What is the earliest known live recording of Bill playing? I'm assuming it's with BBD, but even then, how early in the band's career did anyone keep a gig recording which has survived (however illegally)? I know Bill is no fan of such recordings so this isn't a sharing request, just a straight, factual one.
Thanks for any info you can provide.
I really must remember to start this sort of conversation as a 'Discussion' not as a 'Question' if I do it again. Because it is down as a Question, all the messages in the conversation end up in a really strange order. For anyone reading this for the first time, I'm sorry it is so difficult to follow as more information appears.
I was wondering what was up with that🤔😄
OK, this hasn't got very far as a question.
The earliest live recording I can find is a recording of BBD playing 'Sweet Jane' in 1974 - but there's no date on that one otherwise.
After that, I have BBD at the Hippodrome, London, on June 14th 1975. That seems awfully late when the band had existed since '72/'73. Can anyone improve on those?
Over here in Herefordshire, we are so rarely visited by touring bands that Be-Bop Deluxe on May 30th 1974 may have been the last decent gig in the city.
Well, my question was just about earliest recordings of Bill playing live at gigs, so the name of the band is less important to me. Meanwhile, Steve, you seem to own both of the earliest recordings suggested so far (March '73 and March '74). I imagine you've had these for quite a while - even at the many dodgy record fairs I used to attend, cassettes of gigs by bands recorded before their first albums had been released were very rare indeed. Were you just very, very lucky?
Hello Mike ... I became a live concert tape collector after placing an ad in "Goldmine" magazine along time ago ...tapes are exchanged based on their quality and source etc ....it reminds me of my trainspotting days as a teen in Wakefield 😂 ... there are people out there with huge lists of live tapes from many artists ...I was only interested in Bills work and have a sizeable collection of live shows of varying quality from Be bop through solo and channel light vessel ...which include radio shows and interviews ...Haven't looked in that box for years and I dont even have a cassette deck to play them any more ....it was yet another phase ...I may have transferred the best of them on to cdr at one point but Im going to have to dig around to find them .... watch this space 😊
19/09/72 Magnet Hotel, Airedale
21/11/72 Magnet Hotel, Airedale
15/02/73 Magnet Hotel, Airedale
The Magnate has an FB: https://www.facebook.com/magnethotel.castleford/
My contribution, after a fair of rummaging and dusting off of the old tape machine, is firstly Leeds Polytechnic 1 March 1974. A pretty poor quality audience recording notable only for the inclusion of Everybody's Clean in Paradise and also Watch this Space, the instrumental Tour de Force mentioned by Bill above.
Then comes Sheffield Black Swan 18 July 1974 a [comparatively] much better recording featuring the above tracks as well as a cover of Sweet Jane and a raucous rendition of Rocket Cathedrals [not sounding like Bill on vocals as might be expected?]!
I too have what I believe is the Leeds Poly 1st March 1974 show, but it doesn't have anything called Everybody's Clean in Paradise.
Setlist is: intro music / So Insane So In love / Jet Silver / Adventures IAYL / Third Floor Heaven / Axe Victim / Bluesy Ruby/ Watch This Space / Jets At Dawn / Teenage Archangel / No Trains
1hr 13 m in all. Watch This Space is cut at 13 minutes - and resumes with what I assume to be the ending of it. I tried a little de-hissing on the recording, but not much, because too much processing can make things worse. I find it quite listenable - I have certainly heard worse.
I also have only "Sweet Jane" from the Sheffield Black Swan show - maybe someone included it as filler on the Leeds tape - but it is audibly worse than the Leeds show!
Surely Rob Bryan on vocals on your Rocket Cathedrals - as on the album? It's his song.
Does anyone have a list of all the tracks that BBD played that never made it to vinyl?
@Perfect Monster Hi PM, thanks for the comment on this one. That's interesting re 'So insane so in love' - the two tapes I have are, by the looks of it [the handwritten track listing] from different sources and 'Everybody's Clean in Paradise' was an opener as far back as 1973 but more relevantly on the Cockney Rebel tour which the band was fresh from at Sheffield. There's a set list from the tour in The Practice of Everyday Life booklet which has that as the opener and an otherwise near identical running order - with the exception of 'Affairs of the Heart' [anyone??]. That said I'm sure now that I've seen 'So insane so in love', a line from the song, on a different [Bill] handwritten set list somewhere. Another rummage required I think!
Yes, as expected Rob B on vocals for RC.
Someone will have that list ....
Was thinking obviously it's found on the Electrotype CD, but ... obviously that's not true.
I have a tape in my collection somewhere of Be bop playing at "Minsthorpe hall" ? ...from 1972-3 ? awful quality of course
Steve, was the band not still called "Flagship" at that time.
I dug the tapes out Eddie and it is Flagship from the Minsthorpe hall 👍 the earliest Be bop deluxe l have is Leeds polytechnic from
1-3-1974 😬
Now that is a big step forward! Thanks, Steve. I think that is likely to be this one...
"Friday 16th March 1973 - Carnegie Centre, South Minsthorpe High School, South Elmsall, South Yorkshire."
Can anybody now either beat this (unlikely) or suggest a marginally later one recorded in better quality?
I wonder, for example, if Bill found anything of this sort amongst the items he's discovered in the spare bedroom of his Mum's house? I doubt we would get to hear anything he has, but - as we head towards the 50th anniversary of his first release, I'm intrigued to know what is in the archive/cellar/space under the bed.
Somewhere I once had a cassette recording of very early Be Bop playing live at a pub called (I think,) 'The Magnet Hotel' in Airdale near Castleford. It was recorded by Keith McCrokham, (not sure of spelling,) who helped roadie for us at that time, though we were not yet a pro band and only playing small local gigs. It was a very early gig and we played on the floor of the lounge bar in the pub.
I remember all the between songs announcements and audience chatter were captured on the recording and there was one number that has vanished into the mists of time called 'Watch This Space' which was a blistering instrumental tour de force. I seem to recall this tape circulated as a bootleg some years ago so it may be still out there somewhere. It showed the band in its most embryonic state, but quite exciting I think.
Thanks for joining in, Bill. So, if we could find a copy of this historic gem,whichever of the Magnet gigs it were from, we would have the earliest of your gig recordings anyone has suggested so far. And it sounds such fun as well!
@Bill Nelson Bill, were there no recordings made of you playing before BBD?