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Radioland retrospective collection - 5 October 1994 Be Box Deluxe Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Life In The Air Age 02) Sister Seagull 03) Third Floor Heaven 04) Blazing Apostles 05) Maid In Heaven 06) Kiss Of Light 07) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 08) Fair Exchange 09) Ships In The Night 10) Modern Music/Dancing In The Moonlight/Honeymoon On Mars/Lost In The Neon World/Modern Music (Reprise) 11) New Precision 12) Superenigmatix 13) Possession 14) Dangerous Stranger 15) Islands Of The Dead 16) Panic In The World NOTES: Radioland is a compilation of the band's BBC recordings for 'In Concert', made in 1976 and 1978. Sourced from 3 different shows, each recording was edited when compared to the original broadcast material. The same compilation in remastered form and in new artwork was reissued as Tremulous Antenna in 2002. The subsequent release of At the BBC 1974-1978 (2013), with the inclusion of the previously omitted tracks, makes this CD redundant. Tracks 1-4: Recorded for BBC's 'Radio 1 In Concert' at the Paris Theatre 15.01.76. Producer Jeff Griffin. Tracks 5-10: Recorded for BBC's 'Radio 1 In Concert' at the Hammersmith Odeon 20.10.76. Producer Pete Dauncey. Tracks 11-16: Recorded for BBC's 'Radio 1 In Concert' at Golders Green Hippodrome 19.01.78. Producer Jeff Griffin. PAST RELEASES: At the time of its release, none of the material on Radioland had officially been issued. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The physical CD is out of print, but the album is available as a download on internet download stores. Collections Menu Future Past

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) May 2010 Jan Jun Sep Nov Dec Tuesday 25th May 2010 -- 2:00 pm The gaps between diary entries become wider as the complexity of daily life increases. As I've said so often before, finding enough free time to write up this odd little journal is not always easy. My previous entry, dated 5th January, seems an eternity ago. So much has happened since then that it would be impossible for me to record everything in detail here without spending several hours typing. Instead, I'll attempt to fill in the missing pages in as condensed a form as possible. The last few months have certainly been eventful. During a bout of severe winter weather Emiko and I were involved in a car accident up in the hills of West Yorkshire, not far from Emley Moor. We were driving through a fairly remote area of countryside, on a narrow country lane running down a very steep hill, when, despite progressing slowly and carefully, we lost control of the car and slid sideways down the hill and into a grass verge, narrowly missing a tree. A large four wheel drive vehicle then came over the brow of the hill, stopped for a moment then attempted to drive around us but hit the same treacherous section of ice and snow and also lost control, slamming violently into the side of our car. We were lucky in that we were not physically hurt but we were badly shaken up by the event. Our car, however, suffered some quite serious damage which required it to be sent to an accident repair centre for extensive (and expensive) work. It was off the road for several weeks. Luckily, we were fully covered by our insurance and were given a courtesy car until the repairs were complete. The car is now visibly as good as new. A very unpleasant experience however, and not one that Emi and I would care to repeat. Another unpleasant experience was had when I fell ill with a very nasty gastric flu virus. It started with sudden shivering and aching body, then a very high temperature and stomach pains. I was confined to bed for three or four days, feeling absolutely awful, then not out of my dressing gown for a week. A further week passed before things really began to improve and I felt strong enough to venture outside. I always seem to catch some evil bug or other in the period between New Year and Spring. However, the really annoying aspect of this particular illness was that it caused me to miss the Rufus Wainwright concert in Sheffield for which our good friends Steve and Julia had provided us with tickets as a Christmas gift. I had been so looking forward to seeing Rufus and was terribly disappointed at being too ill to attend. A severe and prolonged toothache has also proved debilitating. It's settled down now but is still somewhat uncomfortable,especially when eating. Of course, my phobia regarding all things medical works against me in these situations. I tend to endure the problem until it resolves itself. Although I consider myself a reasonably bright chap, I certainly can be stubborn and stupid sometimes. I've also been spending time with my mother every week, travelling over to Wakefield to take her out for dinner, giving her a hand with supermarket shopping, etc. Also helping her to deal with the conclusion of the litigation process that she was forced to undertake in order to gain a little more security, all as a result of inadequate provision being made for her in her late husband's will. The whole thing proved to be a tough and totally undeserved ordeal for my mother but, after more than two years of legal action and a modest settlement, there are still a couple of loose ends to tie up. Hopefully, these final issues can be resolved as soon as possible and mum can put this unfortunate situation behind her and get on with her life. Another major pre-occupation for me has been the preparation of volume one of my autobiography. I began work on this project several years ago but, due to various other responsibilities, haven't touched the manuscript for quite a while. A recent decision to privately publish volume one in book form has meant that I've had to devote several weeks of my time exclusively to reviving the project. I've adjusted and re-written large chunks of the original text and compiled over seventy photographs from family archives which I'm hoping to include in the book. The work has required intense concentration and long hours each day to pull it together but it's now almost ready for a rough mock up to be produced so that any final layout/cosmetic changes can be made before it goes off to the printers. The book's title is 'Painted From Memory. Volume One: Evocation Of A Radiant Childhood.' It covers the period from my birth to leaving school and tells how I first became bewitched by guitars and my consequent attempts to learn how to play the instrument. I suspect that a publisher would, in the interests of commerce and conciseness, edit the manuscript quite dramatically...but I'm determined to make this privately printed, limited edition version of the book as true to my original concept as possible. It is packed with detailed descriptions of my early life and provides a unique view of the post-war, working class life in which I grew up. I'm hoping that it will have a broader appeal than a 'How I Became Guitar Boy' type of story, (although that aspect is more than adequately taken care of in the text). My hope is to have the book printed and available to fans of my music by November. Which would coincide perfectly with this year's Nelsonica fan convention. Nelsonica 10 is an ongoing and important preoccupation for me, even at this early time of the year. This year celebrates the 10th anniversary of the event and the Nelsonica Team and myself are trying our best to make it a special one for fans. After some deliberation regarding practicalities and dramatically increased production costs we've decided to attempt a complex two-day event to mark the occasion. I've concocted a fun title for the event: 'Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus,' which suits the playful nature of this special anniversary Nelsonica, and also reflects my childhood fascination with circuses and science fiction. So...this year's event will include a three-part live concert on Day One and a number of interesting presentations on Day Two. The live performance, due to its wide-ranging nature, presents me with a challenge in itself, even before the features of the second day are taken into account. I'm planning to put together a solo set of guitar-based instrumental music with video backdrops, followed by a trio-based set as 'Orchestra Futura,' (which will concentrate on improvised music featuring Theo Travis on saxophone, flute and loops and Dave Sturt on bass guitar and lap-top treatments, plus myself on guitars and loops.) Then there will be a third set featuring my 7-piece 'Gentlemen Rocketeers' band playing a selection of music from my past, (but with a subtle hint of the future!) Choosing, preparing and rehearsing such a complex and extensive 'one-off' show will certainly prove time consuming and physically exhausting but will also offer convention attendees a rich and rewarding listening experience. A fully-packed evening of live music and visuals. The second day will feature special presentations that the Nelsonica Team and myself are already in the process of planning. Amongst these presentations will be an exhibition of my guitars. One of the exhibited jewels in this particular collection will be a unique Campbell Nelsonic Transitone guitar that has been hand painted for me by American artist Nicholas Del Drago. Nicholas is a renowned painter of motorbikes, custom cars and guitars. He is also a guitarist in his own right and a friend of guitar super-star Joe Satriani, (for whom he has also painted a guitar). The Nelsonic guitar that Nicholas has painted for me features a wonderfully retro panorama inspired by some pulp 1950's sci-fi illustrations I sent to him just over a year ago. Nicholas has achieved, on this guitar, a fabulous, deep metalflake paint effect that really sparkles and comes to life when lit by strong light. The sides of the guitar feature a 'flip paint' finish that changes hue depending from which angle it is viewed. The instrument is equipped withAlumitone pickups which in themselves are quite different from any of my other guitars' pickups. In short, it's a very special piece and I'm extremely grateful to Nicholas and Dean Campbell for creating such a striking instrument for me. I've already used the guitar on some of my new but as yet unreleased recordings and it sounds just as good as it looks. Recording, of course, is a continual process for me, an almost daily exercise, or, (dare I say it?) a sort of meditation on 'being,' in the Buddhist sense of the word. (Yes, I dare...) There's something both compulsive and revelatory about just 'doing the work'...I suppose, for me, it's the creative process itself that throws the switch that turns on the internal lightbulb, rather than anything to do with what people might perceive as the musical end result. That old cliché about the journey being more important than the arriving fits my experience perfectly because, whilst the finished albums finally find their meaning with the listener, it's the creative act, the private ritual of making, that ultimately illuminates things for me, especially as I compose and record these albums in an extremely solitary fashion, all alone here in my tiny studio. Since my previous diary entry I've released an album of the soundtrack music I created for the documentary film 'American Stamps.' The film was aired on the US television PBS, (Public Broadcasting Service), channel last year. The music has produced a pleasant and colourful album and, judging from comments posted on my website's forum, seems to have charmed those who have heard it. The album is titled 'PICTURE POST' and it's packaging features a set of imaginary stamps depicting some of my own American pop icons such as Orson Welles, Les Paul, John Cage, Duane Eddy and Fred Astaire. As expected though, I'm already deep into recording brand new music for release later in the year. At this point in time, the aim is to gather together the best, or most compatible, pieces into two distinctive albums. One of these albums will become this year's Nelsonica special edition CD. It will, like the convention itself, be titled 'CAPTAIN FUTURE'S PSYCHOTRONIC CIRCUS' and should be loosely, (though not exclusively), themed around that particular concept. The second album is to be titled 'MOON GOLD PALLADIUM' and, if all goes to plan and I don't shift my conceptual gears, be a lush, richly textured, epic but deeply romantic, (in the poetic, painterly sense of the word), album of vocal-based songs. It will also contain a few appropriate instrumental interludes. All of this is ongoing and organically developing. Lots of work done so far but I still feel that I need to continue along these particular mysterious garden paths until I've gathered enough flowers to make a beautiful arrangement. The vase in the window is patiently awaiting (and anticipating), the artist's hand. Thankfully, the sun is out and the Idea Bird is singing. What else? Well...A shiny new computer sits in front of me as I type these words. Yes, finally, I am connected to broadband and am able to access the internet in a far more contemporary and speedy fashion than before. My new iMac takes up less space than my old G4 Mac and things look slightly less crowded in this tiny home studio than previously. I've yet to fully understand the finer points of some of the latest software, but all that will be resolved in time. My previous computer was ten years behind my current software so there's a reasonably steep learning curve to deal with, especially when it comes to things such as Photoshop and Final Cut. But it's really inspiring to suddenly have the opportunity to move my creative work forward with the help of this sleek machine. It's as if I've moved from gas to electricity! And there are changes in our domestic life too: We are currently being assaulted by banging, hammering, drilling and sawing. Our old, rotten, leaky and unhygenic kitchen is in the process of being completely renovated. I'd hung on to our old kitchen for a long time, hoping that I could postpone the radical changes, (and expense), required to drag us into a more clean and contemporary realm. But, suddenly, there seemed no choice but to 'bite the bullet.' Things were falling apart in a bad way and what had once seemed charmingly 'shabby' had become frustratingly useless. Actually, our home desperately requires a variety of renovations, most of which are currently beyond our reach... but the kitchen's many problems are finally in the process of being rectified. The work began with us emptying stuff from the old kitchen cupboards. An astonishing amount of 'stuff' as it happens. It is now occupying the dining room, actually filling the entire space! AND overflowing into the lounge and into the little study, (a room that was already almost impossible to enter due to accumulations of this, that or the other item of 20th Century bric-a-brac.) The physical work of demolishing the old kitchen began last Wednesday and since then we have had no means of cooking, (or washing up). Today the installation of the new kitchen units has begun, though there's much more to be done in that department, including fitting the worktops, sink and various items of hardware. Still, the tiled floor has already been completed and a new 'range-style' oven will be delivered on Thursday. Hopefully, with the exception of re-decorating the walls and ceiling, the new kitchen should be operational by the early part of next week. Emi is very much looking forward to finally having a decent, practical and easier to clean kitchen to work in. She's thrilled about it all and can't wait to see the finished thing. Lots of plaster dust in the air at the moment though, even up here in my studio...A fine layer of it seems to cover every surface. The cleaning up process will involve more than the kitchen and dining room areas by the look of things. Meanwhile, we've been eating out every evening, (but tonight we had fish n' chips from the village chippie). Had dinner with Elle and Elliot at Ceasar's Italian restaurant in town last night. They're busy people and I don't get to see them as often as I'd like. Rehearsing and performing with 'Honeytone Cody' takes up a lot of their time. I'm just as wrapped up in music too, I guess. But they're very talented and I'm extremely proud of them and it's always good for us to spend some time together. This last weekend was more like summer than spring: bright, clear blue skies and hot golden sunshine. As the kitchen company were not working at our house on Saturday and Sunday, Emi and I took the opportunity to get away from all the kitchen debris and distraction for a while. On Saturday afternoon we went to Knaresborough and enjoyed apple pie and ice cream whilst sitting at the edge of the river, watching the little rowing boats drift by beneath the old Victorian railway bridge. A favourite fair weather spot for us. Later, we drove to Harrogate for dinner and ended up at a restaurant called 'William And Victoria.' It was the first time we'd eaten there and it was extremely enjoyable. Sunday we drove to Whitby, 'though the traffic was terrible and it took us far longer than usual. Had lunch at a place called 'Marine' which we hadn't been to before. Very nice it was too, we'll be going back next time we visit Whitby. The weather was beautiful and we sat overlooking the harbour after lunch, just taking in the view. I love visiting that place, even though it's sometimes very busy with tourists. Sadly, one of our favourite Harrogate restaurants has unexpectedly closed down. 'San Martino' is no more, a victim of the economic climate by the look of it. Such a shame. But there are so many places suffering the same fate. 'The Lamb and Lion Inn' in York was another favourite eatery of ours. Several weeks ago now, Emi and I drove into town to have lunch there, only to find the place locked up and in darkness. Gone forever due to the Royal Bank Of Scotland calling time on the business, despite the owners turning things around and getting it into profit after the losses incurred by previous owners. We miss the place very much as it had become a regular haunt of ours. And I still miss 'Borders' bookshop in the centre of town. The building it occupied remains empty and forlorn, the 'Borders' logo remains displayed within its walls but there are only the ghosts of books and the ruins of bookshelves to remind one of the place it once was. As I've probably mentioned elsewhere, 'Borders' opened here several years ago now, with such promise and style, only to slowly deteriorate, its original wide-ranging stock becoming narrower and narrower, less specialist and more predictable. A victim of the bland and mediocre consumerism of the modern marketplace? Or just bad management and exorbitant rents? Actually, the effects of the economic malaise seem to be more acute than ever. And, despite the usual hopes that accompany a general election, all I can see from the results of the recent hung Parliament is an exercise in spin that somehow defines the naivety and the gullibility of much of the public. Throughout the election campaign, the word 'change' was bandied about like a toy balloon at a children's party. And a children's party, I fear, is what we may have ended up with. I hope this uncomfortable coalition will not be as disastrous as it might appear...but I watch the television images of Cameron and his new found Lib-Dem pals sitting side by side and don't know whether to laugh or cry. What should we call such an alliance, other than 'disappointing?' The 'Con-dems' maybe? An arrogant toff with no upper lip and a fake Yorkshireman who resembles The Mekon but doesn't have green skin? Ok, that's rather unfair of me, I know. I'm just having a go, all in fun. Still, that old satirical tv show 'Spitting Image' would have a ball with this lot. Maybe they're very nice people and kind to their grannies, etc...but, despite their best efforts they come across, to me at least, as condescending and not a little devious. (But that's often a trait of the political classes, so nothing new there.) It will be interesting and darkly entertaining to see which way their wind blows though. I'm trying to think of other things I should include in this 'catch-up' of a diary entry but am finding it hard to think at all due to the threateningly loud sound of drilling and sawing coming from the kitchen below me. So, maybe that's enough typing for now. Until next time. ***** The images accompanying this diary are as follows:- 1: A shot of a corner of Bill's studio showing iMac and Rocketship Nelsonic Guitar. 2: Photo of Bill in front of Whitby Harbour, May 22nd 2010. 3: Photo of boats in a corner of Whitby Harbour taken by Bill 22 May 2010. 4: Bill with Rocketship Campbell Nelsonic guitar. May 2010. 5: Close up of Bill's Rocketship Campbell Nelsonic guitar painted by Nicholas Del Drago. 6: Weird creatures lurking in a corner of Bill's studio. Taken by Bill, March 2010. Top of page

Frost-O-Matic Free Christmas download single Special FREE Christmas download single - Released Dec 2010. FROST-O-MATIC Currently unavailable on any album Written, performed, recorded and produced by Bill Nelson. All rights Bill Nelson 2010.

Plectrajet Bill Nelson album - 10 August 2015 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) I Always Knew You Would Find Me 02) Time Travel For Beginners 03) Imperial Parade 04) Small Red Birds 05) Beyond These Clouds The Sweetest Dream 06) The Girl On The Fairground Waltzer 07) Electric Milkcart Blues 08) If I Was The Pilot Of Your Perfect Cloud 09) B-Movie Bug Boy 10) Neon Lights And Japanese Lanterns 11) Luxeodeon 12) Only A Dream, But Nevertheless ALBUM NOTES: Plectrajet (Painting With Guitars Volume Two) is an instrumental album issued in a one-off print run of 750 copies on the Sonoluxe label. The album is essentially a compilation of pieces that Nelson had been performing live over the previous two decades, but which hadn't yet found their way onto albums. The title Plectrajet had been around for about ten years also and was first suggested for the possible title (along with The Guitar Room ) of a compilation of guitar instrumentals from Nelson's back catalogue that was initially being considered in 2005. Although mentioned as recently as 2012, that compilation idea never saw light of day, and was supplanted by The Dreamer's Companion series of comps. The title then lay dormant until being considered simultaneously as a possible title for what became the Fantastic Guitars album, as well as for a proposed second volume of Painting with Guitars (both of which were works in progress in 2013). A second volume of Painting With Guitars had been an often mentioned idea over the years, although Nelson himself sometimes dismissed this as some of the material that naturally would have made up such a volume had been used on the Wah Wah Galaxy album. However, the popularity of this idea with fans would ensure that it never completely disappeared from the schedule of potential releases. The Romance of Sustain ( Painting With Guitars Volume One) was eventually reissued as a digital download in 2015, and was soon followed by Volume Two in physical form, to which Nelson assigned the title Plectrajet . Work began on the project in February 2015 and took approximately 1 month to complete, preparing a total of 33 tracks. No sooner had Nelson settled on the track listing for Plectrajet , he then assembled running orders for two further volumes (titled Six String Super Apparatus and Astral Overdrive respectively). As Nelson himself says, they represent "a farewell to an era". At the time of writing, Astral Overdrive is still in the pipeline of future releases. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Romance Of Sustain , Six String Super Apparatus , Sparkle Machine , Tripping The Light Fantastic , The Awakening Of Dr Dream , Loom , Practically Wired, Gleaming Without Lights , Plaything BILL'S THOUGHTS: "I've begun work on 'Painting with Guitars Vol 2' which has the working title of PLECTRAJET . This one has been a long time coming. It's basically gathering together some of the pieces I've performed live in my solo concerts over the years. I'm transferring the backing tracks from the CDs I use in a live situation to my multi-track recorder and adding the guitar parts to them, as if I was playing live. The tricky bit is getting the two components to sit together well. The backing tracks have a 'fixed' mix and individual instruments can't be re-balanced to suit the guitar overdubs. In a live situation, with all the vagaries of live sound, this doesn't present a great problem but in the studio, the situation is different. The tracks are exposed to much more scrutiny and their flaws become more apparent. Still, I'm treating them like a live performance and not aiming at sonic perfection...(actually, I have no choice in the matter), so hopefully the end result will be acceptable." _____ "There are a few rarities amongst these...some pieces that have only been performed live once or twice, but some more regular numbers too, which have featured in my solo concerts more frequently." _____ "There are three more volumes completed and coming out soon. They gather together all the tracks I've performed in my solo concerts over the years. 'Plectrajet' will be the first release of these." FAN THOUGHTS: Angie: "Oh I'm thrilled, I've been able to get this one..."Beyond These Clouds the Sweetest Dream" has been a favourite of mine for years so to have it on CD will be wonderful. In fact, my eyes are welled up at thought. "Imperial Parade" too. Another favourite. These tracks will bring back such happy memories of Nelsonicas and my Nelsonian friends." seakret: "All I can say is WOW. This is a marvel of guitar...This one is riveting." "Also wanted to point out that Plectrajet is an even more appealing treat for us Yanks since most of us yearn for a Nelsonica nearby but it was not to be. So these tracks, which bring great memories to many of you, are fresh as daisies to us!" novemberman: "Well what can I say...Plectrajet is absolutely superb!!! I have always been amazed by Bill's output, but with all that he has gone through over the last year or so, to produce music of this quality is simply astounding!! I do not know how you do it Bill, but thanks all the same." Axe Victim: "Love the way it sounds really raw and spontaneous." felixt1: "Great, happy, celebratory music and lashings of great guitar." andygeorge: "Imperial Parade": "Simply hypnotic, beautiful and mesmerising! Love it and the whole album, been playing it to death since I got it, all killer and no filler as they say...album of the decade from Bill if you're asking!" "Plectrajet for me is what defines Bill, I love his guitar based music and this album is full of happy memories for me from years of Nelsonicas and live gigs...which is why I said it's the best album Bill has put out in the last decade." Howden End: "Quickly become one of my all time favourite Bill albums. He covers so many of his signature guitar styles on it, and on so many tracks once again find myself thinking, "there is no one who does it as good as Sir Bill"; have adored "Beyond these Clouds..." since I heard it at Metropolis and his interpretation on Plectrajet is simply superb." meederr: "I must say I immediately liked Plectrajet . Nay, love every track. Congrats. I'm listening to The Years , and am liking that too. Thank you for challenging me, and zagging when I expect you to zig." Tony M: "What a great album! From "I Always Knew You Would Find Me" to "Imperial Parade" (my favorites) and much more. If you don't have this one, you are definitely missing out." Albums Menu Future Past

Saturday 19th December 2009 -- 10:00 pm Catch up time yet again: Emiko returned from Tokyo on the evening of the 7th of December as planned. Her ordeal in Japan now over although the emotional and physical exhaustion has clearly taken its toll. She's been extremely tired and, sadly, visibly depressed since attending her mother's funeral...which of course, is only to be expected. I've been trying to lift her spirits on a daily basis but there's only so much I can do. The reality is that she will have to work her way through her bereavement and the inevitable grief in her own time. I'm simply a shoulder to lean on and must try to stay aware of that and not try to force the issue with false bonhomie. There is no way to magic the pain away. I can't heal her hurt, only share it. But, Christmas is rapidly approaching and may well provide distractions or social interactions that might help to soften the impact of her sadness. At least I hope so... For myself, I think I coped reasonably well whilst Emi was away, though I missed her terribly as always. At least, it was only ten days this time and there were no unexpected cat crises. My sixty-first birthday yesterday. The years absolutely fly by now...the actual numbers becoming increasingly unreal, or so it seems to me, a man hardly out of short trousers in some ways. How fleeting are our lives...and how mercifully ignorant most of us are of time's violent, impassive acceleration. And yet...there is still so much to achieve, so many things to explore, such a lot to enjoy and to learn from... Or, as the cliche has it: 'so much to do, so little time.' Is this why the Buddhist teaching of reincarnation holds some sort of cuddly, consoling appeal for me? The possibility of an ongoing story, a kind of infinite apprenticeship before inevitable, blissful enlightenment finally places Buddahood's bright and golden crown on our rusting, befuddled and exhausted minds? Or, (more realistically), is this just one more crock of wishful-thinking born from our mortal inability to deal with the very real possibility of utter nothingness, utter meaninglesness at the end of our lives, no matter how long or brief those lives may be? Well, one part of me, actually the gut-instinct, primal-intuitive part of me, says it's all nonsense, an empty, desperate grabbing at thin, broken, rotten straws. Ego clinging to motes of dust...and dust clinging to an illusion of light, emptiness suspended in a black, bleak nothingness. Maybe the 'here and now' is ALL we ultimately have to cling to, regardless of whether our particular, personal here and now is little more than an illusion. (And, I have to say that 'here and now' seems always to be particular, subjective and personal. At least, according to my experience.) So, yes...Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Orson Welles, as Citizen Kane, gave the dying Kane the word 'Rosebud' to whisper on his terminal bed, as his personal enigma and mantra, a mystery suspended, hovering in air and slowly dissolving like those aforementioned, light-levitated, motes of dust. And who was, (or what was), 'Rosebud?' In Orson's film, it turned out to be a child's sled fixed in a snow-dome-idealised, frozen winter landscape. A metaphorical lifeboat for childhood's innocence and faith. Well, William.I think that's enough melancholy reflection for today. Christmas is coming, though with somewhat less sheer exuberance than previous years. Nevertheless, it presents us with an extra opportunity for warmth and love, something which I'm very much in need of during these cold, cynical, dark days. Yesterday and today, thick, white, lingering snow. Very cold and icy, particularly the isolated lane that leads from our house to the more-oft used road that winds into the village. Tricky conditions for driving and walking. Fabulously seasonal visuals though, a vintage Christmas card come to life. So...to all dear readers of this old Hyperdreamer's diary, I wish you a Very Merry, Joyous and Warm Christmas, and a miraculous, magical, life-enhancing 2010. As Tiny Tim said: "God bless us, every one." Top of page William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) December 2009 Jan Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 Thursday 31st December 2009 -- 6:00 pm New Year's Eve, 2009. Let me see if I can get this entry written and posted before the clock ticks its inevitable tick-tock steps across the border between 2009 and 2010. I'll try to keep it short and to the point. No images, just words. It's cold still. The snow that fell before Christmas only now just gone, but more is promised, apparently. It's been white and icy for a week at least...very dangerous in the backyard, and on the dark lane outside our house. The main roads have not been too bad but it has certainly felt like an old-fashioned winter around these parts. Colder and more bleak than previous years and only lacking in horse-drawn coaches and post-horns. A Dickensian Christmas card come to life. Christmas Day was spent with our good friends, Steve and Julia, who live down the lane. I brought my mother over from Wakefield to spend the day with us and them...and to stay over for boxing day when Elle and Elliot came to visit. Lights twinkling on the tree, Christmas cards suspended from the wooden beams in the living room, electric icicles and neon sparkles hung in the trees in our snow covered garden, candles and incense and the sensation of mellow, melancholy but benevolent ghosts of Christmases past, hovering and humming in the frosty air. Hornby Dublo train sets, Meccano and Dinky Toys glowing in the living room of memory. Magic hour! I was given some nice gifts, for birthday and Christmas, as always: Emiko had bought me an Andy Warhol wristwatch whilst she was in Tokyo. Made by Seiko for the Warhol Museum, it's a little beauty...(just like my lovely Emi!) Lots of books given too, which suits me just fine. My home is like a library. Got the following from Emiko: ''Perfecting Sound Forever - The Story Of Recorded Music' by Greg Milner. 'Orson Welles At Work.' (A thick, lavishly illustrated coffee table book published by Phaidon.) 'The Art Of Osamu Tezuka' by Helen McCarthy.' And from My friend Paul Gilby I received: 'Shop America. Mid Century Storefront Design-1938 to 1950.' And: ''Architecture Of The Air - The Sound And Light Environments Of Christopher Janney.' (Ironically, I also bought the same 'Shop America' book as my Christmas gift to Paul! Well, great minds think alike, etc...) Elliot and Elle bought me: 'John Barry - The Man With The Midas Touch' by Geoff Leonard, Pete Walker and Gareth Bramley. (Nicely illustrated, this one.) My friends Steve and Julia bought me 'This Is The Way To The Moon' (A reproduction of the children's classic by M. Sasek, beautifully illustrated.) And just before Christmas, I treat myself to a book or two: 'Phallic Frenzy, Ken Russell And His Films' by Joseph Lanza. 'All Is Change, The Two-Thousand Year Journey Of Buddhism To The West' by Lawrence Sutin. 'Prophet John Wroe, Virgins, Scandals And Visions' by Edward Green. 'The Barnum Museum' by Steven Millhauser. 'Death On A Branch Line' and 'The Last Train To Scarborough' (Both titles by Andrew Martin, part of his 'Jim Stringer, Steam Detective' series and the latter book signed by the author himself.) Other gifts included a quirky old Russian Nomo 'Cosmic Symbol' camera bought for me from the internet by my youngest daughter Elle, a very stylish neck-tie bought for me by Emiko from Tokyo, a box set of George Formby DVD's, (also from Emiko). A bottle of Chanel 'Egoiste' cologne, (Emiko again), and lots of light-hearted, fun, stocking-fillers. One of the most generous gifts that Emi and I received came from Steve and Julia: two tickets to Rufus Wainwright's upcoming concert at Sheffield City Hall in April of 2010. A totally unexpected treat and VERY much appreciated by both of us. As readers of this diary already know, Emi and myself are big fans of Rufus' work and we're both looking forward to seeing him perform in April. 'Borders' book store closed just before Christmas. (Did I already mention this in an earlier diary entry? Maybe not.) Browsing the York store was almost a daily ritual for me, part of my afternoon escape from the confines of my recording room. It was from Borders that I purchased American magazines that were not easily found in UK stores: 'Guitar Player', ' Vintage Guitar Magazine', ' Downbeat' jazz magazine, the now defuct '20th Century Guitar' magazine and many other imported titles, including the magnificent 'Fretboard Journal' magazine, a publication that only recently appeared on Borders' shelves here in the UK. When Borders first opened in England, it seemed like a breath of fresh air: it featured specialist sections dealing in left-field books, periodicals, CDs and DVDs, items that appealed to those of us who sought out the more unusual, less mainstream aspects of contemporary culture. Borders recognised that there was a need to cater to those whose tastes ranged beyond the populist staples.. Unfortunately, the last two or three years of the store's life has seen an erosion of such provision. The once broad-based CD racks became much diminished, not only in size but also in the quality of their contents. The jazz, folk, country, world music and classical sections all but vanished...then the rock and pop music sections began to dwindle too and have now, along with everything else the store contained, gone forever... The store closed its doors just before Christmas Eve for the very last time, never to re-open again. Another victim of the internet's ruthless undercutting of high street retail store values. I was there at the York store's closing, but walked out just five minutes before the final bell when the last customer left and the doors were locked for the last time. On that final day, Borders offered a 90% discount on previous prices, but the place looked like a jumble sale with books piled up on tables and none of them of any interest to me. Now, I have no real place to browse for my American music magazines and contemporary art periodicals on my daily, routine, stroll around town. W.H.Smith somehow doesn't have the same vibe, (or stock the same titles), nor does Waterstones, although it is now the main bookseller on the high street. A great shame I think. And even more of a shame: the helpful and once enthusiastic staff who, sadly, have been made redundant. Thankfully, York does have several small independent, antiquarian and second hand bookshops. They will, I'm sure, provide me with some unforseen discoveries, not to mention the tactile shopping experience denied to me by the internet retailers. But it's not just Borders that has suffered...so many others businesses are still floundering too, both big and small. The fashion retailer 'Ghost' has just vanished from the city after a closing down clearance sale. Far too many shops, large and small, emptied and abandoned, their leases not taken up. For all of York's boastful tourism, many traders are struggling for economic survival. The much-touted 'recovery' seems to be little more than hot air. And it seems that It may remain so for some time yet. As for music. I can definitely see the negative effect that illegal internet torrent sites and unauthorised downloading is having on the recording industry in general, including my own tiny cottage industry and others in the same modest position as myself. Whilst the internet has provided small volume, specialist artists with a new outlet for our non-mainstream work, it is also clear that it has had a negative effect on our situation. An awful lot of damage has been afflicted on the entire industry too. But, whilst the major artists and record companies are equipped to weather the storm, those of us depending on small-volume sales are gradually being swept away, never to return. We really are at the mercy of consumers and need, more than ever, an audience who value our contribution and recognise that they, as individuals, are an important component of our survival. And of the survival of music that exists beyond the corporate net.Those who buy direct from the artist are not just consumers but, more importantly, patrons and co-conspiritors, fellow collaborators, preservers of ideals. It all seems to be coming down to a choice between mediocrity or marvelousness. Will the future be blatantly banal or benevolently beautiful? And, with that thought, I wish all readers of this Hyperdreamer's diary, a healthy, peaceful and enlightened 2010. Much love from Bill and Emiko. xxx Top of page

Monday 29th August 2005 -- 9:00 pm August is about to end. 2005 seems to have moved towards autumn at a terrific pace. I've not realised just how quickly time has flown and I'm now in even more of a panic than before. This year has been an unrelenting attempt to hit deadlines and targets that I'd somewhat optimistically set myself several months ago (and which were listed in the previous diary entry to this one). Did I miscalcuate just how much I could achieve in that time? Or am I simply slowing down with the weight of the years? Somewhere along the way, summer seems to have happened to everyone else whilst I've been stuck in my little workroom, assembling one dream or another, trying to make my imagination tangible to others with the aid of smoke and mirrors. The thing which is draining me most intensely, but also, conversely, proving to be the most rewarding, is the ongoing creation of my 'The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill' album. This, for me, has been the most important task of the year. It is only now, after working on the album for a long time, that I'm beginning to understand exactly what it's real meaning is. At first, there was a general fishing around for direction and some songs I intially recorded for the project seemed to go off at too much of a tangent. I was searching for a style that might lend itself to my solo live performances on the forthcoming November dates. This approach, it turns out, was a mistake. I found that particular 'angle' less than satisfying for some reason. It just didn't feel as if I was hitting the right emotional target. It was only when I totally abandoned the idea of making these songs 'practical' (in live performance terms), that the sparks began to fly. The move away from performance oriented material to pure studio soundscapes opened the creative channels for me and I suddenly felt free of the 'keep it live' restraints I'd saddled myself with. Then, with the realisation that a 'theme' of sorts was presenting itself in a couple of the pieces, I struck out in an even more singularly defined direction. I made the decision to build the material around a symbolic nautical/coastal theme which put things into clearer perspective and, before long, the album's current title emerged from the mud. The use of ocean, shoreline, ship, lighthouse, harbour, pier and seaside fairground images seems, somehow, to manifest, or symbolise, my present emotional and metaphysical state of mind (and life's journey generally). These images also resonate with a romantic, nostalgic wistfulness which suits my current feelings of melancholy. They also demand a little more than the usual rock music vocabulary and tonal palette, something more epic, enigmatic and subtle. It was only when I totally abandoned the idea of making these songs 'practical' (in live performance terms), that the sparks began to fly. The move away from performance oriented material to pure studio soundscapes opened the creative channels for me and I suddenly felt free of the 'keep it live' restraints I'd saddled myself with. Then, with the realisation that a 'theme' of sorts was presenting itself in a couple of the pieces, I struck out in an even more singularly defined direction. I made the decision to build the material around a symbolic nautical/coastal theme which put things into clearer perspective and, before long, the album's current title emerged from the mud. The use of ocean, shoreline, ship, lighthouse, harbour, pier and seaside fairground images seems, somehow, to manifest, or symbolise, my present emotional and metaphysical state of mind (and life's journey generally). These images also resonate with a romantic, nostalgic wistfulness which suits my current feelings of melancholy. They also demand a little more than the usual rock music vocabulary and tonal palette, something more epic, enigmatic and subtle. The next turning point came when I decided to unify as many of the songs as possible by building them around orchestral textures, rather than the more usual rock music instrumentation. Some pieces go further with this premise than others, of course, but I've had to curb the temptation to please some of my audience by adding a veneer of guitar to pieces of music where no guitar veneer is required. One piece in particular immediately sounded less than it should have sounded simply because I overdubbed a guitar solo where it wasn't appropriate. You'd think that, by now, I'd not give such a thing a second thought but, for a brief and undisciplined moment, I almost turned a perfectly beautiful piece of music into a horrendous rock anthem, worthy of Queen or one of their ilk, simply by adding a 'rock out' guitar part, merely to elicit a predictable response from what I'd mistakenly thought of as 'the average listener'. I wiped it straight away after playing it back. Too easy, too cheap. I'm more than just a guitar player, damn it (and not much of a guitar player at that, in my opinion). This, I now realise, is not an album for the average listener. Nor is it a product for the average 'me', whatever that might imply. Just as I've had to abandon all pretext of ever performing this material live, I've had to also abandon any thought about what anyone else might make of it when it is eventually released. In fact, the ever sharper focus I'm bringing to bear on the music has made the creative process much more difficult and challenging. Despite this, it has proved to be an unusually rewarding, if somewhat time-consuming, exercise. There's now almost a hint of a concept album or opera about the project, 'though not in the usual linear story telling mode of such genres. The lyrics, in fact, are fairly minimal, quite direct but visually evocative. The visual dimension is reinforced by the music which has, in places, an epic 'largeness' that I hope will paint a suitable oceanic picture in the listener's mind. There's a very odd chemical marriage of antique and modern in the soundscapes of these pieces. I've made no attempt to rein in my sentimentality, my nostalgic yearnings and there's no deliberate stab at dissonance or commonplace minimalism. It's all richly romantic, densely textured, fantasy-fuelled writing that evokes the feel of old Hollywood or, better still, Golden Age British cinema, movies. BUT... at the same time, because of my lack of formal musical education, there's something else at work in the music, something that seems to exist apart from academic considerations of form, style and era. Simple but not minimalistic? Innocent but not naive? I don't really want to speculate too much in fear of driving the spirit of it away but... it's perhaps this intuitive element that gives the work an odd sort of quality. It feels, somehow, 'present'. I think this is simply because I'm writing from such a personal, idiosyncratic, untutored position. Stubbornly determined NOT to do what other's might prefer me to do or would advise me to do. Maybe this is music that no one else would want to make, (except me, of course). Maybe it's what's left on the table when everyone else has eaten and gone to bed. It's the residue of something already consumed, but a residue transformed into an entirely unexpected confection. A rich feast? Or maybe it's just warmed over scraps. For me, it is, at this moment in time, all consuming. I'm besotted with it and it refuses to let me rest. The hours I've given to it are never going to return to me. I've had moments of elation writing and recording this material, and moments of doubt and despair. It has not, by any stretch of the imagination, been an easy ride. Certainly not one of those albums that fall easily from the blue empty void onto the composer's table. I've yet to finish the project or even to listen to a possible sequence of tracks but, I'll hesitantly say that it is possibly one of the best things I've ever done. Of course, I reserve the right, being the artist, to damn it to hell at a later date if the wind changes direction. But, so far, I'm feeling that this is a wee bit special. Last week, however, a disasterous event: My plug in 24 track Mackie hard disc drive decided to shunt weeks of recorded work off into another dimension. I'd almost completed the recording of a new song, over which I'd laboured for four solid days, (a song that might possibly have provided the high spot of the album), when I turned off the recording equipment in the usual way. When I next turned it on, the hard drive showed no files present... basically a BLANK drive. I stared at the screen in utter disbelief. Where were all the songs? Weeks of work? AND my brand new supersong of which I'd felt so pleased? Also on the drive had been 'The Man Who Haunted Himself,' a song I'd already mixed down to DAT tape but which I'd decided needed a more considerate re-mix before it would be fit for the album. All this and more, it appears, vanished in a digital puff of smoke. I was absolutely gutted, depressed, heartbroken. Calls to my friend Paul Gilby got me connected to Mackie themselves who, after some over the 'phone prodding and probing, seemed to confirm that all was indeed lost. I then noticed that the hard disc recorder's real-time readout was showing that there was only 3 minutes 44 seconds of available recording time left on the empty drive. If the drive was truly empty, surely it would show more time available for recording than this? The Mackie techs then seemed to think that this might indicate that the song files were still present on the drive but that their index page had become corrupted, thereby making it impossible for the machine to open any particular song file. So... later this week, Paul is generously going to take the hard drive to a specialist company in London to see if the music files can be recovered. If so, I may get my precious material back and finish the song I felt would be so important to the new album. (And remix the 'Haunted' song.) Fingers crossed. If this process doesn't recover the apparently vanished songs, then I'll have to use the earlier mix of 'Haunted' and attempt a total re-recording of the new song I've lost. It won't be at all the same, however, as the original was so complex, so detailed, so full of 'happy accidents', that it would be impossible to reproduce exactly the same combination of magic and chance that created it in the first place. I can't evenn remember all the delicious melodies and counter-melodies that made up the orchestral sections of the piece, let alone reproduce all the minute adjustments to tone and timbre that each instrument had been subjected. The vocal performance was unique too, a product of time and place, never to be quite as convincing again Plus, the proper moment for its creation has now passed, my enthusiasm cruelly dampened and diminished by the original's loss. But we'll see... I've not completely given up hope yet. Since then, I've been working on the machine's internal drive and not risked using the malfunctioning external plug-in one. I've almost completed another new song. Not bad going, time wise. It's called 'Here comes The Sea (The Captain's Lament)'. Another big orchestral score and a few guitar parts scattered here and there, but nothing 'guitaristic', just appropriate colour where needed. No gratuitous applause seeking. The album's opening track will be a pure instrumental though, something to set up the correct atmosphere for the songs. This piece is called 'The Lighthousekeeper's Waltz' and has a sort of 'overture' effect. But enough talk of this. The album has already turned me into even more of an anti-social semi-recluse than usual. I need to get it finished and off my chest, clear the decks, (to use a nautical pun). I have stolen the odd day or two from my work to appear human, (although I'm told that I always appear distracted and distant on these occasions) My daughter Julia and my grandson Luke came up from London and we all went to a quite spectacular air show together. Absolutely terrifying... but thrilling. Took some camcorder footage for videogram use. Great to see Julia and Luke though... he's a real bright spark and a credit to Julia's patience and love. Also, my mother's 77th Birthday. Mum's such a gem and I'm a terrible son. I don't spend nearly enough time with my mother. Or my children. Or my wife. ('Though I have spent most of this bank holiday weekend attempting to take Emi out and about.) It's all music, bloody music. And very little else. Now... back to the mixing desk. Need to push on... I'm way behind schedule. All photographs by Bill Nelson Top of page William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) August 2005 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Sep Oct Dec 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) December 2007 Jan Feb Apr May Jul Sep Oct Nov Monday 24th December 2007 -- 10:00 pm Some sad developments since my previous diary entry but I'll refrain from documenting them here and now. These things, because they are painful and difficult, must wait for a while. So...maybe next time? Well...next time. might be more sensible. But, tonight it is Christmas Eve and some light, no matter how feeble or flickering, should shine on my readers, no matter how dark my own corner of the universe might appear from this current vantage point. Zipping back in time a few weeks: Emiko and I had a lovely night out, at the start of this month, with the Nelsonica team at a favourite restaurant of ours in the city of York. It was the occasion of the annual Nelsonica 'thank you' dinner, a chance for us all to spend time in each other's company and enjoy a relaxing evening after the complex demands of this year's fanconvention. It was also an opportunity for the team to observe their (hopefully still) esteemed hero lowering his less than inpenetrable defences and succumbing to the dubious charms of Bacchus. Which simply means that I allowed myself to become more and more hopelessly and joyfully inebriated as the evening progressed. (Oh, vine-adorned Lord of the grape, forgive me, for I know EXACTLY what I do, and more's the pity.) As a modest token of thanks, I gave each member of the team an individually burned CDr of some brand new material that I'm considering for inclusion on my next album, 'SILVERTONE FOUNTAINS.' It's still, inevitably, a work in progress but this preliminary cdr has at least allowed them a glimpse of the ongoing process. I'm hoping to have the final track-listing completed in time for a late February release although this is entirely dependent upon me feeling that the album has reached its natural conclusion. Things could yet change quite dramatically as the music, and my imagination, is perpetually in flux. Frustratingly, during the last week or two, I've created three totally new instrumentals, all three of which are more than good enough to be considered as potential tracks for the album, (alongside the 16 tunes already on the short list). So, the project is growing, changing, slowly finding its way to its final conclusion. To saddle it with a contemporary cliche: It's an organic, ongoing process. All I can do is act as midwife. Some of the tracks will inevitably be set aside, probably for inclusion on next year's limited edition fan-convention album, whilst others will stay, (provided they belong to the 'Silvertone Fountains' atmosphere). As always, I'm more enthused about the latest pieces than the earlier ones. Despite the chopping and changing, (or even because of it), the album will, I think, turn out to be a very nice work. No, let's allow no false modesty, it will be a BEAUTIFUL work! Not long after the Nelsonica dinner, I succumbed to a nasty cold virus that has only now, two weeks later, begun to fade. Emi caught it too, (as I predicted), and she's had some uncomfortable nights, coughing and coughing and feeling totally wretched. This time of year is always busy for Emi and it's not the best time for her to feel ill. Not that there's ever a best time to feel ill. Despite the debilitating bugs, I have managed to deal with the Christmas shopping demands...at least to a standard that won't leave me feeling totally embarrased and inadequate. O.k...perhaps not QUITE as focussed as last year but, hopefully, not really letting anyone down. As mentioned in earlier diary entries, I do tend to take an inordinate amount of time searching for what I feel are the most appropriate gifts for my family and friends. I take a personal pride in this and get quite frustrated by having to make snap decisions because of lack of time. Unfortunately, despite all best intentions, time and circumstances have been against me, and more than ever this year. Predictably and pathetically, like many people of my generation, I'm beginning to wonder whether the original spirit of Christmas has finally been buried under the icy avalanche of commerce. The festive season seems to have become more and more stressful (and artificial) with each passing year. Yes, I know that such an opinion is regarded as a cliche and I also accept that it's probably always been that way, (despite those fantasy snow powdered dreamy Christmases of my first ten years on this earth...) But, what the heck. I STILL expect the impossible. I demand miracles and magic. But my life has already had more than its fair share of that. Anyway, shopping done, food in the fridge and freezer, lights lit in the lounge, gifts awaiting my fumbling at the wrapping paper. (And I must turn my attention to this last task SOON.) Still I sneak away from it all, up here to the broom cupboard that I'm audacious enough to call 'my studio,' to pick up a guitar and play. Plink, plonk, plink, strum, twang...Not for any great purpose, not for the 'latest' album or an adoring, paying audience, but simply because picking up the instrument, cradling it against my chest, feeling it resonate, hum and sing beneath my fingers, is the most satisfying, rewarding, and honest expression of being alive that I can muster. I pick up a guitar for no other reaon than the sheer JOY of doing so. Appears sad and pathetic written down like that, doesn't it? Well, dear reader, let me assure you that it's NOT. In fact it's magnificent, empowering, enobling, energising, ecsatatic and marvellous. I wouldn't exchange it for untold millions or the glamour and fame of a movie-star. (OR a wealthy rock star for that matter.) Despite all the hundreds of recordings I've made, there's more vibrant, essential music created in moments of spontaneity in this little room, than has ever found its way onto album, tape or hard disc. In those unrecorded, unplanned, ungaurded moments, it's just me and a guitar and the original mystic spark that united the two of us in the first place, back in 1958. For me, at 59 years old, there's simply no other reason to be doing this... Christmas every day, a birthday every hour, ice cream for breakfast and warm, warm lips for the kissing of... xxx A VERY MERRY YULETIDE TO ALL READERS OF THIS HYPERDREAMER'S DIARY! Top of page

Cinema Menu Christmas Greetings Enjoy these Christmas video gifts from Bill 'A Christmas Garland' - Christmas Video Card, 2024 'Bill's Christmas Guitar Shop' - Christmas Video Card, 2023 'Future Gothic Twang' - Christmas Video Card, 2022 An Electrical Christmas - 2021 72 Christmases On Planet Earth - 2020 The City Dreams Of Christmas - 2019 The Crystal Lights Of Christmastown - 2018 Variation On The Theme Of A White Christmas - 2017 Winterchyme Christmas - 2016 Christmas Guitars - 2015 A Guitar For Christmas - 2014 Yule Chime Dream - 2013 Silent Night - 2012 The Christmas Book - 2011 The Silver Bells Of Christmas Valley - 2008 Ghosts Of Christmas Past - 2007 Cinema Menu

Electrotype retrospective collection - 14 February 2001 Bill Nelson Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Global Village - Dear Mr. Fantasy 02) Global Village - Long Grey Mare 03) Global Village - You Don't Love Me 04) Global Village - 598 Rundown 05) Global Village - Babe 06) Global Village - Stanley Blues Tail 07) Global Village - Keep Your Feathers Fine 1 08) Global Village - Country Season 09) Global Village - Keep Your Feathers Fine 2 10) Global Village - Young Eyes 11) Global Village - Batch #70172 12) Global Village - Summer Woman 13) Be Bop Deluxe - Riders Of My Love 14) Be Bop Deluxe - Jet Silver & The Dolls Of Venus 15) Be Bop Deluxe - Be-Bop-Bac 16) Be Bop Deluxe - If Stars Should Fall 17) Be Bop Deluxe - After The Stars 18) Be Bop Deluxe - So Insane And So In Love 19) Be Bop Deluxe - Night Creatures 20) Chris Coombs - Yesterday 21.1) Chris Coombs - Cold Tired And Hungry 21.2) (Unlisted Track) NOTES: Electrotype is an archive release taken from acetates and 2 track recordings made at Holyground Studios in Wakefield between 1968 and 1972 compiled by Mike Levon, who sadly passed away on 5 September 2011. For anyone who had read Nelson's personal reminiscences of his earliest somewhat amateur recordings and wondered what these various outfits sounded like, then this CD provides most of the answers. Coming with an informative and superbly illustrated booklet, that perfectly reflects the times when this music was made, Electrotype (together with Nelson's 1971 debut album Northern Dream ) tells the story of Nelson's formative years in wonderful detail. The inclusion of seven Be Bop Deluxe demos from 1972 (ignore the 1971 date claimed for some of these, as this is an error) should be enough to attract any Nelson fan but the entire collection is a fascinating glimpse of the Holyground years that fleshes out his formative years with tracks from Global Village and Be Bop Deluxe. The inclusion of 2 tracks by Chris Coombs on which Nelson guests is of interest to only those who have to own everything Nelson recorded. PAST RELEASES: None of this material was previously available. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: This collection can be purchased directly from Holyground ( http://www.holyground.co.uk/electrotype/ ). Collections Menu Future Past

The Love That Whirls Bill Nelson album - 25 June 1982 Albums Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Empire Of The Senses 02) Hope For The Heartbeat 03) Waiting For Voices 04) A Private View 05) Eros Arriving 06) The Bride Of Christ In Autumn 07) When Your Dream Of Perfect Beauty Comes True 08) Flaming Desire 09) Portrait Of Jan With Flowers 10) The Crystal Escalator In The Palace Of God Department Store 11) Echo In Her Eyes (The Lamps Of Oblivion) 12) The October Man ALBUM NOTES: The Love That Whirls is album that mixes vocal and instrumental pieces issued on the Mercury label. It was recorded between April and November 1981 at Ric Rac Studios, Leeds, England and Rockfield Studios Monmouth, Wales. The album was Nelson's first full length album of songs since Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam , most of which was recorded in 1979. The album reached No. 28 in the UK charts and was promoted by the singles Eros Arriving and Flaming Desire , both of which briefly spent time in the UK Top 100 singles chart. The Love That Whirls represented a change in sound for Nelson's solo work when compared to his most recent previous output, as it featured a brightly polished production and a state of the art drum sound. All instruments were played by Nelson apart from "vibraslaps" on "Empire of the Senses" (played by Jan Nelson) and drums on "The October Man" (played by Bogdan Wiczling). When originally released on vinyl and cassette, the first 10,000 copies of The Love That Whirls came packaged with a limited edition free album, La Belle et la Bête , Nelson's second soundtrack work for the Yorkshire Actors Company. PAST RELEASES: The Love That Whirls was initially issued on CD on Cocteau (1986), and featured a remix of "Hope for the Heartbeat" in place of the vinyl version. For the Mercury reissue (2005), both mixes were included, with the remix as a bonus track. When issued on CD in the U.S. in 1989, fans were presented with an altered version of the album. Both the fan favorite "Empire of the Senses" and the single "Flaming Desire" were deleted from the original running order, while four songs from period singles were added. This was done in an effort to make sure the track listing on the independent (Enigma) CD reissue did not overlap with the CD of the major label (CBS) U.S. compilation album, Vistamix . 1989 U.S. CD of The Love That Whirls : 01 ) When The Birds Return (From the Sleepcycle club EP) 02) Hope For The Heartbeat (Remix from the U.S. promo single) 03) Waiting For Voices 04) A Private View 05) Eros Arriving 06) The Bride Of Christ In Autumn 07) Flesh (From the Eros Arriving double single) 08) He And Sleep Were Brothers (From the Eros Arriving double single) 09) When Your Dream Of Perfect Beauty Comes True 10) Dancing On A Knife's Edge (From a club EP of the same name) 11) Portrait Of Jan With Flowers 12) The Crystal Escalator In The Palace Of God Department Store 13) Echo In Her Eyes 14) The October Man CURRENT AVAILABILITY: In 2005 Mercury reissued The Love That Whirls as a remastered CD, producing the definitive edition of the album, which is still available. The package was well presented with sleeve notes and photographs, and contains the original version of the album as released in 1982, together with five bonus tracks taken from singles issued contemporaneously with the album. Note that all of the bonus tracks on the Mercury had previously appeared on the Cocteau compilation The Two Fold Aspect of Everything (a collection that sorely deserves a reissue). Extra songs on the 2005 CD: 07) Flesh (Eros Arriving b-side) 08) He And Sleep Were Brothers (Eros Arriving b-side) 15) Haunting In My Head (Eros Arriving b-side) 16) Hope For The Heartbeat (remix) (promotional single) 17) The Passion (Flaming Desire b-side) BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Let me explain the title. It's actually based on a fact, rather than a poetic fantasy. It has two direct connections...the first is to the 'whirling dervishes.' These are Sufi dancers who use the whirling dance as a form of prayer and worship. They are taught to love everything and their whirling dance is an expression of that love and a means of attaining divine ecstasy. Hence 'The Love That Whirls.' "The other connection is to avant-garde film maker and occultist Kenneth Anger who, in 1949, made a film titled 'The Love That Whirls.' The film was destroyed by the film processing laboratory who took it upon themselves to judge the film 'obscene.' "So, you see, these things are not just random words...they are connected to certain things that interest me and inform the mood of the album." _____ "Ironically, "October Man" is one of the tracks from that album which has, for me, stood the test of time. (In that I can still play it live today without feeling as disconnected from it as much as some of the Be Bop stuff makes me feel). It somehow escapes that '80s stylistic thing. "Crystal Escalator", whilst quite different from "October Man" and difficult to perform live, retains, for me, a space-age, dub vibe which I still can listen to without embarrassment. It conjures up a certain art-deco department store in Leeds that I was familiar with in the 1950s, and the escalators that seemed so magical to me as a child." FAN THOUGHTS : Radium Girl: "I'm a bit lost for words actually, when I think about describing my feelings for The Love That Whirls . I find it very strange that it's so hard to express...being that it is one of my favorite albums ever recorded. Maybe that's it - it's so personal and the entire album, beginning to end is embued the most gorgeous sonically induced imagery...it feels like a very special gift that I was given from Bill. I haven't stopped listening to it since. An essential record for me." novemberman: "Yeah this is the album that made me change from having a passing interest in Bill Nelson to a fan. I still have my original vinyl copy complete with Belle et Bete , guess what I'll be playing tonight. 30 years old & a classic of its time!!" play my theremin: "I'm an admirer of Bill's songs, lyrics, and vocals ahead of his playing, exceptional though it is. I don't enjoy the Be Bop Deluxe stuff much perhaps for this reason. It seemed something happened around the time of The Love That Whirls that, for me, took him away from the band-member dynamic and let him flourish and mature as a singer/songwriter/producer, and he's gone from strength to strength in that...in my opinion, and there are too many favourite vocals to list." Parsongs: "Wow!! The drum machine was percolating and the e-bow was soaring. There was a lot of processing on these tracks, all done with a lot of taste. The marimba was a very unique touch as well. I had never heard the e-bow used so much or played so well. Bill is a natural with this device which is not easy to master - I can tell you from my own experience!!" paul.smith: "Empire of the Senses": "always grabbed me when I first bought the album - that vocal passage of 'sound' rather than words that goes up and down in a sort of falsetto style...very evocative and haunting." Andre: "Empire of the Senses": "has the wildest marimba solo you will ever hear." peterc62: "Empire of the Senses": "is a great song - I love the Marimba and Vibroslap sounds. This was the first BN album my wife admitted to liking which allowed me to bombard her with loads of other stuff." Iron Man No. 28: "Japanese director Nagisa Oshima had recently made the films In The Realm of the Senses (1976) and Empire of Passion (1978); Bill's title "Empire of the Senses" conflates the two." ChristianX: "This album has stayed with me and is part of who I am today. PS - Does anyone else cry when the guitar solo from "The October Man" kicks in at the end of The Love That Whirls or am I the only one? Gets me every time..." chromiumlad: "Sometime in 1985, I was 14 at the time, my uncle made me a tape of The Love That Whirls with the instructions "Play This Loud". I did many many many times. I still have that tape. Then the same uncle introduced me to Sylvian's 'Gone to Earth.' And a few years later when I got my first CD player I immediately (well as soon as I found them) bought The Love That Whirls , Sound on Sound , and Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam . I have been enthralled with Bill's work ever since." Chimera Man: "The Love That Whirls led to a fascination and loyalty that has lasted 33 years." Jet Silver: "This is the first (of quite a few) Bill Nelson album I ever purchased. On the strength of hearing one song on the radio and the intriguing cover image, imagine my surprise upon getting it home to discover a second album of instrumental music as well as a sheet of 'Cocteau Records' related merchandise to procure, (if only I had...). The music inside the cover of course was worth thrice the price of admission and was a touchstone to a musical world that has become far more richer and wonderful than I could have ever imagined 30 years ago." Albums Menu Future Past

Cinema Menu Bill Nelson Videos A collection of videos Bill has created for his music, with a couple of 'guest' videos that Bill enjoys. The Studio Tour Here's a video showing a walk around Bill's studio in intimate detail... It features the tracks 'The Raindrop Collector' and 'A Perfect Night - The Dawn Rejoices'. September 2018 Video and music by Bill Nelson Drive This Comet Across The Sky 'Drive This Comet Across The Sky' is an album now available to download from Bandcamp. It's an album with a number of rock-pop songs on it and a single instrumental track. Here is a simple little video I've made to give you a preview of the title track. Hope you enjoy it! Bill Nelson, January 2018 Video and music by Bill Nelson Instromix Created in October 2017, 'Instromix' includes manipulated photographs and images to the backing of five fantastic guitar -based instrumental tracks Video and music by Bill Nelson The Awakening Of Dr. Dream The title track from the 2017 album 'The Awakening Of Dr. Dream' Video and music by Bill Nelson Hyperluminal From the 2016 album 'Perfect Monsters' Video and music by Bill Nelson Only A Dream But Nevertheless From the 2015 album 'Plectrajet' Revisiting Wakefield and the ruins of memory... A personal odyssey through the decaying landscape of my past Video and music by Bill Nelson The Boy Who Lived In The Future Taken from the 2013 album 'The Sparkle Machine', this video was premiered at the Hepworth Gallery concert in Wakefield in September 2013 Video and music by Bill Nelson Albion Dream Vortex The title track from the 2013 album 'Albion Dream Vortex' Featuring Bill's photography throughout the years Video and music by Bill Nelson Let's Dance This track from the 2012 album 'Return To Tomorrow' is Bill's cover of the Chris Montez hit. Julian Hanford has done a fantastic job of coupling the music to a dance sequence from the 1969 Universal Pictures film 'Sweet Charity'. Music performed by Bill Nelson, written by Jim Lee Film footage by Bob Fosse Video produced by Julian Hanford Model Village Take a trip with Bill around some of his favourite Yorkshire Landscapes. Featuring the tracks 'Windmill Interlude' and 'Cross Country', from his 2011 album 'Model Village' Video and music by Bill Nelson The Golden Days Of Radio From the 2009 album 'Fancy Planets' Video and music by Bill Nelson Once I Had A Time Machine Taken from the 2008 album 'Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow', this video was premiered at the Songs For Ghosts launch party in October 2017 Video and music by Bill Nelson Young Dreams Whirled Away From the 2008 album 'Silvertone Fountains' Video and music by Bill Nelson Astron From the 2007 album 'Secret Cub For Members Only' Video and music by Bill Nelson The Ceremonial Arrival Of The Great Golden Cloud From the 2005 album 'The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill' Music written and performed by Bill Nelson Video produced by Julian Hanford incorporating footage from various sources Be Bop Deluxe In The South Of France Footage shot by Bill during the recording of the Drastic Plastic album in 1977. The material remained unseen until Bill found it, digitised it and made this film...first shown during the 'Be Bop and Beyond' tour of 2004 Video and music by Bill Nelson Pink Buddha Blues Taken from the 1995 album 'Practically Wired (Or How I Became Guitar Boy)'. The music is Bill's, but the video sequence isn't... However, Bill very much approves of the video, which is why it is featured here in the Essoldo Cinema. Music by Bill Nelson Video uploaded by Zastava Flaming Desire From the classic 1982 album 'The Love That Whirls' Music and video by Bill Nelson Do You Dream In Colour? A very well spruced up video of this classic single from the 1981 album 'Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam' Video and music by Bill Nelson Cinema Menu

A B C D F H I J K E G L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ A - Z Song List Discography Menu A A Ablaze With Glory Abstracted Acceleration Acceleration (Dub Version) Acceleration (Long Version) Accessio Lucis (The Coming Light) Accordion Night The Ache At The Heart Of The World Aching Heart Acquitted By Mirrors Acquitted By Mirrors (Demo) Adventure Annual Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (BBC Studio Version) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (Decca Studio Version) Aeolian Magic (Blip No 9) Aeroplane Mind Aeroplane Wings The Aerostatic Balloonist After All These Years After Life After Midnite (Twang, Echo And Hoedown) After The Rain, Pick The Fruit After The Stars Age Of Reason Airmail Guitar Albion Dream Vortex Alchemia The Alchemy Of Ecstasy Alice In The Palace Of Stardust And Pearl Aliumesque All Aboard The Skylark All A Dream, After All All Alone In A Boat Of His Own All Dressed Up In Your Art School Clothes All Hail The Dreamer (Miss Futurama Smiles) All Hail The Happy Captain All Hail The Witching Hour All I Am Is You All My Wives Were Iron All Our Yesterdays All's Well In Wonderland All That I Remember All The Fun Of The Fair All These Days Are Gone (For Ian) All The World Flies Kites Tonight All This And A Girl Like You All You Need To Know The Almost Invisible Man Almost Unchanging Aloha Niagra Alone In A Lunar Light Altar Natives Always And Everywhere Always Looking Forward To Tomorrow Always Summer Always You Amazing Things Ambiguity American Moderne Ampex Eight Ampex Eleven Ampex Five Ampex Four Ampex Nine Ampex One Ampex Seven Ampex Six Ampex Ten Ampex Three Ampex Twelve Ampex Two Ampex Xtra An Acre Of Sunshine Ancient Angels Watching Me Ancient Guitars And All The World Was Ours And Now The Rain And The Train Left The Station Trailing Sparks And Stars And There I Am And We Fell Into A Dream Andromeda Gardens An Electrical Christmas The Angel At The Western Window Angel In My System Angel Like You The Angel Of Hearth And Home Angels In Arcadia Angels Obey Bells The Angel With Television Eyes Annunciation Another Day, Another Ray Of Hope Another Happy Thought (Carved For Ever In Your Cortex) Another Kiss For Your Slender Neck Another Luxury Wonder Moment Another Planet Another Rainy Day Another Slice Of Wonder Cake Another Tricky Mission For The Celestial Pilot Another Willingly Opened Window Antennae Two Antique Gods Antique Interiors Antoria Aphrodite Adorned Appolinaire Apollonian Tremolo Apple Tree Swing Aqua Celeste Aqua Magica Arbor Philosophica (Tree Of Philosophy) Archetypes Arco Volta Ardent Hands Are You Listening? Arising Arrangement Of Roses Art Deco Dance Art/Empire/Industry Art For Art's Sake Artifex Art Is Long And Time Is Fleeting Artismo Loco Art Is My Aeroplane The Art Of Thinking Ashes Of Roses Art Of Vision As If It Was A Moment Ago As Quickly As A Kiss As The Stars Began To Glow Astra The Astral Tramways Of England Astro-Astoria Astro-Coaster Astro Logic Astroluxe Astron The Astronomy Of The Heart Astrophysical The Asylum At Home In High Clouds At The Center At The Gates Of The Singing Garden Atlantika The Atom Age The Atom Age (Demo) Atom Blasted Cadillac Atom Man Loves Radium Girl Atoms And Electrons Atom Shop (Is Closing) Atoms, Neutrons, Strangeness And Charm Atoms Orbit Around The Sun The Attempted Murder Of Jane Attempt To Re-Assemble My Fragmented Self Aura Hole Auraville Autosexual Autosexual (Demo) Autumn And Spring The Autumn Balloonist Autumn Drowns Apples In Golden Tides Autumn Fires Autumn Noodle No.1 Autumn Stars Autumn Tram (Yorkshire Raga No.2) Autumn Vapours Awakening The Awakening The Awakening Of Dr Dream Away Axe Victim Axe Victim (BBC Studio Version) Axe Victim (Decca Studio Version) Axe Victim (First Version) Axiomata Azure Extension Babe Baby Buddha Baby Robot Baby Ruth's Big Special Back Of Beyond Back To Dreams Bakelite (The 50th Birthday Song) Ballyboots Bamboozled Banal Barely There Batch # 70172 Bats At Bedtime BC1675 Beach Hut Beauties Beam Service Beams Of Light The Beast In Solitude Beatniks From Outer Space Beat Street The Beat That Can't Go Wrong Today Beautiful Big Boobies Beautiful Diamonds Are Falling From The Clouds The Beautiful Machine Beautiful Nudes Beauty And The Beast Beauty Enters The Castle Beauty In A Sparkly Bra Beauty Lifts Her Skirts Beauty Rides The Last Bus Home Beauty Secrets Beauty Secrets (First Version) Be-Bop-Bac Because Of You Beep, Beep, Beep Before We Fall Begin To Burn Be Here Now Behold Dumb Wonders Behold These Present Days Being And Nothingness Land The Bel-Air Rocketman A Bell Awakened Bell Bird Bell Weather (Blip No 2) The Bells Of Villefranche Bells Ring Sweet Across The Meadow Be My Dynamo Beneath Her Dappled Apple Tree Bending A Knee At The Altar Of Sacrifice The Best Of You A Better Home In The Phantom Zone A Better Home In The Phantom Zone (Demo) Between Autumn And Winter Between The Seasons Between The Worlds (Album Version) Between The Worlds (Single Version) Beyond All This Beyond Recall Beyond The Sun Beyond These Clouds The Sweetest Dream Beyond Yonder Bicycle Building Big Blue Day Big Broken Buick Big Empty Sky The Big Illumination Big Noise In Twangtown Big River Big Ship Big Yellow Moon Bikini Avanti Bill's Blues (Live) Bill's Last Waltz Billy And The High Blue Horizon Billy Beyond (Everyone's Clean In Paradise) Billy Builds The World Of Tomorrow Billy Infinity Billy's Blues Billy's Holiday Binky And The Dancing Astronomers Binky's Blues The Bird Charmer's Destiny The Bird Charmer's Destiny (First Version) Birdie A Bird Of The Air Shall Carry Thy Voice Bird Ornaments Birds And Blue Stuff Birds In Blue Sky Again The Birds In The Sky Say Hi! Birds In Two Hemispheres Birds Of Tin Bittersweet Black Fish/Silver Pond Blackpool Pleasure Beach And The Road To Enlightenment Blaze Ye Now The Golden Trail Blazing Apostles Blazing Apostles (BBC Studio Session) The Blazing Memory Of Innuendo Bless Me, Bless You Blimps Blink Of An Eye Blink-Agog Bliss And Abyss Blonde And Built To Last The Blossom Tree Optimists Bloo Blooz Blood Off The Wall Blowin' The Dust Off The Book Of The Future Blown Away Blue Amorini Blue As A Jewel Blue As A Jewel (Demo) Blue Beams Blue Cloud Blue Dawn Blue Distant Stars Blue Loop No.1 Blue Loop No.2 Blue Nude Blues For A Broken Time Machine Blues For Orpheus Blue Skies Listen, The Unstruck Bell Blue Sky Blue Sky Seeks Red Guitar Blue Sparks Flying Blue Spin Bluesy Ruby (BBC Studio Session) Bluesy Ruby (Decca Studio Session) The Blue Taint B-Movie Bug Boy A Boat Named St. Christopher Boat To Forever Body Of Light Boom Year Ahead Boy Chases Butterfly Boyhood Rockets Boyhood Shadows The Boy Pilots Of Bangkok The Boy Who Knew The Names Of Trains The Boy Who Learned Everything The Boy Who Lived In The Future Boy With Bubblepipe Bramble Brave Flag The Breath In My Father's Saxophone The Bride Of Christ In Autumn Bride Of The Atom Bridge Across The Void Bright And Glittering (Blip No 6) Bright Magic Bright 'N Breezy Bright Sparks Bright Star (Moonlight Over Ocean Blue) A Brilliant Night For Rain Bring Back The Spark Bringers Of Lights To The Feast Broadcast News (Theme From Right To Reply) Broken Broken Blues Bronze The Brotherhood Of Sleeping Car Porters Brutal Tinkerbell Bubbledreamer Bubbles In The Cosmos Bubbling Blue Buddha And The Rain Cloud The Buddha Boys A Buddha For My Brother Buddha Head Buddha's Eyes Are Everywhere Buddha Smoked My Cigarettes Bugging Me Bumpcycle Burning Down The Burning Question Burning The Grove Of Satyrs Burnished The Buzz, Buzz, Buzz Of The Forever Bee Buzz Was Honey B B The Cabinet Closes California Boombox Caligari Disciplines Cesare Caligari Feeds Cesare Caligari Opens The Cabinet Calling Heaven, Calling Heaven, Over Call Of The Wild Candelabra And Gargoyles Candyland Capricious Skies Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus The Captain's In The Wheelhouse (Fabled Quixote) Carnival The Carousel Of Time Cascade (Improvisation For Three Harp Guitars) Cassidy's Electric Campfire Song The Castle The Celestial Bridegroom Celestial East The Celestial Steam Locomotive The Celestial Travelator Celestina Swoons Celestrum Celluloid Ghosts The Century That Dared To Dream The Ceremonial Arrival Of The Great Golden Cloud Certain Circles A Certain Thought Passed Through My Mind Cesare The Somnambulist Chameleon Channel Surfing Chapel Of Chimes The Charm Of Transit A Charming Trick Chelsea Flash Chiffon Child Of The Dream Chills For You Chiming Church With Rusty Bell Chiming Shires The Chinese Nightingale A Christmas Cowboy Outfit The Christmas Gift Christmastide Christ Via Wires Chroma Chymepeace (An Ending) Cimbercom Cinnamon And Mint Circle The World In A Paper Canoe Circo Infantil Circular Tour A Circus To Remember The City Dreams Of Christmas City Of Tomorrow City One Clavis Angelicae (Key Of Angels) Clear Controls Confirmed Clear Skies A' Coming Climbing Clock Conscious The Clock That Time Forgot Clocks Wind Slow The Clockwork Light Machine The Clockwork Rocket Close Your Eyes (The Sleepytown Symphony) Clothed In Light Amongst The Stars The Clouded Mirror The Cloud Of Unknowing Clouds Above The Corn Clouds Drift North Cloudwater Canal Cloudy Billows Kiss The Moon Coastal Starlight Coasting Cold Tired And Hungry The Colonel Has An Anti-Decimal Scheme Colossal Figures Shrouded In Clouds Colour Floods The Bay With Blue Come Closer And See My Dreams Come To Me In My Dreams Comic Cuts Complicated Coney Island Confessions Of A Psychedelic Dandy Confused The Conjurer's Companion (Every Blessed Thing Is So Damned Fragile) Consolamentum Consolation Street Contemplation (Original ABM EP Version) Contemplation (Album Version) Contemplation (Redux 2007) Contrary Wise Cool Blue Heaven Coop's Place The Corridor Corrosive Cosmic Country Ghosts A Cottage On The Moon Country Cola Country Season Covered In Chrome The Cowboy Club Cowboy Christmas Cowboy Song Crazy Dreamer Crazy Right Now Creamy Clouds Cremona Crimsworth Cross Country Crying All Night Crying To The Sky Crying To The Sky (Alternate Guitar Solo) Crying To The Sky (BBC Studio Session) Crying To The Sky (First Version) The Crystal Escalator In The Palace Of God Department Store Crystal Gazing Crystal Gazing (Alternate Vocal Version) The Crystal Gazing Room (No Sleep For The Alchemist) The Crystal Lights Of Chrismastown Crystal Springs C-Shell Cubical Domes The Curate's Cassock Is Troubled By The Breeze Curate's Egg In Cup Of Grass Curiosity's Domain The Curious King Of Dreams The Cycle Factory Cyclebumps C C D Dada Guitare Daily Bells Dali's Dream Of Venus Dance, Mighty Robot, Dance! Dance Of The Anti-Gravity Enthusiasts Dance Of The Cosmic Signaller No. 2 Dance Of The Fragrant Woman Dance Of The Luminous Dials Dance Of The Mullard Valvemen Dance Of The Orchard Angels Dance Of The Pagan Energy Ghosts Dance Of The Sonic Culture Gods Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone) Dancing In The Wind Dancing Music Dancing On A Knife's Edge Dangerous Lady Dangerous Stranger Dangerous Stranger (Demo) The Darcey Bussell Rubberwear Fantasia Dark And Bright Dark And Complicated Dark Angel Dark Eyes Dark Horse Dark Is The Spark Darkness (L'Immoraliste) Darkness Sparkles The Darkness Will Remain Darling Star Daughter Of Dream Come True A Day At West Acre Daydreaming The Day I Dreamed You Up Day Of Eternity Days Of Golden Dreams Days Of Wonder The Day That Came And Went Dazzle (Blip No 10) The Dead We Wake With Upstairs Drums Dear Mr. Fantasy December Days-Diamond Bright December Waltz Decimal Point For The Thousand Races Decline And Fall Decode Me Baby Deco Super Cruiser Deep December (Bright And Shiny Day) Deep Dream Decoder Deeply Dazzled Deep Sky Demon Raising The Departure Of The 20th Century In A Hail Of Memory Designer Dance De Soto Deva Dance Devil In Me The Difficulty Of Being Dig The Sparkles A Dip In The Sparkle Jar A Dip In The Swimming Pool Reactor Dippety-Doo Disneyland After Dark Disposable Dissolve Distant Town With Different Lights Distant Years From Now The Divine Raptures Of Sisterhood The Diving Bell Dizzy In The Head A Dizzy Spell Django Dreams Of Twinkleland Doctor Caligari The Doctor Was An Alchemist Dog Day Afternoon Domain Of Echo Don't Be A Stranger Don't Cry, Space-Guy Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) (BBC Session) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) (Demo) Don't Wait The Door Do Space Trams Dream Of Fictitious Passengers? The Dove Consumed (The Serpent Slumbers) Down Comes The Rain Downhill Down On Terminal Street Do You Dream In Colour? The Drawing Room Dreamboat Situation Dream Car Romantics (In Death's Garage Antics) Dream Cities Of The Heart Dream Cycles One Dream Cycles Three Dream Cycles Two The Dream Dance Of Jane And The Sonambulist Dreamed Embraces A Dream For Ian A Dream Fulfilled Dreamgirl Dream Guitar Dreaming Of A Girl Dreaming Of Another World Dreamland Avenue Dreamland Illuminated The Dreamlike Day-To-Day Dreamlike World Dreamnoise And Angel Dream Of An American Streetcar Dream Of Imperial Steam A Dream Of Thee (Blip No 3) The Dream Of The Unified Field Dreams And Smoke (Flow With The River) Dream Ships Set Sail Dreams Of Yesterday Dreams Returning To The Night Dreams Run Wild On Ghost Train Tracks Dreamstate USA Dreamster 2.L.R. Dreams (The Merchant Sleeps) Dreams Turn To Dust Dreamsville The Dreamsville Poetry Experiment Dreamt I Was Floating In A Summer Sky Dream Up, Billy Drift Fictions Drift Of Narcissus Drive Shaft Drive This Comet Across The Sky Driving Through England Dr Synth's Disco Demento Duality Duane's Dream The Dubious Virtue Of Loveliness Duende Dumb Palooka Dumb-World Duraflame The Dusk Before The Dark Dust And Sunbeams And The Ticking Of A Clock The Dust That Falls From Dreams Dynatron Dynatron Blues D E E Earthbound Eastern Electric Ecclesia Gnostica Echoes Of The Age Echo In Her Eyes (The Lamps Of Oblivion) The Echo, The Shadow, The Empty Shell The Ecstatic Transfiguration Of The Great Northern Twang Magus Ectoplasm Turbine Edge Of Nothing Edge Of Recall Edge Of Tears Edge Of The World El Swingo Collapso Electric Atlanta Electric Milkcart Blues Electric Railway Overhead Electric Trains, Clean Oceans, Clear Skies, Pure Air Electrical Adepts Of The Celestial Bed Electrical Language Electrical Language (Demo) The Elegant Outsider The Elegant Parabola Elevated Railway Elliptic Waterfall Emak Bakia The Embarkation Song Of The Last Fast Airship Emerald City The Emperor Of The Evening Emphatically Yours Empire Of The Senses Emptiness Sings (A Lonely Boy) The Enchanted Cathedral The Enchanted Glove The Enclosed Garden Endless Autumn Endless Orchids Endless Summer Ahead Endless Torsion End Of The Seasons End Of The Future Enigmatron Enlightenment Erectoplasm Eros Arriving Eros Ghost Trails Gleaming Echoes Eros In Autumn Erotikon Escape Over The Rooftops Escondido Oleander Essoldo Stripshow The Eternal Fascinator The Eternal Female Eternal For Emiko Eternal Lightbulbs (For The Infinite Stars) Eternally Ethel's Attic (No.3, Marriot's Building, 1948) Evening Adoration Evening Illuminator The Evening Peal Evening Star Electric Park Evening Tide Ever The Dreamer Everyday Feels Like Another New Drug Everyday Is A Better Day Everyday Now Is Forever Again Every Moment Infinite Everyone's Hero Everything Changes With The Weather Everything Everywhere Everything Is Ancient Now Everything Permitted Every Tiny Atom Evocation Of A Radiant Childhood Exactly The Way You Want It Existentialism Experimental Erotica (Scene One) Experimental Erotica (Scene Two) The Experimental Time Traveller The Exquisite Corpse The Eye Of Heaven Shines F Fables Of The Future The Fabulous Foals Of Faraway Farm The Fabulous Fountain Of Your Savoir Faire The Fabulous Mr Futurismo The Fabulous Whirlygig Of Now A Face In The Mirror Face In The Rain Fading Away The Fading Light Faint Aroma Of Snow Fair Exchange Fair Winds And Flying Boats Fair Winds And Steam Machines The Fairground Fairyland Before The Fire Falling Blossoms Falling Into Blue Falling Water False Alarms Familiar Spirit The Family Fancy Planets Fantasmatron Fantasmo Loop The Fantastic Futurama Ride Fantastic Guitars Fantastico Far Beyond The West Of Me Far Side Of Nowhere Far Too Flip Fascinating Noise Fear (The Merchant Wakes) Fearless Beauty (Kisses And Cream) Feast Of Lanterns Feeling Floating Away Feels Like Up To Me Fellini's Picnic Female Form Female Nebula Fever Dream Of The Starlight Man The Fields Beyond 15th Of July (Invisibles) (BBC Studio Session) Filament Filigree Filigree Balcony The Final Curtain Finis Gloria Mundi Finks And Stooges Of The Spirit Fire Gods Of The National Machine Fires In The Sky First Boy On The Moon First Memory Fish Are Dancing In The Fountain Of Dreams Fish Owl Moon Five Flying Horses 598 Rundown Flaming Creatures Flaming Desire Flesh Flicker And Fade Flights Of Fancy Flipside Float Away Flower Kiosk Flowers And Stars Flowers Within (Version 2) The Flower Thief Fluffy Bunny Business Flutterbye (Blip No 7) Flux Of Desire Fontaine Fontana Footsteps Footsteps In Rain Forbidden Lovers Forbibben Lovers (First Version) Forever Ago Forever Blue Sings The Sky Forever Orpheus Forevertron Forked Tongues, Mixed Blessings Forms In Open Spaces For Stuart (Triumph And Lament) Fortune Favours The Fall Guy Forward Motion For You And I For Young Moderns For Young Moderns (Demo) Found In Foreverland A Fountain In The Middle Of Nowhere Fountains Are Singing In Cities Of Light The Four Square Citadel Fractious Electrons Frankie Surfs The Milky Way Frankie Ukelele And The Fire In The Lake French Promenade Friday In The Future Friends From Heaven From Another Place From Another World From Here To Far Orion Frost-O-Matic Frosty Lawns (Snowballs And Oranges) Fruity Ornaments Full Colour Fontana Full Of Desire Full Sail The Fundamental Blues The Funeral Furniture Music Furniture Music (BBC Session) Furniture Music (Demo) Futura Future Gothic Twang The Future Life The Future Now Becomes The Past The Futurian Futurist Manifesto Fuzz Rocket Fantasia Fuzzy Dux F G Garage Full Of Clouds 2 The Garden Garden In The Sky Garden Of Cascades Garden Railway A Garden That Sings To The Sky The Gates Gathered In At Gloaming Gazing Through Golden Windows Gentle Spirits Prevail Get Out Of That Hole The Ghost In The Machine Ghostland Ghost Of Gilded Ruin Ghosts Behind Glass Ghosts Dance In Ghostland Ghost Show Ghosts Of Ancient Houses Ghosts Of Ancient Orchestras Ghosts Of Invisible Things Ghosts Of The Space Age Ghosts Of Utopian Cities Ghosts Wind The Parlour Clock Ghost Train Ghost Trains Travel On Phantom Tracks Giant Hawaiian Showboat The Gift Gift Of The August Tide Girlfriend In Mini-Skirt Girlfriend With Miracles Girl From Another Planet Girl From A Satellite Town The Girl I Never Forgot The Girl In The Galaxy Dress The Girl In The Glass Aeroplane The Girl In The Park In The Rain The Girl On The Fairground Waltzer The Girls I've Loved The Girl Who Disappeared Into A Cloud The Girl Who Was Electrically Carried Away Give A Damn My Dear Giving It All Away The Glance Of A Glittering Stranger The Glass Breakfast Glass Fish (For The Final Aquarium) Gleaming Without Lights The Gliding Club Glisten Glittering Figures (A Gnostic Lullaby) Glittering Rails Glittering Star Gloria Mundae The Glory Days Glow World Gnosis God Bless Me God Glows Green In Small Town Park God In Her Eyes God Man Slain God's Own Neighbourhood The Gods Speak God Thundered Boy The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow The Gold Beyond The Blue Golden The Golden Age Again Golden Balloon The Golden Bough Golden Coda (Farewell To Electric City) The Golden Comet The Golden Days Of Radio Golden Dream Of Circus Horses Golden Girl The Golden Hour Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow Golden Mile Golden Moments The Golden Roundabout Rides Again Golden Satellites Golden Shrine The Golden Soul Of You Golden Spacemen Rock N' Roll Gondola Goodbye Golden Sands Gooseberry Jam Grand Arcade The Grand Magician Brings A Blessing The Great Hall The Great Magnetiser Great Plains Green Tiger In The Gold Greeting A New Day Greetings From Surf Guitar Island A Guitar For Christmas G H Haiku Detour (Bop Kyoto) Half Asleep In A Hall Of Mirrors (Theme From Dream Demon) Half-Man, Half-Static Halogen Hammertheme Hang This Moment On A Sigh Hank And Duane In Reverbland Hank Marvin Goes To Mars Happily Addicted To You The Happy Clock Happy In My Helicopter Hat Happy Little Hovercar Happy Realms Of Light Happily Haunted Hard Facts From The Fiction Department Hastening The Chariot Of My Heart's Desire A Hat Like This Haunting In My Head A Head Full Of Lights And A Hat Full Of Haloes Heading For Home In A Hillman Minx Headlamp Moon He And Sleep Were Brothers Heart And Soul Heartbeat Thru The Telephone Heartbreakland The Heart Has Its Reasons The Heat In The Room Heaven Holds A Grand Parade Heaven Is A Haunted Realm Heaven Is A State Of Mind Heaven Lights Its Lamps Heavenly Homes Heavenly Homes (Flashman Remix) Heavenly Message Number One Heavenly Message Number Three Heavenly Message Number Two Heaven's Happy Hemisphere Heaven Takes No Prisoners Helios In Memoryland Hello Children Hello, Hello Hello You Beautiful People Help Us Magic Robot Henrietta Through The Looking Glass Heptarchia Here And Now Here Come The Rain Comets Here Comes Mr. Mercury Here Comes The Big Blue Moon Here Comes The Sea Here I Am, (And You Can Hear Me) Here I Am For You Here Is Where I Dream Here On Earth Here We Go Her Laughing Torso Hermetica Automatica The Hermetic Garden Heros De Lumiere Her Presence In Flowers Herself With Her Shadow Hers Is A Lush Situation Her True And Perfect Serpent Her True And Perfect Serpent (Acoustic Version) Hey, Bill Diddley! Hey Ho, There You Go The Hidden Flame Hide And Seek Hieronymous Bosch Beyond High And Mighty High Beam Sensation Highway 2000 Hi Lo La Hip-No-tize The Hipster Gimmick His Astral Form Hi-Tone Saturday Hold On To Your Heart Holey Moley It's A Parallel World Holiday Express A Holiday In Dimension X Hollywood Still Burning Holy Of Holies (Waiting For The Night) The Home, The Light And The Third Honeybee In Autumn Honey Loop Honeymoon On Mars Hope For The Heartbeat Horse Eats Hat Hostess Twinkie Vapourised Hotel On Wheels Hot-Rod Racer The House At The End Of Memory Lane The House Of A Hundred Clocks The House Of Morpheus House Of Mystery House Of Sand Howlin' Wolf In Me How Many Miles To Babylon How Near We Are Humming In The Void/Girl With The Thousand-Watt Smile The Hunt Hymn Of The Old Albion Co-Operative Society Hyperluminal Hypnos H I I I Always Knew You Would Find Me I Am The Captain I Am The Only Monster Here I Am The Universe Ian's Radio Is On Ice And Fire Icing On The Cake Iconography I Danced In A Dream (Blip No 11) Ideal Homes I Dream Of Giant Telescopes I Dream Of Lightning I Dream Of Waves I Drift Away Amongst The Stars If I Was The Pilot Of Your Perfect Cloud If Love Were Gold If Stars Should Fall If Wishes Were Horses I Hear Electricity I'll Be Everywhere I'll Be Your Vampire The Ilfracombe Steamer Illuminated At Dusk Illuminated Promenade Illuminated Sky With Pale Blue Lightning Illumination Fascination Blues The Illuminator Illusions Of You I Looked At The Sea Imaginary Music I'm Dancing The Impatient Hour Imperial Parade Imps In The Undergrowth In A Cloud Of Stars In A Haunted Arcade In An Aeroplane In Anticipation In Arcadia In A Streamlined World In A World Of Strange Design Incident At Astral Motel The Indelicate Levitation Of Katie's Skirts Indigo Trees Hold Back The Stars Indiscretion Indoor Astronomy (Bella Luna) In Dreams Awake Infernal Apparatus The Infernal Machine Infernal Regions Infinite Station Infinity Meets The Moment Initiation Of The Heart's Desire Insanity In Search Of The Golden Sound Instantly Yours Intensia Interlooper Interstellar Courier An Interval In The Chapel Of Her Sparkles In The Forest Of Storms In The Land Of Far Beyond In The Land Of Nothing Doing In The Middle Of A Dream In The Neighbourhood Of Normal (My Style Of Writing) In The Palace Of Strange Voltages In The Rain In The Realm Of Bells In The Realm Of The Super-Cute In The Realms Of The Unreal In The Wings Into The Luminous Future The Invisible City Of Christian Rosenkruetz The Invisible Man And The Unforgettable Girl The Invisible Spectator The Invisible Venus Of New York City I Oil The Ticking Of Antique Clocks I Really Don't Exist I Recall Jets At Dawn I Remember Circus Boy I Remember Marvelman I Saw Galaxies I Saw You In A Sailplane I Send These Dreams To You Islands In The Sky Islands Of The Dead Islands Of The Dead (Demo) Islands Of The Dead (Take 4) Is This Alchemy? I Swear That The Girl In The Painting Moved It Just Doesn't Rain Like It Used To I Travel At Night It's A Big World And I'm In It (The Great Rememberer) It's A Comic Book World It's All True It's A Long, Long Story It's A Long Time Between Dreams It's Always Maybe It's A Simple Life It's OK I Wait For You I Want You I Was Speaking With Orson Welles I Watch The World I Wonder J J Jane Discovers Cesare Japan Japan (Demo) Jazz Jazzy Loop Jean Cocteau Jericho's Armband Counsel Jet Pack Jive Jets At Dawn (Single Version) Jets At Dawn (Album Version) Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus (Electrotype Version) Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus (Axe Victim Version) Jet Town The Jewel Jimi Sifts The Sands Of Time The Jingler The Jitters Jollytown Junc-Sculpture Junk The Funk Jupiter Commander Just A Kid And All That Sky K K Kaleidoscopic Windows Karma Kisses Katharos Katstatik Keep Your Feathers Fine (Version One) Keep Your Feathers Fine (Version Two) Keep Your Telescope Focussed On The Stars Kid Flip And The Golden Spacemen The Kid With A Cuckoo Clock Heart Kid With Cowboy Tie Killing My Desires A Kind Of Loving Kinda Fuzzy The King And Queen Of Now Or Never Kingdom Of The Sky King Frankenstein King Of The Cowboys The Kingdom Of Consequence Kirkella Bells Kiss Goodbye Kiss It Off Kiss Me Goodnight, Captain Marvel The Kiss Of History Kiss Of Light A Kiss Recalled Kiss You Slow Kitchenette Konny Buys A Kodak Koolerator Kut Up In Cartoonsville L L Lacuna Ladders Leading Nowhere Ladies Removing Lingerie Lady You're A Strange Girl Lagoon Lakeside Lampdownlowland The Lamplighter's Lament The Lamp Of Invisible Light Lamps Are Lit In The Land Of Tomorrow The Land Of Dreams Is Closed The Land Of Lost Dreams The Land Of Lost Time Language Of The Birds Lanterns Are Lighting The Last Lamplighter (For John Henry Griffiths) The Last Romantic The Last Summer For Dancing The Last Transmission The Latest Delay The Latest Skyline Late Transmission: This Song Is History Laughing Sailors, Raging Seas La Vie Moderne Lay-Zee Boy Receiver Lazy, Lazy Bones Lazy Loop The Legendary Spaceman Blues Legions Of The Endless Night Les Amoureux Let Flow The Wine L et It All Pass You By Let Me Dream You From Afar Let's Dance Letter To Jacques Maritain Let Us Melt And Make No Noise Life And Death Life As We Know It Life Class Life In Reverse Life In The Air-Age Life In Your Hands Life Is Like This Life Runs Out Like Sand The Light Fantastic The Light Gathering Garden Of Omar Kadiz The Lighthouse Keeper's Waltz Light In The Head The Light In The Mirror (The Bone Beneath The Skin) The Light Is Kinder In This Corner Of Corona Lightning Strikes The Steeple Light Rain Lights Lights (BBC Studio Session) Lights Of Kingdom Come Lights Shine When We Dream The Light This Universe Attracts The Light We Cannot See Like A Boat In The Blue Like a Dream Like An Old Blues Like Autumn Leaves We Fall Like A Woman Levitating Like Clockwork Like Rain (Rust's Dim Lustre) Likewise Is Said Elsewhere Lilac Shirt, Dark Glasses A Line Of Trees Gives Rise To Thought The Listening Station Listening To Lizards A Little Bit Of Nelsonia Little Cantina Little Cosmos Little Daughters Of Light Little Kisses Wrapped In Chocolate Little Luminaries A Little More Time Little Motors Move The Moon Living For The Spangled Moment Living For Today Living In My Limousine Living On The Moon Tonight Lo And Behold Locarno The Lockdown Song (It's All Downhill From Here) Loco-Motive (Off The Track) The Lonely Spaceman Lonesome Cowboy Bill The Lonesome Cowboy Radio Show Long Ago, By Moonlit Sea Long Grey Mare Longing For Light The Long Lost Summer A Long Time Ago Looking For A Lantern Loom Loose Box Loose Chippings Loose Connections Loosening Up With Lady Luck Lost In Space Lost In The Cosmos Again Lost In The Neon World Lost In Tijuana Lost In Your Mystery Lost Light The Lost Planet Of Sunday Afternoon Lost Planet Sunset Lost To Me Lost To Tomorrow The Lost Years Lotus In The Stream Love And A Bucket Full Of Holes Love In Flames Love In Flames (BBC Studio Session) Love In Flames (Demo) Love In The Abstract Love Is Swift Arrows A Lovely Dazzle Lover Boy At Heart Lovers Are Mortal Lovers In The Pleasure Gardens Love's A Way Love's First Kiss Love's Immortal Shining Angel Love To Win Love Without Fear Love With The Madman Loving Tongues Luana Lucis Lucky Sometimes Lucky Star Lumia Luminatron Luminous Intelligent Sexy Adults A Luminous Kind Of Guy A Luminous Kind Of Guy (Acoustic Version) Luna On The Beach Luna Rosa Luxeodeon M M Machine Voodoo Machines Of Loving Grace Madam Midnight Madhouse Magic And Mystery Magic Hill Magic Radio Magic Star Magnetism Made Me Do It Magnificent (The White Horse) Maid In Heaven Maid In Heaven (BBC Studio Session) Maid In Heaven (Top Of The Pops Backing Track) Make The Music Magic The Man In The Rexine Suit Manipulating The Phonograph Man Machine Man Of Dreams Man On Fire Man Or Astroman (Cat Or Mouse) The Man Who Dreamed Of Glory The Man Who Haunted Himself The Man Who Was Tomorrow March Of The Metaphysicians Marine Drive Mars Welcomes Careful Drivers The Martian Boulevardier The Marvellous Model Kit Marvellous Realms Mass Equals Energy The Mastery Of The Thing Materialisation Phenomena Mathematical Prairie Maybe It's My Eyes Maybe It's The Future Maybe Strange Imagination Mazda Kaleidoscope Meanwhile, Elsewhere The Meat Room Mechanical City One Meek And Wild (The Ghost In Joe's Studio) Melancholia Melancholia Lagoons Melancholy Dreams Mellophonia Mellotronix Memo Recorder Dream Narrative No.1 Memory Babe Memory Is A Data Cloud Forever Primed With Rain A Memory Lost The Memory Museum (Room One) Memory Skyline Memory Time No 1: A Wakefield Adventure Memory Time No 2: The Rock N' Roll Years Memory Time No 3: Eagle, Beezer, Topper, Beano Memory Time No 4: A Dansette Fantasy Men In Search Of The Milky Bosom Mercuria Magnetica Merry And Bright Merry Are The Wind Blown Crows Meshes Of The Afternoon Mess Around Metaphysical Jerks Meteor Bridge (Blip No 5) Method Acting Mex-Arcana Mexico City Dream (For Gil Evans) Migrating Angels The Milky Way (Burning Bright) Mill Street Junction (BBC Studio Session) A Million Moonlight Miles A Million Whistling Milkmen Mind Is A Harbour From Which Dreams Set Sail The Miracle Belongs To You Miracles To Happen The Mirror The Mirror Maker's Daughter (Other Fish To Fry) Mists Of Time Mitsukini Mixed Up Kid Mobile Homes On The Range Modern Music Modern Music (Reprise) The Moment Has Gone Moments Catch Fire On The Crests Of Waves Moments Flash Like Stars Between Them Moments In The Day Mondo Bravado Monorail Monster Man Monster Over The Fence Monsters From Heaven (Flowers And Rain) A Month Without A Moon (Jupiter in Saggitarius) The Moon Came In My Window Moon Gold Palladium Moonlight Rider Moon Over Echo Lake Moon Rocket Highway More Rain More Than Glory, More Than Gold Morning's Herald Mortal Coils The Mount Fuji Ice-Cream Factory Mountains Of The Heart Move Through This World Mr. Magnetism Himself Murder Music For A Victorian Steam Cottage Music From Another Star Music In Dreamland Music In Dreamland (Phonogram Studios Version) Music Spins My Globe Mutually Enchanted My Amigo My Botticelli Angel My Catalogue Of Dreams My Dark Daemon My Dream Demon My Dreamy Life My Electrical Empire My Elevated Sweetheart My Empty Bowl Is Full Of Sky My Ever Gleaming Dreamertron My Favourite Atom My Favourite Urban Chrome-Green Sky My Giddy Levitation My Intricate Image My Life In Neon, My Life In Sound My Light My Light (Demo) My Little Book Of Secret Knowledge My Luminous Planet My New Erotic Guest My Pal Hal (For Mr. Budd) My Paranoia My Philosophy My Private Cosmos My Private Cosmos (Part Two) My Shadow Cast By Midnight Moon My Ship Is Lost To Semaphore My Ship Reclines On Clouds Of Sail My Sputnik Sweetheart Mystere The Mysterious Bath Mysterious Chemicals Of Love The Mysterious Echo Chamber Of Priapus Stratocaster Mysterious Mysterium Mysterious Object Overhead Mysterium Mysterium Magnum (The Great Secret) The Mystery Demo Mystery Engine Mystery Vortex (Oberon Touchstone) Mysteryworld The Mystic My Sublime Perversion My Wild Atomic Wedding Day My Wonder Book Of Wings And Sails My World Spins N N Narcosis Naughty, Naughty Naughty Boy, Dirty Girl The Navigator Near East The Nebulous Adventures Of Newton Kyme The Nebulous Land Of Nod Nebulous Trolleybus Neil Young Neither Puck Nor Pan Neon Lights And Japanese Lanterns Never A Dull Day (For Les Paul) Nevermore Nevernoon Nevertheless New Dream Island New Moon Rising New Mysteries New Mysteries (Demo) New Northern Dreamer New Precision New Precision (Demo) News From Nowhere New Vibrato Wonderland Nightbirds Night Boats Pass Beneath The Stars Night Creatures Night Creatures (Electrotype Version) Night Creatures (Spoken Word Version) Night Is The Engine Of My Imagination Night Song Of The Last Tram Night Thoughts (Twilight Radio) Night Tides 1948 Nipples Of Venus No Bee In His Bonnet No Fool For You No Meaning No Memories Here To Make You Sad Noonday Venus No Room In My Head North-East Northern Dreamer (1957) A Northern Man North Yorkshire Moors Rain (For Harold Budd) Nostalgia (For The Future) Not As Easy As It Looks Nothing Is The New Something Nothing Up My Sleeve Nothing Yet No Thoughts, I Think No Time Says The Clock (Version 1) No Time Says The Clock (Version 2) No Trains To Heaven No Two Thoughts November Fires (My Northern Dream) Nowhere Fast Nowhere In Particular Now I Come To Think Of It Now Is Not And Never Was The Now That Never Was O O Ocean Afternoon Ocean Full Of Wishes Ocean In The Sky Ocean Over Blue The Ocean, The Night And The Big, Big Wheel The October Man October Sky Odeon The Offering Oh Moon In The Night I Have Seen Thee Sailing Old Brown Town Older Joe Old Goat Old Haunts The Old Nebulosity Waltz Old Weirdola On An Ocean Of Dreams On A Train I Never Boarded Once I Had A Time Machine Once More Around the Moon Once Upon A River One A.M. One Day At A Time One For You One Man's Fetish Is Another Man's Faith One Summer Night One Thing Leads To Another One Way Track Only A Dream But Nevertheless Only Dreaming Only Love Can Tell Only One Blue Moon On The Beach On The Beam Opening Opium Opus Hermeticum (The Work Of Hermes) Orange Turning Blue Ordinary Idiots Ordinary Idiots (Original Demo) An Ordinary Man Ordinary Storm, Waiting For Rain Organola Orient Of Memphis Orient Pearl Orphans Of Babylon Orpheus Dreams Of Disneyland Orson's Ghost The Orson Welles Memorial Sleighride Osram Diadem Otherworld Our Friends In The Stars Our Lady Of Apparitions Our Lucky Stars Out Of The Window, Into The Night Out Of Touch Out Of Touch (BBC Session) Out Of Touch (Demo) O Vee Over Ocean Over The Moon Overture P P Pageant Paging Mr. God Pagoda Dreamhouse Painted Boats On Still Waters Painting Your Sky With Marvellous Birds Palace Of Gnosis Palais Des Marine Pamela And The Pony Club Panic In The World Panic In The World (BBC Studio Session) Panic In The World (Juan Les Pins Mix) Pansophia Parade Of The Inhabitants Of A Phantom Fairground Paradise And Purgatory Paradox Jukebox The Paradox Machine Parklands Drive Parks And Fountains, Clouds And Trees A Parting Of The Ways The Passion Past And Present (And The Space Between) Path Of Return The Pavilion Of Diana Pedalscope One Pedalscope Two Peppermint Forever Perdita Rose Perfect Bliss Perfect Monsters A Perfect Night - The Dawn Rejoices Perfect World Perfidia 2017 Perfidio Incanto Phantom Gardens Phantom Island The Phantom Palace Of The Prince Of Dreams Phantom Sedan (Theme From Tail-Fin City) The Phonograph Bird Photograph (A Beginning) Photograph: A New Beginning Piano 45 Piano Angelica Piano-Guitar The Piano Lesson The Piano Room Picture In A Frame Picture Perfect Piece Of Mine (BBC Studio Session) Pilgrim (Fantasia On A Distantly Remembered Hymn) Pilots Of Kite Pink Buddha Blues Pink Poodle Parade (Organ Version) Pink Poodle Parade (Piano Version) Pink Trick Panties A Place We Pray For Planet Of Ghosts Planet Of Guitars Planet Of Sleeping Buddhas Planets We Once Knew The Plastic Flower Show Plastic Mac Playback Playbox Playful Playing Jesus To Her Judas Pleasure Bikes The Pleasure Boaters Plectricity Pointing At The Moon Pokus Polishing The Chromes A Pond For The Moon The Pond Yacht Pondering The Mystery Popsicle Head-Trip Portrait Of Jan With Flowers Portrait Of Jan With Moon And Stars Possession Possession (BBC Studio Session) Possession (Demo) Possession (Rough Mix) Postcard To A Penfriend Powder Blue Powerglide Prairie Hula Prayer For The Living A Prayer To Sleep With Mercurial Women Preamp Prelude: The Night Is Lit By Diamonds Premium Standard No.1 Pretty Little Bubble Of Dreams Prima Materia (First Matter) Prisoner Of Love A Private View Prize Of Years The Profaned Sanctuary Of The Human Heart Profiles, Hearts, Stars A Promise Of Perfume Propellor Of Legend Puckish Pure Imagination (Blip No 8) Pure Joy Purple Loop Push Button Bang Push The Button, Spin The Dial Puzzlepop Q Q Quarter Moons And Stars Quarter To Eleven The Queen Of Atlantis Queen Of The Infra-Red Queer Weather Quest For The Harvest Of The Stars Quest For The Harvest Of The Stars (Demo) Quick As A Flash Quiet Bells Quiet Planet Quietly Now (Manipulating The Phonograph No.2) Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam R R Radar In My Heart Radar In My Heart (Demo) Radiant Nature Knows Not The Worker's Sorrow Radiant Spires Radiated Robot Men Radio Andalusia Radio Control Radio Rialto Radio Waves Lap Memory's Shore Radium Cocktail Rain And Neon Rainboy And Whistledog Rainclouds Over Paris Of My Dreams Rain Dance The Raindrop Collector Raindrops Raindrum Rain Falls Fast On Faded Ruin Rain Falls On Sleepytown The Rainiest Day In The World Raining Rain Made Us Shine Rain On A Caravan Roof Rain Town Rambling Through The Meadows (Wonder Wise) Rapture Parade Rattlin' Trams The Real Adventure Real Gone Reality Check The Reality Of Imagination Real Men With Ray Guns Realm Of Archons Realm Of Dusk Realm Rider Real Thing This Time Real Worlds And Dream Worlds The Receiver And The Fountain Pen Red Planet Blues (The Ritual Transfiguration Of Spaceman Albert Fitzwilliam Digby) Reflect On This Rehearsal Of Thought Reighton Sands Rejoice Relaxin' With Bill At Luxury Lodge Relaxo Supremo A Reliable Bicycle And A Map Of The Heart (Trip Two) The Rest Of The World Rolls By The Retro Modernist Retronauta The Return Of Magnificent Return To Jazz Of Lights Revenge Of The Coda Kings The Revenge Of The Man In The Burning Ice-Cream Van Reverse Engineering Reversing Through Willows Revolt Into Style Revolt Into Style (Demo) Revolving Globes Rhythm Unit Rialto Riders Of My Love Riding The Go-Tubes Right, Then Left Ringing True Ripples On A Blue Pool Rise (Above These Things) Rise Like A Fountain The Rise Of Pandemonium And The Fall Of Kingdom Come Rising Sap The Ritual Echo River Of Love A River On The Edge Of Time The Road To Elsewhere Robots On Parade Rockarolla Rockers Of The Rosy Cross Rocket Billy Blues Rocket Cathedrals Rocket Cathedrals (First Version) Rocket Rabbit's Secret Dream (Osram Energy Device No.1) Rocket Science Ranchboy Rocketship Rocket To Damascus Rocket To The Moon Rocking The Dreamboat Rolling Home (Yorkshire Raga No.1) Rooms With Brittle Views Rosalia The Rose And The Beast The Rose Covered Cottage At The End Of Time Roses And Rocketships Roses, Haloes, Crown Of Thorns The Rossetti Effect Roto-Scope Roundabouts And Swings Royal Blue Royal Ghosts The Roy Rogers Radio Ranch The Ruins Of Youth, The Twang Of Tomorrow The Rumbler (For Duane) Runaway Running Running From My Own Shadow Rural Shires Rusty Bells S S Sacrament Sad Feelings Safe Inside Her Wonderwear Sail Away Sailing My Boat Sailing Through Skies Of Blue Sailing To The Moon Sailor Blue Same Shape, Different Meaning Sanctus Illuminatus (The Sacred Illuminated) Santos Saturnalia Saturn's Groove The Saxophonist (Demo) The Saxophonist (Juan Les Pins Version) Say Hello, Electric Ghost Scale Model (Assembly Required) Scenic Elevator Science And Sacrament Science Fiction Times The Science Of Extraordinary Things Seaglass Search And Listen Searching For An Island Off The Coast Of Dreams Searching For Utopia And Other Shangrilas Secret Agent At Science Park Secret Ceremony (Theme From Brond) Secret Club For Members Only Secret Song (Oh, Emiko) Seduction (Ritual With Roses) See It Through See-Through Nightie Selectatone Self Impersonisation Self-Initiation Sell My Soul Send The Rain Senor Mysterioso Sentimental September Promenade Sequinned Skeleton Blues Serene In Silver The Serpent Holds The Secret Set Me As A Seal Upon Thine Heart Set Your Dials For Dreaming Seven Keys To This City 17 Electric Women Seventh Circle 72 Christmases On Planet Earth Several Famous Orchestras Sex And Drums And Saxophones Sex Magic Sex Party Six Sex, Psyche, Etcetera The Shadow Garden Shadow Haunting Me Shadowland Shake It Up Shaker The Shape Of Things To Come She Dreams Of Fires She Gave Me Memory She Sees Me Sleeping She Sends Me She's Got Flower Power She's Got Me Floating She's Got The Power She Signals From Across The Bay She's So Extreme She Swings Skirt Shibuya Screen Shifting Sands The Shimmering Threshold (On Your Bike Emperor Ming) Shine Shine Your Light Shining Reflector The Shining Staircase Shining Through Ship In A Bottle Blues (The Modern Mariner) Ship Of Summer, All Lights Blazing Ships In The Night Ships In The Night (Alternate Vocal Version) Ships In The Night (First Version) A Short Drink From A Certain Fountain A Short History Of The Future Short Wave The Shot Shower Of Sparks Show Home Showtime Science Fiction Times Signal Destinations Signalling As We Go Signals From Earth Signs And Signals Signum Natura (Symbolic Nature) Silent Glides My Armstrong Siddeley The Silent Hour Silent Night The Silver Darkness Whispers Yes Silver Rain (Marooned In A Fairytale) Silver Sailboat On Samsara Sea Silver Sparks And Coloured Stars Silver Stars Will Shine Silver Tears Silvertone Fountains A Simple Thought Flashes Through My Mind Sine Waves Singing In A Silver Tower Sing Ye Golden Sunbeams, Sing The Singing In The Air Above The Village Green Singing My Life Away Sister Seagull Sister Seagull (BBC Studio Session) Sisters And Sedan Chairs The Six Coiled Serpent Six Legged Critter Singing In The Trees Six String Skyway Six Strings For Sara Skidoodling Skies Are Not Cloudy Skimming Stones Skull Baby Cluster Sky Loop Sky Scooter The Sky, The Sea, The Moon And Me Skylark's Rise Sleep The Sleep Of Hollywood Sleep That Burns Sleepcycle The Sleeping Body Sings Sleepless City Sleepless In The Ticking Dark Sleeplessness Sleepy Snakes Slinky Incantations Slippery Loop Slow Clouds Slow Jig And Whirligig Slow, Slow, Slow Slow Smoulder Slow Sundays Slumberlite Small Red Birds Smiles Smoke And Vine Smoke And Wires Smoke Drifts Silent In Autumn Air Snakes With Wings Snoozy Winks Snowfall Snowing Outside Snow Is Falling Snow Light Soakin' In The Bathtub Soda Fountain Swing So Far Soft Light So Insane And So In Love So It Goes Solid Spaces Soluna Oriana Some Days It's Orange, Some Days It's Blue Some Distant Time Some Jiggery Pokery Something's Going On Sometimes, These Times Somewhere Else Is Here Somewhere In Far Tomorrow Somewhere, Nowhere, Everywhere The Sonambulist And The Children A Song Of Heart And Mind The Song My Silver Planet Sings Soon September (Another Enchantment) The Sound From This Recording Travels To The Stars Sound Track Southport Space Ace Gets His Girl Space Age Dreamer Space Country Loop Space Cowboys Spacefleet (The Golden Days Of Dan Dare) Spacehopper Spaceport Space Ranch Spaceship Away! Spacesuit Parade Spanish Galleons Cruise The Sunrise The Spark Sparkle And Spin The Sparkle Machine (Phenomena 77) Sparklette (Blip No 4) The Sparkling Idea Sparky And The Spearmint Moon Spearmint And Moonbeams Special Metal The Spectral Waltz Of Venus Speedboats From Another World Speed Of The Wind Speed Of The Wind (Demo) Spindrift Sphinx Spinnin' Around Spinning Creatures Spinning Dizzy On The Dial Spinning Pentagrams Spinning Planet The Spirit Cannot Fail A Spirit Map Of Montparnasse The Spirit That Remembers Spooks In The Shed Spooky Little Thing Spring Springtime Comes A Dancing Spring Will Come Spy Vs Spy Squeaky Toytown Squirm Stage Whispers Stage Whispers (BBC Studio Session) Staircase To No Place Standard Fireworks The Standard Fireworks Stomp Stand By: Light Coming... Standing In A Starlit Room Standing On Tiptoes, Reaching For The Sky Stanley Blues Tail A Star Named Desire Star Sugar Sky Stargazing Whilst Smoking An Imaginary Pipe (Pipedreams) Starland Starlight And Moonbeams Starlight Stories Stars Will Shine Start Beaming And Get On The Gleam Starward-Ho! Station Clock In Cloud Of Steam Stay With Me Stay Young Stay Young (BBC Session) Stay Young (Demo) Steam Radio Blues Steamboat In The Clouds Stereo Star Map Number One Stereo Star Map Number Two Still Shining (BBC Studio Session) Still Waiting Stone In Your Palm Stop/Go/Stop Stop/Go/Stop (Demo) Strange And Wonderful (That's My Life) Stranger Flowers Now Than Ever The Strangest Things, The Strangest Times Streamlined Train, Passing Fast Streamliner Strictly For The Birds Strolling With My Father Strong Enough Struck Dumb By Beauty Again The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of Stupid-Stupid (Deep And Serious) Substitute Flesh Substitute Flesh (Demo) Suburban Mermaid One Twenty Three Suburban Pearl Summer Comes In Colour Summer Hums In The Bee-Loud Glade Summer Over Soon Summer Shower Summer Woman Sun At Six Windows Sunbeam Sunglasses After Dark Sun Kings Suffer (As Time Goes By) Sun Loop Sunny Bungalows Sunny Day For A Happy Postman Sun On Water, Wind In Wire Sun Will Rise Superadventure (Sound-On-Sound) Superenigmatix Superenigmatix (BBC Studio Session) Superhappyeverafter Super-Hyper Hocus Pocus Super Noodle Number One Superscope The Super-Sensualist Superserene Superslippy Surf King Sails In Surreal Estate Surreal Estate (Demo) Suvasini Swan Song Sway And Swoon Sweet Dead Bunny Sweethearts In Swimsuits Sweet Is The Mystery Sweet Little Dreamer Sweet William's Epiphany Swept Away Swing Swing Song Swing With The Rhythm Boys Switchback Switch Off That Desert Sunset Switch On The Sky, Light Up The Stars Symphony In Golden Stereo Synchromatic T T Take It Off And Thrill Me (Jazzy Option) Take It Off And Thrill Me (Rock Option) Tales Of The Intergalactic Glee Club Talk Technique Tangle Of Wires Tantra Tantramatic Tarnished Tears As Diamonds (The Gift Reverses) Teatime In The Republic Of Dreams Techno Punk Gets Rhythm Teenage Archangel Telepathic Cats A Telescope Full Of Stars Tender Encounters (States Of Grace) Tender Is The Night Test Card Testify Test Of Affection That Old Mysterioso That's The World That Sunburst Sound That Was A Beautiful Dream, She Said That Was Then Theatre Of Falling Leaves Thematix Theme From Uncanny Valley Themis Aurea Theology There Are Ghosts Here There Are Stars Beyond The Night There Is A Moment There's A Star Somewhere These Are The Dreams These Minutes Are Ours These Stars Are Fire These Tall Blue Days (Are Lark Amazed) Theurgia They Tell You This, They Tell You That Thicket And Loam A Thing About That Things To Come Think And You'll Miss It Third Floor Heaven Third Floor Heaven (BBC Studio Version) This And That This Clockwork World This Dangerous Age This Everyday World (Instrumental Version) This Everyday World (Vocal Version) This Gilded Age This Information Arrives From Dreams This Is Destiny This Is Like a Galaxy This Is Not A Dream This Is True This Land Is Haunted This Leads To That Leads To This This River Runs Deep This Very Moment (Version 1) Thought Bubble No 1 Thought Bubble No 2 Thought Bubble No 3 A Thought For You A Thought In Passing Thoughts Travel (For Miles) Thoughts Without Friction The Thought That Counts Thousand Fountain Island A Thousand, Thousand Ghosts Threnodia Through Drifting Clouds Through My Window Thunder Blooms In The Heat Bruised Sky Thundercloudy Thunder Heralds The Fairylight Parade Thunder On The Wing Thunderous Accordions Thunder, Perfect Mind The Ticking Of Time Tick-Tock-Tick Tick Tock Ticking Time In Tokyo Time Is A Mechanism Time Is A Thief Time Is Running Away (The Blue Nowhere) Times Of Our Lives Time's Quick-Spun Globe Time's Tide (The Dreams That Escape Me) Time Stops Here Time Stops Right Here Time Today Time Tracking Time Travel For Beginners Tin Sings Bones Tinderbox Tingalary Man And The Scarlet Fever Kid Tiny Aeroplanes Tiny Little Thing Tiny Mice Are Dancing In The Cottage Of Her Dreams Tip The Wink Tired Eyes To A Child To Disappear To Imagine Is Hard To Jan From The Shining Stars Tomorrowland (The Threshold Of 1947) Tomorrow's World Tomorrow The World (BBC Studio Session) Tomorrow Today Tomorrow Will Not Be Too Late Tongues Of Fire (Resist) Tonight Picasso Dreams Tony Goes To Tokyo (And Rides The Bullet Train) To The Sea In Ships Touch And Glow A Touch Of Body And Soul Tower Of Jewels To What Strange Place Will This Transport You? A Town Called Blue Tomorrow The Toy Trumpet The Trace We Left When All Was Gone The Tragedy Train Of Thought Train Travelling North Train With Fins Transcendant Transcendental Radios Transcendental Tittycups Transformation No. 1 Transformation No. 2 Transition No. 1 Transition No. 2 Transition No. 3 Transition No. 4 Transition No. 5 Transition No. 6 (The Journey) Transmission (N.B.C. 97293) Transoceanic Transparent Towers At Dusk Travelling In Mind Travels In The Spirit World The Trees Are Full Of Whistling Birds The Tree That Dreamed Of Violas A Trembling In The Air Trembling Rainbows Tremola The Trip Trip Thang Tropicus True North Try Tumbletown Turn Me Over Turn To Fiction Tuxedo Moon The TV's On The Blink Twang Rings True Tweetime The Twentieth Century The 21st Century 23,000 Feet In The Air Twice In A Blue Moon Twilight And The River Twilight Capers Twilight Crescent Twilight Planetarium Two Brothers Test The Kite Flying Winds Two Hearts Beating 2000 Miles To Midnight (My Ghost Burns Fire) U U U.H.F. Um, Ah Good Evening Under Fading Stars Under The Red Arch Unearthlings Unforgetting The Universe Is Fast Asleep A Universe To Give You The Unmasking Unsaid (Starry Lamps And Blazing Comets) Until All Our Lights Combine Until The Blue Whenever Until Tomorrow Uphill Up In The Attic, Down In The Lab (Hubble Bubble And Starshine) Up On A Star V V The Vanilla Summer Of Mr. Whippy Vanishing Parades Vapour Grey Variation On The Theme Of A White Christmas Velo-Sola Velocity Dansette Velorama Pastoral The Venetian Conjurer Venetian Submarines Ventura Venus Over Vegas Vertical Games V-Ghost (For Harold And Ellen) View From A Balcony The View From Lantern Hill The View From Mount Palomar The Village Dreams Beneath The Stars Villefranche Interior The Violins Of Autumn Visionary Visions Of Endless Hopes Visions Of Endless Hopes (Demo) Vista-Dome-Railcar Viva Le Voom-Voom A Voice Without A Face The Void Beyond The Line Vortexion Dream Vulcan Street W W Wah-Wah Galaxy No.1 Wait For Tomorrow Waiting For Rain Waiting For The Midnight Flyer Waiting For The Night (Demo) Waiting For Voices Walking Away From Paradise Walking On Thin Air The Walls Of Which Are Made Of Clouds Waltz The Waltz At The End Of The World Wanderings Warm And Wonderful The Warmth Of Women's Eyes Wasted Lives Watching My Dream Boat Go Down In Flames Watchword (A Return) Water Of Life (Transfiguration) Waves The Way Way Back When The Way My World Works The Way Of The World Weather Blows Wild Inside My Head Weatherproof The Weather Song Weatherwood We Hail The Wind Down Long Arcades We Here Who Were There Weird Critters Welcome Home, Mr. Kane Welcome To Dreamshire Welcome To Electric City Welcome To Realm Seven Welcome To The Dream Transmission Pavilion Welcome To Wonderland Well, Well, Well (Rock N' Roll It) We Run Before The Wind West Deep We Two In Love Forever Dreaming We Vanish At Shadowfall We Were Young We Who Are Awake Will Not Be Asleep We Will Rise What Furnace Is The Brain? What Have We Got To Show For This? What's A Boy Supposed To Do? What's It All About? What Station Is This? What Time Is This Space? What To Wear Now, What To Wear Next What We Wish For Whatever I Do The Wheel Of Fortune And The Hand Of Fate When Accident Became My Bride When Aeroplanes Were Dragonflys When Art Schools Shaped Tomorrow When Beauty Came To Call When Boys Dream Of Guitars When Boys Were Lost For Words When Day Is Done When God Was A Rabbit And Buddha Was A Mouse (Over The Moon Two) When I Don't Feel Blue When Midnight Falls When The Birds Return When The Invisible Circus Comes To Town When The Wind Blows All Away When The World Was Beautiful When We Were Beautiful When We Were Young When Your Dream Of Perfect Beauty Comes True Where Are The Stars That Fall From Heaven Where Are We Now Where Do We Go Where Does It Come From, Where Does It Go? Where's The Wonder? Where You Is, Is Where You Are Whimsy Whirlaway The Whirlpool Into Which Everything Must Whirl Whirlpool Meditation Whirlwind Winters Wind The Clocks Of Spring Whistleworld Whistling While The World Turns White Falcon One White Falcon Two White Sound Who He Is The Whole City Between Us Whoop-Be-Doopy-Doopy! Whoops! I'm Going Back In Time Who's That Floating Above The Trees? Why? Why Be Lonely Why Does It Do That? Wide Awake/Half Asleep Wide Awake In The Heart Of You A Wide Open Window (With A View Of The Stars) Wider Windows For The Walls Of The World Wild And Dizzy Wild And Serene Wild Blue Sky Cycle Wild Blue Yonder Wild Lilac Wildest Dreams Will William Is Wearing The Cardigan Of Light Willow Silk The Wind Blows Silver And The Bees Hum Gold Wind Chimes Of Memory The Wind In The Wood Windmill Interlude Windmills In A World Without Wind A Window Open Onto Eden Windsong Of The Flying Boy Windswept Wing And A Prayer Wings And Everything Wing Thing Winterchyme The Winter Mermaid Wiping A Tear From The All Seeing Eye Wireless World Wishes With All The Will In The World Without A Blue Horizon The Woman Of Tomorrow Wonder And Excitement Wonderful Weather In Woodgates Lane The Wonderful Wurlitzer Of Blackpool Tower Wondering Wondering Why? Wonder Kid Wondermonster The Wonder Of It All Wonder Of The Age Wonder Of The Moment Wonders Never Cease Wonder Story Wonder Street Wondertown Wonder Toys That Last Forever Wonder Where We Go Wonky Loop Word For Word Words Across Tables The Word That Became Flesh Workcycles Working Man The World And His Wife The World Is Lost To Us All In The End World Of Dreams The World Sleeps Late On New Year's Day World Still Turns World Thru' Fast Car Window The World To Me The World Wakes Up Wow! It's Scootercar Sexkitten! Wysteria XYZ XYZ Year 44 (The Birthday Song) The Years Years From Now Yes And Always And Forever Yes And No Yesterday Yonder Gleams Your Star You Do Like Music? (Blip No 1) You Don't Love Me You Freak Me Out You Here Now In William's World You Know How To Hurt You Make Me Cry Young Angels By An Ancient River Young Dreams, Whirled Away Young Eyes Young Marvelman Your Hand Today Holds The Future Of Tomorrow Your Imagination Your Magic Man In The Sky Your Morning Blessing Your Name Completes This Frequency Your Nebulous Smile Your Secret Sign Your Sexy Thunder Your Taxi To The Stars Your Whole Life Dreaming Youth Of Nation On Fire The Yo-Yo Dyne Zanoni Zip, Boom, Bang Zodiac Zoom Sequence

Could This Be Heaven? single - 1979 Original Mirrors Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Flaming Desire Bill Nelson single - 23 July 1982 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 7" Single: A) Flaming Desire B) The Passion 12" Single: A) Flaming Desire (Long Version) B1) The Passion B2) The Burning Question Flaming Desire And Other Passions 12" EP: A1) Flaming Desire (Long Version) A2) Flesh B1) The Passion B2) The Burning Question B3) He And Sleep Were Brothers B4) Haunting In My Head ORIGINALLY: On the 7", the 'A' side was taken from The Love That Whirls album, and on the 12" it appeared in an extended version, clocking in at 6'30". The 'B' sides were both non-album tracks from The Love That Whirls sessions. NOTES: Flaming Desire was the second single released to support The Love That Whirl s album. The single was issued in 2 formats commercially (7" and 12"), and as a 7" promo featuring an exclusive radio edit. The 7" sleeves for the commercial and promo copies are identical. The 12" version included an exclusive extended remix of "Flaming Desire" and an additional non-album cut, "The Burning Question". Flaming Desire And Other Passions was Canadian/US release Including the additional tracks from the Eros Arriving 12" single. The single was promoted by a short promo video that Nelson directed, made on a shoe string budget and featured his then wife Jan. Stills from this video would later feature on the sleeve of the Chimera mini-album. PAST RELEASES: The B-sides were both included on The Two Fold Aspect of Everything comp (out of print). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: B/B1 was added to the remastered 2005 CD of The Love That Whirls , and The Practice of Everyday Life box (2011). The album is still in print. The box set is out of print in physical form, but available as a digital download from major online retailers. Singles Menu Future Past

Life in Your Hands Bill Nelson single - 10 July 1989 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 12" Single: A1) Life In Your Hands A2) Do You Dream In Colour? B1) Get Out Of That Hole B2) My Dream Demon 7" Promotional Single: A) Do You Dream In Colour? B) Life In Your Hands ORIGINALLY: Life in Your Hands was a non-album single, which would be included on the Duplex compilation set a few months after its release. "Do You Dream in Colour?" was the recording from the original single in 1980. B1 & B2 were non-album tracks. NOTES: This would turn out to be the final official Nelson single issued on vinyl, and Nelson's last single for Cocteau Records before the label was dissolved in 1990. The single exists in two formats, 7" and 12", with the former being believed to be a promo. The 7" pressing in a die cut Cocteau sleeve features exclusive edited versions of both "Do You Dream in Colour?" and "Life in Your Hands". It is believed that the edit in "Do You Dream in Colour?" (removing the line "Video Junkie Looking for a Fix") was done to encourage BBC Radio 1 to play the song. PAST RELEASES: "Life in Your Hands" was included on the now out of print albums Duplex and The Strangest Things compilations. Up until 2020, B1 & B2 had not been released elsewhere, but are available now on Transcorder. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: B1 & B2 are available as bonus tracks on the retrospective compilation album Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings) . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "If I remember correctly, the sax on "Life in Your Hands" is myself, playing a sax sound from an Emax emulator keyboard." Singles Menu Future Past

Blip! Bill Nelson album - 15 June 2013 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Bats At Bedtime 02) You Do Like Music? (Blip No 1) 03) Where You Is, Is Where You Are 04) Bell Weather (Blip No 2) 05) Your Name Completes This Frequency 06) A Dream Of Thee (Blip No 3) 07) The Fabulous Mr Futurismo 08) Sparklette (Blip No 4) 09) Your Sexy Thunder 10) Meteor Bridge (Blip No 5) 11) In A Cloud Of Stars 12) Bright And Glittering (Blip No 6) 13) Whirlwind Winters Wind The Clocks Of Spring 14) Flutterbye (Blip No 7) 15) Painting Your Sky With Marvellous Birds 16) Pure Imagination (Blip No 8) 17) No Two Thoughts 18) Aeolian Magic (Blip No 9) 19) Darling Star 20) Dazzle (Blip No 10) 21) After All These Years 22) I Danced In A Dream (Blip No 11) ALBUM NOTES: Blip! is an album mixing vocal and instrumental pieces, issued in a one off print run of 500 copies released on the Sonoluxe label. From this point onwards, Nelson would limit most of his releases to 500 copies. The material recorded for Blip! began life as part of a project called Grand Auditoria , which was initially revealed to the Dreamsville community in July 2012. When Nelson reviewed the work completed to date though in March 2013, he considered the material to be unsuitable for the original concept behand Grand Auditoria , and renamed the album Blip! . The finished album was premiered at a special launch party held at Leeds University on 15 June 2013, attended by approximately 150 guests. Included in the ticket price was a copy of Blip! , and everyone who attended the event was given a free companion CDR of out-takes, entitled Blip 2 (See separate entry). The remaining 350 or so copies of Blip! went on general release through S.O.S. two days after the launch party, and were reported as sold out on 24 June 2013. The superfast sales of Blip! led to a few dissenting voices on the Dreamsville forum, mainly linked to the inevitable appearance of copies on eBay at inflated prices, which led in turn to Nelson quickly releasing the album as a digital download on 26 July 2013. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "The Grand Auditoria album I was working on was originally intended to be a compendium of as many of the various styles of music I've created over the years as I could cram onto a disc, (at least without it turning into some sort of self parody). Well, that was my intention, but, for some reason it didn't quite work out that way...The Muse seems to have had different ideas and instead I ended up with a skewed pop-rock album which, as you probably know, I've recently titled Blip!" "Hmmm...wrong-footed by the Muse again...Naughty girl!" _____ "I think that the album needs a few short instrumental interludes in between the vocal pieces to break things up a bit, (in similar fashion to the instrumentals between the vocal tracks on the Joy Through Amplification , album, but, of course, in a different style). "I've just finished recording the first of these little instrumentals. This is titled "Blip One". It's a kitsch, mad little waltz, very short and designed to make you smile. I'll begin mixing it this evening. I think once I've scattered several cute instrumentals between the other pop-rock vocal tracks, 'BLIP' will be a fun album." _____ "The vocal tracks are generally in a sort of pop-rock style, but with the usual skewed approach you would expect of me. The instrumentals, (which occur between the vocal tracks), are quite short, melodic and synth/keyboard-based and radiate a quirky charm. Whilst they are totally different to the instrumental moods on the Joy Through Amplification album, they function in a similar fashion, acting as an 'album within an album', a kind of between main courses musical sorbet." _____ Bill's Listening Notes for the album: 'Blip!' Listening Notes FAN THOUGHTS: hypnohighball: "Bill, you've outdone yourself this time. I can't remember when I was this elated listening to one of your new albums. Not to say I don't love them all now, but this one hit me HARD." "I'm honestly not just saying this, but I think this is one of Bill's best. Lots of vocals and electric guitar, which I like, but also a lot of everything else tossed into the mix make this some tasty head candy for the ears. Love the short "Blip" musical interludes between each song - even though all 22 tracks are nothing alike, they all fit together into a unified piece. I highly recommend reading Bill's album notes while you are listening - his way with words is just as imaginative and talented as his musical creativeness. Can't remember the last time I put on an album, sat back, looked out the window and just listened to it straight through with a big smile on my face half the time and the other half shaking my head in wonder/disbelief." Man in the rexine pyjamas: "I just want to go on record as saying it is a corker. Twenty two tracks, eleven songs and eleven instumentals (or Blips!). Some fantastic songs that I'm humming already after only a couple of plays (probably the bluesy "Your Sexy Thunder" being my favourite). The Blips are the really interesting pieces, and if I had a wish, it would be that Bill takes one or two of these quite brilliant musical ideas and runs with them to twenty odd minute pieces. Heaven!" "It is a very strong album indeed, like most of Bill's work, giving you more the more you hear it. I would say I prefer it to JTA , and that is very strong praise indeed in my book (like trying to chose your favourite child)." tom fritz: "I've been "Blip" - ing out of my mind. How does one guy make so much happen, in the space of one song? So fantastic, no words really. The inspiration is strong, that's for certain. Thanks Bill!" paul.smith: "You Do Like Music": "is top stuff...that slightly sinister carnivalesque sound coupled with a seemingly innocent question...but repeated to the same sinister effect as the voice continues...reminds me of the old Twilight Zone for some reason...deliciously creepy is my interpretation!! As always, the music on these two grows with those all important repeated listenings...'familiarity breeds content" as it were." felixt1: "Overall, I can confidently say that Blip! will be a hit with anyone who particularly enjoys Bill's more upbeat, up-tempo pop/rock music. There are some great lyrical, melodic and guitartastic moments, but also some great synth. The album certainly deserves to have sold so quickly." Holer: "I do think, after all these years, that I love your music when you are in 'Playful' mode the best. This latest batch of tunes reminds me in spirit of things like Atom Shop , Whimsy and Noise Candy before it, like you are just having a blast knocking out these little tunes and that sense of fun is so infectious, I can't stop listening to it. I love the Blip concept too. I think the Blips are just as strong as the pop tunes...Nobody makes noises like your particular noises." December Man: Bill's Magnum Opus?: "Blip! It just has everything I've come to love about Bill's music and more..." "It feels like a retro-future mixture of Bill's and "progressive" music's full potential." "It's as if Bill has meshed together all of his musical influences, styles and experiences and the sum total of these various parts have all coalesced into one amazing inevitable whole! Loving this, Bill!" WalterDigsTunes: "After listening to quite a few 21st century BN releases, I have to say that Blip! stands out as a high-point in the catalog. It's got a little of everything but at just the right dosage. The little Blips that peep in between songs are a nice little EP, if you choose to look at it that way. The vocal songs that makes up the bulk of this album also rank among my personal favorites. Note the brash opener, the smoky love song, and all those winking smiles you can't help but responding to. Let's not forget Bill's delivery: sentiment, cadence and words all coalesce perfectly across this record. I also can't help but praise the well-implemented (but never merely incidental or overly-dominating) guitar work. "Am I praising the balance or the excess? I have no idea. I just know that if I had to recommend one Bill Nelson disc from the current crop, Blip! would be it." Face In The Rain: "Have just downloaded both Blips and have been completely blown away. Bill is always good but this is just fabulous stuff. Was shaking my head in wonder so much that my good wife thought the download had crashed the system!" Albums Menu Future Past

Astroloops Bill Nelson mini-album - January 2015 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Purple Loop 02) Sky Loop 03) Slippery Loop 04) Sun Loop 05) Blue Loop No 1 06) Jazzy Loop 07) Honey Loop 08) Blue Loop No 2 09) Space Country Loop 10) Fantasmo Loop 11) Wonky Loop 12) Lazy Loop ALBUM NOTES: Astroloops is a CDR release issued on the newly established Astrotone imprint in a very limited edition (just 24 copies) to purchasers of the Astroluxe Custom Ltd. guitar produced by Eastwood Guitars. This release is a mini-album due to its relatively short playing time. News of the project was first announced on the Dreamsville forum in July 2014, with orders being taken for the guitar from 2nd September (initially only 12 were to be manufactured but this was doubled to 24 within 2 days due to the level of demand). By the 26th of September it was confirmed that all 24 copies of the guitar had been purchased although buyers had to wait until mid-late January 2015 before the goods had been delivered, with the US customers getting their hands on the music before those in the UK for a change! Fans that either couldn't afford the guitar, or couldn't play the guitar, or simply missed out in getting their order in on time, will hopefully get the chance to hear this very limited item one day. When asked of the possibility of this, Nelson indicated that it might require Eastwood Guitars to give permission for this to happen and warned fans that they may have to wait for 1 - 2 years before reissuing it as a download. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "It's an interesting set of recordings, quite spontaneous and relaxed...not concerned with being perfect, but beautifully raw and charmingly naked. It's all done using only the 'Astroluxe' prototype guitar which has the ability to sound like a soaring rock beast, a smooth n' sweet jazz archtop, or an alien twang machine, and all at the flick of a pickup selector switch plus my Fractal Audio Axe-FX unit!" _____ "Just guitar improvisations over guitar loops, with no other instruments. Recording very quietly to minimize the ear problem." _____ "Astroloops is an album of instrumental improvisations based on looped guitar patterns. It is limited to an edition of 24 copies only and is given exclusively to those who have bought one of the 24 Eastwood 'Astroluxe Custom Ltd' Bill Nelson signature model electric guitars. "My own prototype 'Astroluxe' guitar has been used to record the album and all the guitar parts you will hear are performed exclusively on that instrument. There are no keyboards, bass or percussion overdubs on these recordings, (with the exception of a couple of tracks where extremely minimal use of keyboard has been added). "All the guitar sounds were processed via a Fractal Audio Axe-FX digital device and a first generation Line 6 Pod 2 modeller, recording direct to a Mackie HDR 24/96 digital multitrack machine. "The music was created spontaneously and offers a glimpse of the raw first-take, stream of consciousness approach that often provides the foundation for my more commercially available work. In this instance, however, I've resisted the temptation to attempt perfection or modify/flatter the recording and instead allowed its inherent flaws to become a component of the music itself. I hope you will enjoy this private peep behind the magic curtain!" Albums Menu Future Past

Tony Goes to Tokyo The Revox Cadets single - 6 November 1981 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A) To Heaven A Jet - Airfields B) The Revox Cadets - Tony Goes To Tokyo (And Rides The Bullet Train) ORIGINALLY: The b-side was a non-album track. NOTES: "Tony Goes to Tokyo" was a one-off track credited to The Revox Cadets , included as a double A side to a single entitled Airfields , issued by To Heaven a Jet on the Cocteau label. The Revox Cadets was a pseudonym used by Nelson, although he was permitted at this time to release material on Cocteau despite being under contract to Mercury. PAST RELEASES: Up until Transcorder , the track on this single had not appeared on Bill Nelson compilations. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: This track is available on the retrospective compilation album Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings) . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "The Revox Cadets was not a real band, just me pretending to be one! The track was recorded at home on an analogue four track system. V.U. Disney was me too..." Singles Menu Future Past

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Forum Members To see this working, head to your live site. Categories All Posts My Posts Login / Sign up The Dreamsville Forum Create New Post William's World A forum for discussing the work of Bill Nelson! subcategory-list-item.views subcategory-list-item.posts 1.2K Follow World Outside The Window A forum for the discussion of more general topics. subcategory-list-item.views subcategory-list-item.posts 1K Follow The World And His Wife A forum for fans to discuss their own music, artwork, poetry...or whatever talent they may wish to share! subcategory-list-item.views subcategory-list-item.posts 131 Follow New Posts Radium Girl Oct 12 Lot 135 John Peel collection William's World Hi all just a heads up about a fantastic Bill Nelson lot from the John Peel collection part two from Omega auctions. The first auction had some great stuff and doesn’t disappoint this time, if nothing else to see the pic of Johns 4 star rating for Kind Of Loving. https://bid.omegaauctions.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-135---bill-nelson---lp-collection-including-test-pressings-and-a-four-star-rating-from-john-peel/?lot=81240&so=0&st=Bill%20nelson&sto=0&au=214&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=0&pp=48&pn=1&g=1 Like 4 2 Worra Oct 15 Worra and Peter Brookes The World And His Wife Hello world! Long time! I have this little project called "Weather Vane", where I pretty much play whatever comes into my mind. Now there's a new release coming out on the digital platform you prefer! It's a collaboration between myself and Peter Brookes, and also people from Sweden, Finland and Japan! So, here's a little teaser of the song written by me and beautifully sang by Peter! Hope you like it and check the full release October 15! Weather Vane - SD 480p.mov Like 2 1 jostmo Oct 08 The modern world William's World Like 2 1 Forum - Frameless

A Certain Bridge single - 1981 Last Man In Europe Production/Contribution Menu Future Past TRACKS: A) A Certain Bridge B) TV Addict/Complications BILL: Producer of both tracks. NOTES: This was only the second record to be released on Nelson's Cocteau Records , the first being 'Do You Dream In Colour?' Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Marvellous Realms Bill Nelson album - 13 January 2023 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this CD Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Nevernoon 02) Marvellous Realms 03) The Way Of The World 04) The Gold Beyond The Blue 05) The Weather Song 06) Signalling As We Go 07) Some Jiggery Pokery 08) Here On Earth 09) Whoops! I'm Going Back In Time 10) It's A Long Time Between Dreams 11) The Mystic 12) Imaginary Music 13) The Illuminator 14) Heaven Is A State Of Mind 15) A Thought In Passing 16) Your Magic Man In The Sky 17) Bonus Track: The Weather Song (Monitor Mix) ALBUM NOTES: Marvellous Realms 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 bulk of the material was recorded between November 2021 and May 2022, initially being seen as a natural follow up to Mixed Up Kid . The first mention of the album, then called 'Man of Dreams', came in a Dreamsville Forum post on 18 December 2021. At this early stage Nelson had completed all but a couple of tracks for the proposed album, and in a follow up forum post, on 28 December 2021, went as far as saying that the album was "almost complete" promising a track listing soon. However, as with many of his projects, time would see those plans significantly change over the next six months or so. On 5 January 2022, in a further forum post Nelson revealed a list of thirteen songs destined for 'Man of Dreams', while also stating that the album title may change. Nelson decided that 'Man of Dreams' was too similar to his 1987 release Map of Dreams and suggested that two alternative titles, 'All the Fun of the Fair' or 'Signalling As We Go', were now being considered. From that initial list of tracks, just three would make it to the completed album... 'Some Jiggery Pokery', 'Signalling As We Go' and 'The Weather Song'. Further details emerged in a Dreamsville Forum post on 11 March 2022 in which Nelson announced that the 'Man of Dreams' album had developed into two separate projects, Marvellous Realms being the first album, and a second then called 'Here on Earth'. A total of 33 tracks were listed as being currently recorded and mixed for the project with no indication at that stage as to what tracks would feature where. Comparing this list with the final track running order reveals that a total of seven songs would make the final cut of Marvellous Realms . 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 from the new album projects, again without revealing what tracks would appear where. In fact, he had by then completed a total of 13 tracks that would eventually make up the Marvellous Realms album, the remaining three tracks - ' Heaven Is A State O f Mind' , ' A Thought I n Passing' and ' Your Magic Man I n T he Sky' , being completed in the intervening months. Marvellous Realms was mastered at Fairview Studios by John Spence week commencing 21 November 2022 with the artwork, prepared by Martin Bostock as usual, already underway. Pre-orders for Marvellous Realms were announced by Burning Shed on 2 December 2022, with a release date for both the physical CD and Bandcamp digital download on 13 January 2023. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Marvellous Realms emerges from another intensive, almost perpetual, recording session. The studio is my favoured outlet for my creative endeavours (and perhaps has always been so), especially having now forsaken live performances due to various unwelcome health concerns . Creating music in my modest home studio is an absolute joy, never a chore. I'm constantly exploring an evolving and very personal universe of sounds, concepts, thoughts and whimsical imaginings. Dreaming whilst awake perhaps, ongoing real time fantasias, embracing both the past and the future with equal enthusiasm. From the latest batch of 80 or so new recordings comes this album, Marvellous Realms , a meditation on time and impermanence, wonder and mystery, magic and melancholy, all familiar themes to those who are attuned to my music, but with their own peculiar twist and distinctive flavour. So, sit back and enjoy the view, on the musical journey that never ends…" Albums Menu Future Past

Code album - 1987 Cabaret Voltaire Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Guitar on five songs: "Don't Argue", "Here To Go", "Trouble (Won't Stop)", "White Car" and "No One Here". Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) February 2007 Jan Apr May Jul Sep Oct Nov Dec Sunday 11th February 2007 -- 6:00 pm An entire month has passed since the previous diary entry. I've simply not felt able to write 'though there's been more than enough to write about. I just haven't had the energy or inclination to do so. An emotional low, as if dark clouds have been gathering and getting darker each day. I'll attempt an explanation of some kind but, I don't think it's wise to lift the lid too high on this latest Pandora's Box of tricks. I've already dwelt far too long on the mortal thoughts that it inevitably contains (and there's always the possibility that further introspection may conjure even darker skies). Nevertheless, I have to admit to feeling more melancholy than is probably healthy for me and it would be dishonest to pretend that things are otherwise. I've hesitated to call this feeling out and out depression, but maybe that's what it is, 'though I don't feel I have the right to allow myself such an excuse. The cause? Several possiblilities. Some that are understandable and some that are less so. Some external, some internal. Whatever the reason, the accumulative effect is the same. I seem to be caught in a negative space of my own making. Just before Christmas, my mother's husband George, (whom mum married several year's after my father died), was diagnosed with cancer. Coming so soon after the passing of my brother Ian last April, this has come as an additional family blow. George is in hospital at this moment, recovering from the major operation he underwent last week. His condition seems fragile, 'though we're hoping for improvement. George is in his '80's and we're all concerned about him, particularly my mother who is by nature a worrier. She frets and fusses about everything and no amount of sage advice can change that. Perhaps that's where my own nervous disposition stems from. I try not to think of myself as being overtly prone to such things but people who know me well always seem to come up with the cliche "you worry too much." I deny it, of course, but maybe they're not far off the mark. Anyway, I'm worried about George and worried about my mother who, as regular readers of this diary know, has herself been fighting a skin cancer problem for some years. (Thankfully, this has responded to treatment and, whilst there's still progress to be made, she is much better than she was a couple of years ago.) Unsurprisingly, this latest development has made her feel as if her world has been thrown even more off balance. I've tried to keep in touch with mum far more frequently than usual, calling her two or three times each day to offer whatever support I'm able. Currently laid low with a nasty cold bug though, I've been unable to go to the hospital with her. Unwise to risk passing on my germs as George is especially vulnerable at the moment. The last thing he and mum needs is to catch a virus from me. So I've tried to help from a distance, which is far from ideal but perhaps the wisest course for the moment. And whilst a cold virus is a minor complaint compared to what else is going on, it's been debilitating enough to add to the lowering of my own spirits and energies. In view of everything else though, I have no right to complain whatsoever. I've tried to get on with my work...and there's plenty of it to deal with as usual, all backed up and demanding immediate attention. As I've probably noted in these pages before, a lot of it feels more like duty than inclination. For instance, do I really want to deal with those ancient Be Bop Deluxe Decca audition tapes? I know that there are certain fans eager to hear these recordings but...I'm finding it harder than ever to get up the head of steam required to mix them. Not that I'd ever consider passing the job on to anyone else...I'm absolutely determined to do it myself, once the creative compass swings in the right direction. Right now though, it's pointing towards a far distant island of dreams, uncharted territory, not to harbours long since left behind. I'm by no means ungrateful for the commercial success that Be Bop Deluxe brought me back in the '70's...but sometimes, just sometimes, it feels more like an a millstone around my neck, rather than just one of several milestones on a long and ongoing musical journey. (Oh, poor, self-centred me!) But as I've so often noted in these pages, that sort of frustration goes with the 'job.' Even modest success tends to fix the public's conception of an artist at a particular point in time, like a butterfly pinned to a board, identified, dated and framed under glass. Over the years, I've fought hard against the kind of industry stereotyping that has, perhaps predictably but also lazily, branded me as 'ex-Be Bop Deluxe front man,' but, no matter how reluctant I've been to acknowledge that tag, it's proved a tough one to lose. Surely there's more to it than that? O.k, so to some people I probably DO sound unfairly dissmisive of my past, but...any ambivalence I express regarding my own musical history may simply be the result of an awareness of failure, of how much distance I still need to travel to find creative satisfaction. Even after all these years, I still feel as if I'm at the start of something, rather than at the conclusion of it. And, the older I get, the more acute is my sense that time spent re-visiting my musical past is time that could be spent searching for my musical future instead. Then again, it may simply be part of a desire to escape the limitations of labelling, a sheer cantankerousness in the face of anyone attempting to 'figure me out.' And yet...I DO go to some lengths in this diary to make myself understood, to offer a kind of clarification, to give some intimate indication of the various experiences that underpin the music. All part of the equation, I guess...and riddled with the usual personal contradictions. I don't pretend to understand why these issues should be so complex, but...in my defence, I do struggle, perhaps amusingly rather than heroically, with the implications of the complexities and contradictions that I find myself tangled up in. Weirdly, (and sometimes shockingly,) it's a struggle that is conducted as much in public as in private...the former via the pages of this diary and with every new piece of music I allow out of the studio. In any case, it's not just me, is it? Isn't everyone on the planet riddled with similar contradictions? It's the swiss cheese of existence. Even God is full of holes... Ask Richard Dawkins: wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins And he's a professor as well as an existential cheese maker. Why anyone should expect consistency from artists is laughable. Contradictions and uncertainties are an artist's lifeblood. All this endless pondering is part of the process, the fundamental fabric of the artist's curse. Being measured by mass appeal, (or more correctly, SALES revenue), rather than artistic merit, is an unavoidable fact of life in the wonderful world of the music business. Fairly obvious, but I never thought that 'business' was where I was headed when I picked up a guitar all those years ago. I was naive enough to think that I was setting sail for my aforementioned island of dreams. Guitar in one hand, telescope in the other. But it seems these are dreams that money can buy, hence the inevitable entry of 'business' to the arena. Dreams for sale, the fevered imaginings of creative minds piped into the consciousness of a dream-hungry public via the conduits of industry. It's a kind of science-fiction. Amazingly, I still eke a living from this stuff. I stand on street corners and whisper into the ears of passers-by. " Hey, kid, wanna hear my dreams?" I'm drifting...writing a book instead of a diary. Back to recent news: I've now completed the music for my collaboration with American comic-book artist Matt Howarth. The final two pieces of music were posted to him last week. 'The Last Of The Neon Cynics' is an ambitious tale of a tram-travelling, (yes, that TRAM not 'time'), space-cowboy with a talking guitar. I've worked on the music for the last two or three years, on and off, (mostly 'off' due to other work pressures), and poor Matt has displayed the patience of a saint whilst I've labouriously got my act together. (Or found time to deal with it.) The idea we have is that pictures, story and music will be available as a download, though details of exactly how we'll do this are still to be finalised. I've also completed some additional recordings for an instrumental album that currently bears the title 'Gleaming Without Lights.' As mentioned in previous diary entries, this album is centred around the almost 40 minute long soundtrack that I created for the 'Memory Codex' autobiographical video which was screened at last year's Nelsonica. The title of the piece is 'Dreamland Illuminated.' To make up the rest of the album I've recorded some new instrumentals that compliment the soundtrack. I've also decided the album's running order, which is as follows: 1: 'Gleaming Without Lights.' 2: 'North-East.' 3: 'Rialto.' 4: 'Billy Builds The World Of Tomorrow.' 5: 'Glittering Rails.' 6: 'Dreamland Illuminated.' 7: 'Pilgrim (Fantasia On A Distantly Remembered Hymn.)' The entire album is instrumental and electric guitar oriented, falling somewhere between the 'Dreamland To Starboard' and 'Neptune's Galaxy' album stylings. I've also added extra textural details to the 'Dreamland Illuminated' piece that were originally absent from the Memory Codex soundtrack recording. This isn't a 'major statement' album but an interesting side-project, a pleasant diversion which will only be manufactured in limited quantities. Next job up on my list of to-do items:- The aforementioned Decca audition tape mixes plus selection of some live Be Bop Deluxe bootleg recordings to be included on the 'Tomorrow The World' album. Also the Mitchell Froom remix project which I haven't yet found time to address. (But will do as soon as time is available.) One frustrating bit of business has been the repeated attempts to install some new effects in my Mackie D8B mixing desk. Technical mysterioso. Different operating systems, system conflicts, various software builds, and most of all a rather indifferent and sometimes confusing user back-up service have confounded expectations of performing a simple, straight-ahead installation. And this isn't exactly software installed in a computer but a dedicated hardware recording system. We may be nearer, (Paul and I), to success,as nearly all our available options have been exhausted. One more thing remains to be done, (in the next week or so), which, fingers crossed, may see the problem finally resolved. I love my Mackie recording system but...there are certain issues that the company needs to talk about with artists such as myself, not least because they've now stopped manufacturing the particular equipment I've come to rely on so much and seem to have left those of us who use it to flounder with a less than clear, (or working), website. Another rapidly looming task: Preparation for my live concert at Leeds University School Of Music on the 28th of April. I'd originally hoped to have created an autobiographical video/film titled 'Ghosts Etched On Glass' to screen before my performance. Unfortunately, events have overtaken me and I don't have enough time available to begin work on this particular visual piece. For one thing, I need to gain permission to browse through the Yorkshire Film Archives as well as applying to search for suitable photographs at Wakefield City Museum's archives if I'm to gather the period footage and still images needed to add to my own family photographs and 8mm cine material. (There's also the matter of obtaining legal and financial clearance for the officially archived footage that I might want to incorporate in my film.) Then there's the script writing and recording of my own voice narration for the story, plus the assembly of appropriate music. And all this before I can actually sit down and concentrate on the painstaking process of editing all this diverse material into something resembling a cohesive documentary film. There's simply not enough time available to do all this before 28th of April, especially as I have a list of other pressing things to complete . So...I'm unfortunately going to have to fall back on plan 'B.' Instead of 'Ghosts Etched On Glass' I'll screen the 'Memory Codex Volume One' video that I made for last year's Nelsonica convention. I may also show 'Personal Ghosts' from the 'Flashlight Dreams' DVD as it ties in with the generally autobiographical theme of the evening. If time allows, I'll try to create a video for 'North-East' (from 'Gleaming Without Lights'), using east coast footage I've personally shot during the last couple of years. I have some evocative Whitby sunsets that would work well with this, along with some Flamborough Head and Reighton Gap material. But lots to do, including sorting out a live performance set for the event. It will be all instrumental and, (as the performance constitutes part of a contemporary music festival), more in the area of contemplative, introspective, exploratory music than straight ahead rock. For like-minded souls only, I suppose. As some might say, an art event. I'm confused...Why the hell do I still try to explain and segregate this stuff? Am I SO conscious of the fact that some potential listener's need a guide book when I stray outside of the Be Bop Deluxe territory alluded to in the earlier part of this diary entry? The venue in the School Of Music is more suited to a carefully controlled sound system than anything like the heavy duty thunder of rock. It's a kind of converted church or chapel within the School Of Music building, the same venue I gave a brief performance in a couple of years ago as part of a guitar-oriented event put on there. So, it will be a narrowly focussed, possibly quite intense, listening experience. And tightly connected to the concept of inwardly oriented music. Not remotely Be Bop Deluxe for those who are expecting a set featuring songs and mainstream music. Ironically though, Be Bop Deluxe tracks such as 'Blimps' and 'Futurist Manifesto' gave ample warning of where certain aspects of the music was headed. Even all those years ago. Let me try to return to more personal issues:- I visited my brother Ian's grave again a couple of weeks ago. Only the second time since his headstone was erected and the first time since the turn of the year. Emi and I took flowers and placed them in the two vases that are an integral part of Ian's headstone. It was twilight, lighter than the occasion of our previous visit, just before Christmas when our car's headlights had been neccesary to see the gravestone. This time there was a soft electric blue sky stretching overhead, puncutated by pastel-smudged cream and orange clouds. In the near distance, Sandal Castle Hill was visible, a place that Ian, once upon a time, like myself, enjoyed visiting. Church bells echoed on the breeze and evening birdsong was audible. Just beyond the walls of the older part of the cemetary, across Sugar Lane, could be seen the lighting towers surrounding the grounds of Wakefield Trinity rugby football club, a location famously featured in Lindsay Anderson's film of David Storey's 'This Sporting Life' novel. I thought, once again, of the transcience and fragility of life and the distance I've covered, the overwhelming amount of change I've experienced, the losses and gains, the things I've sacrificed to expediency and progress. I thought about Ian's own life and the absence of his prescence amongst the lives of those of us who loved him. I looked at his headstone and the dates boldly carved in silver script on it: 23 April 1956 to 23 April 2006. Such dreadful symmetry, exactly fifty years from start to finish. Then, next to his name, a tied pair of musical notes cut into the grey Indian marble and, at the headstone's base, the inscription 'Tree Of Life' in Latin. I felt angry, then hurt, then suddenly and unexpectedly overcome. I held close to Emi for a little while, then took a deep breath and tried to gain a hold on my emotions. Should I relate this kind of thing in a public diary? I have my doubts about the wisdom of it. But there it is. So why do it? Do I believe that by doing so it may help me come to terms with it in some way? Or that it may be of some use to others who have experienced, or may in future experience, similar grief? The bottom line is, I don't really know. I don't know much of anything anymore. What little I know is this: The loss of my brother is still difficult for me to accept. I still expect him to drop in for a chat and a cuppa, (as he sometimes did when his work brought him within striking distance of our home.) I still imagine that the 'phone will ring and he'll be on the other end of the line with some dryly humourous tale to tell. I still expect that we'll find each other on a stage together, faking our way through the music we shared. I didn't spend nearly enough time with Ian since we attained our debatable 'adulthood'...but I wish I had, I really wish I had. And there you have it. Another reason why my spirits are less than positive. You see, I'm far from over it yet. One further negative outcome of all this introspection has been my decision to postpone the proposed American Nelsonica convention that a handful of dedicated and enterprising US fans were hoping to stage in the 'States later this year. I've come to this decision reluctantly but with a great deal of thought. I've been agonising over what I should do about this for several weeks now, (as close friends know). I've fretted about it, wrestled with it, lost sleep over it, turned it this way and that... but, until a couple of days ago, I couldn't face up to the reality of the situation. The reality being that I already have far too much on my plate this year,that I'm going through an inner crisis of some kind, that I have neither the will nor the strength needed to make such an event the success it deserves to be. For these and other reasons, I've come to the conclusion that it's just not the right time for me to engage wholeheartedly with the proposal. I finally got up the nerve to write to the American team's chief organiser and offer my apologies, explaining that I've basically got more to deal with than I can confidently handle, both in terms of work and personal issues. I explained that an American Nelsonica would be one responsibility too far, for this year, at least. Nevertheless, I've suggested to the US team that I'm willing to keep the option open for next year but right here and now, it's something I sadly don't have the strength to cope with. Thankfully, despite my concerns, the team members have all responded to this disappointing news with kindness and unqualified support, letting me off the hook with generous grace. They're thoughtful, perceptive and understanding of my current situation. Such a relief... I still, unsurprisingly, feel terribly guilty about not being able to commit to the project as I know that quite a few people were looking forward to it becoming a reality, but they've generously told me, in typically positive American fashion, 'not to beat myself up about it.' Well, I'll try to ignore the bruises already inflicted but I can't help but feel bad about declining, even though an American convention was, at this stage, still a possibility, rather than a certainty. There were still some essential details to finalise before a green light could be given, although the team were very optimistic that it would soon become a more than feasible proposition.Perhaps waiting for a better opportunity to stage such an event might, in the long run, prove practical, allowing further planning and more programme content to be added. It could prove to be to everyone's advantage. Or am I just trying to justify my inability to commit? Unfortunately, for me it's a complex issue. Nevertheless, I'm grateful that some of the stress I've felt has been lifted from my shoulders. It will give me a better chance of dealing with the other tasks in front of me. Of course, there's still a UK Nelsonica to consider...At the moment, we've yet to settle the various issues linked to staging the English convention. We haven't properly begun to look at venue options either. It may be that last year's Hilton venue in York is used again, (provided we can get the hotel to provide a much larger number of seats than last year), but we would still like to investigate possible alternatives before making a final choice. Of course, this means putting time aside for Jon Wallinger and myself to draw up a list of venue possibilities and then make appointments for the two of us to visit them to inspect their facilities. Then comes the team meetings where various details are discussed and fine tuning takes place. A lot of thought goes into these annual conventions, perhaps more than is apparent to the casual observer. Jon and I still plan to concentrate on York and it's environs as we feel it offers a reasonably practical location for travel from around the UK. York is situated more or less in the centre of the country and is on the main north-south rail route as well as being connected to major motoways. It's certainly far more user, (and family), friendly than the North Ferriby location that we booked in previous years. Also, being 'local', York is practical in terms of the movement to and fro of my equipment and so on, which allows more time for preparation, sound checks, etc. Anyway, at the time of writing these words, there's nothing definite decided about the UK convention. It may well end up being a last minute thing...but, as it's intended to be here, on the 'doorstep' so to speak, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'm sure that the team will work their usual magic. But first we need to secure a venue and a date, then I need to give it a conceptual title, (last year's was 'Arcadian Salon'), before we make any official announcement. Then, of course, comes the little matter of programme content, visual design, live performance set, special presentations, limited edition cd and the rest. (Last year's convention saw me preparing my personal input over a three month period. A lot of work for a one-off event.) Besides the above, there are still hopes of tackling some of the other projects on the wish-list that I made in an earlier diary entry. The main one, for me at least, is the writing and recording of a new vocal album. This will occupy the greatest amount of my time, once the process gets underway. But decks must be cleared first. Then inspiration found. Fitting some kind of domestic life into this work schedule doesn't get any easier. I generally try to reserve the weekends for spending quality time with Emiko but, I often find myself stealing an hour or three to answer website forum questions and to generally connect with the Dreamsville community. And, as I've noted before, even this diary takes up a fair amount of time, once I sit down to write it. (Especially this entry, for some reason.) Despite the above, I HAVE had one or two brief opportunities to escape the studio this last month. I recently spent a couple of days with my old friend John Leckie who came up to visit me before heading over to Sheffield to meet up with a young band he's been hired to produce. John stayed overnight at Maison Nelson and, during dinner at a local Italian restaurant, we had tremendous fun discussing music, past, present and future. John has become a highly respected and famous producer since those distant days when we first worked together as a production team. His work covers a lot of ground, from XTC, Simple Minds, Magazine, The Stone Roses, Kula Shaker, to Cast, Muse, Radiohead and all time legends such as Doctor John and Los Lobos. A great portfolio that started with Be Bop Deluxe's 'Sunburst Finish' album. John's success is very much deserved and I'm so pleased to see that his talent has been so widely recognised. Whenever we meet up, it's as if there's not been a gap in our conversation. John had lots of interesting stories to tell me about his experiences with various 'artistes' he's worked with...some of them highly amusing and possibly scandalous. I'll not divulge these confidences here, (or anywhere,) but just say that rock music doesn't seem to have become any more sophisticated or adult since the days when John and I sat next to each other at the mixing desk in Abbey Road studios. Quite the opposite, in fact. John brought lots of old photographs he'd taken of me during the Be Bop Deluxe recording sessions at various studios we worked in together. He'd digitised them and put them on his laptop as a slide show, complete with music. Most of them I'd not seen before. It was unavoidably nostalgic looking through them but at the same time it did, weirdly, feel as if it were only yesterday rather than thirty years or so ago. Only the music felt like it was made in another era and by a different person. John also, generously, brought me a very generous gift: a vintage Japanese Railway Station Announcer's microphone, (and in pristine working order too). The microphone has a predicatably nasal, high-mid frequency dominated tone but will work perfectly as a special vocal effect on the right piece of music. I'm looking forward to using it, perhaps on the proposed new vocal album. Emi and I managed to get to Whitby for a Sunday trip. Lunch at the 'White Horse And Griffin,' (not up to its usual standard this time for some reason,), then a browse around the old town, followed by a walk out to the edge of the harbour to sniff the ocean, the nearby smokehouse with it's kipper aroma coming and going on the evening breeze. After that, across the old harbour bridge for a drink at a relatively new place, a cafe bar called 'The Moon And Sixpence' which we were both impressed by. It has great views across the harbour towards the church on the cliffs. We resolved to try the food there on our next visit. It was my son Elliot's birthday last week. He's now 26. I can't quite grasp that fact, especially as he's the youngest of my three children. He requested a Chet Atkins DVD and album for his birthday so I sorted them out for him. He's been wanting to give himself a new challenge by getting to grips with music and techniques that fall outside of his usual rock music style, so has been learning some Django Reinhardt pieces. He thought Chet Atkins might provide another angle too. I'm pleased to see him taking such a broad interest in the wider potential of his instrument. So many young guitarists seem to think that music doesn't exist outside the boundaries of the latest skinny jean fad. But, come to think of it, Elliot isn't exactly a 'young' guitarist anymore. Not by today's infantile standards anyway. Emi and I recently went to see him and his sister Elle play with the latest incarnation of their Honeytone Cody band in the basement bar at the City Screen cinema, in the centre of town. I was impressed. Their new drummer is absolutely terrific and the bass player, whilst the youngest member of the band, is talented and imaginative. Elle's vocals and Elliot's guitar playing just gets better and better.They sounded like real stars and completely outshone the other two bands on the bill, including the headline act. Such power and authority. They could easily stand proud alongside any well-known band and aquit themselves with honours. I just hope that, this time, they hold this line up together and get the break needed to bring their music to the wider audience that it deserves. And, no, I'm not saying this because I'm their father, but because they're just so damn good. Really. Valentine's day coming up this week. I've managed to book a restaurant to take Emi out for the evening. Being a florist, she's always extremely busy around this time, especially on the 14th when she works late. The only table I could get at the restaurant of my choice was for 8:15 pm so, all being well, Emi will have finished work by that time and we can have a romantic dinner together. Even though we've been a couple for 14 years now, (since 1993), we're still very much devoted to each other and enjoy each other's company tremendously. True love. In that respect, I'm a lucky guy. Have been playing my Campbell Nelsonic Transitone guitar which is featured on some tracks from the 'Gleaming Without Lights' sessions. I'm particularly fond of the sound of the neck pickup, a Seymour Duncan Jazz humbucker. It really suits the cleaner tonalities I've favoured of late. Dean Campbell is building a special Campbell Caledonian model for me at the moment. I need to get back to him with a pickguard design idea. When I find time to design it, that is. This guitar will have three P90's, a Bigsby vibrato and a powder blue paint job. Guitars still thrill me, even after all this time. As readers of this diary may have noticed. Whilst on the subject of guitars, the long awaited issue of the Japanese 'Player' magazine featuring an interview with myself plus photographs of my guitar collection has finally been published. (Since the article was put together, there have been some further additions to the collection so, whilst relatively comprehensive, it's not completely up to date.) Four copies of the magazine arrived by mail from Tokyo. It's a big article. The guitars look good, though I'm not so keen on the photo's of myself that they've used. Don't misunderstand, technically, they're excellent, but it's just that they seem to have chosen rather unflattering shots. But, these days, there's probably no possibility of obtaining a 'flattering' photograph of me whatsoever. I'm beyond the reach of such a thing. It's beyond the laws of physics. And I used to be such a pretty boy too. Weather is cold but none of the snow that has troubled London and the south. Some signs of spring in the garden already though too early, I suspect. Nature not what it used to be, or should be. A weird winter. The latest scientific information on the subject of climate change/global warming reads like the stuff of nightmares, like a science-fiction disaster movie. And still world leaders dance around the topic. Some of them pick up on it but as if it were a fashion trend, to be worn but not completely understood. What sort of planet are our grandchildren going to have to deal with when they hit old age? No wonder so many of us feel down these days. The news is always bad. Books: Bedtime reading only, (as usual), but the personally signed Les Paul autobiography that was given to me as a gift at Nelsonica 07 is proving to be a delight. A hero. How I wish I could shake his hand and add my appreciation to all the thousands of other grateful people he has inspired through the years. Music: mostly working and therefore listening, to my own but, in an odd moment or two, I've enjoyed listening to some swing era stuff and also Ella Fitzgerald. I've felt the need for a kind of patinated elegance, copper-plated 78's rather than shiny gold discs or silver CDs. Sex under sophisticated wraps, silk gowns, nylon stockings and patent red leather stilletos. Oh, well. This could be one of the longest diary entries I've ever written. I could, amazingly, add more but won't. Time to deal with other things. Top of page

Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 1 - May 2005 BILL NELSON UNVEILS NEW WEBSITE! For some time now, Bill Nelson has dreamed of creating a website which could serve not only as a research center for fans of his creative work but also as an expression of his personal life and interests. Now, with the launch of the first phase of 'Dreamsville, The Official, Global, Bill Nelson Website', that dream finally begins to materialise. Dreamsville is a digital hamlet that will eventually house all manner of delights, a domain that will allow its citizens a direct insight into Bill's life and work along with the multitude of things that have inspired it. The site appears in a fairly rudimentary form at this moment but will gradually be expanded as time allows. Bill's priority will always be his music and so the development of Dreamsville will, quite naturally, have to fit around this core activity. Eventually, however, Dreamsville will provide a complete and unique resource with a personal touch and attention to detail that can only be found in an artist originated and run site. Like any new town, Dreamsville comes loaded with hopes and aspirations, manifestos and ambitions. Its success, however, will largely depend upon its citizens and visitors. In this respect, each individual fan's enthusiasm and input is welcomed. The town's growth and future life depends very much upon the support of all those who consider themselves to be connoisseurs of Bill Nelson's complex body of work. To help create a sense of community, 'The Dreamsville Inn' has been specially constructed as a means of communication for all loyal Nelsonians, world wide. It is hoped that this pleasant and traditionally 'English' location will provide a hospitable meeting place for considered and intelligent conversation. This very newspaper, 'The Dreamsville Rocket', will be issued as and when news arrives of activities that may interest you. All issues will be archived at 'The Newspaper Office' so that a permanent reference can be built up. You will be able to subscribe to 'The Dreamsville Rocket' for free and thereby be informed of the publication of the latest issue. Those who have followed Bill Nelson's diary over the years will be able to continue with this by regularly checking in the 'study' area of 'Villa Nelsonia' which is accessible from the town plan on the Dreamsville home page. The ongoing 'Diary Of A Hyperdreamer' will be posted there as each entry is created. There will be other areas within the villa for Bill's personal musings too, although these will appear a little later as the site develops. So, there you have it... Welcome to Dreamsville and The Dreamsville Rocket. NEWS JUST IN... Bill Nelson is planning a U.K. tour for October and November of this year. It will be a solo tour which will explore a new direction for Bill. As well as the more familiar use of instrumental material, Bill is intending to create several vocal pieces which can be performed live as a soloist, without the need for a band. These new songs will be designed to sit alongside his instrumental work in a harmonious fashion and will place Bill's live work in an entirely fresh context. Bill's previous solo outings have been exclusively instrumental, (except for a performance of 'Wonder Of The Moment' at 'The City Varieties' in Leeds in the Autumn of 2003), so this project is something of an adventure. Bill will also compose some new instrumentals and put together sections of video to fit. The tour's ultimate concept is currently under wraps but further developments and venues will be announced here when appropriate. A band-based tour, a further development of last year's venture, is being considered for 2006. This too would incorporate a new concept and presentation whilst still touching on some familiar music. ROSEWOOD: On its way! Bill Nelson's latest recording project, a two volume set called 'ROSEWOOD, Ornaments And Graces For Acoustic Guitar' is about to be manufactured. It is hoped to make 'ROSEWOOD VOLUME ONE' available sometime in May. 'ROSEWOOD VOLUME TWO' will be released a little further into the summer. This project concentrates on acoustic guitar instrumentals but is more than just the usual 'unplugged' confections served up as rustic fodder for suburban hillbillys these days. It is a direct linear development from the 'Dreamland To Starboard' album and sets Bill's acoustic guitar in an ambient soundscape that suggests a jazz and contemporary classical context as well as a broader neo-roots music vibe. The track listing for the two albums is given here:- 'ROSEWOOD' VOLUME ONE- 1. Blues For Orpheus 2. Escondido Oleander 3. Lumia 4. Filament 5. Lacuna 6. Cascade. (Improvisation For Three Harp Guitars) 7. She Swings Skirt 8. Mexico City Dream. (For Gil Evans) 9. Ventura 10. The Girl In The Park In The Rain 11. Apollonian Tremolo 12. Giant Hawaiian Showboat 13. Cremona 14. The Land Of Lost Time 15. Sleepless In The Ticking Dark 'ROSEWOOD' VOLUME TWO- 1. 'Tinderbox' 2. 'Aliumesque' 3. 'Little Cantina' 4. 'Rolling Home, (Yorkshire Raga No.1)' 5. 'Sunbeam' 6. 'Bramble' 7. 'William Is Wearing The Cardigan Of Light' 8. 'The Autumn Tram, (Yorkshire Raga No. 2)' 9. 'Hi Lo La' 10. 'Rising Sap' 11. 'Blue Cloud' 12. 'See-Through Nightie' 13. 'Ordinary Storm, Waiting For Rain' 14. 'The Light Is Kinder In This Corner Of Corona' 15. 'Your Whole Life Dreaming NELSONICA The Beat Goes On It is hoped to organise an official Nelsonica fan convention this year. Plans are currently being discussed and a new venue is being investigated. The timing of the convention is dependent upon the eventual Autumn solo tour schedule but it is hoped that Nelsonica can be accommodated. Various new proposals have been put forward to develop the convention and provide fans with an opportunity to share a day out with Bill. Live performance will be included in this event, along with other special items of interest. Keep your eye on 'The Dreamsville Rocket' for the latest developments. BILL NELSON LAUNCHES NEW RECORD LABEL Rosewood' is a limited edition release on Bill's own 'SONOLUXE' label and will be exclusively available from 'THE DREAMSVILLE DEPARTMENT STORE' or from official merchandising stalls at Bill Nelson's live concerts. HAROLD BUDD. A SPECIAL TRIBUTE CONCERT Bill Nelson will be featured in a very special, not to be missed concert for his long-time friend Harold Budd, being staged in Brighton on the 21st of May, 2005 as part of the Brighton Arts Festival. The concert will include performances by Jah Wobble, Robin Guthrie, John Foxx, Theo Travis, Steve Cobby and Steve Jansen, (as well as Bill) plus other special guests still to be confirmed. Check out the Brighton Festival website for further details. This concert can never be repeated and is not to be missed! ROSEWOOD, Ornaments And Graces For Acoustic Guitar, Volume One Bill's personal view of the album's development and its place within his work:- "I'd considered making an acoustic guitar based album for some time... but an instrumental one that would comfortably sit alongside such projects as 'The Romance Of Sustain,' 'Plaything' and 'Dreamland To Starboard.' I also wanted to avoid the obvious 'unplugged' approach. You know the kind of thing I mean, that faintly commercial, middle class, faux-folksy, nouveau-puritanical, rootsy methodism, with its slyly manipulative suggestion of a kind of 'backwoods/backwards' naivety... the easy seduction of an unsophisticated, barefoot girl outside a log cabin with her Ma and Pa away in town to buy feed for the chickens. Or maybe the rustic lure of big beards and banjos, overalls, oil stains and tobacco, the romantic refuge of city boys stricken by an identity crisis. Not that I haven't consciously employed such notions of whimsy within my own music in the past. And I've certainly purchased and enjoyed my own fair share of those kind of albums, authentic or otherwise. So, I'm not coming down heavy on the Hollywood Hillbilly Hordes here. What I'm trying to say is that I wanted to bring something else to this project, other than its essential declaration of woody 'acoustic-ness.' In one sense 'Rosewood' is a reversal of older confabulations, (look it up, it doesn't exist), that easy thrill of taking technology and applying primitivist attitudes to it... old hat now, (and for some time too). Not that approach, definitely not, but a slightly different one. From these hesitant attempts to rationalise my methods, you might surmise that Rosewood was deliberately set aside, conceptualised, cut, dried and prepared, before I even tuned my guitar. As if the hatching of a concept was the alpha and omega of the thing. This wasn't quite the case. I may often begin in such a manner but the music inevitably demands its own violent deviation from such restrictions. It inevitably throws a curve ball. Of course, I always have the option to adhere to the original narrow remit or ignore it completely. I could profitably pursue the clear-cut track of the super-disciplined, minimalist aesthete, or actually have fun and play around with whatever the void throws up. Some would view the latter as a lazy approach but they'd be wrong. It's tougher dealing with the freedom to run anywhere at all in a field, rather than to walk down some pre-ordained white line. The more options available, the harder the task. It can go either way or otherwise. And 'otherwise' is often the best. Just the sheer sensuousness of playing and hearing it play back provides all the joy that I need or would wish to convey... Just because it's there for me and it's mere existence appears beautiful and an accidental miracle of sorts. But... aren't all miracles accidental, God being dead, (other than in the fevered imaginations of the devout?) Despite my half-hearted resistance, I've more than often found that 'going with the flow' leads to far more vital and potent results than pursuing the established art magazine, bourgeois affectations so beloved of the chattering classes... slick, over controlled hang-overs from English '80's Thatcherism. Such restrictive attitudes, to me, are nothing more than cliched expressions of fashion as fascism, (and so on ad nauseum). Music for anal-retentives? Well, suburban coffee table, dinner-party aesthetics are generally guaranteed to bring out the rebel in me. And the boorish, anarchist iconoclast. But then, I'm bound to be biased, aren't I? Anyway... back to the act of ART and all its absolutely irrelevant, transcendent perversions, the stuff we love and adore: Each time I begin an act of music making, I'm presented with a multitude of options. So many different angles and approaches and obsessions, all competing for my time and energy. Another cliche, perhaps, but: The artist's lot isn't so much to create, as to choose. He is adrift in a whirlpool of possibilities. It is a fierce place. 'Choose' is perhaps a misleading term in this instance. To cast the dice, is probably more apt. I am, on the one hand, just a simple guitar player with only one song to sing. On the other, I'm a reasonably well read, thoughtful, self-injurious, open-minded, poetically motivated, conceptually aware artist with selfishly personal, troubled and complex ideas to explore, (or 'issues to resolve,' to put it in pop-psychoanylitical terms). Or, on the other hand, (Oh, yes, I have three, you know), I'm simply in love with the sound of music, the physical feel of a guitar and the crackle and fizz and superficial beauty of my own gossamer thoughts and dreams. The latter, most probably. Or perhaps all of the above. Delete according to taste. With 'Rosewood' I wanted to take a basic, 'primitive' acoustic guitar and deal with it as if it was an electric instrument. This isn't to say that Rosewood is an experimental work. That old Jean Cocteau thing of 'taking a line for a walk' doesn't necessarily denote a dive into uncharted waters... Music's well-mapped oceans are pretty much over-fished anyway. The notion of 'newness' is as much a conservative concept as 'traditionalism.' An establishment perpetuated myth. Pop-Radicalism is rarely new, only like shifting sand, formed by tides of time and place and commerce, rather than absolute cultural need. Often nothing more than the kind of metaphysical lies touted by snake-oil salesmen, hoping to seduce their customers with the heady perfume of miracles and danger. A pirated, fake Chanel, mixed from sour and stale ingredients, masked with vanilla. It wasn't always so... Despite all this nebulous talk of here and there, now and then, Rosewood may be perceived by some to be fundamentally, deliciously retrogressive. Also, pretty, attractive, charming, mellow... . The plink, plonk, twang of nostagia. I cheerfully admit it has much to do with memory and nostalgia... but it remembers a past that never actually existed. The whole thing is a figment of imagination, a chimera, a fantasy projected in Disneyesque pastels. It may appear odd and alien to those few who encountered a head-scratching moment as a result of some of the acoustic interludes on my earlier albums, or to those who still hanker after amped-up '70's guitar heroisms. It may certainly appear odd to those who are a little too young, old, or insular to have explored the kitsch technicolour fringes of retroland, the lush meadows of English pastoralism, the smokey blue neon of '50's soho jazz clubs, the whirr and gleam of Post-Victorian fairy's wings, the rattle, bang and zoom of tin-can rocketships, the fairground colours of canal narrow-boats, the white hot hiss of steam trains, the warm, glowing golden static of Mullard valves in old radios, the Orson Welles-blessed zither's of Eastern Europe, the eternal attraction of a box of Lakeland coloured pencils alongside crisp, blank, white sheets of paper, the inevitable melancholy of impeding old age and autumn, the remembrance of youth and its follies, the tiny diamonds in snow, just after falling, the stars that shine through windows at night after love and sex, the church bells that drift over meadows and frame the first cuckoo of spring, the winding stream that sings and ripples and dazzles a bumblebee's eyes in summer, the bluebells that swoon beneath trees and perfume my dreams, the clouds that shift, change and form the faces of family ghosts in an August blue sky, the sound of my fingers on the strings of an acoustic guitar, the hum of a broken effects unit... All this, is my Rosewood and more. And Rosewood, in case you hadn't spotted it, is also the name of the most typical wood used in the construction of the fretboards of acoustic guitars. As above, so below. It's all surface and as deep as a wishing well." BILL NELSON. APRIL 2005 'Sonoluxe' is the latest name in a long line of Bill Nelson originated and owned record labels. It continues Bill's commitment to operating independently of the mainstream music industry, a tradition that Bill began in the very early 1970's with his 'Smile Records' label. 'Sonoluxe' will provide a quality service for those people who appreciate intelligent, stylish music, music that has no need of the narrow categorisation that so sadly limits contemporary listening habits. Each 'Sonoluxe' release will be a little work of art in itself, designed to give years of enjoyment. The label's first release will be the long-awaited 'ROSEWOOD' project. CARLSBRO TO MANUFACTURE A LIMITED EDITION, BILL NELSON DESIGNED AMPLIFIER! Due to unexpected demand, Carlsbro amplification are to manufacture a highly limited edition version of the amplifier and speaker cabinet personally designed by Bill Nelson and used by him on last year's 30th anniversary tour. Each unit will carry a specially engraved and numbered plate featuring Bill's signature. Once the initial small quantity have been made, no further units will be built. It is destined to be a rare and valuable collector's item. More news of this exclusive project as it develops. TWO NEW DIARY ENTRIES Bill has written two new diary entries, exclusive to Dreamsville. In the first, dated 21st of April 2005, Bill writes about the Dreamsvillelaunch, his10th wedding anniversary and his new plans for an autumn tour, as well as musings on the general election and the joys of a waxed mustache. In the second entry, dated 28th April 2005, Bill writes about ill health, the first cuckoo of spring, the mastering of Rosewood, Buddhist art, property development and the website launch delay. Diary of a Hyperdreamer is open for you to read on the desk of Bill's study in Villa Nelsonica. ROSEWOOD - Jon Wallinger gives his personal view For the last couple of weeks, I have had the pleasure of being in possession of a pre-mastered copy of Bill Nelson's latest instrumental CD 'Rosewood - Volume One'. When I say, "I've had the pleasure", that is exactly what it has been. This latest recording flows on wonderfully from 'Romance Of Sustain' and 'Dreamland To Starboard'. But whilst those albums were centred around electric guitars, the melody maker on Rosewood is the acoustic guitar. Headbangers may be disappointed, because at no stage during Rosewood do you get to shake your curly locks, but if you want my advice, play it after a hard day at work, lie back, put your feet up, close your eyes and let the gentle, haunting sounds massage your mind to a state of tranquillity so often forgotten about in today's world. But it's not just the guitar that sets the scene, there are layers of sounds, very minimal, but what there are fits so well... touches of ethnic percussion in places, bells and wind-chimes. Guitars in reverse appear a couple of times just to remind you who the recording artist is. It is quite a task to pick out individual song titles for special mentions. When listening to this CD, the tracks seem to merge to become a complete recording. You may have read that Bill spent quite some time working on the track selection and running order, the effort was well worth it, creating a complete journey rather than individual trips. There is just one track that I don't think fits particularly well among the others - I won't tell you which one, I'll let you make your own minds up... it will probably end up being everybody else's favourite! So if you enjoyed 'Romance' and 'Dreamland' then I predict that you are going to feel the same about the dreamy, ambient world of Rosewood. Roll on Volume Two... Jon Wallinger

Joy Through Amplification Bill Nelson album - 9 July 2012 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Ampex One 02) Sex Magic 03) Ampex Two 04) Vortexion Dream 05) Ampex Three 06) The Conjurer's Companion (Every Blessed Thing Is So Damned Fragile) 07) Ampex Four 08) Orpheus Dreams Of Disneyland 09) Ampex Five 10) Imps In The Undergrowth 11) Ampex Six 12) Arco Volta 13) Ampex Seven 14) Fire Gods Of The National Machine 15) Ampex Eight 16) To What Strange Place Will This Transport You? 17) Ampex Nine 18) Heaven Holds A Grand Parade 19) Ampex Ten 20) Weather Blows Wild Inside My Head 21) Ampex Eleven 22) Why Does It Do That? 23) Ampex Twelve 24) These Tall Blue Days (Are Lark Amazed) 25) Ampex Xtra 26) Monsters From Heaven (Flowers And Rain) ALBUM NOTES: Joy Through Amplification: The Ultra-Fuzzy World of Priapus Stratocaster is an album combining vocal and brief instrumental pieces, issued in a one off print run of 1000 copies on the Sonoluxe label. The main title for the album, Joy Through Amplification , was revealed on the Dreamsville forum in May 2011, and was intended for an album of songs written specifically for a five piece band (Combo Deluxe) that Nelson had hoped to form to undertake a UK tour in 2012. A small number of songs were completed by July 2011, but with a number of projects competing for time and material throughout a hectic year, Nelson struggled to make significant progress on the album for the remainder of 2011. Eventually the planned tour came to nothing, but Nelson retained the main title, and added an elaborate subtitle for an album that was somewhat different in content than initially intended. Most of the work on Joy Through Amplification was completed in the first six weeks of 2012, and it was during this period when the idea of alternating each song with one of the series of 'Ampex' instrumentals was formed. Nelson went on to describe the instrumental segments as "an album within an album", inviting fans to listen to these pieces in isolation from the full album. On the day the album was being mastered at Fairview Studios, Nelson decided to add an extra track, "Monsters from Heaven", which had originally been destined to appear on The Dreamshire Chronicles . The album's arrival was celebrated with its own launch party, staged on 9 July 2012. At this event, held at The Leeds Club (in Leeds), Nelson took part in a Q&A session in front of an audience of sixty paying guests, who each received a signed copy of the album and a signed limited edition art print on the night. Nelson's profile was aided by a few reviews of the album in the major publications. The album sold out on 14 October 2015. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Just to, er, arouse your curiosity, I'm currently working on a very peculiar instrumental album with the working title of The Mysterious Echo Chamber of Priapus Stratocaster . (I kid you not!) "This album contains a weird mix of long form and shorter pieces and features odd moments of wild, madman at the helm guitar solos, (ring modulated, overdriven and wah-wahed to Alpha Centuri and back), but set into unlikely frameworks. It may trigger thoughts of the worst excesses of rock guitar imaginable but, at the same time, it's fused seamlessly with music similar in feel to some of the tracks on the Non-Stop Mystery Action , Theatre of Falling Leaves , and Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus albums. A wry blend of the sophistiCAT sublime, (meow...) and the spandex ridiculous. (And probably some of my nastiest, semi-atonal rock guitar lunacy since "The Revenge of the Man in the Burning Ice Cream Van".) "Those of you with a taste for the genuinely perverse will, I trust, love it!" _____ "Have been working somewhat intensely on Joy Through Amplification : The Fuzzy World of Priapus Stratocaster. It's turning out to be a neo-psychedelic, techno-metal album, (much as predicted). Hard, abrasive yet melodic and ecstatic too...a densely rich mix of guitar/vocal ideas with everything pumped up to the max. Headbanging for people with a library ticket? Well...hard to describe it accurately...you'll just have to wait and see... "For those of you who have been hankering for something rougher and grittier...this one may well float your leaky boat." _____ "The album is, in some ways, a response to those who have wanted a rock album from me. I could have done a '70s style, Be Bop Deluxe sort of thing, but there's little fun for me in that as I covered those bases all those years ago...so I thought I'd do something even more rock than Be Bop, but push it out of shape a little whilst incorporating some of the stylised machismo elements that real rock bands take so seriously, (much to my amusement!). So there's some chugging, deliberately dumb and dirty riffs, squalling wah-wah guitars, semi-moronic drumming and even a touch of shredding." _____ "I'm also now experimenting with another approach to the album. I'm separating each main track or song with a series of brief, (all under two minutes), ambient-ish, minimalist guitar instrumentals or soundscapes, completely at odds with the main songs. I want these to function as 'palate cleansers', a glass of fresh water between the thickly sauced meats of the main dishes. I'm giving these little miniatures a group title: They will all be called 'AMPEX' but will carry a number. (So: 'Ampex One,' 'Ampex Two,' etc.). When I have enough 'Ampex' pieces I'll try to re-sequence the songs on the album with an 'Ampex' track between each, to break up the relentless textures of the album. It might just bring the project more into line with my own sensibilities. Or, of course, these 'Ampex' tracks might persuade me that they should have an album of their own. We'll see." _____ "These little quirky guitar gems between tracks are very promising. The guitar sounds are quite processed and often un-guitar like...some people would think they're keyboard sounds, but they're not. Just filtered, delayed, reversed and digitally re-pitched electric guitars. Short and sweet. A nice contrast to the main tracks on the album. (And a gentle challenge to the more rock-oriented types who might not normally give time to such things)." _____ "The title 'Ampex' comes from the name of an analogue tape manufacturer whose reels of recording tape I used back in the '80s prior to my home studio going digital. It also fits in with the word 'Amplification'." _____ " 'Priapus Stratocaster' is, (in my feverish imagination), the ivy festooned god of loud guitars and woodland frolics...a close cousin of Pan, Bacchus and Hermes...round of belly, jovial in demeanour, cloven hoofed and upright of staff. Constantly in pusuit of the most ecstatic guitar solo and comely turn of ankle!" _____ "I've invented the persona of 'Priapus Stratocaster' for the album, Priapus being the Greek god responsible for the protection of fruit, gardens and male genitalia. He's usually depicted with a rather gargantuan erect phallus, chasing some diaphanous maiden or other. I thought it amusing to name a fictional, cartoon-like rock god after him. Adding 'Stratocaster' as his surname competed the joke as many rock guitarists weild Fender Stratocaster guitars in a crotch-humping, phallic manner. Factor in some virtual tight spandex pants, big hair and hysterical male posturing to complete the picture and there you have it: 'The Ultra Fuzzy World of Priapus Stratocaster'." _____ "Oh, and there's a sense of mickey-taking in the album's sub-title...I mean, 'Priapus Stratocaster?' C'mon, it's a jokey reference to 'cock rock,' is it not? The album is not quite as straightforward as it might at first seem...it's the work of a sly prankster. (Which is why one of the images is of a clown guitar)." _____ "I've never stopped making rock music, I've just expanded my musical base to include things on the fringe of it, and sometimes outside it entirely. And I've attempted to cross breed the form, to create interesting hybrids that might inspire the listener to listen beyond his or her 'comfort zone.' (And to get me to play outside of my comfort zone too)." _____ "Noisy as Hell and beautiful as Heaven!" _____ Bill's Listening Notes for the album: 'Joy Through Amplification' Listening Notes FAN THOUGHTS: John Spence: "Well now...what an enjoyable day with Bill. Downloading and mastering tracks for Joy Through Amplification . You people are in for a real treat. If you love guitars you'll love this. If you love songs you'll love this. I'll say no more. I have the best job in the world but days like today make it very, very special." _____ aquiresville: "It's a complex, intricate, adult guitar-bash-up, it's a swagger and a hip-shake with poetry to boot, it's a wild marathon with some lovely "breathers" thrown in (so we can recuperate, before diving in again). It IS Joy Through Amplification ." "JTA is, in my humble opinion, Bill's greatest postmillennial piece of work (so far...! We want MORE, Bill!)" "It's hard to ignore "Sex Magic" as one of the best on the album; Bill coaxes his guitar to soar and moan so freaking delightfully! Had this track a bit of crowd noise, a hardcore fan could close his eyes and hear it as a "lost" Be Bop Deluxe offering (as Bill alludes to in his notes, with the sonic DNA from "Panic")! "THIS is exactly what we want to hear, Bill. Bravo, Bill, and Thank You. More. Bring it on." GettingOnTheBeam: "The songs jump out at you, with maybe the highest energy level of a Bill cd in years. This is Bill's celebration of the instrument he loves, and a celebration of what he can do with it. And that celebration comes through loud and clear." "Unbelievable guitar work. This is why for me Bill is the best guitarist ever, and by far the best songwriting guitarist ever! (A lot of the technical guys aren't much for writing.)" "For me, JTA is the best release of Bill's career. I have not tired of it yet, and play tracks from it regularly. A high energy songwriting Masterpiece." seantere: "Utterly fantastic. Man! You can still rip the hell out of a guitar!" BobK: "The interlude pieces which commence the album and separate the songs: these are short quirky and fascinating.They serve in three separate ways. As individual soundscapes in their own right, the calm before the storm, and indeed the calm after the storm. This works extremely well. As for the songs. Wow. Enigmatic lyrics, sly references lyrically and musically to old classics. They are melodic, catchy, but frequently edgy. Well structured, but prone to going off on a tangent. Some lovely guitar tones here. A little edgier, a little angrier, but BN being BN it is always tasteful and melodic. This is a very special album that should be cranked up, (as indeed it was on Friday night!). It will appeal to those who hanker for rock songs, who love BN's guitar playing, his singing, his gift of melody and love a bit of quirky weirdness." Dar: "The alternating structure of Ampex - Rock - Ampex is unique and interesting, but this also quickly gets more interesting. I found the Ampexii (Ampexes or Ampexions?) acting like strange and wonderful dimensional portals, wormhole tunnels of sound and subtle music, transferring me from one Nelsonian realm to the next." "Congratulations on a genuine masterwork." Face In The Rain: "Imps in the Undergrowth": "wonderful grungy guitar! Had it on in the car yesterday - my teenage son was bobbing his head in approval!" Alan: "I'm really enjoying the album. Although, there seems to be a glitch in my CD, as it keeps returning to "Arco Volta"..." tom fritz: "The Conjurer's Companion": "a seriously rocking number, great drums pounding. Staggered rhythm guitars, jazzy lead fills, fantastic lyrics. Then comes one of Bill's great strengths: the magic outro. It's like a completely different tune when this happens. One of those "play that again" moments." MondoJohnny: "I've been listening to the album since I got it yesterday and I haven't made it through because I keep having to stop and replay songs!" "Bill can be very deep and artistic but he can also just rock your socks off! Sometimes he gives you a gummi bear and other times he give you a multi vitamin. They are both excellent in their own way." "I've been listening to this album, and wow! Bill's still got it. This album is rock but it's something more. I was thinking about what decade it sounded like...and my answer was...now? It sounds like right now! Not what's happening now, or what happened last week, but this very minute. I haven't heard another rock album that sounds like this one. Its really something special." swampboy: "Bill made a comment in one of his posts that this album "just barks". I have to disagree. It HOWLS!! I finally received my copy a few days ago, and it took a few listens to start absorbing it. It really is a pitbull of an album that grabs you by the ears and doesn't let go until the last note fades out. It rocks harder than anything else he's ever done, and commands your attention at every turn. Once again, Mr. Nelson manages to both surprise and satiate us once again." "After repeated listenings, I find that the ampexes remind me of rest periods between rounds in a boxing match. Bill bobs and weaves, jabs and punches with his guitar. At the end of each round, we're given a minute or two to recover before the next round. Bill wins with a TKO, and we're dazed, but happy." steviegray: "One thing I can say about Bill Nelson since he started releasing records, there is no genre to define him. His guitar playing is just incredible and he is one of those guitarists who you know he's playing, nobody can imitate and get away with it!" chymepeace: "Completely brilliant. Gets better with each listen. Simply stunning. Thanks Bill. How you keep it fresh and exciting is a mystery but I'm very glad you do." REG: "In a career featuring so many highlights, this album still manages to stand out, an absolute triumph." Albums Menu Future Past

Wednesday 9th March 2005 -- 1:49 pm A quick diary entry today. Lots going on. Have now finished 16 pieces of music for my latest guitar instrumental album and I'm trying to settle on the correct running order. As I mentioned here before,12 tracks is my goal but it's good to have more to choose from. I'm hoping that, by my next diary entry, I'll have a final list to announce. (And an idea of when it will be available.) This task is occupying me almost full time but I think it will be well worth all the effort. Now, I have a special message to convey: Regular users of the Rooms With Brittle Views website will have noticed that it was no longer in existence today, due to webmaster Alan Myer's switching it off for good. Unfortunately, it seems that Alan no longer felt that he could spare the time and energy to operate the site and, sadly, has decided to close it down. Like many others, I want to express my thanks to Alan for his input over the last five years and for doing his best to maintain the site under sometimes difficult circumstances. I'd hoped that Alan might have felt like continuing his site alongside the forthcoming 'Dreamsville' one but it was not to be. Alan's day-to-day business has increasingly taken up more of his time of late and maintaining RWBV has become an obstacle. As I have said in earlier diary entries, I have no desire to add further pressures to Alan's situation and I wish him well and hope that he will find life somewhat easier without the time-consuming responsibility of running a BN fan site. Which brings me to the future... We are reasonably close to opening up the new Dreamsville website, which it now seems will have to function in a slightly different capacity to the one I originally planned. I'm looking at ways to develop the new site in a broader direction, providing some of the facilities to fans left by the closure of RWBV. By this, I mean more than just the production and distribution of my recordings, which was the original reason for starting Dreamsville. This will obviously be a little more time-consuming for me but, because of the help I've been generously offered by various people who have already contributed to RWBV's past existence, I think everyone will eventually be satisfied by our efforts. I'm now looking at setting up a discussion board to replace the loss of Northern Dreamer so that fans will continue to have a place to meet and talk. Eventually, this will be incorporated within the Dreamsville site. It will take the form of a 'pub' which, for the moment, is to be called 'The Dreamsville Arms'. This pub will be located within an area of the site known as 'The Pleasure Park' . The Pleasure Park will hold various buildings connected with general entertainment, including a 'box office' where live concert tickets and so on can be purchased on line. There will also be a facility to secure tickets to special fan events such as the annual fan convention which we're hoping to put in place as before, perhaps in an expanded form. More news of this as it develops. The Pleasure Park will also contain 'The Guitar Arcade', an essential building to visit for anyone with an interest in guitars and guitar playing. Dreamsville is a fictional town and it's various buildings will have different functions. There will be a 'Villa Nelsonia' where my diary entries will be found. Villa Nelsonia will also contain other odd musings. Then, there will be 'Dreamsville Town Hall' which will act as a central office for the site. Here is where the 'Mayor of Dreamsville' will reside. The Mayor will act as a public interface for fans and will work closely with myself on the development of Dreamsville itself. My good friend Jon Wallinger has kindly volunteered to fulfill this role and will become the official 'Mayor Of Dreamsville' the moment that the site goes on line. The Town Hall will also contain a guide to the site and regular messages from The Mayor and The Architect's Department about the ongoing development plans. In the Architect's Department, a team will work on the site's structure. Obviously, I will be overseeing this with the help of my long-time design collaborator David Graham and also with technical assistance from Paul Gilby and others. News will be handled by the newspaper office of 'The Dreamsville Rocket'. This will be a fairly regular news bulletin with the visual look of a newspaper. People will be able to subscribe to this for free and will be sent e-mails linking them to each new edition. It will contain visual treats as well as text. Copies of 'The Dreamsville Rocket' will be archived at the newspaper office in the town. Another building will be 'The Museum Of Memory' . This will hold my personal memorabilia and photographs from my private life. Much of the material contained here will not have been seen by the public before. 'The Academy Of Art' will contain examples of my visual work, 'The Music Salon' will document my musical career and 'The Dreamsville Department Store' will provide a facility for people to obtain my recordings, both old and new, plus other merchandise. 'The Post Office' will contain a guest book for visitors to Dreamsville to sign. 'The Transit Lounge' will be where links to other interesting sites can be found and 'Dreamsville University' will provide an unusual educational facility where all kinds of odd ideas will be gathered together. 'Sunny Bungalow' , a sweet looking 1930's style building, will contain photo's of my toy collection and other kitsch collectables. And so on and so forth... More things will be added to the town as time goes on, including a radio station and a cinema if the technical side of things works out. A LOT of work to get it up to full strength but all websites have to start somewhere and, with determination and patience (and some encouragement from the outside world), we should eventually end up with something quite special and unique. Until the first stage of the site goes on line, these diary pages will act as a news bulletin as well as a regular diary. As soon as facilities are in place for people to subscribe to the Dreamsville mailing list, I will let everyone know and we can start to populate Dreamsville with real citizens. Keep checking billnelson.com and this diary to stay in touch. More news as it happens. Now it's back to working on the new album. Its title, by the way is: 'ROSEWOOD... Ornaments And Graces For Acoustic Guitar'. It will be released on my own 'SONOLUXE' record label. A rough draft of the artwork already underway. Patience, dear reader and... Stay tuned! Top of page Friday 18th March 2005 -- 6:00 pm Rosewood now has a front cover. Dave Graham and I finally arrived at the best solution. It's appropriate, colourful and fun... It has fish on it! And electrical circuits! And a guitar! Now I have to make and choose images for the rest of the package. Went out and took more photographs of an old Hoyer archtop guitar of mine for this purpose but need to work with these in my computer before passing on to Dave for him to work his layout magic. I've now recorded 24 pieces of music to choose from for the album but haven't begun the final selection process. It's going to be difficult to boil them down to my intended 12 track running order. The one's that don't fit will be made available on this year's Nelsonica convention album, so nothing will be wasted. The basic form of my Dreamsville website is at the technical assembly stage and should be up and running in a week or two. It will be in a rudimentary form at first but I'll fill it with content over the next year or two. It will look great once it's properly 'stocked.' Whilst on the subject of websites, Jon Wallinger pointed me in the direction of a temporary Bill Nelson discussion board that someone has set up. He said I should check out a posting by Alan Myers on there, so I did. When I read them, Alan's comments came as a real disappointment to me as I've always been appreciative of Alan's website (and Mark and Chuck's too, for that matter), and have tried to offer what input and help I could over the years as well as be supportive of events Alan asked me to endorse. I know that Alan has had some difficult personal times of late and can only think that these have contributed to the underlying bitterness suggested by his posting. What a shame. I won't comment further other than to say that the only reason I've had to look at ways of putting a website of my own together was a direct result of Alan telling people, last year, that he was shutting down his site. And yes, as I once pointed out to some people who were getting far too unhealthily wrapped up in things, it is only a website and, in fairness to Permanent Flame, RWBV was neither the first or only Bill Nelson website on the planet, just the one that I was once pursuaded to contribute most towards. I had hoped that Alan might, once he'd come to terms with his personal life, seen fit to continue the site alongside Dreamsville, as a purely fan oriented site, which is what it was supposed to be when it began, but it seems that was simply naive of me. After all the previous co-operation between us, I'm extremely sorry that Alan has seen fit to make such negative comments in public. What's the point in that, other than to cause damage and distress to myself and my friends? But, needless to say, there's probably much more to this sad story than meets the eye. I'm personally upset but, from past experience, not at all surprised. So... perhaps it really was for the best, after all, despite my initial doubts. Life's way too short for these kind of intrigues, especially at my advanced age (and with the amount of work I've got to accomplish before I'm too old to accomplish it). In any case, people are intelligent enough to judge the real situation for themselves without me getting involved. But at least I know where I stand now. Move on, move away. Life's stressful enough. An e-mail from Harold this morning. He's sending me a brochure from an exhibition of English watercolours that he attended. Harold's Maytime Brighton concert coming up soon. I'm trying not to get too nervous about it at this stage. Hal is his usual laid back, 'when it happens, it happens' self. For all his protestations to the contrary, he's one of the most Buddha natured people I've ever met. Absolutely artistically ruthless but sweet as a nut with it. I envy him his balance. And his aesthetic gifts. Finished reading 'What Did I Do?' by Larry Rivers. I enjoyed it tremendously and ended up admiring the guy for his totally self-absorbed, passionate mission to squeeze as much out of life and art as possible and fuck himself senseless at every available opportunity. An irredeemable rogue who led a scandalous life driven by a fiery, burning intelligence. It really inspires one to cut the crap out of one's own life and make art with all the energy available. Ed Ruscha's book, (which I'm still reading), on the other hand, is cooler, more collected and, at times, as dull as dishwater. More greats gone to Valhalla: Phillip Lamantia, Arthur Miller, Hunter S. Thompson and Jimmy Smith (the latter the best organ grinder in the business). One of my planned but unnanounced live performances in May now cancelled due to venue unsuitability. So I won't announce it. Still one more up my sleeve though, besides the Harold spectacular. Now it's dinner time and then a mixing session. Next week... the Rosewood assembly begins in earnest. Top of page Wednesday 23rd March 2005 -- 9:00 am Signs of Spring on the increase and some sunshine, 'though yesterday was wet and grey. I ended up stuck in the house anyway as I suddenly found myself unable to send any e-mails. I usually deal with the first e-mails of the day immediately after breakfast and before taking my bath. Yesterday, however, I was still stuck in front of the computer at 4pm... and still in my dressing gown. The e-mail service provider I use had changed the way their system worked, now insisting on smtp authorisation. I followed the provider's website instructions to reset my e-mail settings but to no avail. My computer still wouldn't send any e-mails at all, various error messages flashing up on screen. It took me a long while and several phone calls to tech support teams to discover that the problem was with my e-mail browser software... .It basically didn't support smtp authorisation, being somewhat antiquated. Antiquated? Hell, it was only five years old! Software ages rapidly in computerland, it seems. I then had to find and download some new e-mail browser software and install it. This was accompanied by panics about whether I would lose my many thousands of stored e-mails from my older system. I eventually figured out how to make back up copies of these and installed the new software. It took only seconds to install, despite having taken almost one hour to download. Thank goodness everything worked once more and nothing was lost from my e-mail archives. I was surprised by how panicked I was by this escapade. A few years ago, before I had a computer, I poured scorn on those people who seemed unable to function out of arms reach of their PC's and Macs. I couldn't see the need for e-mails and the internet and even avoided the telephone unless it was absolutely neccesary. Now, I realise just how pathologically dependent I've become on the computer to communicate with the outside world. In some ways it's quite amazing, in other's it's sad. The truth is, I now have to give up a great deal of time to answering e-mails and dealing with computer-related activities, time that was once spent making music. My intention, yesterday, was to work on the final selection of tracks for the 'Rosewood' album. Unfortunately, this task was postponed whilst I dealt with the technical problems posed by my Mac. I'll try again today, after dealing with this diary entry. 'Rosewood' has now accumulated 27 possible tracks. As I've mentioned in these pages previously, I need to select around a dozen of these to go on the album proper, the rest being reserved for the Nelsonica Convention album. Choosing the 12 that will best work together will be difficult. The trick will be to only use tracks that work together towards a particular goal. There's some variety amongst the pieces but I think I need to make this album head off in one fixed direction, rather than become too diverse. It has elements of the 'Dreamland To Starboard' album in that it is quite 'interiorised' for want of a better word... 'Mellow' might suit it better, I don't really know. Until I start to get to grips with choosing and sequencing the running order, it's difficult to say exactly what the final effect will be. At this point in time, I'm feeling a bit clueless about it all. I recently remarked to Harold (Budd) that I approach music like a blind man with a stick. I should have qualified this further by saying, 'like a blind man with a stick approaching a dangerous highway'. I changed the titles of two or three pieces to better suit their mood. The list of possible track choices for 'Rosewood' is now made up of the following pieces: Filament Ventura Bramble Appolonian Tremolo Cascade (Improvisation For 3 Harp Guitars) Lumia See Through Nightie Lacuna William Is Wearing The Cardigan Of Light She Swings Skirt Aliumesque Tinderbox Cremona Mexico City Reflections (For Gil Evans) Little Cantina Giant Hawaiian Showboat Blues For Orpheus Autumn Tramcar (Yorkshire Raga No.2) The Girl In The Park In The Rain Blue Cloud Hi Lo La The Land Of Lost Time Swingo Collapso Rising Sap Pilgrim The Big Buick Rolling Home (Yorkshire Raga No.1) Somehow, I have to boil these down to twelve cohesive tracks for the album. I must make some progress with this today. In my last diary entry, I mentioned that one of my proposed May live performances had been cancelled due to venue unsuitability. I also mentioined that I had one more live concert up my sleeve. Well, as bad luck would have it, this also didn't work out. I had been asked to play at the Coventry Jazz Festival but the organisers seem to have changed their plan and I'm left clutching empty air. So... the only scheduled appearance for me at this point in time is at the tribute concert for Harold Budd being held as part of the Brighton Festival on the 21st of May. From three shows to one. Received a nice letter from Harold yesterday. Briefly discussing some concert performance plans but mainly talk of other things. Also got an e-mail from the Carlsbro Amplifier company. Seems that my custom, self-designed Carlsbro amp and speaker cabinet has generated a fair bit of interest and the company are proposing that they manufacture a limited edition run of the design, with my approval. Each amp would carry a metal plaque with my signature and a number to indicate its limited edition status. Apparently, quite a few people have asked if they could buy an identical amp to mine. I'm pleased it has captured some player's imaginations. Dave Graham has come up with Rosewood's CD 'on-body' label and it perfectly suits our front cover image. I still have to create the images for Dave to fit into the rest of the package and will try to make a start on this today. I could do it whilst listening to and assembling the draft running order. I'll need to book Fairview studios soon to master the album prior to manufacturing it. I'm praying that 'Rosewood' will be appreciated. Certainly, those who enjoyed my 'Dreamland To Starboard' album shouldn't find it too much of a challenge. After getting sore fingers and thumbs with the acoustic guitar at the heart of 'Rosewood', I'm itching to record some new electric guitar pieces, using a plectrum. I also ought to think about getting to grips with a new song-based vocal album. Right now, though, I'm not in a lyric-oriented mood. I'm sure that something will come to me sooner ot later... it usually does. I'm told that the launch of 'Dreamsville' is not too far away now. I'm in the hands of Adam, the technician who is building the mechanical side of the new site. I'm told he's on with the job and I'll have something to look at very soon. But, there's months and months of work ahead to get all the actual content I have in place on the site. Still, fans can watch it grow bit by bit. The idea is to get the essential stuff in place first, including the town's 'pub' (The Dreamsville Inn), where fans will be able to communicate and discuss to their heart's content over a 'virtual pint' of Dreamsville's best ale. I may even make a real bottle of 'Dreamsville Ale' available in the future, a limited brewing to be sold exclusively at Nelsonicas. I'll need to liase with a nice, small, local brewery to see how this could be manufactured and what the costs would be. Absolutely inessential, of course, but sort of fun in a surrealist way. There's no shortage of ideas for Dreamsville, just a limited amount of time available to put them into action. Ultimately, the music has to take pride of place. I've had a nice response from fans to my request for Red Noise era photos. I now have a few good ones to send off to Paul Sutton-Reeves for his 'Music In Dreamland' book. Music to be selected now, so... back to work. Top of page Tuesday 29th March 2005 -- 10:30 am Almost April. That time thing again. Life passing me by whilst I work myself into a state of stress. And for what? For what I hope will be a beautiful body of music. I complain, I endure, no matter what the turn of events. In an apparently meaningless world, music is the one illusion of meaningfulness that I cling to. My personal, proud folly. I've been struggling and struggling with the running order for my 'Rosewood' album. I'd hoped to keep the track count down to twelve tracks but couldn't slim it down beyond nineteen. (The total recorded now stands at 29 pieces of music.) Listening back to my choice of nineteen tracks in the correct sequence, I was struck by how rich the listening experience was. Perhaps too rich for some people. I worried that it might overwhelm the listener and be difficult to take in at one sitting, thereby diluting its impact. So... I eventually decided to split Rosewood into two separate albums. Not a double album set, but two individual volumes: 'Rosewood Volume One' and 'Rosewood Volume Two'. That way, I won't be frustrated by losing some of the music to lesser projects and the album's audience can access the music in two, much more easily digested, chunks. Having said that, the track count on Rosewood Volume one is still more than my original twelve track target. But at least it is fifteen tracks now and not nineteen. And, more importantly, it works a treat. I listened through to a draft CD-r assembly of it last night and I think it constitutes some of my finest work. It's intense, emotional, thoughtful and spontaneous and very musical, avoiding the fashionably glamourous lure of 'avant-guardism'. I guess you could say it's a mature work. Or as mature as my Peter Panic nature will allow. I think that the final track listing for Rosewood Volume One will be as follows: Blues For Orpheus Escondido Oleander Lumia Filament Lacuna Cascade (Improvisation For Three Harp Guitars) She Swings Skirt Mexico City Dream (For Gil Evans) Ventura The Girl In The Park In The Rain Apollonian Tremolo Giant Hawaiian Showboat Cremona The Land Of Lost Time Sleepless In The Ticking Dark I e-mailed Dave Graham the sleeve notes, credits and track listing last night so that he can lay them into our design package. The album artwork is virtually complete for volume one. It looks really strong and features a lot of my photography. A package as rich as the music it contains. The next task is to assemble a running order for volume two of the album. Dave is already making draft layouts and I need to sort out which remaining tracks fit where. I suspect though, that I'll record at least couple more pieces of music for this to balance out volume two's 'feel'. Rosewood, for all its acoustic implications, is a dense and complex piece of work. It has taken a real bite out of my being, one way or another. I've worked on Rosewood all through the Easter weekend (and for the last couple of months as well). Emi is off work for a week as the flower shop is closed whilst its owner goes on holiday to Egypt. Our lot is far less exotic. Emi gave the kitchen a spring clean yesterday whilst I stayed hunched over my mixing desk in my workroom. We've not been anywhere. Can't really afford to anyway. My output certainly overshadows what comes in. It's been a horrendously expensive few months... so many bills and unforseen domestic expenses. Poor Emi... I'm so lucky that she understands and tolerates my almost non-stop work ethic. I'll try to take her out somewhere today. Hundreds of Caravans lined up in the field opposite... At night, each one flickers with the cathode glow of its internal television set. These folks like to get away from it all but not too far from their soaps and game shows. Or from other people. I don't really understand the attraction of spending a weekend cheek by jowl with hundreds of other campers all boxed up together in a field. Maybe it's a social thing, rather than an escape. I'd prefer to be somewhere miles away from the herd. Of course, I'm an absolutely unrepentant social misfit anyway, so that's to be expected. More and more, these days, I look at the world outside my window with a mounting sense of semi-amused horror. I'm amazed by the shabby attitudes that seem to have become the norm in our society. What happened to the idealism, optimism and enlightened ideals of our 'swinging 'sixties?' Where did our liberated and liberal attitudes go? I suppose these once sweet dreams became nothing more than cheap, easily manipulated signifiers of an impossible utopia, fodder for advertising copywriters, unimaginative designers and middle aged, one-time mods, now sofa-landlocked on an endlessly nostalgic faraway domestic atoll. Poor sods. Maybe I'm one of 'em. Saw a rough draft of the Dreamsville site last week. Some things need a bit of a tweak. The trick is balancing graphic visual quality with practical download times. Something of a trade-off. The site is still in the hands of the technical chap and being knocked into digital shape, 'though the main visual components have been completed. I'm hoping we can launch the site fairly soon. But I've said that before. The consolation in all of this is that I don't want to just 'knock something up' for the sake of getting the site in place. It needs to be right. It will be, as I've also said before, an open-ended, ongoing project... something that will be developed slowly and carefully with attention to aesthetic detail. An extension of my musical and personal life, rather than a peripheral thing. I really need to escape from my room today... health suffering again, various aches and pains, twinges, numbnesses, a general feeling of being drained, exhausted even. I really ought to limit how much of myself I allow to be damaged by all this stuff. My own fault entirely of course. I can't even begin to address the problem. I'm hardly likely to change the habit of a lifetime at this stage of the game. If I really wanted to, if I genuinely felt more than just a romantic revulsion for this arty-farty lifestyle, I would. Throw it all away. It's obviously a tender trap I'm caught in and my wriggling is nothing more than a token defiance. Well... there you go. In the end, I submit to the painful deliciousness of it all. What a loser, what a lucky guy. Top of page William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) March 2005 Feb Dec Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013

The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill Bill Nelson And His Lighthouse Signal Mechanism Orchestra album - 6 November 2005 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) The Lighthouse Keeper's Waltz 02) The Ceremonial Arrival Of The Great Golden Cloud 03) Here Comes The Sea 04) Dream Of Imperial Steam 05) Sailor Blue 06) Ship Of Summer, All Lights Blazing 07) Illuminated Promenade 08) The Ocean, The Night And The Big, Big Wheel 09) A Boat Named St. Christopher 10) Moments Catch Fire On The Crests Of Waves 11) The Sky, The Sea, The Moon And Me 12) My Ship Is Lost To Semaphore ALBUM NOTES: The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill is a mainly vocal album issued on the Sonoluxe label in a single print run of 1000 copies. It was first made available on the opening night of Nelson's UK tour on 6 November 2005, which went under the banner of Popular Music From Other Planets . The remaining stock was then sold through SOS. The album represented something of a departure for Nelson as it was a concept album centered around his childhood memories of time spent near the coastland of North East England. The album went out of print in October 2007 and in 2013 tentative plans were announced on the Dreamsville Forum for a physical reissue as 2CD set with the companion album Neptune's Galaxy , but alas nothing came of this. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "It wasn't conceived as a 'concept' album, at least in the usually perceived sense. It is, as the subtitle reveals, a 'suite of songs' dealing with a central theme. But many albums of mine either start with, or eventually develop, a 'concept'. This doesn't have to be some grand operatic thing, just a shining thread on which to string the musical beads. This album started with me feeling my way forward a bit at a time, like a blind man with a cane. I'd originally intended doing a very simple, stripped down set of songs that might easily be reproduced live but, somewhere along the line, the coastal, oceanic thing emerged and hijacked my original intentions. Before I knew it 'The Lighthouse Signal Mechanism Orchestra' had entered the frame, and it became clear what the muse was demanding of me. The instrumental interludes...were designed to both 'bridge' and further elaborate the various songs. The album is meant to be taken as a single, constantly unfolding piece of music. It contains a strong sense of place, of landscape and seascape, of characters and visual impressions. A kind of Ealing Studios film rendered as song." _____ "On a personal level, the album preserves these memories in sound and lyric as a meditation on loss and longing. On a more general level, it's an impressionistic album of seascapes and landscapes and the beautiful nature of our English coastline." _____ "One of my favourite tracks, "The Ceremonial Arrival of the Great Golden Cloud" works on several levels: 'The Great Golden Cloud' could actually be the name of a big sailing ship, its arrival in harbour after a trip to exotic lands being celebrated by those on dry land. It could also be a literal cloud, turned golden by the setting summer sun, watched by my boyhood self whilst standing on the east coast cliffs with my late father. The song makes a clear reference to my father who, 'loved the sea'. He and I used to walk on the empty beach together at dawn and explore the cliff tops at Reighton Gap and Witherensea. I recall he and I watching wild waves hit the harbour at Ilfracombe in Devon too. That song has many personal resonances." _____ "Re: 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Waltz' - it is intended to act as an 'overture' to the Sailor Bill album, setting the atmosphere and visual mood for the songs that follow. The lighthouse keeper is a romantic character for me, living in harmony with the elemental forces of the sea and providing a light for sailors to steer by. There are obvious metaphysical symbolisms involved here. The circular and spiral nature of the lighthouse evokes a kind of oceanic carousel. The coda section of the piece is meant to conjure up the idea of mermaids or sea-sirens singing on the rocks beneath the lighthouse, trying to lure the sailors to their doom. The textures, melodies and instrumentation of the piece are deliberately chosen to paint exactly that picture. It's one of my favourite compositions, not only on that album but generally, because it felt, when I'd finished it, as if I'd painted an epic picture of the scene as I'd originally imagined it." _____ "I invested a lot of time and thought in the project and I think this shows in the multi-faceted nature of the finished result. Its structures, textures and economical use of language were carefully chosen to convey both interior and exterior states of experience. It's filled with personal metaphor and symbolism and deals with innocence, experience and memory. It attempts to address the poetic nature of life and our longing for spiritual transcendence , but without spelling it out in those terms. I wanted it to have more than one level of meaning but also a 'secret key' that, once discovered and turned, would open the whole thing up like a treasure trove. "Ultimately, it's an album about the process of inner development, the possibility of transcendence mirrored by our interpretation of the world as it impacts on us in moments of wonder and lucidity. It's my attempt to read the mystery of my own life through the interpretation of memory and imagination. Conceptually ambitious? Perhaps so, and perhaps an unattainable goal. But it provided me with a personal revelation, simply by approaching it from that angle. I discovered a lot about myself in the process of making the album. In that sense, it really was a voyage of discovery and adventure, beyond the island of my past." _____ "If someone asked me to define my true self, the 'inner man', with just three albums, I'd point them to Sailor Bill , Rosewood Volume One , and Dreamland to Starboard with Sailor Bill occupying the number 1 slot. Of course, with such a large body of work to my name, there are quite a few other essential 'signifier' albums I could add to the essentials list, but, those three are the ones I'd save from the fire first. In some ways, they'd be the most suitable albums from which my soul and personality could be accurately reconstructed after I'm gone from this earth. I think of them as a kind of 'hologram' of the 'real me', the creative essence of myself." _____ " Sailor Bill is the classic, the timeless one, the BIG statement and the one you should give your undivided attention to. THIS is the one I passionately want you to hear above all others!" _____ "Give Sailor Bill' s musical ship of dreams time to reach your harbour...it's an epic, extended song-suite, rather than a collection of disconnected songs. It's almost operatic in its scope, a kind of concept album where each track makes up just one facet of the overall picture. I spent several months creating the album and it really requires proper listening to appreciate all the detail that went into it. But give it time and patience and it should unfurl its sails and carry you off to a coastal dreamland. Enjoy!!" FAN THOUGHTS: John Izzard: "More than lives up to the descriptions and promises Bill had made about this recording. Bill's albums always ooze artistry, creative energy and intelligence, but this album is simply on fire! I'm amazed that a musician with so many albums behind him, can produce something as beautifully fulfilling and desperately passionate as this. Incidentally, it is dedicated to Bill's late Father, his Mother and the memories of childhood seaside holidays. To the unconverted, if you want to see/hear a player at the very top of his game, you're not 25 years too late - IT'S NOW!" Martin Bostock: "Living, and indeed having grown up in a seaside town, the songs for me conjured up personal childhood memories of Tram rides, sandcastles and rain soaked-windswept trips through Blackpool Illuminations. Indeed, after we had listened to the CD and stepped out into the cool October evening air, I had that same excited feeling I would get when, as a boy, my Grandparents would take me to the 'Lighthouse Toy store' and would return home clutching some new piece of treasure. The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill is a treasure chest, with each piece therein a finely polished & many faceted gem. Destined to become one of those must have Bill Nelson classics." jetboy: "Everything about this album is BIG...Sweeping Orchestras that would work well as soundtrack music, haunting melodies, seagulls, wind, distant Wurlitzers, somewhere a 60's beat combo plays on the end of a pier...it's a very romantic album, each track an epic. I've never heard anything like it before, and it's going to go down as a classic Bill Nelson album." Peter: "What a jewel. As always, Mr. Nelson reaches and connects...interesting, multi-layered, dynamic, emotional, evocative, imaginative and challenging, yet familiar, another lovely musical adventure for us all to take." "To this day it blows me away...rich, complex, elegant and full of passion. A rewarding stew of nostalgia, genuine emotion and the brilliant musical explorations I expect from Bill. And the guitar...what can I say? "A Boat Named St. Christopher" is so achingly beautiful I want it to last forever. 'Moments Catch Fire"? C'mon...that one is so gorgeous!" wonder toy: "WOW! What an outstanding album. Bill, you sound the best in every way I can imagine, your voice sounds amazing, your guitar playing is better than ever (which is saying a lot). EVERYTHING! The keyboard parts, arrangements, lyrics. I could go on and on. You have raised the bar once again as I suspect you will very soon again too." Steve Whitaker: ' The Alchemical Adventures ...are 'musical paintings' of the landscape of place and memory, and they do draw you in. In objective terms, there's nothing striking or startling about the topography of the North East Yorkshire coast (I must have visited 200 times in my life), but the process of assimilation acquired over donkey's years of familiarity leaves a mutable, absolutely personal, mental imprint. Alchemical Adventures are an aesthetic exploration of these imprints, and it's a testament to Bill's genius that he can take you to Whitby or Robin Hood's bay, or some ghostly historical resonance of same, in the 'stationary, supine' journey of your bathtub." BobK: "This album, although hinted at on previous recordings, is different stylistically to previous albums. Mainly sweeping Orchestral arrangements. The music has emotional depth and resonance . Frankly, it rather affected me. I think it is clear that it is a very personal album. The album has 12 'tracks'. Though it must be said that so many melodies appear, disappear and reappear within them that it seems an insult to refer to them as 'tracks'. I think this is one of those collections that demand the listener listen to it as an entirety rather than dipping 'in and out'. The tracks flow and blend into a rather intense listening experience. The album is full of glorious melodies and moving lyrics. Beautifully played, beautifully sung. The arrangements are cleverly arranged, complex and transport the listener through a full range of emotions. The words that come to mind are: Epic, majestic, emotional and melancholy. In addition it made me smile. It seems unfair to pick 'standout' tracks. I will simply say that ' The Sky, The Sea, The Moon And Me' is a truly affecting piece of music that brought a tear to my eye. I feel this will be remembered not simply as a hugely enjoyable album but as a key album in a glorious career. Yep, I kinda like it. Thanks Sailor Bill." Honeymoon on Mars: "Put quite simply, Sailor Bill is a masterpiece which produces such a reservoir of emotion it takes the breath away. I found it more accessible than many of his other works, and although I am a guitarist, I did not rue the lack of that instrument in any way." Parsongs: "Well, just when you think Mr. Nelson can't get any more diverse, he gives us The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill . I can't put into words how deep and rich these compositions are. Bill has a natural gift for orchestration, I really think he needs a good publisher for his music (yes, notes on page), and a contract for a good film score. I'm really impressed by this new direction." Swan: "I've got a theory about why Bill (and some of his fans) may consider it to be one of his finest works: It's about the sea, powerful, dangerous, mysterious, atmospheric and calming. It's about genuine emotional attachments that we can all relate too. Bill's vocals fit the music perfectly and are at their strongest in recent years. The songs stand alone as does the piece as a whole. "Those of you that don't have it in your collection should commit heinous crimes in order to obtain it!!" Sue: "I could listen to all this music back to back, day in and day out and never be bored. And every time you listen, you hear something you didn't hear the last time, there is just layer upon layer of deliciousness waiting to be unpeeled. Every song tells a story and every story holds a memory. And there is nothing more precious than that." machman767: "I was fortunate to hear it at Nelsonica, the track "The Ceremonial Arrival of the Great Golden Cloud" had a lump in my throat both then and now as I type. It must rate as one of the most powerful tracks Bill has ever created. Unbelievable." Tourist in Wonderland: "I think the guitar solo on "Moments' is as close to perfection as is possible within a song, to these ears anyway, it makes me want to hear/experience it again and again...and that's no mean feat...goosebumps..." Kalamazoo Kid: "Ship of Summer": "The tightest distillation on the album of the simultaneously tragic and salvific power of memories. Lyrically, the song is the most direct statement of loss on the album, and the most direct expression of renewal and ecstasy. It also establishes an explicit metaphor for the dynamic interplay of past, present, and future. ("Ships come sailing..."). If anything on the album is the thematic summation, I'd say it's "Ship of Summer"." alec: "My first experience listening to The Alchemical Adventures was one of simultaneously watching a film in muted colours and an overwhelming sense of nostalgia for people, places and things both known and unknown. That first listening experience was so overwhelming in fact that I'd had to hide from the CD for a couple of months, and then certain tracks kept calling me...Just as ocean waves draw one towards the ocean...I believe the first track to call me back was "Sailor Blue' and then it was "Moments Catch Fire on the Crest of Waves." It's now a favourite of mine." Wasp In Aspic: "I would say that The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill is one of the key works of Bill's career... Sailor Bill is one of those albums that is much more than the sum of its parts. It's an holistic experience. As always with Bill, modern; yet a journey through time to the English seaside of the fifties and sixties and you can almost taste the candyfloss. A rosy glow of a multi-faceted nostalgia trip. The closing instrumental, "My Ship is Lost to Semaphore" not only perfectly evokes the picture of a compass-deprived ship drifting and lost to eternity on a fog-cloaked sea, but also captures the feeling of loss of youth and naivety and carefree times." steve lyles: " Alchemical Adventures is an apt title. The "blending" and mutation of sounds and textures is hypnotic and an amazing endorphin rush. The music is epic, surreal and at the same time very intimate - arm tingling stuff. I just love the mix of Bill's vocals and the orchestral washes - I must admit it has taken several listens to 'unlock' the magic - I had to remove my Rosewood , Satellite Songs and Custom Deluxe filters which were almost permanently attached after the last few months. There are some of the most magnificent musical moments I have ever heard in this music - I actually get the vision of flying over the scenes Bill creates with the music and lyrics. I am and always have been in absolute awe of Bill's ability to create such Beautiful music...Many thanks Bill for such a wonderful creation." andylama: "Although it is radically different from any other of Bill's albums, it is quite easily one of his best, ever. Instant classic material, IMO. Bill's singing is very strong here, as is the songwriting and orchestration. I particularly love the self-harmony bits. Very nice. A must-have for any self-respecting BN fan. Thanks Bill; you continue to move me--25 years and going strong." Ged: "When Sailor Bill began it was magical and each piece brought back childhood memories, hidden surprises and a wonderful voyage on the high seas of Nelsonica . The orchestrations are epic and grand and it is a wonderfully theatrical and atmospheric piece of work, as always there is a twist and listening to each track brought many a smile to my face. Sailor Bill is a very personal album and I can honestly say that in my opinion it is one of Bill's finest pieces of work to date." "I only hope Sailor Bill receives the recognition it deserves - anyone who hasn't heard it, I'd definitely recommend buying a copy - in my opinion it is one of Bill's finest pieces of work." Albums Menu Future Past

Live Archive Pl ectronica A celebration of Bill Nelson at 70 A picture gallery from Bill's official photographer Martin Bostock