I think the great thing about this latest boxset (other than the usual exceptional new mixes by Stephen Tayler) is getting to hear the original demos. That reminds me of a very telling conversation I had with Ian Nelson (what a nice guy he was!) at a Nelsonica, when I asked him how fully-formed Bill’s demos were and whether they left room for the other musicians to contribute much musically (and indeed whether Bill encouraged this). He said that, though Bill always had a very good idea of what he wanted a piece to sound like, he very much welcomed the other band members’ input, and indeed encouraged them to add their ideas.
I think that, listening to these Drastic Plastic demos, you get a much clearer idea of how much Charlie, Simon and Andy added to Be-Bop (and Ian to the recordings he appeared on). Though Bill was very clearly the main man, the others were a very important part of the sound of the band.
I wonder whether the next boxset will be Red Noise? If so, I’m sure it will again include the demos (which have been in circulation among collectors for many years, albeit in poor quality) and we can do the same comparison of how much the band members were able to put their stamp on the sound (the demos also include two previously unreleased tracks - I think - Waiting For The Night and That Way For Years).
