Be-Bop Deluxe

Be-Bop Deluxe
Origin	Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
Genres	Progressive rock Glam rock Protopunk New Wave
Years active	1972–1974 1974–1978
Labels	Harvest
Past members
Bill Nelson Robert Bryan Ian Parkin Nicholas Chatterton-Dew Paul Jeffreys Milton Reame-James Simon Fox Charlie Tumahai Andrew Clark Ian Nelson

Be-Bop Deluxe were an English progressive rock band who achieved critical acclaim and moderate commercial success during the mid to late 1970s.

History

Be-Bop Deluxe was founded in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, by Bill Nelson in 1972. They started off playing the West Yorkshire pub scene, with one regular venue being the Staging Post in Whinmoor, Leeds. They never played bebop music, but instead came out of the blues-based British rock scene of the late 1960s. At first they were compared to the more successful David Bowie, but Nelson never tried to copy Bowie, and appears to have disliked comparisons or being pigeon-holed. This artistic restlessness eventually led him to disband Be-Bop Deluxe altogether and pursue less commercial paths of expression.

Influences upon the band's music included David Bowie, Roxy Music, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Van der Graaf Generator and Frank Zappa. The band's sound emerged as a mixture of glam rock, prog rock and straightforward rock and roll. Science fiction imagery (e.g. robots) was common in Nelson's lyrics, along with the more traditional themes of love and the human condition (albeit often hidden beneath Nelson's quirky lyrical and musical metaphors).

Nelson was acclaimed as one of the finest guitarists in British rock at the time, and the music showed that, with his distinctive tones adorning most tracks. Stylistically, the songs took elements from progressive rock, glam rock (the band had flirted with make-up in the early days) and hard guitar rock. Ships in the Night was their most successful single in the UK and US.

Drastic Plastic, recorded under the influence of punk, new wave and David Bowie's 'Berlin' albums was a substantial stylistic change from the progressive / guitar rock of the early Be-Bop Deluxe. Eager to embrace the changing musical landscape, Nelson dissolved Be-Bop Deluxe and immediately formed a new band, Bill Nelson's Red Noise, retaining Andy Clark on keyboards, and adding Nelson's brother Ian, who had previously contributed to Be-Bop Deluxe albums, on saxophone.

The only album to emerge from this lineup, Sound on Sound (1979) can be viewed as the last Be-Bop Deluxe album; the personnel changes were limited, it continued the themes of 'Drastic Plastic', and was the last rock band album founder Bill Nelson made before moving into the introspective solo projects that were to dominate his subsequent career.

Personnel

Bill Nelson was always the principal songwriter for the band. He also played lead guitar and sang lead vocals on all but one song. The original Be-Bop Deluxe line-up was as follows:

• Ian Parkin: Rhythm and Acoustic Guitar.
• Robert Bryan: Bass and Backing Vocals.
• Nicholas Chatterton-Dew: Drums and Percussion

That line-up only lasted for one album, Axe Victim (1974), and a short tour. Nelson disbanded the group and reformed with various musicians, finally settling on:

• Paul Jeffreys: bass guitar. Formerly with Cockney Rebel.
• Milton Reame-James: keyboards. Formerly with Cockney Rebel. Now with Banana Rebel.
• Simon Fox: Drums and Percussion. Later with Blazer Blazer.

However, the line-up did not last long, and only Nelson and Fox remained in the band. Shortly afterwards they added:

• Charlie Tumahai: Bass and Backing Vocals. He was added in late 1974, after extensive auditions. He recorded the Futurama album.
• Andrew Clark: Keyboards. He originally was a guest keyboardist for the Futurama tour, but joined shortly afterwards to record the remaining albums.

The album Futurama was recorded with Nelson, Fox and Tumahai; Clark was added for the tour. This is the lineup that recorded Sunburst Finish (February 1976), Modern Music (September 1976) and Drastic Plastic (February 1978).

When Be-Bop Deluxe was planning to reunite in the 1990s, Ian Nelson, brother of Bill, was one of the members of the new line-up, but the reformation came to nothing.

Discography

Singles

• "Jet Silver and the Dolls Of Venus" / "Third Floor Heaven" (1974)
• "Between the Worlds" / "Lights" (1975)
• "Maid in Heaven" / "Sister Seagull" (1975)
• "Ships in the Night" / "Crying to the Sky" (1976) - UK #23
• "Kiss of Light" / "Shine" (1976)
• "Hot Valves EP" (1976) - UK #36
• "Japan" / "Futurist Manifesto" (1977)
• "Panic in the World" / "Blue as a Jewel" (1978)
• "Electrical Language / "Surreal Estate" (1978)

Studio albums

• Axe Victim (1974)
• Futurama (1975)
• Sunburst Finish (1976) - UK #17
• Modern Music (1977) - UK #12
• Drastic Plastic (1978) - UK #22
• Sound on Sound (1979) (as Bill Nelson's Red Noise)

Live albums

• Live in the Air Age (1977) - UK #10
• Radioland - BBC Radio One Live In Concert (1994)
• Tramcar to Tomorrow (1998)
• Tremulous Antenna (2002)

Compilation albums

• The Best Of and the Rest Of (1978)
• Singles A's & B's (1981)
• Bop To the Red Noise (1986) (mixture of BBD and Red Noise material)
• Raiding the Divine Archive (1987)
• Air Age Anthology (1997) (double CD)
• Very Best Of (1998)
• Postcards From the Future (2002)
• Futurist Manifesto (2011)

Solo albums

• Bill Nelson, Northern Dream (1971). Bill Nelson released this solo album prior to Be-Bop Deluxe.
• Bill Nelson, Luminous (1991). Includes material originally written by Nelson for a possible Be-Bop Deluxe reunion.

Futurist Manifesto

In 2011 EMI upgraded the Be Bop Deluxe catalog remastered by Peter Mew featuring all of the band's original albums. EMI and Bill Nelson chose to include all of the band's albums, single edits and b-sides as part of this release with the exception of the Smile independently released single "Teenage Archangel"/"Jets At Dawn" as part of this set. Although Nelson did not supervise the release he gave final approval on the remasters and agreed to provide a disc of rarities to help sell the set if EMI paid him royalties on the release.

The fifth disc in the "Futurist Manifesto" boxed set included the following previously unreleased tracks:

1. The Saxophonist [Demo] 3:52
2. Visions of Endless Hopes [Demo] 2:20
3. Blue as a Jewel [Demo] 5:12
4. Speed of the Wind [Demo] 4:27
5. Possession [Rough Mix] 2:37
6. Maid In Heaven [Top of the Pops Backing Track] 2:30
7. The Modern Music Suite [Live] 11:53
8. Forbidden Lovers [Live] 4:41
9. Down on Terminal Street [Live] 10:32
10. Swan Song [Live] 6:46
11. Heavenly Homes [Flashman Remix]

Trivia

Despite their commercial success, Bill Nelson stated that he had never received royalties for the earlier CD release of his back catalog on EMI until the 2011 CD reissue/remaster of his back catalog.

External links

• Discography at the Bill Nelson Permanent Flame site
• BobbyShred's Be-Bop Deluxe Page
• Be-Bop Deluxe discography at Discogs