Rock music comprised only a small corner of David Bedford's activities in music. Bedford was an avant-garde composer of some repute before he ever stepped into the rock arena, where he became associated with progressive/new age composer Mike Oldfield, as the conductor and orchestrator on several of his works. He also worked as a conductor and orchestrator with Elvis Costello, Roy Harper, a-ha, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Madness, among other performers. He emerged as a rock composer during the mid-'70s in the wake of his work with Oldfield on Tubular Bells, with the progressive rock concept albums The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Odyssey, and Instructions for Angels.