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Birthday tributes to Bill from his muscian chums...Harold Budd, John Foxx, Kate St. John, Iain Denby, Stephen Mallinder, Laraaji and Steve Malins Back to the Plectronica 2018 page Pl ectronica A celebration of Bill Nelson at 70 Birthday wishes... Here are some tributes that were sent to Bill as a nice surprise for him from some of his musician friends... Harold Budd I've known Bill since 1987, I think, since we were introduced by a mutual acquaintance at his then home in Selby, Yorkshire. We 'caught on' right away and to this day I regard him as one of my closest friends. At the time I had just moved to London from Los Angeles and I remember countless train trips north to York where Bill would meet me and we'd make the short drive to his home and family in his vintage, and very hip, Peugeot. Anyway, we would spend hours talking, talking about esoteric forms of religion and thought, travels, architecture -- especially medieval structures (of which Yorkshire has an abundance) -- as well as visits-by-the-dozen to country pubs and taverns (solidifying my always high regard for John Smith ale)... and not too much about music, which seemed relatively secondary, 'though we always ended up in his loft- studio laying down bits and pieces. Our travels together included Japan, Portugal, and a brilliant month in New Orleans, Louisiana, at Daniel Lanois' studio recording By The Dawn's Early Light. I'll stop now and save us all from going on and on till the last last page of recorded time and say simply Bill is a world-class artist and a personal treasure. An honor to know him. Harold Budd John Foxx I first saw Bill Nelson supporting Cockney Rebel at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London in the early 1970's. He played exceptional modern guitar, sang intriguing songs, looked skinny and sharp in a white suit and was more memorable than the main act. A little later, I had a beautiful girlfriend, Krystina, a model - she was entranced by Bill and played that Ships In The Night record very loud. Of course, that didn't endear him to me - but I figured he was a man to watch. As the years went on, I grew increasingly impressed by the kind of music he made and his independent spirit - recording at home in Yorkshire, setting up his own label, making all those explorations and experiments completely on his own terms. The conventional record labels just couldn't understand it - they hadn't developed the categories yet. A little later, he recorded at my studio, The Garden, so I also got a glimpse of all the sticky legal stuff Bill had to pull himself out of. It looked bleak for a while, but he got through it all and fired up again. Took some grit. Then the great Harold Budd signalled that he had a project or two going. Bill got there before me, entirely my fault - I thought the three of us recording together might be a case of too many cooks, (I'd also thought the same about recording with David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto, so what did I know). Later, I enjoyed singing with Bill and Harold at Harold's Sinatrian retirement do in Brighton, and realised there might be something worth working on. But the same thing happened with Robin Guthrie, so that took me off again on another adventure, with another great original. There were so many connections and musicians in common over the years - Harold Budd, Theo Travis, Stuart Adamson, John Leckie and Gary Numan among them, so we'd coincide at various points and always threatened to do some work together, but never pinned it down. Over the years, Bill has accumulated this huge, adventurous body of work. He's done it all by being an independent Yorkshireman - often working under the radar. My impression of him is - a gentle man, but a man with a vision, quietly stubborn as hell and always rock solid against any weather. An inspiration. John Foxx Kate St. John Bill Nelson is such a lovely man and one of the most creative and prolific humans I know. Working with him is liberating as he makes your creative soul feel free to fly. The world is a better place for all the intricate magic and wizardry he has conjured up in his songs and compositions Kate St. John Iain Denby I first met Bill in 1984 and what struck me about him immediately was that despite his iconic musician status there were no airs or graces with him, he treated me and everyone else as an equal. He's a down-to-earth Yorkshire lad at heart. I was a 24-year old full-time kitchen designer and had been invited by him to play on his new song after hearing my bass playing on a track I'd recorded with his sound engineer at the time. He didn't care I wasn't a professional musician, or that I had no history of session playing - I guess he just liked what he'd heard…and perhaps being a fellow Yorkshire lad was good enough for him! The day of recording was very stressful for me - I'd driven for hours to get to the studio. I was in there with a legend - someone I've paid to see in concert several times and here I was recording a bass line on his new single 'Living For The Spangled Moment' - no pressure then! Bill was generous enough to give me as much time as I needed to jam along with the track, become familiar with it and create a sympathetic bass line. I'm pretty sure he had his own bass line ideas, but he didn't reveal them - he was happy to let me do my own thing, only injecting ideas on parts when I was struggling for ideas. I was very happy with the result, and I guess Bill was too because he invited me to tour with him. Rehearsing for the tour that followed was quite intimidating - after all, I was just a hobbyist bassist, yet here I was playing with professional, full-time musicians - I didn't feel deserving. However, I remember the moment that feeling changed. It was during a break from normal practice and Bill played a rough demo of Contemplation to which we all jammed along. I started to mess about with chords high up the fret board and Bill looked up from his guitar playing and said, "Ooo, I like that!" Bill Nelson likes what I just did! I'm happy to say those chords developed a bit more and feature on the finished recording. Bill's generosity and encouragement continued through the recording process of 'Getting The Holy Ghost Across'. Anyone familiar with Bill's music knows that he creates some amazing, simple and effective bass lines - none more so than on 'Do You Dream In Colour'. So, for him to send me a cassette of twelve demo songs without bass lines, allowing me the freedom to create my own was amazing. Even during recording, and contrary to what one might have expected, Bill hardly interfered with my ideas and was happy to hear them materialise into the finished recording. And, nothing was lost in the mix…well, apart from the slap 'n' tickle bass on 'Heart And Soul' - relegated to the fade out. That's OK…the playing was probably a bit messy anyway! I still get a buzz today from other people's surprise when they learn of my name on his music, especially because they know me as an architectural illustrator and not a musician. However, I've recently brought my bass playing out of a long retirement. It feels good and I've had fun re learning the songs off that album, especially 'Contemplation' -my all-time favourite. My time working with Bill has been a highlight of my life, not just because of the privilege he gave me, but to spend time with someone whose musical genius status never got in the way of his generosity, respectfulness and kindness. Bill's just 'one of the lads'. Thanks Bill, and I hope we can do it again sometime soon! Iain Denby I'm not sure what it is, but there seems to be a certain strand of DNA that connects a group of massively significant artists: David Bowie, David Sylvian, Jon Foxx, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Bill…they're different from the rest of us, on a higher plain, best of all Bill's from Yorkshire. And let's not forget we are also talking about a wonderful, generous, fascinating human being. Big love Bill and Happy Birthday! Mal Stephen Mallinder In honour of Bill... I remember the first time I saw Bill play was in Sheffield, in a legendary pub called the Black Swan, one Sunday evening in I'm guessing about late 1975. He was with Be Bop Deluxe and although we (myself and Richard from Cabaret Voltaire) weren't particularly enamoured of guitar-centric bands Bill always had something a bit different about him - he had a certain style and panache that meant we gave him the benefit of the doubt…he was intriguing, a cut above and we gave him our time and money that Sunday night. Where he went from Be Bop confirmed Bill was a distinctive, unique artist. He not only survived the cultural killing fields of punk, that showed no mercy to many, he thrived and opened up really interesting doors for himself and the rest of us. Bill has a wonderful grasp of things and a hunger for challenges. It was great to be introduced to him, spend time and eventually get him to play on our records - his guitar work on CODE was perfect and he even agreed to be in the video (I remember on the day he charmed the entire production team). Visiting him in the castle near Wakefield was unforgettable - we spent the time discussing Cocteau, the Golden Dawn, Rosicrucians and got to see his collection of esoteric artefacts. And had a curry as I seem to recall. Laraaji Thoughts about Bill Nelson: Easy smile Musically intuitive Guitar style master Inspirational messenger Very harmonious to be in studio sessions with... LARAAJI☀️ Steve Malins I came to Bill's music in the early 80s when I was a young lad looking for new electronic music. I knew nothing of Be Bop Deluxe and indeed it's only in recent years that I've come to appreciate what a great band they were. It was the Cocteau recordings that pulled me in, especially 'The Two-Fold Aspect Of Everything' and the instrumental albums - I wore out a cassette copy of 'La Belle Et La Bete' and would play 'Sounding The Ritual Echo' which came as a free vinyl LP over and over. They gave me a life-long fascination with a stripped-back, DIY approach to music, along with a love for primitive analogue synthesisers and drum machines and what a stylish way to release your own music! Oozing class and a profilic flow of brilliant releases, the Cocteau label slotted alongside 4AD and Mute in my awe-struck head. All these things have stayed with me as I've been extremely fortunate to work with artists (such as Hannah Peel, Stephen Mallinder, John Foxx, Gazelle Twin, Gary Numan, Benge, Blancmange) who record in their own home studios with passion and imagination and release records on their own labels. Oh and synths and drum machines still regularly figure too! Meanwhile, as my tastes have (hopefully) expanded over the years I've come to love all the twists and turns in Bill's recording career and some of his more recent albums such as 'New Northern Dream' and 'That Old Mysterioso' are among my favourites. Happy Birthday! Steve Malins (Random Music Management)

Loom - Astroloops Volume Two Bill Nelson album - 7 December 2015 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Ladies Removing Lingerie 02) Smoke And Wires 03) The Happy Clock 04) Flights Of Fancy 05) Billy's Holiday 06) The Clockwork Rocket 07) Tick-Tock-Tick 08) Spooks In The Shed 09) Reversing Through Willows 10) The Echo, The Shadow, The Empty Shell 11) Puckish 12) C-Shell 13) A Lovely Dazzle 14) Corrosive 15) The Light We Cannot See 16) Your Taxi To The Stars 17) The Lonely Spaceman 18) Loom ALBUM NOTES: Loom is an instrumental album issued in a one-off print run of 500 copies on the Astrotone label. The album was a follow up to the extremely limited CDR Astroloops (issued to purchasers of the Eastwood Astroluxe Custom Ltd. guitar). Nelson announced on the Dreamsville forum that he had commenced work on this album in September 2014 around the time that the Astroloops album had effectively been snapped up by pre-orders for the Astroluxe guitar. At this stage the album had a working title of Lustre and Illusion , although Crystal Springs was another possible title under consideration. The recordings were completed in October 2014, and with the addition of the final and eighteenth track, "Loom", Nelson decided to make Loom the title of the album. Ironically though, when the album was at the mastering stage, there was a misunderstanding in selecting the tracks from Nelson's DAT masters, and the title track "Loom" was mistakenly replaced by a track from Quiet Bells called "Chiming Shires". In a rare lapse of quality control, Nelson had not played the reference disc in full before authorising the album's release, and the mistake wasn't picked up until after the album went on sale. As a result of this error, Nelson arranged for a free download of the missing track to be made available on Bandcamp. Loom (the album) went on sale on 7 December 2015, and after 7 days was taken off sale with the 10 remaining copies sold through email enquiries. "Loom" (the track) was issued as a free download on 23 December 2015. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "This will be a follow up to the extremely limited edition Astroloops album which was given exclusively to only those 24 people who bought the equally limited edition Eastwood 'Astroluxe' signature guitar of a while back. Loom is an instrumental album using looped guitar parts as a basis for improvisational overdubs. It follows on from, and develops ideas first voiced on the 24 copies limited edition Astroloops album. In some ways it's closer to things like Quiet Bells but is somewhat less quiet!" _____ "Actually, I meant to explain the meaning of the album title: Loom refers to a textile Loom, which in turn references the way that the looped guitar riffs of the album weave in and out with various improvised overdubs, creating a rich and colourful tapestry of sound. Threads of ideas stitched together to form an overall sonic picture. Also, the title refers to 'looming', ie: something which hovers over a situation, foreshadowing an event, a coming situation, partly with trepidation, or maybe anticipation. And last of all, 'loom' echoes with the word 'loop', the last letter being the only change." FAN THOUGHTS: Palladium: "Taken an instant - and extreme - liking to this album. Very much my kind of thing. Very direct, accessible - but also somewhat avant/experimental/oblique - fleeting, lovely, luscious guitar-poems. There's no way I could class this as "ambient", and the modest prior descriptions from Bill (as with Quiet Bells ) didn't really prepare me for the sheer magnificent class of it. One I'm going to enjoy very much over Christmas and beyond. Thank you, Mr N." "It's the album I'm listening to most at the moment. Each track is a thing of beauty. I put it in the slightly mysterious 'category' along with Quiet Bells and Dreamland to Starboard - albums which I can never decide whether they are accessible or 'avant' (probably both), and I can never stop listening to them. My type of music - sort of enigmatic and certainly remaining out of reach of my feeble attempts to review/describe them. Certainly they are more than just "guitar instrumentals". The map is not the territory!" felixt1: "Genius, Mr. Nelson, genius. Where do these melodies come from? Is there some ultra secret, high end, super-store where you can go to buy these beautiful ideas......?" meederr: "Just received my copy yesterday. Guitar fondue for the ears and in between. Love it. Congrats Bill, and happy holidays!" james warner: "There is a chime-like quality to the guitar sound on this album of instrumentals. If you like a hint of reverb on your guitar, you'll love this." Andre: "Instrumental track of the day: "SPOOKS IN THE SHED". Beautiful strange and mysterious. Sounds like a damp dark street with dark shadows turning the corner." BobK: "Probably my fave BN release of 2015, (Electric Atlas running it very close). I absolutely love this album from beginning to end. Beautiful melodies with wonderfully varied guitar tones." John Fisher: "Although long time fans are used to the many surprises Bill throws our way, I somehow wasn't prepared for this one. When Bill described the album as "using looped guitar parts as a basis for improvisational overdubs", I never expected the songs to have such a captivating immediacy. Because the backing loops are minimal, and in many songs more quiet, the guitar sings out over the top throughout the album. My favourites are "The Clockwork Rocket", "The Lonely Spaceman" and "The Echo, The Shadow, The Empty Shell", in which Bill literally serenades us with his guitar. Since we're so used to fully fleshed-out songs from Bill, this is a great opportunity to hear him improvise at length on a studio album, as he explores the exquisite tonality of his new Eastwood 'Astroluxe' signature guitar. A unique album for Bill, and an approach which I hope he will revisit one day in the future." December Man: Loom "Review" "Weaving in and out of traffic on the 101. Basket made of writhing serpents. Trellis of love. He wears a finely tailored Italian suit. The Huichol Shaman's dream resurrected in multi-colored yarn. Braided beauty in a pale blue dream. Swaying in the forested kingdom of kelp. Last night I saw the stars dancing." alec: "Ladies Removing Lingerie": "This really haunts, pleasantly. A repetitive, delicate, trip-out wonderment." TheMikeN: "There are ideas to explore and new paths to discover. Here's Bill finding out what happens when a simple rule is set – start with a loop, or more than one, then work out how to decorate it. I expected to hear the melodic results of an experiment with technology; what I found was beauty, depth and the joy of exploring. Put simply, Bill knows what he has to be better than (to keep himself happy with the results) and he knows that depth and complexity are not reached by adding extra layers of twiddly guitar grappling. Somehow this is an emotional experience – without movie soundtrack swooping themes and without love and loss lyrics. Rosewood does the same trick with acoustic guitars as the chosen territory, Pedalscope does it with bicycle imagery, and Last of the Neon Cynics does it with a cowboy comic strip. Give the man a new avenue and he'll explore it without words until it feels like home." Peter: "OK, let's face it...any album that begins with a song called "Ladies Removing Lingerie (To Celebrate the Blooms of May)" is, A) sure to be from Bill Nelson, and B) going to get my attention. And it deserves it! Without a drum machine in sight, Bill shows us what it means to be a master of the guitar, with songs that are stunning in their technique and quality. You might not be tapping your foot a lot, or singing along (no vocals here), but put on the headphones, close your eyes, and let a guy who really, really knows how to paint with guitars show you how it is done. Dazzling once again, Mr. N." Albums Menu Future Past

Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus Bill Nelson album - 26 November 2010 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus (Plastic Mix) 02) Sex And Drums And Saxophones 03) Blue Sky Seeks Red Guitar 04) Howlin' Wolf In Me 05) Dance Of The Mullard Valvemen 06) The Aerostatic Balloonist 07) The Indelicate Levitation Of Katie's Skirts 08) Full Colour Fontana 09) The Man Who Was Tomorrow 10) Sun Kings Suffer (As Time Goes By) 11) The Mount Fuji Ice-Cream Factory 12) Illuminated Sky With Pale Blue Lightning 13) Neil Young 14) Like A Woman Levitating 15) Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus (Crystal Mix) ALBUM NOTES: Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus is an album comprising a mixture of vocal and instrumental pieces recorded especially for Nelsonica '10 on the Discs of Ancient Odeon label. As with the 2 previous Nelsonica releases, a print run of 1000 was employed, ensuring non-attendees could get hold of it without panicking or resorting to eBay. Remaining copies of the album went on sale through SOS on 2 December 2010. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: Psychotronic: "an amalgam of the words 'Psychedelic', 'Psychologic' and 'Electronic'." _____ "This one was created specifically for Nelsonica , rather than just being a collection of 'leftovers'. It's loosely themed around the Psychotronic Circus mood, but not in its entirety. Nevertheless, the tracks were chosen for the way they worked together, as a whole, so perhaps there is a kind of completeness to the album." _____ "A Psychotronic Circus could be, (and only could be, mind), a multi-coloured tent in which Alfred Hitchcock, dressed as a ringmaster, cracks his whip at a bunch of clowns stylishly cloned to look like actor Anthony Perkins in the role of a hallucinogenic lotus eater, who has given up his job as a motel owner to instead become a tv-repairman. A tv-repairman who, for some obscure reason, likes to visit the houses of peroxide blondes to re-wire their consoles whilst their husbands are away on business trips. This scenario, of course, is entirely fictional and in no way related to an incident where I just may have happened to re-align a certain lady's antennae after she waved at me from her bedroom window. In a sheer, powder blue Parisian negligee. With a bottle of champagne in one hand. And two glasses in the other. But, as you all know...I'm not that sort of person...I'm a serious, high-minded guitar player. Sometimes..." _____ "I'm a long-time fan of Neil [Young] and the song ["Neil Young"] came about while I was playing my Gretsch White Falcon in my studio and messing around with sounds on my Line 6 Pod processor. The guitar sound I arrived at reminded me very much of Neil Young and I recorded the basic backing track using that sound before writing any lyrics. The phrase 'everything sounds like Neil Young' popped into my head and kick-started the lyric writing process...the words are meant to imply some sort of linear meaning but in actual fact are just disconnected phrases that suggest a surreal scenario where 'even my car sounds like Neil Young'. The whole song is simply a kind of enigmatic tribute to him." FAN THOUGHTS: Tourist in Wonderland: "Every year to coincide with Nelsonica , Bill records and releases a 'special' studio album, that is presented to all the convention attendees, as part of the overall package. This has kind of become a tradition, if you like. By its very nature, it becomes a commemorative album of that particular Nelsonica and these albums are, as you would imagine, highly thought of and sought after, in their own right. Another (generous) part of the fantastic experience that is Nelsonica . These albums can be, as Bill mentions, a collection of 'leftover' tracks, that didn't make the final cut for the various studio albums recorded throughout the year, a kind of compilation album, representative of that years work, or, as in this year's case, an album specifically composed and recorded especially for Nelsonica ...and a fine album it is too!" "You are hooked from the very first track and pulled along the 'journey' at a fair old rattle, with subtle 'breath catches' at the perfect moments. It's an exhilarating, but very smooth, first class ride. Absolutely fantastic. And for fans of Bill's guitar wizardry, there's plenty of fine playing to sink your teeth into and keep you coming back time and again... Thanks Bill, you are a true star." Merikan1: "You want to get this one! It rocks, it twangs, it has some truly nightmarish bits. It has blues and harmonica. It is a truly surprising direction." felixt1: "It's an incredibly funky, sexy album - full of great rock and pop music. Definitely one for the rock fans, but with much more going on." swampboy: "I love Captain Future . My absolute favorite song is "Blue Sky Seeks Red Guitar". The whole album is amazing, with Bill squeezing new sounds out of his guitar. It's a keeper." donger: "Mr. Nelson takes us in several directions all at once. Delightful! My favorites are the most whimsical ones: "Dance of the Mullard Valvemen", "Sun Kings Suffer (As Time Goes By)" and "The Mount Fuji Ice-Cream Factory"." Andre: "I didn't expect to like it too much (I don't like clowns), but was surprised on first hearing. This is a classic!...What great sounds!!" old_goat: "I have been listening to the Psychotronic Circus a lot recently, and as I am want to do, looking at the art work, and it struck me suddenly that the clown on the cover looks startling (to myself at least) like Bill. I've looked at all the artwork I could from the concept; the stuff posted for the Nelsonica , posted here, etc. and there is not a single clown that comes close to looking anything in similarity than the one on the cover of the CD. I'm probably waaaay off base, but I think it's friggin' cool!" jetboy: "The images were sourced from various advertisements from the 1890's up to around the 1930's, from Barnum and Bailey ads, a New York lemonade manufacturer from the 1900's, an old East German Sci-fi magazine cover, a Parisian dance troupe from 1910 etc." emotional hooligan: "It's a cracking CD! If anyone still hasn't got round to ordering it...get it now...!" Albums Menu Future Past

Dreamy Screens box set - 8 December 2017 Bill Nelson Collections Menu Future Past Purchase this box set Sounding The Ritual Echo: 01) Annunciation 02) The Ritual Echo 03) Sleep 04) Near East 05) Emak Bakia 06) My Intricate Image 07) Endless Orchids 08) The Heat In The Room 09) Another Willingly Opened Window 10) Vanishing Parades 11) Glass Fish (For The Final Aquarium) 12) Cubical Domes 13) Ashes Of Roses 14) The Shadow Garden 15) Opium Das Kabinett: 01) The Asylum 02) Waltz 03) The Fairground 04) Doctor Caligari 05) Cesare The Sonambulist 06) Murder 07) The Funeral 08) The Sonambulist And The Children 09) Caligari Disciplines Cesare 10) Caligari Feeds Cesare 11) Caligari Opens The Cabinet 12) Jane Discovers Cesare 13) The Attempted Murder Of Jane 14) The Dream Dance Of Jane And The Sonambulist 15) Escape Over The Rooftops 16) The Unmasking 17) The Shot 18) The Cabinet Closes La Belle Et La Bête: 01) Overture 02) The Family 03) Sisters And Sedan Chairs 04) In The Forest Of Storms 05) The Castle 06) The Gates 07) The Corridor 08) The Great Hall 09) Dreams (The Merchant Sleeps) 10) Fear (The Merchant Wakes) 11) The Rose And The Beast 12) Magnificent (The White Horse) 13) Beauty Enters The Castle 14) The Door 15) The Mirror 16) Candelabra And Gargoyles 17) Beauty And The Beast 18) Transition No. 1 19) Transition No. 2 20) The Hunt 21) The Gift 22) The Garden 23) Transition No. 3 24) Transition No. 4 25) The Tragedy 26) Transition No. 5 27) The Enchanted Glove 28) Tears As Diamonds (The Gift Reverses) 29) The Beast In Solitude 30) The Return Of Magnificent 31) Transition No. 6 (The Journey) 32) The Pavilion Of Diana 33) Transformation No. 1 34) Transformation No. 2 35) The Final Curtain ALBUM NOTES: Dreamy Screens is a limited edition 3CD boxed set that compiles three early Bill Nelson instrumental works initially issued in the period 1981-82. The albums included in the box set are Sounding the Ritual Echo, Das Kabinett and La Belle et la Bête . The subtitle, Soundtracks from the Echo Observatory , is a reference to Nelson's domestic recording facility. The Echo Observatory was situated in a room above his kitchen, and remained the creative centrepiece for his more experimental recordings spanning a ten year period that began in 1979. Both Sounding the Ritual Echo and La Belle et la Bête were initially released as a limited editions of 10,000 copies, included with the initial pressings of Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam and The Love That Whirls respectively. In that context, the albums are inextricably tied to those major releases, and can be seen as representing one side of the two-fold aspect to Nelson's creative approach. This box set is part of the Esoteric/Cherry Red series of reissues on Cocteau Discs. Each album is presented in individual card sleeves, reproducing the albums' original artwork (which were jettisoned in favour of new sleeves when these titles were last reissued between 1985 and 1989). Das Kabinett and La Belle et la Bête are appearing in the UK on CD for the first time, having been previously available on the US reissues on Enigma. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: This 3 CD box set is available to purchase in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "At the time, I saw Ritual Echo as being more indicative of my inner, deeper self (in 'artistic' terms), whilst Quit Dreaming was perhaps a little more superficial, closer to my commercially minded work. Perhaps I was still chasing fame and fortune with one hand but rejecting it with the other. Here and now, in the 21st Century, the production quality of Ritual seems, (to my ears), simplistic and dated, but its approach and content feels contemporary and connected to my current creativity." _____ "Whilst I understand that some people might have thought of these recordings as 'experimental' or 'avant garde', I never really approached them in that way...for me, they seemed accessible, direct, and far from difficult... All I wanted to do was make music which transcended limitations of genre and instead came across as beautiful and timeless. To achieve that goal, now more than ever, is the driving force behind my music." _____ "In some ways, that period of my life was very exciting as there seemed to be a very open-minded spirit in the air. People were, it seems, a little less less conservative than now and more ready to experiment and foster a more artistic approach to popular music. These days it seems as if there's a reluctance to open up to beauty and wonder, an element of dumbing everything down to the lowest common denominator. It's as if cynicism and pessimism has triumphed over good faith and optimism. Cocteau's work celebrates the artistic vision and the inner life and does so without shame, irony or embarrassment . Beauty is the brave hero and the Beast is subdued by her power. A lovely metaphor for the civilising influence of Art." _____ "Context has a lot to do with it. Also, not to beat around the bush, it's an 'art' piece, not pop, rock or ambient. It was also made with very slender resources, minimal recording gear, (four track), and primitive instrumentation. It's music to accompany a theatrical performance, but, if you can dig it, it also works on its own as semi-abstract sonic fragments, little vignettes of sound. It's a bit like painting. Close your eyes and let your imagination project pictures. It might help to see Cocteau's film, (the music fits it almost as well as it fitted the stage production). If you like it, great, if you don't, no problem. "Sometimes I make music for lots of people to enjoy, sometimes for just a few to enjoy. Of course, I personally enjoy making ALL of it and I think of it as just one continuous expression of my creative life. But, some people might say that Be Bop and Red Noise comprise my mainstream, mass market work, the 'ambient' instrumentals are for folks who like to float, dream and chill, and things like Beauty and The Beast , Caligari and Crimsworth are for art gallery and theatre goers...and so on, (add your own categorisations according to taste, personal bias, etc). At the end of the day, they're all just aspects of my personality, reflecting my interests, curiosity and passions. "I've often talked about the wide range of music that I enjoy listening to and the equally wide range of film, art and literature. Add a dash of occultism, esoterica and left of centre philosophy and you'll get an idea of what all this diversity adds up to when I choose tones, textures and forms to express my own inner life. There's no escaping the fact that it's deeply personal music and that it only entertains by accident, rather than design. But...when in doubt, simply shove it all in a big box and simply call it MUSIC. Nothing more, nothing less. Everyone knows music...It's the food of LOVE. And we're ALL forever hungry for that." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review by Dmitry M. Epstein FAN THOUGHTS: paul.smith: "Sounding the Ritual Echo eventually had more of an an effect on me than its parent [ Quit Dreaming ] -- [Sounding ] is probably part responsible for the way that I started to look at certain things as a young kid - not just this fractured set of sounds full of intention and serendipity but titles such as "Glass Fish for the Final Aquarium" really got my imagination. It's a haunting album full of sounds that conjure up images I can't ever explain. I played QDAGOTB on the way to work today because of these posts reminding me of the 30 year anniversary and played Sounding the Ritual Echo on the way back - I think it's got to be one of the most evocative albums I have the pleasure to possess." John Izzard: "A quick word about Bill's demos and sketches. It was many of those early demos, including Sounding the Ritual Echo and the Trial by Intimacy box set that inspired confidence in me to make my own music and helped shape my attitude towards the creative process. Those records taught me that it was not necessarily about the big production, budget - or 'being signed', but the seed of an idea being the important thing. I'm sure many other musicians, here and elsewhere, feel the same. It was brave of Bill to release those pieces in their raw form...although the truth is, the music and ideas were strong enough to stand naked and proud, without the need for further stylization or polish." tommaso: "There is a lot of interesting detail here, and as usual, marvelous and unique sounding synths, creating an appropriately spine-chilling character in places." Mozo: "As the years have passed, I find that if I have Das Kabinett , Trial By Intimacy (The Book of Splendours) and Savage Gestures for Charms Sake playing in the background, I seem to become more creative at anything that I happen to be doing, at the same time I'm listening. So I've come to appreciate the different facets of Bill's creativity all the more." Collections Menu Future Past

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) July 2009 Jan Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Tuesday 21st July 2009 -- 8:20 pm Just checked my website to remind myself when my last diary entry was posted. Could it really be so long ago? As long ago as January? Apparently that's exactly when it was. Somehow I'd imagined that there had been at least one further entry since then, but evidently not. Perhaps I was merely thinking about it. A conceptual diary, words written in smoke on thin air, ghosts of good intentions. So why the biggest gap yet in this ongoing literary ramble? Well, it's the result of one damned thing after another and very little of it worthy of mention here beyond what readers of this diary may have already surmised. My main (and daily), concern has been for my mother and the unfortunate circumstances she found herself in after the death of her husband, (to whom she had served as a dutiful wife for 28 years). The last 14 months or more have been an unwelcome ordeal for her, not just because of the bereavement she has suffered, but also as a direct result of the litigation she was forced to undertake and the emotional toll it subsequently imposed. Her legal struggle has only recently come to some sort of modest resolve but, although two months have already passed since she accepted the offer which was finally made to her, she has yet to see the practical results. Now, it seems, there are further legal fine-tunings to be dealt with before she can, hopefully, put this regretful and miserable business behind her and get on with her life. Naturally, it has been an extremely stressful and unpleasant time for her and a worry for friends, neighbours and family who have expressed their concern about her situation and well-being...and, although I'm trying not to make too much of it, it's proved a depressing and demanding experience for me too. Sadly, as is so often the case with inheritance disputes, much grief and a great deal of expense could have been avoided had some sort of fairness prevailed at the start. But, human nature being what it is, especially where money is concerned, fairness was always going to be too much to hope for. Damning as that conclusion is, it's hardly more than what was expected. If nothing else, the experience has been revealing. However, the subject is unworthy of further attention so I'll not offer any further comment but simply move on and away from it. Despite the many months of dealing with the above situation, I've continued to work extremely hard to maintain some sort of creative flow. It's been far from easy under the circumstances but, by putting in even longer hours than usual, I now have FIVE new albums awaiting release and a SIXTH album almost complete. (Plus, I should add, a seventh album, which is a collaborative project, finally coming to fruition.) Could it be that I've sought some sort of internal release from various external problems and pressures by allowing myself to become lost in music? Well, if so, it certainly wouldn't be for the first time. In any case, I've become a little bored with the notion than albums should always be 'major statements,' torn from the very core of one's being, precious highly polished jewels to be dispensed to the masses as if they were pearls beyond price. Or, as Todd Rundgren once expressed it, products of 'The ever popular tortured artist effect.' My own albums are like personal letters, monthly magazines, glimpses into private sketchbooks, whispers in a lover's ear, keys to secret wardrobes filled with fetish clothing that only priveleged and trusted friends are allowed to see. (Strange how often eroticism creeps into these metaphors!) But, even so, the music still emerges, unavoidably, unbidden, from somewhere deep inside, the complex result of endless little struggles with myself. It's just that I try not to make too much of a fuss about it. (So many artists' declarations of creative 'angst' ultimately turn out to be little more than romantic self-promotion, or cunningly contrived marketing ploys.) So, here's a summary of work accomplished in my home studio this year: ALBUM 1: A vocal based album titled 'FANCY PLANETS.' This is something of a departure from the work of recent years in that it attempts to reconcile my '70's era style with my more contemporary output. The balance seems to be tipped slightly in favour of the past though...which for me, as someone whose natural inclination is to never return to fields long ago harvested and left barren, amounts to a kind of heresy. Maybe there's an element of nostalgia involved too, albeit tinted with post-modernist irony. I suppose I'm not entirely convinced that this is a credible or dignified album for a sixty year old man to have recorded, though I'm probably far too close to it to tell. However, I do expect that it will be warmly embraced by a certain percentage of my audience, despite any apparent trepidation or nervousness on my part. There are, of course, a few stray tracks that reach beyond the album's central concept, (or maybe they're just attempting to escape it). Perhaps it is these tracks that will provide me with the most creative satisfaction. But, who knows? I have no clear idea what people want from my music any more. Maybe that's always been the case. The truth is, I make music simply because I derive great pleasure and a certain degree of personal insight from doing so. For all my clouds of unknowing, this album could be as bright as a full moon sky filled with shining stars. Anyway, the track list for 'FANCY PLANETS' runs as follows:- 1: 'Fancy Planets.' 2: 'The Golden Days Of Radio.' Compact mix. 3: 'Kiss Me Goodnight, Captain Marvel.' 4: 'The Land Of Dreams Is Closed.' 5: 'This Leads To That Leads To This.' 6: 'Where Are We Now.' 7: 'Twice In A Blue Moon.' 8: 'Everyday Now Is Forever Again.' 9: 'She Dreams Of Fires.' 10: 'I Hear Electricity.' 11: 'Mysterious Object Overhead.' 12: 'Dream Cities Of The Heart.' 13: 'Mystery Engine.' 14: 'The Golden Days Of Radio.' Hypermix. ALBUM 2: A guitar-based instrumental album titled 'HERE COMES MR MERCURY.' This is an album of, (mainly), bluesy-jazzy tinted improvisations and tunes. All electric guitar and some groovy beats mixed with a touch of electronica and occassional weirdness. The track list is as follows:- 1: 'Never A Dull Day.' (For Les Paul.) 2: 'Coop's Place.' 3: 'Six String Skyway.' 4: 'The Standard Fireworks Stomp.' 5: 'Teatime In The Republic Of Dreams.' 6: 'Soda Fountain Swing.' 7: 'Attempt To Re-assemble My Fragmented Self.' 8: 'Autumn Noodle No1.' 9: 'A Dream For Ian.' 10: 'Mars Welcomes Careful Drivers.' 11: 'Here Comes Mr Mercury.' 12: 'Dance Of The Pagan Energy Ghosts.' 13: 'Tomorrow Today.' 14: 'Red Planet Blues. (The Ritual Transfiguration Of Spaceman Albert Fitzwilliam Digby.)' ALBUM 3: A keyboard-based instrumental album titled 'THEATRE OF FALLING LEAVES.' This album has subtle hints of guitar on two or three tracks but is predominantly a keyboard-oriented project. There are deliberate, somewhat ironic '80's touches where mono-synth sounds are merged with more contemporary tones. The album is a surreal mixture of melancholy and mirth. My personal favourite track is 'SuperSerene,' an 'outsider' track in that it bears little resemblance to any of the other pieces on the album. This particluar track is another component in an ongoing series of orchestral compositions and, if I may presume to plead, achingly beautiful. The full track list is as follows:- 1: 'Thoughts Travel. (For Miles.)' 2: 'You Here Now In William's World.' 3: 'The Darcey Bussell Rubberwear Fantasia.' 4: 'Tiny Mice Are Dancing In The Cottage Of Her Dreams.' 5: 'Planet Of Sleeping Buddhas.' 6: 'Pagoda Dreamhouse.' 7: 'Tumbletown.' 8: 'Dance, Mighty Robot, Dance!' 9: 'SuperSerene.' 10: 'Theatre Of Falling Leaves.' 11: 'Sparkle And Spin.' 12: 'Space Ace Gets His Girl.' 13: 'Django Dreams Of Twinkleland.' 14: 'From Here To Far Orion.' ALBUM 4: This year's 'Nelsonica' fan convention album titled 'THE DREAM TRANSMISSION PAVILION.' This, as is usual with the Nelsonica convention albums, contains an eclectic mix of music featuring both vocal and instrumental tracks, ('though mainly vocal). I often think of the Nelsonica albums as being made up of 'left-overs' or 'B-list' material but this year's album could quite easily qualify as a full-blown 'A-list' release. It has some very interesting material on it. The track listing is as follows:- 1: 'Billy And The High Blue Horizon.' 2: 'Beauty Lifts Her Skirts.' 3: 'The Sound From This Recording Travels To The Stars.' 4: 'Once More Around The Moon.' 5: 'Prarie Hula.' 6: 'Kiss You Slow.' 7: 'The Boy Who Knew The Names Of Trains.' 8: 'Picture In A Frame.' 9: 'Sway And Swoon.' 10: 'A Thought For You.' 11:'Where Does It Come From, Where Does It Go?' 12: 'Trancendental Radios.' 13: 'The Walls Of Which Are Made Of Clouds.' 14: 'I Am The Captain.' 15: 'Here I Am For You.' 16: 'Once More Around The Moon.' (Monitor Mix.) ALBUM 5: An instrumental album titled 'PICTURE POST.' This album contains music I created for the American television documentary film, 'American Stamps.' It's an eclectic collection of styles but hangs together very well and manages to work interestingly outside of the film's immediate visual content. I have given the pieces titles, although they don't neccesarily connect directly with their usage in the film. (The tracks originally had no titles, only cue numbers.) The 'Picture Post' album has yet to be mastered at Fairview studios but the track list will be as follows:- 1: 'Sunny Day For A Happy Postman.' 2: 'Postcard To A Penfriend.' 3: 'Music Spins My Globe.' 4: 'I Send My Dreams To You.' 5: 'A Christmas Cowboy Outfit.' 6: 'Skimming Stones.' 7: 'In Anticipation.' 8: 'Shibuya Screen.' 9: 'September Promenade.' 10: 'Airmail Guitar.' 11: 'A Day At West Acre.' 12: 'Greetings From Surf Guitar Island.' 13: 'Beach Hut Beauties.' 14: 'Dream Of An American Streetcar.' 15: 'Mobile Homes On The Range.' 16: 'Surf King Sails In.' 17: 'Big Ship.' 18: 'Filigree Balcony.' 19: 'Clouds Drift North.' 20: 'The Toy Trumpet.' 21: 'Pagent.' 22: 'Emphatically Yours.' ALBUM 6: An instrumental/spoken word album titled 'NON-STOP MYSTERY ACTION!' This album contains 'long-form' instrumental pieces that feature voice samples/cut-ups and, on one piece, my own spoken prose-poetry. The concept is built around two 15 minute-plus pieces created as soundtracks for last year's and this year's Nelsonica convention opening videos. I'm in the process of recording more tracks to complete this album but it's almost there. No final running order decided as yet but the album will probably include the following titles:- 1: 'The Departure Of The 20th Century In A Hail Of Memory.' 2: 'Yes And No.' 4: 'Like A Woman Levitating.' 5: 'Machines Of Loving Grace.' 6: 'This Is Like A Galaxy.' 7: 'Welcome To The Dream Transmision Pavilion.' 8: 'Stranger Flowers Now Than Ever.' There will also be a 7th album. This will be the long anticipated collaboration between myself and renowned American comic book artist Matt Howarth. It's a kind of graphic art 'space opera' with music. Titled 'THE LAST OF THE NEON CYNICS,' this album will carry a pdf file of Matt's comic book illustration of the story, along with the special music I created as its soundtrack. The album will contain 9 lengthy compositions, all of which relate to episodes and characters within the story. (More about the track list in a future diary entry.) It's the tale of a space cowboy who travels through galactic worm-holes in a 'intergalactic-tram,' accompanied by his guitar. (A guitar that can actually talk and features as one of the central characters in the story.) A whimsical and wonderfully surreal slice of sci-fi. Matt and I began working on this collaboration some years ago, (maybe 2003?) but, due to my busy work-load and several distracting issues outside of my creative life, it has taken me far longer to deliver the finished music than would normally be the case. Even now though, with several other albums finished and already lined up for release, it will have to await its turn at the end of this year, before it can be manufactured and made available. But it is something extra, (and rather unusual), for fans to look forward to. One relatively new aspect of my home studio involves Django, (the cat), who seems to have developed the habit of curling up next to me on one of my studio chairs (the one with the kitsch 'Elvis in the army' cushion), whenever I'm recording. In fact, he's close here beside me now, as I type these words, black, sleek and handsome. He's an intelligent and affectionate creature and we've become great pals. The volume of the studio monitors doesn't seem to bother him at all and he will happily spend a fair proportion of his day dreaming along to the music whilst sleeping on Elvis's face. It is this pleasant development that gave me the title 'Django Dreams Of Twinkleland' for the 'Theatre Of Falling Leaves' album. A thought: Maybe I should compose another piece with the title ' The King And The Cat.' Well, yes...I think I will. A major pre-occupation for me at the moment is to make sure that everything is ready for this year's Nelsonica fan convention. Lots to do, as always. It seems to have come around even quicker this year, but maybe that's because we had a late start to the planning process and have an earlier convention date than usual. (Last year's Nelsonica was held in November but this years will be on the 19th of September.) Consequently, I'm under some pressure to keep everything on schedule. This year, Nelsonica will be held at a new venue, the rather elegant 'Crown Hotel' in Harrogate, once the haunt of Sir Edward Elgar. We've secured a very nice room, complete with a modest built-in stage, which should suit the style of Nelsonica 09's live performances perfectly. The loyal Nelsonica team are adding their special talents to the mix too, (as always), and it promises to be a unique and memorable day for fans who are able to attend. I've just completed this year's opening video for the event, after one month's constant work on it. It lasts over 15 minutes and is titled ' Welcome To The Dream Transmission Pavilion.' It functions as a companion piece to last year's epic ' The Departure Of The 20th Century In A Hail Of Memory ' video. Whilst that piece dealt with the passing of time and the nature of memory, this year's video is loosely themed around the way that memories and dreams sometimes become entagled as the mind gives way to the gentle erosion of the passing years. I think it's about how the real becomes unreal and vice-versa. Or something like that. These things are often arrived at by intuition. It can be somewhat like dowsing or like feeling one's way through a 1950's British fog. There's a vague sensation of where I'm going but it is often only afterwards that I fully grasp where I've been and what it means. Guided by invisible forces, unconscious impulses, strange currents, dim lamps. Beautiful, and all the more so for the uncertainty. Sections of the video are a 're-mix' of familiar themes from some of my previous visual work but there are several sections that use previously unseen footage from old home 8-mm cine film. Amongst this archive material are glimpses of Be Bop Deluxe in America, not on stage but in casual, 'off-duty' situations at gas stations, in a dressing room, or outside a rehearsal studio in Los Angeles. These are fleeting, tantalising glimpses, filmed by myself in casual moments, but made even more poignant by their brevity. No digital camcorders back then so it was shot on short reels of super-8 film, film that only ran for three minutes before a new reel had to be fitted.This involved finding a room or cupboard where all light could be exluded from the camera so that the film would not be exposed whilst changing reels. Because of this restriction, I tended to take very quick shots, lasting only a few seconds, so as to make as much use of a single reel of film as possible before having the hassle of loading up another reel. Now, of course, the digital camcorder offers much longer shooting times. Even so, with hindsight, I wish I'd have captured much more of the band and far less of American barns and trucks rolling past car windows. What little footage there is of Charlie, Simon and Andy is precious, so I've trimmed away all the above mentioned passing landscape and tried to focus on the band members. I only seem to feature as a camera-toting reflection in dressing room mirrors, and even then for only fractions of seconds. I'm always there but virtually invisible, a facilitator. the means by which others are seen. There's something appropriately Cocteau-esque about that! One of the people glimpsed in the footage is Jeremy Fabini who acted as our projectionist on the later Be Bop Deluxe tours. Jeremy carried his own home-cine camera and filmed lots of the band's adventures on the road...also at our Juan-Les-Pins recording session in the South Of France. Jeremy used to live, (I think), in Italy, maybe Milan. I wonder where he is now and if he still has the extensive film footage he shot? There would be lots of it and I would probably feature quite a bit in it too, (in contrast to my own cine footage where I'm behind the camera). I'd love to get it all digitised and transferred to my computer so that I could combine it with my own shots and make some sort of personal documentary about those long-lost times. Other archive 8-mm cine footage I've incorporated into 'WELCOME TO THE DREAM TRANSMISSION PAVILION' video shows the exterior and gardens of my old home, 'Haddlesey House.' It also gives a glimpse of the Rolls Royce and Panther Lima cars I drove at that time. Looking at this footage now feels very strange. It's as if I'm observing someone else's life, as though in a dream, and yet, at the same time, it's extremely familiar, as if it happened only yesterday. But, of course, it was more than thirty years ago... The music soundtrack I've created for the video is slightly unusual in that it features a spoken prose-poem, (with myself as narrator), recorded specifically for the piece. This voice-over runs through much of the video. Hopefully, it will set the scene for the convention attendees in an interesting and curious fashion. As usual, I'll be performing live as part of the day's programming. The plan is for a solo set of instrumentals AND a separate trio set with my occasional 'Orchestra Futura' project which features my wonderfully talented friends Dave Sturt and Theo Travis. I'm hoping that we'll have six pieces of music to offer our audience. These pieces will be spontaneously improvised around loops and pre-recorded tracks and atmospheres. I'm also hoping to perform a separate improv piece as a duo with Steve Cook on keyboards. We're thinking of naming ourselves 'Bleep n' Booster' for this one! (An arch reference to a vintage British television children's cartoon series.) I'm currently working on several new pieces for my own SOLO performance at the convention and have already completed two or three of these but will decide which ones to incorporate in my set, (if any), a little nearer the time. Actually, I need to give some further thought to the set's running order and decide upon it's contents before mastering the backing track cds at Fairview. All being well, John Spence will be mixing the live performances at the convention. I also have to prepare my guitars and various other items of equipment in advance of Nelsonica. Because I give concerts so rarely these days, my somewhat complex stage rig doesn't get used very often. My studio guitar set-up is comparitively basic, due to the extremely small space I'm forced to work in here at home more than anything else. Consequently, it's essential that I re-aquaint myself with the comprehensive live effects rack and its numerous pedal boards each time Nelsonica rolls around. To this end, a day in a rehearsal studio has been booked, near the convention date, so that my full set of equipment can be properly set up and tested. Hopefully, this will allow me to familiarise myself with the technical demands of the live set, which pedals connect to which sounds and compositions, etc, etc. I find live performance more nerve-frazzling each year, not just because I'm unused to playing live, but because my creative standards and targets have evolved, often beyond the limits of my basic technical abilities. Sometimes I leave the stage feeling down and frustrated by it all. It can be demoralising and depressing for me, though not, I hope, for my audience who generally seem to enjoy themselves, regardless of my self-critical nature. But that's how it goes...the old cliche of, 'the more you know, the less you know.' The hardest thing is to trust one's instincts and intuition and just PLAY. What's the point of a daffodill agonising about whether it's yellow enough or not? But here at home, there are other, more important concerns. The most recent regarding Emi's mother, who has just been admitted to hospital in Tokyo. The intestinal cancer, for which she underwent surgery last year, has returned and also now spread to her liver. She is too frail to survive further surgery and it seems that there is little that the doctors can do for her. It is difficult to say exactly how long it will take for things to progress towards their ultimate conclusion but maybe six months at best, according to the doctor's current estimate. Of course, Emi is extremely distressed about the situation and has now made plans to fly to Japan to spend some time with her mum. I would prefer to go with her to lend whatever support I can but Nelsonica responsibilities won't allow that, The fact is, there's far too much still to prepare and if I went to Japan, it would almost certainly mean that the convention would have to be cancelled, (and tickets have already been sold, venue booked, etc, etc.) So I must stay here in Yorkshire and do my best to stay focussed on what must be done. Nevertheless, it's a very difficult and worrying time. When Emi went to visit her mother in hospital in Japan last year, readers of this diary will probably recall how much we missed each other and how pathetically useless I was at dealing with everyday domestic issues. And this time, there will be my convention preparations to deal with too. But I have no right to feel sorry for myself. Emi's situation will be far more difficult and stressful than mine...in comparison, my selfish concerns amount to nothing. And, in any case, she is hoping to return in time for Nelsonica. It's been a difficult year for Emi in so many ways. After being made redundant from the flower shop where she'd worked for for eight years, she then suffered further redundancy at her next job when the company that employed her went under due to the current economic climate. Subsequent attempts at finding employment have been fruitless. it's proving difficult for many people to find work at the moment, but Emi, being both sixty years old and Japanese has found it particularly hard, (especially when prejudice and ignorance have come into the equation). But being the sweet-natured lady she is, she doesn't see these things quite as cynically as I do. Still, there have been some encouraging developments. Emi's talents as a floral artist have brought some freelance commissions to her during the last few months. Without any proper advertising or self-promotion, she's picked up several orders for floral arrangements, mostly for personal gifts, mother's day bouquets, birthdays and funerals, but also for some weddings. Last week she was busy creating beautiful flower arrangements for the third wedding in two months and has a fourth wedding booked for mid August. In fact, it is the wedding work that has prohibited her from travelling to Japan earlier. (Her flight to Tokyo is booked for just after her next wedding commision.) Emi has also been giving private flower arranging lessons to several ladies, some English, some Japanese. These have become pleasant social occassions for her as well as floral art classes and she has been able to convey something of the refinement and beauty of Japanese culture to her students, sometimes preparing traditional Japanese food as part of the lessons. That this attention has come her way purely by recommendation is heartening. People seem to appreciate her talents and the personal, one-to-one service she provides.They've spread the word amongst their friends and families without any immediate need for advertising. That said, I'm planning a glossy printed brochure for her and hope to complete the design of it, (with the essential and valuable help of my good friend David Graham), once my Nelsonica duities are fulfilled. Whilst ALL business are struggling to one degree or another at the moment, I'm trusting that there is still a market for something a little more special than the standard florist approach. It seems to me, as (I admit), an outsider, that commercial floristry is as depressingly predictable and uniform as the popular music scene. But hopefully, there are people who will appreciate something more sophisticated, something with a touch more depth, just as there will always be music consumers who require something other than the manipulative fluff they're sold by the mainstream music industry. In any sort of creative work, music or otherwise, I hold on to the (perhaps naive), belief that it's important to provide people with unique alternatives...alternatives that aren't neccesarily defined by commercial taste...Timeless, thoughtful alternatives too. But then, who knows? Maybe I'm just an old-fashioned idealist. (And some other old-fashioned idealists might say that the meek have no chance of inheriting the earth because the mediocre but bold already own the lease.) ;-) Well, sod that for a proverbial game of tennis. Back to my own work: One of the consequences of spending so much time in my studio is the negative effect it has on my health, mentally and physically. I have to admit I haven't felt great of late and the studio lifestyle definitely does nothing for my middle-aged waistline. Which brings a thought: Am I still allowed, at SIXTY, for Christ's sake, to refer to myself as middle-aged? Wouldn't it be far more appropriate to refer to myself as 'old' or maybe as a senior citizen' instead?' Whichever way I look at it, I can't quite grasp the concept of actually BEING sixty, other than via the daily physical aches and pains, creaks, groans and depressions that have become impossible to ignore. And the infamous, capitulating, milestone, millstone, Bus Pass, (which I've steadfastly refused to claim). But as far as creating music goes, I feel just as motivated as before. And I suppose, for what it's worth, seven albums lined up for release in one year is something of an achievement ...for anyone, let alone a depressed sixty year old. It gets a little scary at times though...I mean, why do I feel such a compulsion to make music...and where are all these different ideas coming from? Each of the seven albums listed above has its own identity, its own tale to tell whilst still, I imagine, sounding exactly like me. But, every album I make, in some strange way, feels like it's my first, even though I've filled a small universe with albums over the years. I've contemplated these things before...they're part of an ongoing mystery that I'm reluctant to delve too deeply into for fear of short-circuiting whatever magic might be at work. Maybe if I drew back the curtain, instead of a wizard, all I'd see is an obsessive, driven, fearful, socially-inept personality suffering from low self-esteem, (hiding a desparate need to feel loved and approved). Hmmm...better not go there. I once vowed that I wouldn't allow myself to fall into these self-analytical musings in my diary entries any more but the temptation, it seems, still remains. And what was it I was saying earlier about artists flagging up their angst like a banner advertising a supermarket sale? I'll move on. My reading, over these last few busy months, has been confined to bedtime, as per usual. Books read (or still being read), are:- 'LAFF' by John Boyle. 'WHY MRS BLAKE CRIED: (William Blake and the Sexual Basis of Spiritual Vision.)' by Marsha Keith Schuchard. 'THE PALACE OF STRANGE GIRLS.' by Sallie Day. 'THE BOYS BOOK OF AIRFIX.' by Arthur Ward. 'CARTOONS AND CORONETS. (The Genius Of Osbert Lancaster.') by James Knox. 'PHILOSOPHY. The great thinkers.' by Philip Stokes. 'IN THE COUNTRY OF COUNTRY.' by Nicholas Dawidoff. 'THE ILLUSTRATORS. The Art Of British Illustration 1800-2007.' 'THE MAKING OF WAKEFIELD. 1801-1900.' by Kate Taylor. 'THE GOLDEN BUILDERS.' by Tobias Churton. 'THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE.' by Peter Marshall. As far as listening to music goes, (as opposed to making it), my pleasure tends to be restricted to the car, whilst driving. Albums recently played are: 'TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE.' by Bob Dylan. 'LAST NIGHT THE MOON CAME DROPPING ITS CLOTHES IN THE STREET.' by Jon Hassell. 'HALLMARKS.' by Jim Hall. ''I, FLATHEAD.' by Ry Cooder. 'HISTORY, MYSTERY' and also 'FOLKSONGS.' by Bill Frisell. ' WRITTEN IN CHALK.' by Buddy and Julie Miller. 'FINGERPICKING GUITAR DELIGHTS.' by various artists. 'HANK WILLIAMS-The Absolutely Essential Collection.' by Hank Williams. 'SO MUCH GUITAR!' by Wes Montgomery. 'GREEN STREET.' by Grant Green. 'ELLA FITZGERALD SINGS COLE PORTER.' by Ella Fitzgerald. 'EAST!' by Pat Martino. 'GIL EVANS.' by Gil Evans. 'SWING IS THE THING.' by The Mills Brothers. 'THE BEST OF GEORGE FORMBY.' by George Formby. 'PORGY AND BESS.' by Miles Davis. There are various other happenings, doings, commentaries, observations, trials and tribulations that I might have added to this diary entry, if only I'd found more spare time to bring the reader completely up to date...but I've already spent far too much time typing when I really should be working on Nelsonica preparations and projects. Already, despite several omissions, this long overdue entry has taken a couple of days to assemble. So, I'll close here. Hopefully, another entry before too long...or at least a little sooner than it took for THIS one to appear. I'll attempt to include a few more of the events of the last six months in it. For now though, it's back to the mixing desk and the drawing board. But back with you soon, given a little luck and a following wind. ***** Attached images are:- 1: Django in my studio. 2: Some of the guitars I use for jazz tones. 3: A self-made 'Fancy Planets' advert. 4: Another variation of same. 5: Just one of several recent wedding floral arrangements by Emiko. 6: Nelsonica 09 T-shirt design. Top of page

Albums Discography Menu Clicking on a cover below will take you to a full page devoted to that album. Orchestra Futura - Live At Nelsonica & Clothworkers Hall 2025 album Studio Cadet 2024 album Powertron 2024 album Starlight Stories 2023 album All The Fun Of The Fair 2023 album Stupid/Serious 2023 album Marvellous Realms 2023 album Electra (In Search Of The Golden Sound) 2022 album My Private Cosmos 2021 6-CD box set album Mixed Up Kid 2021 album Dazzlebox 2021 double album New Vibrato Wonderland 2020 album The Jewel 2020 album Old Haunts 2019 album The Last Lamplighter 2019 album Stand By: Light Coming... 2019 album Auditoria 2018 3-CD album Dynamos And Tremolos 2018 album Drive This Comet Across The Sky 2018 album The Unrealist 2018 album That Old Mysterioso 2018 album Songs For Ghosts 2017 double album Tripping The Light Fantastic 2017 live album Luxury Wonder Moments 2017 album Kid Flip And The Golden Spacemen 2017 album The Awakening Of Dr Dream 2017 album Six String Super Apparatus Painting With Guitars Volume Three 2016 album New Northern Dream 2016 album All That I Remember 2016 album Special Metal 2016 album Perfect Monsters 2016 album Loom 2015 album Electric Atlas 2015 album Plectrajet Painting With Guitars Volume Two 2015 album The Years 2015 album Swoons And Levitations 2015 album Quiet Bells 2015 album Astroloops 2015 album Shining Reflector 2014 album Stereo Star Maps 2014 album Fantastic Guitars 2014 album Pedalscope 2014 album The Sparkle Machine Several Sustained Moments 2013 album Albion Dream Vortex 2013 album The Tremulous Doo-Wah Diddy - Blip! 2 2013 album Blip! 2013 album The Dreamshire Chronicles 2012 double album The Palace Of Strange Voltages 2012 album Return To Tomorrow These Tapes Rewind: Volume One 2012 album Joy Through Amplification The Ultra-Fuzzy World Of Priapus Stratocaster 2012 album Recorded Live At Metropolis Studios 2012 album The Last Of The Neon Cynics 2012 album Songs Of The Blossom Tree Optimists 2012 album Model Village 2011 album Signals From Realms Of Light 2011 album Hip Pocket Jukebox 2011 mini-album Fantasmatron 2011 album Fables And Dreamsongs A Golden Book Of Experimental Ballads 2010 album Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus 2010 album Modern Moods For Mighty Atoms 2010 album Picture Post 2010 album Non-Stop Mystery Action 2009 album Theatre Of Falling Leaves 2009 album Dream Transmission Pavilion 2009 album Fancy Planets 2009 album Here Comes Mr Mercury 2009 album Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow 2008 album Clocks And Dials 2008 double album Mazda Kaleidoscope 2008 album Illuminated At Dusk 2008 album Silvertone Fountains 2008 album And We Fell Into A Dream 2007 album Secret Club For Members Only 2007 album Gleaming Without Lights 2007 album Arcadian Salon 2006 album Return To Jazz Of Lights 2006 album Neptune's Galaxy 2006 album The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill 2005 album Orpheus In Ultraland 2005 album Rosewood - Volume 2 2005 album Rosewood - Volume 1 2005 album Wah-Wah Galaxy 2004 album Dreamland To Starboard 2004 album Satellite Songs 2004 album Custom Deluxe 2004 album Plaything 2004 album The Romance Of Sustain Painting With Guitars Volume One 2003 album Luxury Lodge 2003 album Whimsy 2003 double album Astral Motel 2002 album Noise Candy 2002 6-CD box set album Caliban And The Chrome Harmonium 2001 album Whistling While The World Turns 2000 album Atom Shop 1998 album Confessions Of A Hyperdreamer 1997 album Excellent Spirits 1996 album After The Satellite Sings 1996 album My Secret Studio Music From The Great Magnetic Back Of Beyond 1995 album Practically Wired 1995 album Crimsworth 1995 album Automatic 1994 album Blue Moons And Laughing Guitars 1992 album Luminous 1991 album Simplex 1990 album Altar Pieces 1990 album Demonstrations Of Affection 1989 4CD box set album Optimism 1988 album Chance Encounters In The Garden Of Lights 1987 double album Map Of Dreams 1987 album Iconography 1986 album Chameleon 1986 album Living For The Spangled Moment 1986 mini-album Getting The Holy Ghost Across 1986 album Trial By Intimacy The Book Of Splendours 1985 album box set Savage Gestures For Charms Sake 1983 mini- album Chimera 1983 mini- album The Love That Whirls Diary Of A Thinking Heart 1982 album La Belle Et La Bête 1982 album Das Kabinett 1981 album Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam 1981 album Sounding The Ritual Echo 1981 album Sound On Sound 1979 album Drastic Plastic 1978 album Live! In The Air Age 1977 album Modern Music 1976 album Sunburst Finish 1976 album Futurama 1975 album Axe Victim 1974 album Northern Dream 1971 album Discography Menu

Believe in the Promise of Tomorrow ep - 2000 Honeytone Cody Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Wah-Wah Galaxy Bill Nelson album - 6 November 2004 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Wah-Wah Galaxy No.1 02) Bridge Across The Void 03) After Midnite (Twang, Echo, And Hoedown) 04) The Six Coiled Serpent 05) Confessions Of A Psychedelic Dandy 06) Skylark's Rise 07) Blue Sparks Flying 08) Nothing Is The New Something 09) Old Weirdola 10) The Orson Welles Memorial Sleighride 11) My Sputnik Sweetheart 12) Rattlin' Trams 13) Trip Thang 14) Pure Joy 15) Duane's Dream 16) De Soto ALBUM NOTES: Wah-Wah Galaxy is an album of guitar instrumentals issued exclusively for Nelsonica '04 . It was pressed in a limited run of 500 copies on the Almost Opaque label, the final release to appear on this label. Nelsonica '04 attendees could purchase a second copy and forward to fans unable to attend the event in person. Copies that remained after Nelsonica were sold through SOS, and were sold out by the time Nelson launched his new website Dreamsville in April 2005. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Bridge Across the Void": "three minute twenty six second sound collage that painstakingly evokes the piece's title. A soundtrack for an imaginary film sequence as might be co-directed by David Lynch and Walt Disney after experiencing a neo-religious, mystical epiphany." _____ "De Soto": "Those of you into American car culture will know that a 'De Soto' is an early 1960's, big finned, chromium plated, gas-guzzling monster of an automobile. The kind of car I once dreamed of driving in my early teens. My track is inspired by that particular go-go-machine. It's an atomic guitar instrumental that sounds as if it is being played by a punk cowpoke as he zooms down an electric highway at hyper speed. Neon cacti flash past as our hero puts the pedal to the metal and vamooses into a vast desert sunset, cackling and crackling like a demented country geetar wrangler. Hi-ho silver strings awaaayyyy!!!" _____ "The album cover is pure 'computer painting', an abstract art piece I created from scratch on my Mac for both the album and the Nelsonica poster that matches it." FAN THOUGHTS: BobK: "One of my all time favourite BN albums. I think it is the sheer scope and variety. Rock, pop, ambient, weird, funny. You name it, it is there. In fact it is 'Pure Joy'." Peter: "This album opens with a kick-ass rocker of a title song...Bill showing his absolute mastery of the wah-wah pedal. A blistering, rollicking rocker. The rest of the album features a diverse collection of songs...loud ones, smoothly melodic ones, quirky ones...a microcosm of Bill's work in one album (except for the long-form instrumental). "Skylark's Rise" has that singing e-bow, "Blue Sparks Flying" has Bill letting loose and getting a bit nasty (with a great bass line), "Nothing is the New Something" is a simply mind-blowing thing, and on and on right through to the closing track, "De Soto" which put a BIG smile on my face -- just a fun one, believe me! Another Bill Nelson treasure." Parsongs: "Confessions of a Psychedelic Dandy": "wow, this one really hit home...with one of Bill's trademark extended endings! "The final trio of songs, "Pure Joy", "Duane's Dream", and "De Soto" are all awesome, and could have been bonus tracks on any of the CDs from this set, which includes Dreamland to Starboard and The Romance of Sustain ." KEVWILKINS: "Wah Wah opening track is just theeee most uplifting, pulse-quickening groove-tastic track for me. If I'm needing a boost, it's either that or "Take It Off and Thrill Me (rock version)". Life changing stuff." Holer: "Nice companion to Custom Deluxe actually. Has the same sense of adventure and anything-goes variety. Great headphone ear candy too. Bill does so much crazy stuff that gets buried in the mix. "Nothing is the New Something" is a personal favorite, as is "Confessions of a Psychedelic Dandy"." "Another indispensable guitar album. If you like Custom Deluxe or Plaything , this is right in line with those albums." Albums Menu Future Past

Now Available! find it here

Return To Tomorrow Bill Nelson album - 29 September 2012 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Piano-Guitar 02) Give A Damn My Dear 03) Walking On Thin Air 04) The Mysterious Bath 05) Madhouse 06) You Freak Me Out 07) Chills For You 08) The Plastic Flower Show 09) Send The Rain 10) Always And Everywhere 11) Feeling Floating Away 12) Lucis 13) Secret Song (Oh, Emiko) 14) She's Got The Power 15) Flowers Within (Version 2) 16) Rehearsal Of Thought 17) Dark Eyes 18) Not As Easy As It Looks 19) Deep December (Bright & Shiny Day) 20) Lazy, Lazy Bones 21) Cowboy Song 22) We Two In Love Forever Dreaming 23) Ripples On A Blue Pool 24) Let's Dance ALBUM NOTES: Return to Tomorrow (These Tapes Rewind: Volume One) is a vocal album, issued in a single print run of 1000 copies on the Discs of Ancient Odeon label. The album was first made available to attendees of Nelsonica 12 , included within the ticket price of that event, before going on general sale 2 days later through S.O.S. The material contained on Return to Tomorrow was compiled in July 2012, and is drawn from Nelson's "PCM-F1 archives", recorded in the period between 1984 and 1995. Fans had received a sample of these archives when they were first raided for the Hip Pocket Jukebox mini album issued a year previously. Further volumes taken from these archives are planned for the future. The album sold out in February 2019. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Hip Pocket Jukebox , Luminous , My Secret Studio , Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars , Practically Wired , Confessions of a Hyperdreamer , Whistling While the World Turns , Noise Candy , The Romance of Sustain BILL'S THOUGHTS: "From the mid '80s and into the early '90s, my home studio ("The Echo Observatory"), used a reel-to-reel analogue tape recorder, initially a 4-track machine, then an 8-track and finally a 16-track. I mixed down the recordings I made on these multitrack recorders via a modest analogue mixing desk onto a very early digital stereo machine, a Sony PCM F1, which used Betamax video tape as its storage medium. Whilst I released several albums recorded this way, there was a huge amount of material left "on the shelf". These were demos, rough sketches, unfinished songs, outlines of ideas for advertising commissions, library music, TV drama soundtracks and various late-night experiments. I chose not to release these recordings as I considered them flawed, either with regard to the technical failings of the mixes themselves or inconsistencies in the performance and execution of the material. For many years I chose not to listen to them or consider the possibility of their release... In 2000, my studio equipment was updated to what was then the latest digital domestic home studio multitrack system. A few years previously, my Sony PCM F1 machine had given up the ghost, so there was no way to retrieve or re-archive the material that had been stored on the old F1Betamax tapes. By this time, the unreleased '80s recordings had become legendary amongst fans, particularly those fans to whom the '80s represented their first introduction to my work. However, although I still had no great desire to release these "lost tapes" I thought that they should be transferred to a more current storage medium for posterity's sake. After some research, a working PCM F1 machine was found and purchased via contributions from fans. My good friend Jon Wallinger volunteered to take on the task of archiving this vast amount of material, copying any unreleased tracks from the PCM machine onto recordable CDs. It was a long and slow process and Jon ended up with a huge number of discs containing hundreds of unreleased recordings. These discs then gathered dust in my current home studio until very recently. It is only now, in 2012, that I've had the curiosity or inclination to listen through this archive of old recordings. I was surprised by what I found. Whilst the flaws mentioned earlier still exist, they do not detract from the imagination and vitality of the music. In fact, they often add to its charm. I've selected 24 of these recordings to present here as the Return to Tomorrow album, Volume One in the "These Tapes Rewind" series. Other volumes will follow...I hope you will enjoy this first glimpse into my private archive." _____ "Let's Dance": "It's my version of the old Chris Montez song, which I loved way back in my teens. I recorded it in my home studio, just for fun, back in the '80s. I didn't have a copy of the original lyrics, so this version has some that I remembered but some that are probably made up on the spot..." FAN THOUGHTS: Holer: "Wow. This may be a collection of home recordings, but it sure sounds like a great 'lost' 90's Bill Nelson album to me. A choice batch of exuberant, quirky pop songs, most of which seem to be about the first blush of new love..." "You sound like you're having the time of your life playing a lot of these cuts and enthusiasm often transcends imperfection, especially when it comes to Rock & Roll." "So many stand-out cuts; this is an instant classic to my ears." Billy Wakefield: "I too detect a joyous feel to the album, and if these are outtakes, give me what's on the studio floor! Not trying to be presumptuous Bill, but whilst I appreciate your incredibly high standards of Sonic excellence, I can also appreciate a rougher, less polished piece of work. In many ways I think it can add a certain quality to a track!" Puzzleoyster: "The PCM Era has taken a lot, if not all of us by very pleasant surprise! Open mouthed agog as how comes most, if not all these songs and sketches found themselves down the back of the Proverbial PCM Settee!!??? and did not get a release, then again, when listened to...the PCM are timeless!" "(Frankly I Don't) Give A Damn My Dear!" is an instant classic...it's an awesome jubilant song and works perfectly." chymepeace: "I am glad that Bill's quality control is high but also allows us a glimpse of what didn't quite make the grade (for him) so we get to appreciate a 'lost' gem like "Piano-Guitar". I hope Bill keeps his single-mindedness and lets us hear what he wants us to hear." Peter Cook: "Like a warm blanket, there are some tracks that send me back quite a few years to My Secret Studio and other albums of that era. At this point in time I am drawn back to "Piano-Guitar" over and over. Reminds me of some of the work Bill did with David Sylvian." WalterDigsTunes: "Everything on here feels like a lost pop gem. It really does get better with every play." "If you dig Luminous , Return to Tomorrow will be a must-have!" Prey: "Good music seldom sounds dated. Even though it contains selections from years past, they still sound fresh. I enjoyed all of it, another fine release." mitchellmichael: "I have been waiting for soooo long to hear these tapes and this release did not disappoint!! Can't wait for more in the series!!!" Albums Menu Future Past

Between the Worlds Be-Bop Deluxe single - 7 February 1975 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A) Between The Worlds B) Lights ORIGINALLY: "Between the Worlds" is an earlier recording of a song better known as a Futurama album track. "Lights" is a non-album track that later appeared as the 'B' side of the follow up single "Maid in Heaven". NOTES: Between the Worlds was the third Be Bop Deluxe single issued during the band's existence. The single was issued in a generic white sleeve and quickly withdrawn. Promo copies exist with the words "Demo Record Not For Sale" and a large 'A' printed on the label, and gives the intended release date of (7.2.75). It appears the release date slipped a week. PAST RELEASES: "Lights" would first appear on album on The Best of and the Rest of Be Bop Deluxe (1978), and both tracks would be included on the Singles As and Bs compilation (1981). Both tracks would also be included as bonus tracks when the album catalogue first appeared on CD, "Between the Worlds" on Futurama , and "Lights" on Drastic Plastic (1991). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The single is long deleted, but both tracks can be found on the Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings reissue of Futurama (2019) - both in physical form and as a digital download. Singles Menu Future Past

Original Album Series box set - 2 June 2014 Be-Bop Deluxe Collections Menu Future Past NOTES: A 5CD box set issued at a budget price that comprises all 5 studio albums issued by Be Bop Deluxe in its lifetime. Each album is presented in a mini version of the original vinyl sleeves but with no lyric sheets or booklet to inform the uninitiated. Compared to Futurist Manifesto (which offers all five albums plus bonus tracks and previously unreleased material), this release is clearly the less desirable to most fans. However for anyone discovering the band at this late stage who wants to delve a little deeper than the few tracks they might hear on radio these days, but doesn't want all the bells and whistles, it's a decent enough place to start. PAST RELEASES: All the material presented in this box set can be found in the Futurist Manifesto box set, and each of the five albums was previously available on CD separately in jewel cases with lyric books and sleeve notes (initially issued in 1990). Prior to their appearance on CD each album appeared on vinyl and cassette between 1974 and 1978. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The box set is now out of print. Collections Menu Future Past

Gagalactyca collection - 1990 Lightyears Away/Thundermother Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Guitar on the tracks listed under "Chris Coombs & Lightyears Away" (side A). Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

All The Fun Of The Fair Bill Nelson album - 3 November 2023 Albums Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Beams Of Light 02) Beep, Beep, Beep 03) Roundabouts And Swings 04) Man Of Dreams 05) Electric Atlanta 06) Push The Button, Spin The Dial 07) Wanderings 08) One AM 09) Chelsea Flash 10) All The Fun Of The Fair 11) Madam Midnight 12) Dance Of The Sonic Culture Gods 13) Running From My Own Shadow 14) The House Of Morpheus 15) The Silent Hour 16) Keep Your Telescope Focussed On The Stars Purchase this CD Purchase this download ALBUM NOTES: All the Fun of the Fair is an album comprising a mixture of song based and instrumental material issued on the Sonoluxe label in a limited edition of 1000 copies. The album grew from the surplus material assembled for Marvellous Realms , mainly recorded between November 2021 and May 2022, but with four tracks, namely 'Beams of Light', 'Roundabouts and Swings', 'Electric Atlanta' and 'Wanderings' being recorded later, between May and October 2022. All the Fun of the Fair was actually in the running to be used as the title of Marvellous Realms , when that album was known by its original title 'Man of Dreams'. Three songs, 'Man of Dreams', 'Running From My Own Shadow' and 'All the Fun of the Fair' were among the first group of thirteen tracks that Nelson published on the Dreamsville Forum as potential tracks for Marvellous Realms , but which ultimately would appear on All the Fun of the Fair . The idea for a second album to be made from these recordings, initially called 'Here on Earth', was announced by Nelson on the Dreamsville Forum on 11 March 2022. By this point a total of 33 tracks had been completed for the two albums, although no indication was given regarding which would appear where. In fact, nine of the songs featured on All the Fun of the Fair were on that list. Further progress on the album was reported on 1 June 2022, when Nelson posted in the Dreamsville Journal that he had by then completed a total of 53 tracks for the new album projects, again without revealing which tracks would appear where. Comparing that list with the final track selections, reveals that he had by then completed a total of twelve tracks that would eventually make up the All the Fun of the Fair album. All the Fun of the Fair was mastered at Fairview Studios by John Spence week commencing 21 November 2022, the artwork however, wasn't tackled by Nelson and passed over to Martin Bostock for preparation until September 2023. Pre-orders details for All the Fun of the Fair were announced by Burning Shed on 5 October 2023 with a release date of 3 November. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "All The Fun Of The Fair is a merry-go-round of an album, recorded in 2022. Its 16 tracks take the listener on a colourful journey, with the 'Fair' of the album's title representing a metaphoric symbol for life itself. Song-based vocal tracks make up the majority of the contents along with just a few instrumental interludes. I hope you'll enjoy its various rides and mysterious sideshows!" Albums Menu Future Past

Discography Menu Singles Clicking on a cover below will take you to a full page devoted to that single. All Dressed Up In Your Art School Clothes 2023 Saras Dream Foundation charity download single Brave Flag 2022 charity download single The Lockdown Song 2020 download single The Rumbler 2017 download single Starland 2013 Sara's Hope download track Think And You'll Miss It 2012 download single Holey Moley, It's A Parallel World 2010 Sara's Hope download track Soluna Oriana 2010 Mick Karn Appeal download track Rocket To The Moon 2009 Sara's Hope download track I Hear Electricity 2008 download single A Million Whistling Milkmen 2008 Sara's Hope download track Dreamsville Poetry Experiment 2007 download track Contemplation 2007 2007 download track Six Strings For Sara 2007 Sara's Hope download track The Dead We Wake With Upstairs Drums 1992 single Life In Your Hands 1989 single Secret Ceremony 1987 single Cote D'Azur 1986 fan club ep Wildest Dreams 1986 single Sex-Psyche-Etc 1985 ep Giants Of The Perpetual Wurlitzer 1984 fan club ep Acceleration 1984 single Hard Facts From The Fiction Department 1984 fan club ep The World And His Wife 1983 fan club ep Touch And Glow 1983 single Dancing On A Knife's Edge 1983 fan club ep King Of The Cowboys 1982 fan club ep Flaming Desire 1982 single Eros Arriving 1982 single Sleepcycle 1982 fan club ep Tony Goes To Tokyo (And Rides The Bullet Train) 1981 single (b-side) Living In My Limousine 1981 single Youth Of Nation On Fire 1981 single Banal 1981 single Rooms With Brittle Views 1981 single Do You Dream In Colour? 1980 single Revolt Into Style 1979 single Furniture Music 1979 single Electrical Language 1978 single Panic In The World 1978 single Japan 1977 single Hot Valves 1976 compilation ep Kiss Of Light 1976 single Ships In The Night 1976 single Maid In Heaven 1975 single Between The Worlds 1975 single (withdrawn) Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus 1974 single Teenage Archangel 1973 single Discography Menu

Bill Nelson - photography and diary archive. The Dreamsville Archive Diary Of A Hyperdreamer Dreamsville Rocket Magazines & Interviews Radio Interviews Museum Of Memory Live Show Archive Album Listening Notes Guitar TAB

Stranger Things Have Happened single - 1985 Yukihiro Takahashi Production/Contribution Menu Future Past NOTES: B1) Yukihiro Takahashi - "Bounds of Reason, Bounds of Love". Bill: Guitar, Bass, Keyboard, Vocals and Co-writer. B2) Bill Nelson - "Metaphysical Jerks", including Mick Karn on bass. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Rain Tree Crow album - 1991 Rain Tree Crow Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Guitar on three songs: "Big Wheels in Shanty Town", "Blackwater" and "Blackcrow Hits Shoe Shine City". Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists Bill Nelson album - 9 January 2012 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) The Blossom Tree Optimists 02) Standing On Tiptoes, Reaching For The Sky 03) Memory Is A Data Cloud Forever Primed With Rain 04) Rambling Through The Meadows (Wonder Wise) 05) Garden Of Cascades 06) My Botticelli Angel 07) When Boys Were Lost For Words 08) Lovers In The Pleasure Gardens 09) The Buzz, Buzz, Buzz Of The Forever Bee 10) The Girl Who Was Electrically Carried Away 11) One Summer Night 12) Silent Glides My Armstrong Siddeley 13) These Are The Dreams 14) Gathered In At Gloaming 15) The Blossom Tree Optimists (Alternative Mix) ALBUM NOTES: Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists is a vocal album released on the Sonoluxe label issued in a single print run of 1000 copies. The album grew out of the early recordings for Model Village , once Nelson had decided to make that album entirely from instrumental tracks. Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists was the second release that Nelson designated as part of his 'Super Listener Series', which indicated it to be a more challenging prospect. The series has currently run to four albums, with the prospect of continuing in the future. Physical copies of the album sold out in December 2020. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Model Village , All That I Remember , The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill , Stereo Star Maps , The Years , Fables and Dreamsongs , Rosewood One , Rosewood Two , Northern Dream , New Northern Dream BILL'S THOUGHTS: "A personal homage to a kind of long-lost, romantic, utopian 'Englishness'. Many of the songs on these albums attempt to capture an elusive, ancient spirit, a spirit of a place inhabited by quiet ghosts unique to old Albion, an English Arcadia, an imaginary Eden that only exists in the gentle souls of artists and poets. It's quite artificial, dreamlike, ethereal, a figment of Faerie, a Midsummer Night's Dream...Beautiful, fragile and utterly, seductively unreal." _____ "Something just struck me about the Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists album that I'm currently working on. Some of the tracks could almost constitute a new Northern Dream album...a Northern Dream for the 21st Century. It has a sort of rusty-rustic vibe, a similar innocence and charm. "I was aiming for an album that used acoustic guitar and orchestral sounds but there are moments when it hints at some of the approach I used 40 years ago on Northern Dream . This wasn't something I planned, but, magically, it seems to offer a weird echo of certain aspects of that early album." _____ "This album can be appreciated as a companion piece to last year's Model Village or as an independent project in its own right. It is a song-based album with the emphasis on vocals and acoustic guitar but with added orchestral colours and percussion to give a neo-baroque flavour to the music. The album could also be thought of as the missing link between Northern Dream , Rosewood and The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill. " _____ "It's a warm, heartfelt fantasia with lots of detail and cross-references. An album for grown-ups who can appreciate music that paints pictures." _____ "The cover image comes from an antiquarian print I bought in Paris, several years ago now. In fact, it was this image that conjured up the album's title. The entire project grew from me wanting to use that image on an album cover...then, after some years of it hanging on my bedroom wall, the title finally rose to the surface and the fun of writing and recording the music began. So, the album was actually inspired by that particular image, rather than the image being chosen afterwards." FAN THOUGHTS: felixt1: "A breath of fresh air, the sounds of a hopeful spring and better times ahead. Fond memories, words of love - beautiful playing, singing and a song writer's muse showing no signs of diminishing - quite the opposite...all these factors combining to lift the spirits and help to believe that hope really does spring eternal... Utter brilliance, one of Bill's absolute best. I cannot give higher praise than that, the music alone changed how I felt for the better, it healed me. If Bill had released nothing else in his life, that one album served to produce a profound effect on me in what was a relatively dark time. If any of us can have that effect on another person at least once in our lives, our work is almost done. I know for a fact having read the pages here in Dreamsville , that Bill has achieved this time after time over the years..." "I have not been able to get this album off my player...it's simply just a stunning album... How do you keep coming up with all these amazing compositions Bill?" Analog: "This is a totally beautiful album, different from anything that went before and possibly my personal top favourite of Mr. Nelson's more recent output (Or his total output for that matter. Love the Be-Bop Deluxe albums of course, great rock of my youth...just had to say. Lots of great music came my way from Mr. Nelson in the years between then and now. Long may it continue.) Hard to pick a top one from as fabulous a catalogue as Mr. Nelson has produced, but this would have to be it. This, though, is quite a different beast from all the rest. A very soothing, cohesive album that paints a lovely sonic picture-scape, truly evocative of dreamy pastoral vistas. A 'Put the feet up and kick back', type of album." chymepeace: "Pure joy. Each release you never know what you're going to get and that's part of the thrill and anticipation. I've pretty much everything Bill. Model Village has gone into my top 6 or 7 and Blossom Tree may be hard on its heels. How this consistent level of quality is achieved I have no idea. Thanks Bill. Please keep doing what you're doing - no pandering! Eternally grateful." Lonnie: "Not since Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights have I been soooo moved by one of Bill's albums. It just takes me away." novemberman: "I got to the "Buzz Buzz Buzz Honey Bee" track, and I was sold, the rest of the album was wonderful. "As is with so many of Bill's albums they require more than a cursory listen. His styles are so diverse any album should be treated with an open mind, and see where it takes you." play my theremin: "Well, I'm always late to the party, but I love this album. I live right on the north east coast, and Blossom Tree made an absolutely magical and uplifting soundtrack to my frosty early morning walk by the pier and along the promenade. "As for favourite tracks, so far the title track (alt mix), "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz of the Forever Bee" and "When Boys were Lost for Words" particularly grab me. But as with most of Bill's albums, the tracks that end up as my absolute favourites tend to lie in wait for a while and hit me by stealth." "If anyone else has yet to buy this album, I recommend it!" MG: "I can't help myself: "Silent Glides" is like a head on collision with a rainbow after a sun-shower. This is a truly illuminated set, this CD." alec: "May I just state that the title track of Songs of The Blossom Tree Optimists must certainly be up there very near the top of Bill's Top 10 Best All-Time Vocal Performances. "The guitar trickles all throughout the listener like dancing diamonds upon rivers, streams, leaves of grass, blossom trees, clouds, etc., brings immediately an idyllic state of conscious, 'a glorious domain is shining' indeed." stpetelou: "Always especially appreciate Bill's vocal works. His voice has been a soothing and warm companion throughout a good part of my life, enhancing good times and helping to diminish bad times." DWGBG: 2012 Poll: "I have all these excellent albums, but one stands head and shoulders above all of them and that is Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists . It should get two votes from me as the bg half of dwgbg completely agrees with me." "Bill's most uplifting album ever. Without it I wouldn't be here. I have been in a very dark place for about seven months now and listening to this album has saved my life on more than one occasion. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Bill, for making it." Oracle: "Washes over you like a warm, peaceful blanket and soothes the spirit! Spoken like a true poet, ahem!" andygeorge: "What a lovely collection of songs! Bill's knack of combining imagery and melodic tunes are very strong on here and I was very taken first time with some of the songs... "The Buzz, Buzz, Buzz of the Forever Bee"...Arthur Askey comes to mind! Oh, what a wonderful thing to be, A healthy grown up busy busy bee." "The Girl Who Was Electrically Carried Away"...couldn't stop singing this all day yesterday! "My Botticelli Angel"...another track destined to be a Bill favourite. ...So, mission accomplished Bill...you've done it again with another album that will, I'm sure, be considered a classic in years to come... ...if you're still not sure about getting this CD, DON'T hesitate...get it now!" Ged: "This is one of my fav Bill albums already. Wonderful lyrics and great melodies - I would strongly recommend those of you who are thinking about buying the album - go for it - you won't be disappointed." Peter: "Waiting for the next Bill Nelson creation is SUCH sweet torture, ain't it? I mean, I have had Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists for what, 2-3 weeks? And loving it. And yet talk of another album in the works has me all excited again. Just can't get enough! Yeah...I have an addiction! But one that I enjoy greatly, that enhances my life and that I see no reason to quit." Albums Menu Future Past

Leaving the Electric Circus album - 2010 Sea of Wires Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Co-Producer, Guitar and mixing on one song, "The Sunglass". Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Dynamos And Tremolos Bill Nelson album - 2 July 2018 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) City Of Tomorrow 02) Electric Railway Overhead 03) Baby Robot 04) Tales Of The Intergalactic Glee Club 05) The Beautiful Machine 06) Dynatron 07) Sine Waves Singing In A Silver Tower 08) Quick As A Flash 09) Halogen 10) Happy Little Hovercar 11) Spaceship Away! 12) Echoes Of The Age ALBUM NOTES: Dynamos and Tremolos is an instrumental album issued on the Sonoluxe label. The album was recorded in August and September 2015 and began life as an '80s synth retro album, before Nelson elected to mix in half a dozen guitar based tracks to provide an element of contrasting styles and sounds. Soon after the album was commenced in mid-August 2015, Nelson began to experience intermittent problems with his second Mackie mixing desk, bought second hand six months earlier, to replace his original machine which he had purchased at the beginning of his move to digital recording back in 2000. The mixing desk limped through the making of Dynamos and Tremolos (and the subsequent project Luxury Wonder Moments ) before finally packing in completely before the end of 2015. When completed, Dynamos and Tremolos joined an ever expanding backlog of unreleased material having to wait its turn for release alongside over a dozen albums' worth of material. Consequently Dynamos and Tremolos would lie dormant for two and a half years until Nelson began to assemble artwork for it in February 2018. The album was mastered at Fairview on 12 March 2018 at the same session as Drive This Comet Across the Sky. It was released as a 500 copy Limited Edition Digipak CD simultaneously with a Bandcamp Digital Download. It took just a few weeks to sell out, yet some extra copies were found and passed over to Burning Shed, these remaining copies sold out in just a couple of days. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Have been working on a new album project: I was planning an '80s retro-synth album. Well, I've decided to modify it a bit. I now have six pure synth tracks completed, very '80s in their own way, quite poppy, despite being instrumentals. But I've decided to make variations on the theme by recording six more tracks with synth and guitar. I'll alternate the pure synth tracks with the synth and guitar tracks to contrast and compliment each other. "Already completed one synth/guitar track titled 'Dynaflow.' Almost completed another, as yet untitled. I think this approach will make for a more interesting album than limiting it just to synths. Best of both worlds, so to speak. Working title for the album is 'Dynamos And Tremolos.' " ____ _ "Deliberating with myself over which images I've made will best suit a couple of upcoming albums. The main focus of attention at the moment is the 'Dynamos And Tremolos' album. I've built up more images for this than will be needed but I'm undecided as to which might be the most appropriate selection in terms of overall design. "The album is a combination of synths and guitar sounds and my initial idea was to reflect this using images of retro synthesisers and old guitars. But I also wanted to bring on board a more sci-fi touch with antiquated, distressed robot pictures." ____ _ "I should warn any '80s synth fans that it's not quite the retro-electronica excursion you might imagine it to be. It offers an affectionate nod to those old synth stylings, but sets them in a much more contemporary context." ALBUM REVIEW: Review by Jeff Brown FAN THOUGHTS: Alec: " 'Dynamos and Tremolos' is a unique album. It's got a giggle and smirk to it. Works well with physical activity, a soundtrack to accompany chores or a walk. Impossible not to find y'self in a giddy state, contemplatively giddy, at times when listening." John Mentzer: "This is a rare synth-centric offering from Bill Nelson which should wildly appeal to that certain subsection of fans! But worry not! There is still plenty of lush, amazing guitar work to go with it! Bill calls it "80s" but this is Bill we are talking about! Nothing sounded like him then and nothing does now! Singular talent!" Ronald Nelson: "Another brilliant album, they just get better all the time - just like a good wine, cheers." David Briggs: "Lots of melody and understated inventiveness." Albums Menu Future Past

Wildest Dreams Bill Nelson single - 3 March 1986 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 7" Single: A) Wildest Dreams (Single Version) B) Self Impersonisation 12" Single: A1) Wildest Dreams (Wild Mix) A2) Self Impersonisation B1) Wildest Dreams (7" Version) B2) The Yo-Yo Dyne ORIGINALLY: A, A1 & B1 are exclusive mixes of a song from the Getting the Holy Ghost Across album. B, A2 & B2 are exclusive non-album tracks. NOTES: Wildest Dreams was the only single taken from the Getting the Holy Ghost Across album to be granted a commercial release. The single was pressed in 7" and 12" formats. Both formats were issued in picture sleeves, and a limited edition signed art print (with printed signature) was included in approximately 400 copies of the 12" pressing. PAST RELEASES: B2 was included as a bonus track on the Sonoluxe reissue of the Getting the Holy Ghost Across album (2006). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: All four songs are available on the remastered 2CD set of Getting the Holy Ghost Across (Cherry Red/Esoteric/Cocteau Discs, 2013). Singles Menu Future Past

Dancing on a Knifes Edge Bill Nelson ep - May 1983 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A1) Dancing On A Knife's Edge A2) Indiscretion B) Contemplation ORIGINALLY: Initially all three songs were non-album tracks. NOTES: Dancing on a Knife's Edge is an EP featuring three vocal tracks. This was the third in the series of Cocteau Club EPs issued to fan club members, included in Issue #5 of the club magazine, Acquitted By Mirrors . All three tracks had been recorded at the Echo Observatory, but for broadcast on BBC Radio 1 (for the David Jensen show), along with a fourth track "Time Tracking" (which was left off the EP). "Contemplation" would effectively kick-start work on the next song-based Bill Nelson album Getting the Holy Ghost Across (see separate entry), as it would be re-recorded for that purpose. PAST RELEASES: Track A2 was released on the 1989 Enigma US CD release of Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: All 3 tracks, plus the previously unreleased "Time Tracking", were included on the 'bonus disc' of The Practice of Everyday Life (2011). All tracks are available on the retrospective compilation album Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings) . BILL'S THOUGHTS: With this issue [of Acquitted by Mirrors fanzine, issue 5] comes another in the series of exclusive Cocteau Records E.P.s. This one containing three of the four tracks recorded for the B.B.C.'s Radio One David Jensen show. These songs were written specially for the show and were recorded at my home studio, The Echo Observatory. They are not available elsewhere and are therefore an exclusive privilege of club membership. I hope that you will enjoy them. Singles Menu Future Past

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) October 2007 Jan Feb Apr May Jul Sep Nov Dec Tuesday 9th October 2007 -- 8:20 pm Since my previous diary entry, I've been working solidly towards the 2007 Nelsonica fan convention which is scheduled for the 27th of this month. By 'solidly' I really mean ' flat out.' It feels as if I've spent the entire year locked into a punishing schedule with hardly a moment to catch breath, one project after another. Time, as so often noted in this diary, has become an elastic, ill-defined thing. It seems to flow in two directions at once and I end up feeling somehow outside of it and yet a slave to it. Inevitable when much of the work I do is done alone, I suppose. Being cocooned in my studio for almost the entire year has an adverse effect on my health. Lack of fresh air, little or no exercise, comfort eating, etc, all take their toll in one way or another. Hours on end surrounded by the electro-magnetic fields of my recording, video and computer equipment doesn't help much either. Current scientific research seems to indicate that electro-magnetic radiation, caused by close and long exposure to any technology involving electrical energy can cause all manner of unpleasant side-effects. I read an article about it and could tick several of the boxes in this respect. Apparently, you can now buy special devices to plug in and counteract 'EMR.' I'm not sure whether such a gadget is much more than a scam though, a wide-open market opportunity. Nevertheless, the negative effects of working constantly in close proximity to a great deal of electrical gear is something I can personally testify to. I have walls of electronic equipment on three sides of me and all within arm's reach. Anyway, despite being exhausted, some sort of forward momentum has to be maintained. There is still a long list of things to pull out of the hat. All manner of magic rabbits. Today was spent over at Fairview Studios, assembling and mastering the backing tracks for the live concert aspect of Nelsonica. My friend and engineering maestro John Spence helping with this as usual. At least that side of things is finally ready, barring the much needed rehearsal. (A rehearsal room has been booked for me on the 25th.) I also need to schedule a rehearsal with keyboard player Steve Cook who will be joining me on stage for some of the pieces. This year's live performance will last around two hours, split into two sections with a 20 to 30 minute interval. I've given the concert the title: 'Teatime In The Republic Of Dreams.' I'd originally planned to play for no more than one hour but once I began to assemble draft set lists of possible material, I realised that the show would have to be much longer, mainly because I wanted to include a few of the brand new pieces that I'd originally hoped to play at the concert with Harold Budd. (Which was, unfortunately, the victim of unforseen circumstances.) I've spent just over a week trying out different combinations of music for the Nelsonica concert, changing my mind about its content on a daily basis. After much agonising and re-jigging I finally arrived at what I think is the definitive set list for this year's event. There's certainly no time left to tweak it further so I decided to commit it to the mastering process and booked the session at Fairview to copy everything across and master it, integrating the sound of the newer pieces into the overall audio spectrum. The set will contain 21 pieces of music in all: a few older ones, some very recent ones and some brand-new, previously unheard ones. The set also includes a new version of a 'vintage' composition of mine, stretched out to almost 14 minutes long, plus another surprise or two. I won't give too much away in this diary as it would spoil the audience's anticipation. I CAN reveal that some of the pieces I'll be performing on the 27th come from the soon-to-be-released 'And We Fell Into A Dream' album, some from the limited edition Nelsonica album, ('Secret Club For Members Only'). Other's go back a fair way. (Three are 17 years old. One is a LOT older.) But, all in all, I think it will prove to be an interesting and satisfying selection. There's still so much to prepare though and I'm trying to squeeze as many hours into my day as possible. I've now made a start on the artwork that I need to provide for the auction but I've discarded more than I've kept. I really have to be in the right mood to make drawings and that mood has been eluding me. Tiredness I suspect. Music, for whatever reason, presents less of a problem in that I generally feel inspired on a daily basis to write and record, regardless of exterior pressures. But it looks as if the artwork will be a last-minute addition. No doubt I'll get there in the end. Maybe I should be dealing with that instead of writing this diary. I've also been working on video material for the new pieces I'm to play at Nelsonica...I've completed backdrop video for 'The Raindrop Collector,' 'Teatime In The Republic Of Dreams,' (the video for which allows a glimpse into the clutter and chaos of my home studio,) and 'Night Song Of The Last Tram.' I now have such a massive accumulation of music that I can perform live (in the solo-artist/one man band context), that it's becoming increasingly complicated and time-consuming to selectappropriate material for the occasional concerts I give. So many possibilities and combinations. It's impossible to include ALL the pieces I enjoy playing so some titles have to be sacrificed in favour of other ones. I can't judge a running order until I've made a test-assembly and tried playing through it, which is why it takes so long to finalise. Invariably, I'll copy up several set-list variations to cdr, here at home, before settling on the final one. All this is done in real time and a lot of searching through my performance archives is required before I begin to copy individual tracks across to the draft set-list CD. I always try to choose the music according to each concert's individual concept and atmosphere and attempt to ignore the obvious crowd-pleasers, instead going for thematic development according to my perception of the event's mood. Sometimes, locating that mood can be almost as difficult as interpreting it. There's a sense of panic I experience, a panic that increases in intensity until the final set list is unveiled. Then a moment's grace before the panic returns with even greater ferocity when I realise that, (because of the rarity of my live performances these days,) I'm unfamiliar with much of the material. And, worse still, that I have little time available to remedy this problem. Time-constraints mean that certain things are always left to the last moment: a flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, wing-and-a-prayer, jump into the deep end, tightrope walk without a safety net situation. It's all down to luck and sleight of hand. I'm probably as unscientific a performer as anyone could wish for. It's a wonder that my fingers can form a single chord, so many of them are crossed. But, superstitious or not, it's magic I'm after. Not so much a musician, more like a conjuror who dreams of being a sorcerer. I was telling John Spence today how much I worry about standing up in front of an audience, how nervous and stressed-out I get. More and more these days, I find myself thinking that, if I could get away with it, I'd probably retire from live concerts altogether and just work in my studio. THAT'S where I'm most at home, painting with sound rather than performing the music in front of an audience. The stage has become an increasingly akward and uneasy environment for me. I have little confidence in my ability to entertain and have to fight hard to enter the performer's mind-set. It wasn't always so. In the past I had the shield of youthful ignorance and naive bravado, believing myself invincible and marvellous. Life eventually teaches us that it's otherwise. Perhaps this loss of certainty is why we should continue to create, to attempt to communicate and perform. To transcend our personal limitations. Incredibly, despite the years of wear and tear, (or because of them), many of us discover that, at this late stage of our lives, we actually have something of real depth to share with our audience, something hard-won and meaningful. The emphasis shifts from the reckless energy of youth to the compassionate warmth and wisdom of maturity. Worth sharing, I think. I sometimes wonder though, whether 'rock' music audiences in general are prepared to have us share our maturity with them, rock music being increasingly predisposed to the realm of the teenager. So many people seem to regard music as little more than a disposable distraction, rather than as a life-affirming, illuminating and spiritual, (for want of a better word,) exchange. Performing live is always a two-way process but the gulf between artist and audience can sometimes be vast. Expectations, presumptions, demands and so on can weigh heavily on both sides of the footlights. It's a very odd relationship, sometimes. Entertainers, on the other hand, seem better equipped to deal with such things. The best of them are born to it. 'Artists' (as opposed to 'artistes'), are often crippled by insecurity, too anxious about the next step, too wrapped up in their own dark and private worlds to step into the bright theatre of other people's expectations. Secretive, furtive, full of fear and trepidation. Just too hung up? At least, that's my experience. No need to speculate about alternative universes, some of us have been cast adrift in them for what feels like an eternity. And music acts as both our distress signal and our life-raft. The entertainer seeks and gets instant gratification but there's an inevitable time-lag, an eternal disappointment that accompanies almost every public flickering of the true artist's latest flame. Then, year's later, some long-rusted lever is freed and thrown and a light goes on in minds that were previously dark or indifferent. How often does recognition come long, long after the event? So often that it's become a cliche? Again, this is how I see it though it may not be the experience of others. But there's no doubt that it does take a while for some things to blossom. I could list several pertinent examples from my own career. (But, graciously, won't.) Why there should be such a time-lag, I have no idea. I always presume that my audience is perfectly in step with me, intuitively making the same connections, crossing the same bridges over the same rivers. And, of course, a great many of them ARE doing just that, willing me on, holding my hand, encouraging me to keep up the pace, dragging me along behind them even. But, some pennies seem to take years to drop. My hat, laid forlornly on the pavement, has a few coppers but precious little silver and virtually no gold in it. Maybe it will arrive too late, maybe never. It's not that important really, is it? Still, I wouldn't have it any other way. There's something here beyond the value of coins. Whatever it is, I'm searching for it still. I've finished the decoration of this year's 'work box.' I think it's o.k. I've yet to decide upon, and prepare its contents though. I made the first work box last year and it was a much sought after item at the 06 convention. I plan to do one per year. Hopefully, it will be one of the highlights of this year's auction. I've still to prepare the illustrated material for the talk I'm to give about the history of my Gibson 345 stereo guitar. This instrument has accompanied my life from teenager to soon-to-be senior citizen. Like myself, it has been 'through the wars' somewhat. I'm hoping that my presentation of its story at Nelsonica will prove interesting to players and non-musicians alike. For a thing of wood and metal, its story is a remarkably human one. The fan convention album, 'Secret Club For Members Only' has been made ready and will be given to every convention attendee as part of their welcome pack when they register at the door of Nelsonica on the 27th. This welcome pack is another new addition to the events and will, I suspect, prove to be a collectable little item in itself. My new 'proper' album, 'And We Fell Into A Dream' is also ready and will be offered for sale for the first time at Nelsonica. It will be officially available to the wider public via the Dreamsville/Sound-On-Sound site the following week after the convention. There are other albums in the pipeline too although my dream of releasing them all in time for Christmas may be unrealistic due to the manufacturing pressures around that time of year. However, at some point in the not-too-distant-future, there will be the 'Picture Post' album of the soundtrack music I created for the 'American Stamps' documentary film plus the re-structured 'Frankie Ukelele And The Fire In The Lake' album. There may also be a double album, currently titled 'The Evening Illuminator', (or maybe just 'Evening's Illuminator'), which will contain 'The Enlightenment Engine' and some other similarly minimalist, abstract pieces. (I'm hoping to include accompanying video material with this project, encoded onto the actual CDs.) Next year will be equally as busy as this one, probably more so: I'm planning to release a selection of previously unheard archive material and some re-issues of out-of-print albums...plus a new complilation album, (possibly a double), as part of my 60th Birthday celebrations. Lots of work involved in the preparation of these, choosing the material, sequencing it, coming up with appropriate packaging art and so on. And, if all goes well, a brand new vocal album too. I'd like the latter to take priority but it all depends on the schedule and time available to me. Nelsonica itself will be adapting to the 60th birthday thing and there may even be a couple of live concerts to tie-in to the celebration, should time and budget allow. One further album project I'm hoping to get underway next year is the composition and recording of a pure orchestral album. This would be several steps on from some of the ideas incorporated on my 'Sailor Bill' album, but it would have no vocals and no guitar. It would be a totally 'symphonic' sound, though not deliberately neo-classical or 'ambient'. Just a modern, 'through-composed' piece drawn from all the musical treasures I've been exposed to throughout my life and which are buried in my subconcious. I want it to be a timeless and emotive work, something of real maturity. It may well be that this won't see the light of day for another year or two. Or maybe, once it is begun, it will capture my imagination so powerfully that I'll decide to work on it to the exclusion of all else and release it to coincide with my 60th birthday. Now that would be nice. Social life has been meagre, to say the least. I managed to escape my studio for Emiko's birthday last week, ('though I almost forgot it, so distracted was I by Nelsonica preparations.) We went out for a meal together to a new restaurant called 'Indochine' which specialises in south-east asian cuisine. They feature Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Korean food, amongst other oriental specialities. I had a very nice seafood Udon and Emi enjoyed an Unagi Bento. No doubt it will become one of our local favourite places to eat. I'm looking forward to taking a break in Paris in November, 'though I've yet to find time to sort out a hotel for us...or transportation. We would like to go by train and the new Eurostar station should be open by then. I haven't visited Paris since the early 'eighties but it's a city I very much love. It will be the first time that Emi and I have been there together. a romantic and relaxing few days, I hope. Until then, I must keep my foot on the accelerator. Nelsonica almost here now. Top of page Friday 19th October 2007 -- 9:00 pm Nelsonica now only ONE week away. I've completed more artwork and Jon Wallinger has collected it from me today. Another four drawings. This is the cut-off point in artwork terms as I now need to concentrate on the music preparation for the two hour performance I'm to give. I've selected six possible pieces for Steve Cook to play with me. They've been burned to CDr and posted to Steve so that he can audition them and choose as many or as few as he feels comfortable with. There are some equipment issues to deal with. I called Music Ground in Leeds today to make arrangements with their guitar tech/repair man, (Gordon), to adjust two of my guitars. I need to bring the action down on my Nelsonic Transitone and my Eastwood Saturn 63. Guitar necks tend to shift a little over time, particularly when they're only taken out of their cases when needed for recording or live performance. As the latter is a rare occurence these days, and the former has taken a back seat for the last few weeks due to the preparation of video and other projected images for Nelsonica, a little tweaking of my truss rods is needed. (Sounds like a hernia!) Whether I can play them, once adjusted, is another matter. I've accidentally sliced open the index finger of my left hand whilst framing a piece of the above mentioned artwork. It's now bandaged and I'm unable to play guitar. Not a good thing when I'm about to start some kind of rehearsal schedule. Hope it's healed enough to play at the convention, if nothing else. There's a lot of material for me to familiarise myself with, some of it brand new, as noted in my previous diary entry. There are two distinct approches to this problem. One is to spend every waking moment between now and next Saturday running through it until it's second nature. The other approach is to just skim across it lightly, hoping that it will leave a faint tint of colour on the blank screen of memory and that there will be enough of a residue to invisibly guide me on the day, (regardless of the all too visible panic my audience will no doubt observe.) The latter method has the debatable advantage of imparting an 'edge' to the performance, a tightrope act without a safety net. Time being what it is, I'll probably have no choice in the matter. It will be the latter casual, (read 'hopelessly unprepared'), approach. It's worked before...sort of. I completed another video backdrop piece earlier this week and have now delivered all the video material to Paul who will fulfill the role of Nelsonica's projectionist next Saturday. My hope, with all these recent Nelsonicas, is to help shape them into a complete sensory experience. They reach beyond the limits of a fan gathering and aspire to something more satisfying and unique. That they've blossomed so much over the last few years is testament to the dedication and imagination of the Nelsonica team, a group of generous and hard working fans who, between them, have carefully expanded the event's potential. The team members have become highly adept at preparing the details of Nelsonica over the last few years. Their energy, enthusiasm and imagination seems boundless as my attempts to keep up with them sinks under the weight of the year's work. They are, of course, much younger than me, so perhaps I can be forgiven for appearing exhausted by comparison...But I couldn't wish for a nicer, more genuine and caring group of people to look after the foundations of the convention for me. They're family now. The core of the day still provides the opportunity for fans from both the UK and abroad to meet each other in harmonious and pleasant surroundings. This year there are more American attendees than ever and also several UK 'first timers.' But there's much more to Nelsonica than this. The new venue will, I think, be the best yet. It feels like the perfect space for what the team and myself have in store. All we need now is a little good luck and lots of good will and everyone attending should depart with happy memories of a day spent amongst excellent friends. Other topics now: Whilst sorting through photographs to scan for my Gibson guitar talk, I came across some photo's I took only a couple or three years back. They were of places in Wakefield from my past. I'd returned there to capture some of the sites that were important to me as a youngster. Since then, a more recent visit has showed that several of these places have already been demolished or changed out of all recognition. Apparently there are big plans for Wakefield, plans to 'regenerate' the city. From what has been published, apart from the proposed Barbara Hepworth Gallery, these regenerations seem consistent with the nation's current (and far too commonplace), shopping mall approach to 'modernisation.' Just more of the usual, uniform, corporate halls of consumersism that can be found in any British city. Nothing unique or distinctive. One of these malls is set to be built on the site of Wakefield's old bus station, an edifice that was demolished a few years ago. Perhaps some may not have fully appreciated its merits, but at least it had something recognisably architectural about it. It had character and a distinctiveness that is now so often anhililated by our contemporary urban planners. Unsurprisingly, it's not architecture or art that secures these bland palaces of plenty in our less than major cities, but hard cash under the table. Pointless to moan. Wakefield has long suffered from the indifference of councillors grown fat on quiet corruption. I used to work for the West Riding County Council and saw these attitudes first hand. If they'd shown as much anger about the erosion of the city's history as they did about the 'outrage' of me wearing a pink satin tie to the office, there may have been a few more buildings preserved for future generations to enjoy. I weep for what they've done to the place. Even the County Supplies Building where I worked, (and where my father and uncle once worked before me too,) was a pile of undistinguished rubble when I last visited. A kind of triumph, in some ways. A tradgedy of the heart for me, nevertheless. But then, I'm an unredeemable sentimentalist, as readers of this diary are perfectly aware. Despite the insane rush to prepare Nelsonica for its attendees, I've finally managed to organise a few days break in November for Emiko and myself. We're travelling to Paris by Eurostar, and from the newly refurbished St. Pancras Station too, during its first week of operation. I'll be thinking about John Betjeman when we board the train. He loved St. Pancras and presented a very good television documentary about its history and design, many years ago. I've just tonight secured a hotel for us in the St Germain area of Paris and I'm finally allowing myself an atom or two of anticipation. It's many long years since I was last there, 'though Emi and I managed an all too brief holiday on the Cote D'Azur several years ago. I really wish I could afford to park my work for twelve months and travel through Europe with Emi. We have a wonderful rapport with regard to architecture and art. I've never enjoyed such an intimate and relaxed understanding in previous relationships. We take in sights and sounds as one, swooning over the same beautiful things. I'm very lucky to have found her at such a relatively late juncture in my life. She's quietly given me the calm confidence to be absolutely myself without fear of being viewed by others as odd or strange. It's a wonderfully subtle and, (dare I say it), sophisticated understanding we share, perhaps invisible to the outside world but close, warm and tangible to the two of us. We're soul mates, in the proper sense of the phrase. And with that small fire blazing in my heart, I'll close this diary entry until the next one. Which will probably serve to report the roller-coaster ride that is Nelsonica. Back to preparing the music now. ***** The images posted with this diary are as follows:- 1: Dreamsville advert. Photography by Bill Nelson. 2: Dreamsville advert with one of Bill's Gretsch guitars. Photography by Bill Nelson. 3: Photo of Bill Nelson with Guild X 500 guitar. Taken approx 14 years ago. 4: Photo of Bill's father's garage, (second from right), which Bill helped him build in the 1950's. This photo taken by Bill approx four years ago. The garage has since been demolished. 5: A photo of Conistone Crescent, Eastmoor, Wakefield, taken by Bill approximately four years ago. Bill lived here in the house to the left of the photo, (behind telephone pole), from around 3 or four years old until his early teens. 6: Anderson Street, Plumpton, Wakefield. The end terrace house, (no. 27), was the first home that Bill himself owned. He lived here with his first wife Shirley and his daughter Julia and it was here that he wrote the music for 'Northern Dream,' 'Axe Victim' and 'Futurama.' Top of page

Loom Free download track Click image for cover Artwork FREE download track - Released December 2015. LOOM From the album of the same name... The CD 'Loom' was released in December 2015 and featured 18 tracks. Unfortunately the title track 'Loom' was wrong and the error not spotted before the CD was pressed. So, I'm making the correct track available here free-of-charge. Written, performed, recorded and produced by Bill Nelson. All rights Bill Nelson 2015.

download single - 21 December 2017 Variation on the Theme of a White Christmas Bill Nelson Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Variation On The Theme Of A White Christmas NOTES: CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available as a free digital download on this page, or in the Free Downloads section . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "My younger brother, Ian, (who passed away almost 12 years ago now,) and I shared some very poignant memories of Christmas together. Those Christmases, in the late 1950s, were uncorrupted by the kind of 'knowing' that children have today. We were naive and innocent, in a way which would be now thought of as embarrassingly 'uncool,' yet the memory of those times burns bright and warm and meaningful. "I remember he and I sharing a bed on Christmas Eve and me reading to him from a book which contained the story of 'Peter And Pam's Christmas,' beautifully illustrated by an artist that, to this day, sadly, I have no idea of who he was. "Ian and I would become so excited by the story and what it promised for Christmas morning and, even though I suspected that Santa Claus was really just mum and dad, I never revealed my suspicions to Ian who still held on to that magical idea of a white-bearded old man with a jolly laughing face coming down the chimney with the gift of toys. "My father, (who worked as the manager of 'Broughton And Son's' shop in Hunslet, Leeds,) always made a great effort to create a magical Christmas Day morning for us. The shop sold, amongst other things (such as radios and televisions,) a selection of Dinky Toys, Meccano construction kits and Hornby 'Dublo-O' Train sets, which always found their way onto the lavish, (as I remember it,) display laid out on our living room floor on Christmas morning. "Ian and I would wake early in much excitement and await our parent's permission to go and see what 'Santa' had brought us...and it always was wonderful. "Not only Dinky Toys, Hornby trains and Meccano sets but Dan Dare ray guns, Roy Rogers cowboy outfits, magnetic Driving Test games, Magic Robot Quiz games, Eagle, Dandy, Beano, Beezer and Topper annuals, sweets and chocolates and a host of other goodies. These things would keep my brother and I occupied throughout the day whilst we had visits from relatives, my grandma, sometimes my aunt and uncle or neighbours. "And somehow, though I now know it's not really accurate, those childhood Christmases always seemed blessed by snow. There was certainly snow at times, though whether prior to, or after the Christmas festivities I'm not sure. But I can vividly recall building snowmen and, one time, an actual Igloo in the front garden of our house at 28, Conistone Crescent on Eastmoor Estate, an Igloo which was built and shared in collaboration with our upstairs neighbour's daughter (and childhood friend,) Bronwyn Jackson, who was just a little bit older than myself. She was someone I had a very warm friendship with, back in those long ago 1950s childhood days." Singles Menu Future Past

Live! In The Air Age Be Bop Deluxe album - 22 July 1977 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase 3-CD Set TRACKS: 01) Life In The Air Age 02) Ships In The Night 03) Piece Of Mine 04) Fair Exchange 05) Shine 06) Sister Seagull 07) Maid In Heaven 08) Mill Street Junction 09) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 10) Blazing Apostles ALBUM NOTES: Live! In the Air Age is the fifth album by Be Bop Deluxe, and was recorded at unspecified gigs staged in 1977. It would prove to be the only live document of the band to be released during its existence. The album appeared on vinyl and cassette, but had no single release at the time to aid its promotion (which is unusual, but not unheard of). However, the album itself included a 7" EP (as sides B and C of the album) that helped push playing time to around 55 minutes - which would have been too much music for a single album. Vinyl copies were released in a single sleeve, and the record was housed in an inner sleeve bearing a few live photos and a few explanatory words concerning the album's content. For North American release, the EP included with the album was pressed on 12", and the package appeared in two pressings: standard black vinyl; and a combination of white vinyl (for the album) and black vinyl (for the EP). The musicians appearing on the live recording were the now established quartet of Bill Nelson, Simon Fox, Charlie Tumahai and Andy Clarke. Although the credits include an apparent fifth member in the shape of "Cabasa El Dubova", providing percussion on "Shine", this was in fact later revealed to be Nelson himself, who provided some post-production overdubs. When reissued on CD in 1991, EMI chose not to include any additional material, although the songs that comprise the 3 track EP were designated as "bonus tracks" and tagged on to the end of the CD, rather than being placed in the centre as they had been on the original vinyl release. As with other releases in the series, informative sleeve notes penned by Kevin Cann provide useful context. On 27 August 2021 Live! In The Air Age became the sixth Be Bop Deluxe album to be issued as a Deluxe Edition comprising: a deluxe 16 disc limited edition box set of the classic 1977 live album by Be Bop Deluxe the original album is newly remastered from the original master tapes restoring the correct album running order with an additional 14 CDs featuring every concert recorded on the Be Bop Deluxe UK tour of February and March 1977 all newly remixed from the original multi-track tapes by Sephen W. Tayler includes a BBC radio one John Peel session from January 1977 also includes a DVD (NTSC/region free) of the 'Star Rider In Concert' TV film first screened in 1977, released here for the first time includes a lavishly illustrated book with many previously unseen photographs and new essay by Bill Nelson also includes postcards and a replica poster The album is presented in a triple fold out digi-pack and contains a 68 page booklet with an essay penned by Bill Nelson, previously unseen photographs from the period, postcards and a replica poster. A 3CD edition of the album is also being released at the same time as the Deluxe Edition which will also replace the standard download edition. The full track listing for the Deluxe Edition is: Disc One: "Live! In The Air Age" Re-Mastered 01) Life In The Air Age 02) Ships In The Night 03) Piece Of Mine 04) Fair Exchange 05) Shine 06) Sister Seagull 07) Maid In Heaven 08) Mill Street Junction 09) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 10) Blazing Apostles Bonus Tracks 11) Still Shining (BBC John Peel Session – January 1977) 12) Mill Street Junction (BBC John Peel Session – January 1977) 10) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (BBC John Peel Session – January 1977) Disc Two: Leicester - De Montfort Hall 12th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Three: Leicester - De Montfort Hall 12th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Four: Leeds - Grand Theatre 13th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Five: Leeds - Grand Theatre 13th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street Disc Six: Leeds - Grand Theatre 14th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Seven: Leeds - Grand Theatre 14th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Eight: London - Hammersmith Odeon 25th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Nine: London - Hammersmith Odeon 25th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Ten: London - Hammersmith Odeon 26th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Eleven: London - Hammersmith Odeon 26th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Twelve: Bristol - Colston Hall 27th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Thirteen: Bristol - Colston Hall 27th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Fourteen: Bournemouth - Winter Gardens 28th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Fifteen: Bournemouth - Winter Gardens 28th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Sixteen: Be Bop Deluxe - Star Rider In Concert Previously Unreleased 01) Fair Exchange (Star Rider In Concert Film) 02) Ships In The Night (Star Rider In Concert Film) 03) Maid In Heaven (Star Rider In Concert Film) 04) Bring Back The Spark (Star Rider In Concert Film) 05) Blazing Apostles (Star Rider In Concert Film) On 18 June 2022 Live! In the Air Age (The Hammersmith Odeon Concert 1977) was released separately to the above Deluxe and 3CD editions as a 3LP set, pressed on white vinyl released by Esoteric Recordings in a limited edition of 3,500 copies for Record Store Day available while stocks last at participating independent record shops. The track listing for the vinyl set is: A1) Introduction - Blimps A2) Life In The Air Age A3) Fair Exchange A4) Piece Of Mine A5) Sister Seagull B1) Mill Street Junction B2) Ships In The Night B3) Swansong B4) Maid In Heaven C1) Shine C2) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape D1) Bill Nelson's Introduction D2) Twilight Capers D3) Modern Music Suite E1) Forbidden Lovers E2) Terminal Street F1) Blazing Apostles PAST RELEASES: The original edition of Live! In the Air Age was deleted sometime around 1979/80 and was never reissued on vinyl in this form. However, following the release of the Deluxe Edition by Cherry Red in 2021, one of the previously unreleased shows, that recorded at Hammersmith Odeon on 26th March 1977 was released as part of the Record Store Day on 18 June 2022. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The 3-CD set is available for purchase in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Some of the Live! In The Air Age album was recorded there, (at the Grand Theatre), and my mother came along to one of the shows. I remember that I played a few bars of 'Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair' as part of my free-form solo guitar improv at the close of the concert for her. (Mum's name is Jean, you see.) So long ago, so far away..." _____ "The "Shine" track started life as a jam at Abbey Road studios. Charlie was away, (in New Zealand, I think), and the track was created simply by Simon, Andy and myself having a 'mess about'...a bit of fun. I played bass on the track as well as guitars. I also tried to make the bass part have some reference to Charlie's own style. In fact, we eventually did the number live with Charlie. I dreamt up the name 'Funky Phaser And His Unearthly Merchandise' to allow for the fact that it wasn't a 'proper' Be Bop Deluxe track as Charlie was missing from the equation." _____ "The recently released Futurist Manifesto 5 CD set from EMI contains the only previously unreleased Live! In The Air Age recordings in existence." * * This was correct until Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings issued the Deluxe Edition on 27 August 2021. _____ "I also got permission from the widow of Fritz Lang to use stills from the film as cover art on Be Bop's Live! In The Air Age album." _____ [In response to a question from a fan regarding the equipment Bill used on the tour to get that guitar tone] "Although it was recorded over 40 years ago, I can tell you exactly what equipment I used: My guitar was a 1964 Gibson ES 345 STD Stereo guitar. My amp set up was two separate 100 watt Carlsbro amp heads feeding six 2x12 custom built speaker cabs. I also used a Pete Cornish custom built pedal board and an HH echo unit. The pedal board contained a Big Muff, a Little Muff, an MXR Phase 90, an Electric Mistress Flanger and a Univibe." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review on Outsider Rock Review on Echoes And Dust Review on Goldmine Review by Pete Pardo on Sea Of Tranquility FAN THOUGHTS: BFD: "Recorded in England, Spring Tour 1977 - and still one of the very best (mostly) live albums of the 70's and a hard earned Top 10 hit in the UK. We are not worthy." old_goat: "It was 1977, I'm a sophomore in high school, over at a friend's house one afternoon playing backgammon. He's at the turntable blocking my view and says, "check this out", and cues up "Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape" from Live in the Air Age . Eight minutes later, I'm trading my original Apple label blue album straight across for it." Paul Andrews: "Was it really thirty-five years ago I sat in my friends bedroom listening to Live! In The Air Age , ever so slightly "borrowed" from his elder brother's record collection? It was a world away from my normal listening habits at the time, hormonal teenager that I was. I remember it like the cold white light of revelation." swampboy: "I was at work when "Shine" from Live! In The Air Age came over the ceiling speaker. I slowly put down my tools and stared at the speaker as guitar licks bounced all over the room. The DJ announced the song and album and I bought it the next day. Of course, this led to me buying the rest of what Be Bop Deluxe had to offer." felixt1: "I can tell you that the live version of "Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape" from Live! In The Air Age is one of the best pieces of rock guitar I've ever heard by anyone. I put it right up there with anything that Hendrix or Clapton etc. have done." jazzman1: "For me at the time of the release of Live! In the Air Age , that album was a musical milestone. The way Bill looked, his level of playing, particularly the solo on "Adventures in A Yorkshire Landscape" raised my aspirations." Holer: "Mid-70's - hanging out in someone's bedroom, listening to records. (Do kids still do that? I guess I still do!) My buddy played "Mill Street Junction" off of the BBD Live! In the Air Age LP. That was also the first time I ever saw a White Vinyl record." Telecat: "I was at the Grand Theatre for that show and remember going down the street at the side and seeing the Trailer with the "Studio" in it. I do remember having to leave early as at the time I was still at School and had limited funds so had to catch the Bus home!" Paul Simpson (of The Wild Swans): "Last time I saw them was doing the Live! In The Air Age stuff. Wonderful group and a big influence on me." John Spence: "A few years ago, when Bill and I mixed some previously unreleased recordings from that tour, the original session sheets showed that some recording also took place at the Colston Hall, Bristol. All done using the Stones Mobile and under the watchful eye of John Leckie. An absolute delight to work on." JohnR , commenting on the 'Music In Dreamland' book: "Live! In The Air Age is stated to be based on four concerts - two at the Hammersmith Odeon, one at Bristol and one at Bournemouth. However, I went with a group of friends to a concert at a large theatre in the centre of Leeds where the Rolling Stones mobile was parked outside. I can remember it being announced that the concert was being recorded for a live album, which certainly galvanized the audience. At the end, when it came to the obligatory Terminal Street singalong, we dashed down to sit on the edge of the stage and face the audience to help drum up the singing. To my amazement, we weren't immediately booted off by bouncers and Bill seemed happy enough - we left thinking he was a top bloke!" Albums Menu Future Past

What Now, What Next? retrospective 2CD collection - 12 September 1998 Bill Nelson Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: CD1 01) The Strangest Things, The Strangest Times ( Giants Of The Perpetual Wurlitzer ep, 1984) 02) Do You Dream In Colour? ( Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam album in 1981) 03) Radiant Spires (Chance Encounters In The Garden Of Lights album, 1987) 04) Lady, You're A Strange Girl (Chimes And Rings album, part of the Demonstrations Of Affection set, 1989) 05) Exactly The Way You Want It (Optimism album, 1988) 06) Playing Jesus To Her Judas (Chimes And Rings album, part of the Demonstrations Of Affection set, 1989) 07) Over Ocean (The Summer Of God’s Piano album, part of the Trial By Intimacy set, 1985) 08) Devil In Me (Nudity album, part of the Demonstrations Of Affection set, 1989) 09) Several Famous Orchestras (Sex-Psyche-Etc ep, 1985) 10) Working Man (Chimes And Rings album, part of the Demonstrations Of Affection set, 1989) 11) First Boy On The Moon (previously unreleased; later included on Sunflower Dairy Product, part of the Noise Candy set, 2002) 12) Let It All Pass You By (Details album, part of the Demonstrations Of Affection set, 1989) 13) The Profaned Sanctuary Of The Human Heart (Simplex, 1990) 14) Sell My Soul (Chimes And Rings album, part of the Demonstrations Of Affection set, 1989) 15) The Garden (La Belle et La Bete album, 1982) 16) Edge Of The World (previously unreleased and unique to this compilation) CD2 01) Heartbreak Thru' The Telephone (Heartbreakland album, part of the Demonstrations Of Affection set, 1989) 02) Fellini's Picnic (Map Of Dreams album, 1987) 03) The World Wakes Up (previously unreleased; later included on Sunflower Dairy Product, part of the Noise Candy set, 2002) 04) Skies Are Not Cloudy (previously unreleased and unique to this compilation) 05) Love's Immortal Shining Angel (Heartbreakland album, part of the Demonstrations Of Affection set, 1989) 06) A Promise Of Perfume (A Catalogue Of Obsessions album, part of the Trial By Intimacy set, 1985) 07) Bronze (Simplex, 1990) 08) Bride Of The Atom (previously unreleased and unique to this compilation) 09) News From Nowhere (Iconography album, 1986) 10) Les Amoureux ( Pavillions Of The Heart And Soul album, part of the Trial By Intimacy set, 1985) 11) Kiss It Off (Nudity album, part of the Demonstrations Of Affection set, 1989) 12) Opium (Sounding The Ritual Echo album, 1981) 13) Astroluxe (previously unreleased and unique to this compilation) 14) Windmills In A World Without Wind (A Catalogue Of Obsessions album, part of the Trial By Intimacy set, 1985) 15) Um, Ah, Good Evening (extra song on the UK CD version of the Optimism album, 1988) NOTES: This compilation taken from the Cocteau back catalogue was another product of the licensing deal with DGM, and was issued simultaneously with Atom Shop . While lacking the more commercial successful material to be found on Duplex , What Now, What Next? stands up well alongside its more prominent predecessor, and at least had the dignity of being available for a lot longer. Six of the songs were labelled as being from unreleased albums, named Noise Candy , Console , and Bungalow Funland . Noise Candy was eventually released almost four years later, and included a CD entitled Console . The album title Bungalow Funland was never used (see Bill's quote below), and in the end, four songs remained unique to this compilation (A16, B4, B8 and B13). PAST RELEASES: Several songs on this collection have been previously released on compilations like: The Strangest Things , Duplex , and The Practice of Everyday Life box set (all three out of print). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: This compilation is out of print, but may be made available through Bandcamp at some point. BILL'S THOUGHTS: "For anyone who has missed much of my '80's work, the double album What Now, What Next? provides a reasonable cross section of what I was up to back then. Most of the tracks were recorded on analogue equipment and use what I affectionately think of as 'steam driven' keyboards, (ie. mini-moog, vintage string machines, simple drum boxes, etc). The production values are very much of the time too, (particularly if you recall that the credits on my albums sometimes said 'recorded in a room above my kitchen'). "The set contains both instrumental and vocal tracks, some of them in the 'quirky' category and provides a listening experience that is, paradoxically, both consistent and full of variety." _____ "Bungalow Funland was an idea that never materialised. Or at least never materialised under that name. The tracks were absorbed into the Noise Candy box set. The tracks were not inspired by an American trip but by more English capers." Collections Menu Future Past

Banal Bill Nelson single - 20 March 1981 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 7" Single: A) Banal B) Mr. Magnetism Himself 12" Single: A) Banal (Extended) B1) Turn To Fiction B2) Hers Is A Lush Situation B3) Mr. Magnetism Himself ORIGINALLY: The 7" A side is identical to the album version on Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam . The 12" A side is an extended version (4' 08"). The B-sides are all non-album tracks. NOTES: Banal was issued as the second single in the lead up to the release of Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam . The single came in 7" and 12" editions, and was Nelson's first release under the deal with Mercury. The 12" showed Nelson making good use of multiple formats, with not only an extended A-side, but also 3 exclusive b-sides, continuing the trend that was started with the Red Noise singles. It was already quite obvious to any Nelson fan that collecting his singles would be every bit as essential as getting the albums. On the original 7" and 12" single labels, "Banal" is printed as 3'30", but this is doubly misleading. The 7" runs for 3'54" (same as the album version in fact), whereas the 12" has an additional "I Know You/You Know Me" refrain around the 3'00" mark, making it unique. PAST RELEASES: All 3 b-sides were included on The Two Fold Aspect of Everything compilation (out of print). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: "Banal" and "Mr. Magnetism Himself" are included on the remastered 2005 CD reissue of Quit Dreaming , as well as The Practice of Everyday Life box set (2011). BILL'S THOUGHTS: "I can't deny that "Banal" was loaded with irony! Yes, it was a response to the need for a catchy single but, at the same time, also satisfy my need to make some sort of statement about the industry requirement for such a thing. Reasonably well-crafted though, despite tongue being firmly stuck in cheek!" Singles Menu Future Past

Nelsonian Navigator - Issue Three - Published June 1996 Back to Top