When your dream of perfect beauty comes true

October 28, 2008 12:43 AM

Nelsonica ’08 is sold out. But for those who won’t be at the Official Bill Nelson Fan Convention in Yorkshire this weekend, comfort yourselves with these blazing live performances by the guitar god and his band Be Bop Deluxe: Maid in Heaven, Dangerous Stranger, Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape.

After semi-success with the evolving Be Bop Deluxe, Nelson briefly convened the new-wavey Red Noise, then forayed into electropop, working with members of Japan and Yellow Magic Orchestra on songs like Acceleration, Flaming Desire and Do You Dream in Colour? He fell out with Gary Numan over the production of Numan’s Warriors album, eventually taking his name off the credits. He made ambient music for the freeform UK arts program Map of Dreams Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4.

At Bill’s official website, Dreamsville, you can listen to his solo recordings, like the recent Mazda Kaleidescope or read Bill’s blog post detailing his preparations for Nelsonica ’08. Still pining for Nelsonica? Then time travel to last year’s gathering and watch Bill’s interview sessions.

posted by grounded (16 comments total)

I don't think I've heard him since Red Noise.
posted by pracowity at 1:05 AM on October 28, 2008

I don't understand that "Maid in Heaven" track. It's a curiously disjointed tune - like some kind of epic prog-rock monstrosity but it's all over in three minutes. Intro, riffage, sings a line, more riffage, etc.
posted by awfurby at 1:26 AM on October 28, 2008

Wow, he's definitely not a disciple of the "less is more" philosophy - List of albums
posted by awfurby at 1:46 AM on October 28, 2008

FWIW, the "Bill Nelson" links is a reprint of Steven McDonald's All Music Guide entry (used with the blessing of Mr. McDonald). I have not previously heard Be Bop Deluxe and am glad you've brought them (and Mr. Nelson) to my attention.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:49 AM on October 28, 2008

Fabulous. I had no idea there was a video for "Do You Dream In Colour?" I've always loved that song.
posted by mykescipark at 1:51 AM on October 28, 2008

What, what?
posted by 1adam12 at 3:04 AM on October 28, 2008

Ha! I hadn't thought of Be Bop Deluxe in twenty years. I scoured used record stores for years trying to find their albums. Sadly, I was a little let down when I finally found a couple, I had hoped for something more unusual. Anyway, thanks for the reminder of my younger days!
posted by mr.grum at 3:15 AM on October 28, 2008

It's a curiously disjointed tune - like some kind of epic prog-rock monstrosity but it's all over in three minutes.

The only thing I can remember about Be Bop Deluxe (and today is the first time I've ever heard any of their stuff) is that they were the refuge of the prog-rock types in those early punk days of the Sex Pistols and The Clash.

I suppose people who couldn't take the barely competent two chord thrash felt that BBD provided them with some semblance of up-to-dateness, while still allowing them to fetishize guitar virtuosity in an era when it was being widely dismissed as irrelevant?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:29 AM on October 28, 2008 [2 favorites]

It's good to see Bill Nelson get a mention here. He's travelled far since the Be-Bop days, and has the most diverse and prolific output of any musician I can think of (I'm not exaggerating here). Worked with people like Harold Budd, Roger Eno and Laraaji (and as far as I can see from various anecdotes, in the music press and elsewhere, is highly regarded by many "giants" of popular music, eg Brian Eno, Kate Bush, Pete Townsend, etc.) But he's not as well-known as he should be. I'd love to see that change. His contributions are many - not least his song-writing ability (an early inspiration to XTC's Andy Partridge), a remarkable marriage of ambient and jazz/avant-guitar, and his own unique e-bow guitar sound.

Coincidentally, I was going to mention him in another post I was in the middle of composing (on the artist/occultist Austin Osman Spare, whom Bill was once asked to play, in a film on Spare's life).
posted by internationalfeel at 5:28 AM on October 28, 2008

Vistamix was an absolute fave in the mid-80's (I didn't know it was a collection until years later). But I haven't found anything else in his catalog to excite me as much as that record, although I bought quite a few solo and Be Bop Deluxe albums looking. That Maid in Heaven riff is pretty awesome, but most of the other Be Bop Deluxe songs just don't cut it for me. Although I will say that everything they did was interesting, just not something I want to listen to repeated times.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 6:17 AM on October 28, 2008

I loved his work as part of Channel Light Vessel ("Automatic" is one of those albums I'll inflict on anyone who will listen), and ended up picking up a couple of his collections... completely different things, even jarringly so. I'll say this for Bill, he's got crazy range.
posted by Pufferish at 7:17 AM on October 28, 2008

I kind of missed Be Bop Deluxe. I guess I was too busy getting up to date on the obvious prog-rock stuff which I was coming to late (Genesis etc, sorry). But I did end up with a couple of Bill Nelson albums in my collection, even one I still own (The Love That Whirls) and find cause to throw on every now and then. Thanks for reminding me. And thanks for the links which put me in touch with this Be Bop Deluxe jam, which I do faintly remember and highly recommend to anyone who likes their guitars electric and blazing.
posted by philip-random at 9:43 AM on October 28, 2008

Blimey, theres a name I haven't heard in ages - is he up to anything good?
posted by Artw at 10:19 AM on October 28, 2008

Axe Victim is a classic. I haven't really dug anything later I've heard. He's an interesting guy, though, for sure.
posted by anazgnos at 11:44 AM on October 28, 2008

Also introduced to Nelson via the Vistamix collection. I love his stuff from this era. I tended to put him and Ultravox's John Foxx in the same Electronic Genius group.
posted by willmize at 12:48 PM on October 28, 2008

Huh. I was just listening to "Modern Music" over the weekend, and realized that I had completely lost track of Bill Nelson fully twenty years ago. Good to see that he's still around.

I'm unreasonably fond of Be-Bop Deluxe, and I'm finding it hard to explain why. PeterMcDermott's got part of it, but there was more to it than that. (For one thing, Be-Bop Deluxe preceded punk by a couple of years. They were pretty well established by the time punk broke.)

Something about how the combination of unabashed romanticism with 3-minute rock songs filled a niche that somehow needed filling. The stuff was every bit as sappy as prog rock, but a hell of a lot more direct and to-the-point.

And the stage shows were plenty fun.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 11:20 PM on October 28, 2008