with harmonized vocals from Wendy Roberts and orchestration mostly performed on keyboards.
