OK, let skip the esoteric and do some Sherlock Holmes snooping. I think Bill was Howard Jones back in the early 80s for 3, no 4, good reasons:
1) THE MACHINERY SOUND OF THE EARLY 1980S SYNTH SOUND!
2) THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE HAIRCUT
3) THE FALSETTO
4) THEY WERE NEVER SEEN TOGETHER
Check out Howard's "No One Is To Blame" and all the points jump out at you like rockets.
I remember when the Tears For Fears hit song Head Over Heels just began to blow up, a friend of mine called me up and said, "Have you heard that new Bill Nelson song? It's all over the radio!"
Yeah, I remember those times and albums. I think Tears for Fears' "Songs From The Big Chair" and their previous album were great. I use to do a solo guitar version of "Mad World." There was also a BN album and it had a picture women's legs in black fish net stockings. That was on my wall real quick.
Bills brother Ian worked with Howard Jones
Who knew that there was a connection! "Things Can Only Get Better" is my favorite Jones song. It has all the BN ingredients I mentioned earlier. The only thing is that in the video Jones skips and dances around and I can't see Bill doing that, especially while wearing his guitar. I don't know if Bill ever wrote an up beat dancing kind of song where you skip along from one end of the stage to the other. There's a challenge!
Don't really hear the Jones/Nelson connection, Count. 🤔
Not saying they're disconnected, though, either.
Didn't really hear the TFF/BN connection when a pal of mine thought Head Over Heals was BN, although it does sound like an e-bow is in there, perfectly placed, too.
I'll never forget that headset mic and pink suit that HJ's rocking in the promo for Things Can Only Get Better.
Bill and Howard had similar dandelion hair on top for a while ...
I guess Bill and Howard have used some similar-sounding instruments, like in Don't Try To Live Your Life In One Day, which has flute or syrinx sample sound that is similar to something Bill used a few times.
Actually, I do remember at the time saying to someone that Rise Like A Fountain and Age Of Reason should have as much radio play as anything by Howard Jones so I must've heard the connection back then.
The me there is the machine like sounds of the early 80s, a precision and almost a coldness to it. Yes, dandelion hair on top -- good description -- and it's kinda strawberry blonde. I do remember GTHGA and it was a very good album but very somber, serious and introspective in tone. There is none of that "I'm so happy I just want to skip across the stage" feel to it. It was one of the few albums that Bill also experimented with his guitar tone. I remember a jazz friend at the time really liking it and the lines Bill was playing but I could never be that comfortable with it. It really didn't draw me in with any warmth -- and maybe that was the point with the feel of the album. I almost feel that the album was over produced, there is so much going on -- and that touches back to the question of details: where do you stop? Great sax playing (I assume it was Ian). And maybe Bill felt this was his last hurrah with the record company, so why not throw in the kitchen sink and crank up the reverb. The album cover was mostly white with a Renaissance picture in the middle. The whiteness stuck out for me and maybe it fits with the clever title of "Getting the Holy Ghost Across" to mean get Bill "a cross" as he was being crucified by the record companies. Great ideas pointing to the mysterious and ineffable, but not a real happy album. So the happy Jones takes a back seat on his album, but I'm sure there is a BN song that makes you want to dance.
Age Of Reason is extreme pop like HJ's pop and it would've blown up the radio, at least in the SFBA.
"Age of Reason" for me is a good song and quirky with the sax/synth descending line. In my mind the background should be stripped back. There is something almost murky there that chugs (SHHH-SHHH) along like a train -- and who knows maybe Bill was going for Bowie's Station to Station -- he even uses that line. It's almost like there is too much percussion, things rattling along on a train, cups and saucers banging each other. But it is a good song and maybe longer held chords and less sax. The trick for me would be to find the right sounds for the song, things that I like or I think will bring out the underlying emotion. Bill can use long notes and I wish here he had done so. It's still very good but less banging around in the backing tracks.
Even if Bill was Howard Jones for a time, at least he figured out how to cure it!😛