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Sunburst Finish Be Bop Deluxe album - 9 January 1976 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this box set Purchase this double CD TRACKS: 01) Fair Exchange 02) Heavenly Homes 03) Ships In The Night 04) Crying To The Sky 05) Sleep That Burns 06) Beauty Secrets 07) Life In The Air Age 08) Like An Old Blues 09) Crystal Gazing 10) Blazing Apostles ALBUM NOTES: Sunburst Finish is the third album by Be Bop Deluxe. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London during October 1975, and represents the band's commercial breakthrough. The band lineup on Sunburst Finish is that established for Futurama - Bill Nelson, Charles Tumahai and Simon Fox, with the addition of new member Andy Clarke on keyboards. The album appeared on vinyl and cassette and was promoted by the release of the single Ships in the Night , which became a Top 30 hit in the UK, and exposed the band to a much wider audience. Vinyl copies were released in a single sleeve, and the record was housed in an inner sleeve bearing lyrics to all songs. For the North American market an 'Airplay' edition of the album was pressed for radio use only. This comprises the same material as the commercial release but the segued tracks are individually banded. When reissued on CD in 1991, EMI elected to enhance the album by adding 3 bonus tracks, although they represent a mixed bag in the context of this album and the reissue programme as a whole. "Shine" stems from the same period as the Sunburst Finish album (albeit recorded after the album sessions, without Charlie Tumahai), but was released in tandem with the follow up album Modern Music as a single 'B' side, so arguably belongs with Modern Music . Both of the other 2 bonus tracks hail from the Drastic Plastic period, and one of them, "Speed of the Wind", is a bonus track on Futurama , so shouldn't have been included on both albums. Conversely, the experimental track "Blimps" which can be found as a bonus track on the Drastic Plastic reissue in the same series, was recorded around the same time as Sunburst Finish and should have been included on that album instead. If you no longer kept your vinyl copy, and require song lyrics, then this CD edition satisfies that need, and the informative sleeve notes penned by Kevin Cann provide useful context. In April 2017 Cherry Red and E soteric R ecordings , who, since 2011, have done so much to raise the profile of Bill Nelson's solo recordings from the period 1980 to 2002, acquired the rights to release the Be Bop Deluxe and Red Noise material issued between 1973 and 1979. While this resulted in the deletion of existing physical editions, Cherry Red kept Sunburst Finish on catalogue from 1 June 2017 via the usual download sites such as Amazon and iTunes while an expanded edition was prepared for a 2018 physical release. On 23 November 2018 Sunburst Finish became the first Be Bop Deluxe album to be issued as a Deluxe Edition comprising: a freshly remastered version of the original album, a 2018 remix of the full album. 6 unreleased studio recordings. previously released live and studio material recorded for Radio 1. the original album presented in a 5.1 mix and three filmed performances. the previously released OGWT appearance from 13 January 1976. a super rare promo video for Ships in the Night that was made in 1976 but never shown on TV. The album is presented in a triple fold out digi-pack and contains a 68 page booklet with an essay penned by Bill Nelson, reminiscing about the recording of the album at Abbey Road Studio, previously unseen photographs from the period and a couple of reproductions of advertising posters. A 2CD edition of the album is also being released at the same time as the Deluxe Edition featuring Discs 1 and 2 which will also replace the standard download edition. The full track listing for the Deluxe Edition is: Disc 1: 01) Fair Exchange 02) Heavenly Homes 03) Ships In The Night 04) Crying To The Sky 05) Sleep That Burns 06) Beauty Secrets 07) Life In The Air Age 08) Like An Old Blues 09) Crystal Gazing 10) Blazing Apostles Disc 2: 01) Fair Exchange (New Stereo Mix) 02) Heavenly Homes (New Stereo Mix) 03) Ships In The Night (New Stereo Mix) 04) Crying To The Sky (New Stereo Mix) 05) Sleep That Burns (New Stereo Mix) 06) Beauty Secrets (New Stereo Mix) 07) Life In The Air Age (New Stereo Mix) 08) Like An Old Blues (New Stereo Mix) 09) Crystal Gazing (New Stereo Mix) 10) Blazing Apostles (New Stereo Mix 11) Ships In The Night (First Version) 12) Beauty Secrets (First Version) 13) The Mystery Demo 14) Crystal Gazing (Alternate Vocal Version) 15) Crying To The Sky (First Version) 16) Ships In The Night (Alternate Vocal Version) Disc 3: 01) Life In The Air Age (BBC Radio 1 In Concert 15 January 1976) 02) Sister Seagull (BBC Radio 1 In Concert 15 January 1976) 03) Ships In The Night (BBC Radio 1 In Concert 15 January 1976) 04) Maid In Heaven (BBC Radio 1 In Concert 15 January 1976) 05) Third Floor Heaven (BBC Radio 1 In Concert 15 January 1976) 06) Blazing Apostles (BBC Radio 1 In Concert 15 January 1976) 07) Crying To The Sky (John Peel Session 10 February 1976) 08) Piece Of Mine (John Peel Session 10 February 1976) 09) Blazing Apostles (John Peel Session 10 February 1976) Disc 4: 01) Fair Exchange (5.1 Surround Mix) 02) Heavenly Homes (5.1 Surround Mix) 03) Ships In The Night (5.1 Surround Mix) 04) Crying To The Sky (5.1 Surround Mix) 05) Sleep That Burns (5.1 Surround Mix) 06) Beauty Secrets (5.1 Surround Mix) 07) Life In The Air Age (5.1 Surround Mix) 08) Like An Old Blues (5.1 Surround Mix) 09) Crystal Gazing (5.1 Surround Mix) 10) Blazing Apostles (5.1 Surround Mix) 11) Ships In The Night (BBC 2 Old Grey Whistle Test 13 January 1976) 12) Fair Exchange (BBC 2 Old Grey Whistle Test 13 January 1976) 13) Ships In The Night (Unreleased Promo Video 1976) PAST RELEASES: The original edition of Sunburst Finish was deleted sometime around 1979/80, but was reissued as a budget release in 1982 by EMI on their Fame imprint. The album was reissued again on Revolver in 1986. Neither reissue came with the benefit of the lyrics on the inner sleeve. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The deluxe box set and the 2-CD set is available for purchase in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "On Sunburst I had more control. The song "Crying To The Sky" on that is still my favourite Be-Bop track - it was called 'ecstatic' guitar. I wanted to get away from the bombast of Led Zeppelin and follow Hendrix; "Crying To The Sky" was my homage to Hendrix. I used a Gibson ES345 stereo and a Carlsboro 100 watt amp. I'm always asked how I got the sound on it but there was no gadgetry or secret devices. The amp was just put right at the back of Studio Two at Abbey Road, where the Beatles used to work, right at the back wall. I turned it up until I couldn't turn it up any further, stood right at the other end with a very long lead, to avoid feedback, and just played. I approached it from the angle that Hendrix had approached his more lyrical pieces." (from an interview in Guitarist Magazine, September 1991). _____ "There were THREE perspex cylinders on that tour. They were used to make a visual connection between the Sunburst Finish album sleeve image and the tour itself. They were also inspired by my fondness for a cult 1950's sci-fi film, 'This Island Earth'. (If you've seen the film you'll recall the scene where the hero and heroine step into perspex tubes that turn their flesh transparent, revealing the underlying physical structure of muscles and skeleton.) "The show that Be Bop presented back then was designed around a stage set that included our own theatre-style procenium arch, complete with scarlet velvet curtains with the band's name embossed in gold at the top. The curtains would part to reveal the stage in semi-darkness with the three cylinders spread out at the front. The cylinders had tracer lights inside them and were filled with dry ice. (Not smoke.) Charlie was in one tube, Andy in another, and myself in the central one. Simon was hidden behind us, up on his drum riser at the rear of the stage. The tubes would be winched up and out of sight, revealing Charlie, Andy and myself, before we'd pick up our instruments to play. All this was choreographed to a tape of opening music...(Which, I think, was the abstract instrumental "Blimps"). There were three projection screens at the rear and sides of the stage, the central screen being used for specially edited film and the side screens for slide images of old pulp magazine covers from the 40's and 50's. Again, everything was co-ordinated to music cues and all the images were chosen to reflect the musical content. Once the stage lights went up, we'd go straight into the first song of the show which used clips from the Fritz Lang film 'Metropolis'." _____ "Actually, I have silver discs on my studio walls for Sunburst Finish and Modern Music . These represent sales to the value of "more than £100,000" according to the little plaque mounted under each disc. I guess the ambiguity lies in the words 'more than'. It could, I suppose, amount to a heck of a lot 'more than', but no one's telling. I do remember being told that Sunburst had gone gold towards the end of the band's career but I was never given a gold disc." ALBUM REVIEW: Review by Dmitry M. Epstein Review on ProgNaut FAN THOUGHTS: Tim Barr: "It was with Sunburst Finish that the band achieved their most significant commercial success, reaching the charts with both the album itself and the "Ships In The Night" single. Stretching out across ten tracks, Sunburst Finish sounded like the product of some weird, future jukebox; from the Hendrix stylings of "Crying To The Sky" and the dreaminess of "Heavenly Homes" to the raw, vamped-up punk of "Blazing Apostles". Outside of the band's increasingly obvious "signature sound" it was evident that something special was happening." (Interviewer for Guitarist Magazine) Returningman: "Sunburst Finish - the ultimate 70's album (and album cover)." Old Darkness: "One day in 1976 my world changed forever when an older friend (to whom I shall be eternally grateful) introduced me to Be-Bop Deluxe via Sunburst Finish . From the very first listening I recognized that here was something very special and unique. Be-Bop had it all, the music, the lyrics, the voice, the perfect triumvirat for the perfect musical storm." aquiresville: "I consistantly return to those incredible soaring guitar runs that Bill crafted for the dynamo-of-a-song "Sleep That Burns", a track that, once I bought the CD (and lovingly shelved my vinyl), I had to resist (and fail) multiple "repeat" playbacks. Sunburst Finish is an incredible collection of art, each track a beauty, story-sets blazing with characters, drama, location and energy." quitdreaming: "In my mind it is more aggressive, edgier, rawer - more basic - but at the same time so polished and honed to within an inch of perfection. There is incredible beauty & poetry in the slower compositions ("Heavenly Homes" being an absolute gem - along with, of course, "Crying To The Sky") balanced with the sheer energy of "Fair Exchange" and "Blazing Apostles". The soundtrack of my youth and an absolute classic." mvande2: "I was on a "cosmic cruise" in my buddy's Mercury at night navigating the two-tracks in local forests. He had recently purchased 8 track tapes of Sunburst Finish and Futurama because he like the covers. I've been forever hooked. Peter: "Was at home doing my homework and listening to KSAN, a local AOR station that was my favorite at the time. On comes this amazing song! I was transfixed and transported. I waiting for the DJ to give the title and it turned out the be "Fair Exchange". I decided that BBD deserved another chance. I went out and bought Sunburst Finish and an obsession was born." soteloscope: "I was waking up for another 2nd grade school day when my big brother put on "Beauty Secrets" on Sunburst Finish . The opening guitar with its folky chords and almost Spanish solo notes were magical to me." Prey: "I went into K-Mart (1976) to look through the limited record rack... there was a naked girl in a tube holding a flaming guitar on the cover of an album, I thought even if the music sucked the cover was cool, I bought it. Side one was awesome, turned it over and side two was defective after track 2, so I went back to K-Mart to get another, they offered me my money back... I kept the album defects and all rather than give it up altogether. It was years later I got to hear the 'rest' of Sunburst Finish ." Puzzleoyster: "I listened to the entire Sunburst Finish album, in the car last weekend and was once more blown away by the quality and freshness of the music - there's STILL no other band like Be Bop Deluxe...I will certainly continue to enjoy them, along with all of Bill's more recent music." Quinault: "I won Sunburst Finish off the radio, went to the concert later that week and have bought everything I could get my hands on ever since." John Leckie: "I first met Bill Nelson in 1974 when I mixed most of the album called Axe Victim over a weekend. I then went on to co-produce and engineer Sunburst Finish , Modern Music , Live! In the Air Age , Drastic Plastic and Red Noise and Bill's solo album Quit Dreaming ." Albums Menu Future Past

Albion Dream Vortex Bill Nelson album - 2 September 2013 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Thought Bubble No 1 02) Behold These Present Days 03) Like A Boat In The Blue 04) Sparky And The Spearmint Moon 05) Tomorrow Will Not Be Too Late 06) Start Beaming And Get On The Gleam 07) We Who Are Awake Will Not Be Asleep 08) Thought Bubble No 2 09) Electrical Adepts Of The Celestial Bed 10) The Mastery Of The Thing 11) Albion Dream Vortex 12) Thought Bubble No 3 13) Long Ago, By Moonlit Sea 14) Let Us Melt And Make No Noise ALBUM NOTES: Albion Dream Vortex is an instrumental album issued in a one off print run of 1000 copies on the Sonoluxe label. Although generally print runs were now set at 500 copies, the fact that Nelson elected to issue Albion Dream Vortex in digipack artwork meant that he was forced to produce 1000 copies. The music that eventually made up the Albion Dream Vortex album was initially intended for a DVD project with the title Atom Totem Apparitions , which Nelson first made subtle reference to in April 2012. By November that year, Nelson revealed more recording details for the planned DVD project, including a track called "Mind is a Map of Sparkling Galaxies", that remains unreleased. By June 2013, Nelson had long abandoned the DVD idea in favour of what was, by then, the Albion Dream Vortex CD. His published running order at this point included as track 3 "Glisten", which had recently appeared on Blip 2 , leading Nelson to replace that track with "Like a Boat in the Blue" during the mastering sessions in July. Albion Dream Vortex sold out in the summer of 2019. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Albion Dream Vortex is an instrumental album blending guitars and keyboards in a variety of styles. It contains subtle references to instrumental music I've made throughout my career, embracing ambient, electronic, vintage and modern, wrapped up in a dream-like vortex of sound. "The word 'Albion', for me, signifies the post-World War 2 era I grew up in. It also reminds me of a company called 'Albion Motors' who built art-deco styled buses in the 1930s and '40s. But 'Albion' is actually the oldest known name for the island of England and inevitably conjures up swirling spirits from the mysterious past. "The subject of dreams, their nature and purpose, has fascinated me since childhood. Dreams have also been a recurring motif in my creative life, and will continue to be so until, somewhere in the future, I will become little more than a flickering, ghostly dream of myself...atoms of memory, spluttering and sparkling like tiny fireworks in a long ago November sky. "We inhabit two worlds, one of which we assign to reality and the other to dreams. Our lives are spent half awake and half asleep, adrift in realms of reason and unreason. The boundary between these realms, for the artist, is often deliberately blurred, nebulous, ambiguous. Yet our creative imagination holds the ticket that allows us to travel between these two states and permits mysterious goods to be imported and exported. This luminous traffic, this flickering mystery, is the foundation of Albion Dream Vortex ." _____ "It's not written in an obvious, 'intro, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, repeat chorus, end' form. The music is rather more fluid, sometimes 'non-linear' and develops along different lines to a rock or pop song...It doesn't attempt to arrive at a particular stylistic conclusion but grows organically from point-to-point without being forced to make obvious 'points'. In that sense, its 'point' is simply to be pure music, music for its own sake, as much concerned with sound and atmosphere as note choices or hooks, etc. "Also, with this album as with several others of mine, no one track is meant to stand alone as the album's signifier (though the title track comes conceptually close). Instead, each track forms one single building block of an entire edifice. It's a complete album rather than a collection of separate tracks and should be 'read' as a whole construction, from start to finish. "Albion Dream Vortex treats you like an adult, doesn't talk baby language to you, doesn't feel the need to lead you by the hand through its mysterious corridors, but simply opens its doors for you to enter and explore. I hope, as you familiarise yourself with its twists and turns that you'll want to spend more and more time with it." _____ "If you enjoyed the trilogy of, Illuminated At Dusk , Mazda Kaleidoscope and Silvertone Fountains , then Albion Dream Vortex will carry you up the escalator of dreams to the next level." _____ "It's perhaps the most 'spiritual' (for want of a better word), album I've released for some time. Those of you who treasure deep listening will, I hope, truly appreciate this album for the rest of your lives..." _____ "With this watershed album, I aimed for a future that might humanise, console, enlighten and soften the day to day cruelties and unkindnesses we all endure. It's an album for the tender of heart and the strong in spirit. I hope it's for all of you. And, at this point in time, I think it is one of the very best, of this style, that I've ever recorded." _____ Bill's Listening Notes for the album: 'Albion Dream Vortex' Listening Notes FAN THOUGHTS: paul.smith: "It's turning into a solid, bona fideeeah! classic...and I really can't/won't stop playing it...probably what Bill wanted us to do...but this one just keeps moving on and on with its revelations of sound... "Behold These Present Days" has got to be one of my favourite tracks of the last decade...and I like a lot of what's gone on in the last decade... If you have overlooked this album for one reason or another, please be assured it is utterly essential if you like Bill's found voices/instrumental music...I have gained so much pleasure from this album in the short time since its release..." December Man: "ADV arrived on the West Coast USA yesterday like a beautifully packaged gift out of some future, musically evolved civilization -- a kind of reverse Time Capsule of musical things to come, things to look forward to! Like others, I put it on (wore it?) last night and HAD to listen to it from start to finish! Certainly Bill's best instrumental album to date and arguably his best work in any form! Congratulations, Mr. Nelson! Good stuff, sir! Met and exceeded my already high expectations of all you create! This album is simply a masterpiece in MHO. "The Mastery of the Thing" sums up the whole album! "Electrical Adepts of the Celestial Bed" is breathlessly beautiful, as I write and listen. Can't say enough about how good this is...so I better stop here. Back to Albion!" BenTucker: "For me, it's Mysterious & Beautiful 21st Century English Romantic Psychedelia - the same deep, rich seam (or labyrinth of seams) mined in The Dreamshire Chronicles and Fables and Dreamsongs , but all-instrumental. What incredibly lovely sounds, melodies, textures and moods it evokes." Pathdude: "After the first listen I must concur with other reviewers and state that this album is simply stunning. Lovers of Bill's instrumental music will not be disappointed. Something for everyone. Plus, added bonus, I think it will grow on you with repeated listenings. There are layers here people! "Behold These Present Days" has got a grip on me and won't let go. And I love it. Thank you Bill for this marvelous piece of work." felixt1: "Albion Dream Vortex": "Wow, what a beautiful track. More immersive synth, choral effects, birdsong, electric piano. Very mellow...and then a church bell rings and a distant bass drum strikes. The keys mutate gently and the woodwind section and layered strings begin...to take us further...My favourite so far. You could describe this album as a spiritual successor to And We Fell Into A Dream , although it is quite different again. I think Albion Dream Vortex delves deeper into the subconscious mind than the aforementioned, and as I have said, it really does entrance you at times, just as AWFIAD does but, it feels and sounds different somehow - it stands on its own." andygeorge: "The Mastery of the Thing"..."a beautiful, magical piece of Nelsonic wonderfulness from a terrific album...you've excelled yourself there Mr Bill." Chimera Man: "Like a Boat in the Blue": "...achingly gorgeous." Puzzleoyster: "We Who Are Awake Will Not Be Asleep": "A track which never ceases to excite and amaze regardless of ultra repeating. The track soars hammers and collects the musical matter from its own universe like gossamer from a spiders web which has the same density of steel. A BEAUTIFUL fizz bang... synths piano fills Bass guitar soars upwards from a Beautiful Bill guitar solo, synth fills to accompany a fanfare. All over too soon...but a definitive guitar rolls out the outro, the guitar has the last word. How very apt..." Returningman: "If you don't have this in your collection yet you are missing a rare and precious gem of an album." "Thanks Bill for enriching my life with this mellow gem." steve lyles: "As always superb...really am continuously baffled as to Bill's ability to create such deep beautiful emotional and intellectually interesting music..." garyd: "Currently listening to my recently purchased Albion Dream Vortex . Oh my. My Dad raised me to see everyone as equal. He knew nothing!!" Prey: "Bill Nelson was light years ahead of the rest in the 70's with Modern Music , Sunburst Finish and Futurama , I have said here many times, I knew it then, and after listening to Albion Dream Vortex I am still convinced Bill produces the music others may do someday, but for now we get a preview of the future right here, right now. I do have one fear - this CD is so good I can't see how it's possible to make it better, so future releases may damage your reputation." Albums Menu Future Past

Animals They Dream About album - 2016 The Units Production/Contribution Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Animals They Dream About 02) Bones 03) More Alike 04) Blue Or White 05) Interstate 5 06) Straight Lines 07) Jack 08) Get That Funky Thang Off Of My Shoe 09) Warpaint 10) Your Face 11) Sidewalk Reel BILL: Co-Producer. Synthesizer, Guitar and Drums. NOTES: Recorded in 1981, but unreleased until 2016. Scott Ryser: "It just so happened that at the same time, Bill Nelson, of Be-Bop Deluxe and Red Noise fame, had also changed his musical direction, and had embarked on his "Practical Dreamers" tour in May of 1981 after the long-delayed release of his Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam LP. He was a fan of our music and we had been corresponding for a while. When his tour passed through San Francisco we finally met him. We were fans the Quit Dreaming LP, but also really liked the instrumental music he had recently finished, Das Kabinett (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) album in 1981 as well as the La Belle et La Bete (Beauty and the Beast) soundtrack LP he had recently composed. "He asked if we'd like to collaborate on something and we invited him to fly out to San Francisco, sleep on our couch in our little one bedroom apartment for a couple of weeks and try co-producing the second album we were working on, Animals They Dream About . To our surprise Bill said yes. We already had all the material and had been rehearsing it and playing some of it live, but just like our first three records, we hadn't signed anything with a record label yet. We all figured some label would pick it up and several labels eventually made offers…but they were all really bad offers. We couldn't afford to release it ourselves at that point, and were all busy working on other projects. So those tapes we worked on in our studio with my 8 track tape machine have been sitting in closets in all the apartments and houses Rachel and I have occupied in San Francisco and New York for close to 35 years now." ______ Check out these Facebook and Bandcamp links for the Units. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

The Hermetic Jukebox Orchestra Arcana retrospective 2CD collection - 16 December 2002 Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: Iconography 01) Christ Via Wires 02) Clock Conscious 03) I Wonder 04) Eastern Electric 05) Search And Listen 06) News From Nowhere 07) One Man's Fetish Is Another Man's Faith 08) Right, Then Left 09) Iconography 10) The Gods Speak 11) Life Class 12) Altar Natives 13) Sex, Psyche, Etcetera Extra Tracks: 14) Several Famous Orchestras 15) Who He Is TRACKS: Optimism 01) Exactly The Way You Want It 02) Why Be Lonely 03) Everyday Is A Better Day 04) The Receiver And The Fountain Pen 05) Welcome Home, Mr. Kane 06) This Is True 07) Greeting A New Day 08) The Breath In My Father's Saxophone 09) Our Lady Of Apparitions 10) The Whole City Between Us 11) Deva Dance 12) Always Looking Forward To Tomorrow 13) World Thru' Fast Car Window 14) Profiles, Hearts, Stars 15) Daughter Of Dream Come True 16) Alchemia Extra Tracks: 17) Um, Ah Good Evening 18) Kut Up In Cartoonsville 19) Short Wave NOTES: The Hermetic Jukebox is a limited edition 2CD boxed set that compiles both albums that Bill Nelson released under the name Orchestra Arcana, Iconography , and Optimism . For details about each album, please check out their individual pages in the album section of the discography. This set includes the first appearance on CD of the two b-sides from the first Orchestra Arcana ep, Sex, Psyche, Etc . The second CD also contains the 3 bonus tracks that had been added onto the original UK CD. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Although this CD set is now out of print, the individual albums are expected to be made available as digital downloads at some point. Collections Menu Future Past

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) April 2011 Jan Feb Mar Dec Thursday 22nd April 2011 -- 8:00 pm As always, there's so much to tell, but I'm far too busy to tell it in detail so I'll attempt to condense things a little, turn the last few weeks into signals, ciphers and semaphore. Just read between the lines... The 'Legends' TV performance ended up being something of a trial, (as readers of my Dreamsville forum will already be aware). The audience genuinely seemed to love it and were loudly and positively enthusiastic, but the band and myself were less than happy with the uncomfortable conditions we were expected to perform under. And, as the artist with 'his name on the tin,' I was equally frustrated by the end result. The 7-piece 'Gentleman Rocketeers' band was hindered by a makeshift stage barely big enough for us to be squeezed onto. We suffered from a muddy, uninspiring and confusing monitor mix and were physically unsettled by an environment that felt more like a sauna than a performance space. (My clothes were literally stuck to my body with sweat when I changed after the show.) The heat did no favours to the tuning stability of the guitars either. After over 30 years of playing in all sorts of concert environments, this particular situation came as a genuine low-point. Truth is, I'd rather not perform at all than let my musical dreams down so spectacularly. The band's entire performance was an uphill struggle from start to finish, just deeply unsatisfying. Had it merely been a 'get through it and then forget it' type of concert, perhaps we could have accepted the situation and moved on...Unfortunately, much more was at stake than a simple one-off gig. The concert was being set in digital cement... (of the quick-drying variety too). The production company's rush to get a DVD commercially released (by the end of May apparently), meant that deeper scrutiny would soon be applied to the entire show. For ever... After the concert I was given a set of CDrs of stereo mixes of the performance but, after listening to them at home I became, er...(I'm sorry, there are no other words for it), utterly depressed and disillusioned by the result. This was not a fair representation of what we had spent several days putting together at rehearsals. It was a band shackled by technical and physical conditions beyond our control. It immediately became apparent that there was little choice but to accept the option of mixing the multi-track recordings of the performance independently, (although the contract apparently stated that this option could only be taken up at my own expense). I'm afraid I couldn't have lived with the recording as it was. Consequently, I'm now over £1,000 out of pocket as a result of having to spend four intense days in Fairview studios, trying to nudge things a little closer to the usual standard, (with the help of ace engineer John Spence, of course...plus some careful repairing of certain 'unstable' aspects of the performance itself, the majority of which were a direct result of the situation we'd found ourselves in.) The upside of all this is that the recording now sounds much better than it did...and perhaps it now comes closer to doing justice to all the hard work that the band and myself put into rehearsals. Having said that though, the concert still lingers in the memory as being a very uncomfortable and, (dare I say it), controversial experience for us. Such a shame that something so 'permanent' fell so profoundly short of what we'd hoped for. However, the thing that concerns me most right now is whether the series will be broadcast on UK television or not. When the opportunity was offered to put a band together and perform in front of the cameras, it was pitched first and foremost as a television series which would be broadcast in June of this year. The impression given was that the DVD would be a secondary thing, an offshoot, as it were, of the television broadcast. Unfortunately, at this point in time, I've not been informed that there will a definite UK TV broadcast. It seems that there's no guarantee that this will actually happen. However, the DVD has already been scheduled for an end of May release and has been advertised. I have to say that I didn't decide to take on this project simply for a DVD release. I genuinely believed that a UK television broadcast was the first and foremost reason for doing it. I was pursuaded that the publicity generated by a tv broadcast might outweigh the old-school, 'sign-it-all-away' nature of the contract. Anyway, perhaps I should withhold final judgement for now...I could be jumping to wrong conclusions. Perhaps my past career experiences and consequent distrust of the industry regarding this sort of thing are unduly colouring my interpretation of events...but, let's just say that I'll await further developments with interest. For now, all I can say is that I'm substantially out of pocket as a result of my involvement with the project. Perhaps I would not have chosen to enter into it, had I fully understood what was in store for us. Moving on... Spring has sprung! Wonderfully and joyously. Two weeks of deliciously warm and sunny weather. Weather that would have graced Summer magnificently, but, considering that this is only April, it seems little short of miraculous. The cherry blossom tree in our front garden has become...what's the word, fecund? Prolific? Ecstatic with pinkness? Well, pretty marvellous, anyway. Apple tree blossoms in the back garden too, and, divinely... pear! Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. Emi and I have been happily married for, what? 18 years? Well, we lived together for a couple of years before we tied the knot. I think it was '93 when we began our life together in England, though we'd spent time together in Tokyo first and had originally met way back in 1984. (Oh, the romance of it!) The nice thing is that it doesn't feel like so long ago at all. Our relationship is still fresh and tender. Emiko is a wonderful person and life without her would be unbearable. Last night we went to one of our favourite restaurants and afterwards came home to a bottle of champagne. I was given a book of Gnostic parables from Emi and I bought her a Nicole Farhi skirt that she'd spotted in a local store and very much liked. Our favourite clothes designers are Nichol Farhi, Margaret Howell, Adolfo Dominguez, Toast, Oska and some of the less, erm, 'blingy' Armani designs. Our taste leans towards the less commercially demonstrative brands but on a limited budget, it's hard to avoid the 'noisier' items these days. Most fashionistas seem hell bent on advertising, 'on jacket or shirt,' whatever particular brand of clothing they wear. Escaping label-brainwashing is not as easy as it might seem, although, for me, it is something to avoid whenever possible. Spending good money for the dubious privelege of becoming a walking billboard for some company or other seems like an insult to me. I simply want the clothes I purchase to flatter me, (as much as is possible at my somewhat advanced age), and to reflect my personal aesthetic taste. I don't give a damn whether it is considered fashionable, 'cool,' or not. Fashion is slavery, an illusion...but STYLE is beyond price, and timeless. Tomorrow is an anniversary of a much more melancholy sort. It will be five years ago tomorrow, (23 rd of April), that my much loved brother Ian passed away. Time flies so fast. Ian's photograph hangs on the wall of my studio, (as it has done these last five years). In the photograph, he is perpetually fixed at the age he was when we last toured together in 2004, his saxophone forever in his hands, eternally blowing his own personal blues. If only I could share a stage with him now. I've said this before but, I don't think I'll never recover from the shock of losing Ian. He left me, my mum, his family, with an emotional scar that never seems to heal. In that sense, we carry sweet Ian with us to the end of our days. We each of us, family members, bear him up in our own way, conjure his presence, remember his life, over and over and over again. My mother admitted to me the other day that she can't let Ian go, despite the passing of time. I understand perfectly how she feels, 'though I worry about how unhealthy this might be for her at the age of 82. Mum has become a constant source of concern for me. The unfair, shameful and cruel treatment she suffered as a result of the combination of losing her youngest son and then, a few years later, her husband, is hard to deal with. I try so hard to persuade her that life is still open for her, that she should seize opportunities and break out of the darkness that she has inherited, but her sense of loss and betrayal is hard to vanquish, though I continue to encourage her towards that goal. Last weekend, we took Mum to Knaresborough and Harrogate for the day. Sitting in the open air by the River Nidd in Knaresborough, eating warm apple pie and cold ice cream in the pleasant spring sunshine was a simple but lovely treat for us. We later had dinner at Graveley's Fish Restaurant in Harrogate, which Mum always enjoys whenever we take her there. But, sunshine aside, work is ever present . I've been pre-occupied with the EMI Be Bop Deluxe re-issues, (which are progressing at a veritable snail's pace). Lots going on with this, project but not enough to make sufficient progress, despite the time it seems to be stealing from my life. Until this thing is completed and put to bed it seems that the Cherry Red career retrospective box set will be on hold. I've spent many weeks, and indeed months, dealing with the proverbial 'Past' this year. I'm often accused of being dismissive of my career history, (though not without cause, in my opinion). You know, it's not as if I haven't given birth to a single musical idea since the 1970's, (unlike some artists). The opposite is the truth. The '70's constitute a fraction of my creative life. If anything, they are the aberration, the 'blip,' the wobble in the ether that surrounds me. In retrospect, they don't define my deeper sensibilities at all. Still, maybe this year is a consolidation of things, an illuminated viewing of the bigger picture, not just a lazy reflection of some cobwebby, long lost, teenage nostalgic past. Next month, (7th of May), I'm giving a concert in Sheffield as part of the city's annual 'Sensoria' festival. This will offer a deliberate contrast to the recent 'Legends' show. No '70's material will be performed whatsoever...no Be Bop Deluxe material or Red Noise either, in fact, no singing or rock music at all. Just me, solo, with a handful of shining guitars, a selection of my videograms, slo-mo, home-thoughts, drifting dreams. A gentle release, freedom, a pleasant opportunity to be absolutely myself rather than the ghost of someone else's past. I'm very much looking forward to it. Before then, LOTS to do. A new 12 minute long piece titled 'Happy Realms Of Light,' to work on, plus the mastering of backing tracks, (at Fairview, with John Spence), of the 15 other instrumental pieces set for inclusion at the Sheffield concert. A haircut to book with Steve too, before then. Also, videograms to co-ordinate, (with Paul's DVD assembly assistance), plus all sorts of other concert-live performance issues related to the upcoming Sheffield show. I'm way behind with all of this and, as usual, really should not be writing up diary entries. But: I feel guilty if I don't and guilty if I do... Books by my bed at the moment are: 'Homage To Pan.' (a book about the art and occult practices of Rosaleen Norton) by Neville Drury. 'Eighty Years Of Book Cover Design' by Joseph Connolly. 'The Wonderful Future That Never Was' by Gregory Benford. 'Ode To The Countryside, Poems To Celebrate The British Landscape.' (Edited by Samuel Carr.) 'The Gift (How The Creative Spirit Transforms The World.)' by Lewis Hide and 'Did You Really Shoot The Television? (A Family Fable.)' by Max Hastings. Meanwhile the Easter Caravan Tide overwhelms us: The seemingly endless arrival of mobile homes in the two fields next to our house...obese people with dogs parading up and down the lane, our kitchen window like a tv set attracting their curiosity: "Oooh, look! Country folk eating their dinner!" It resembles a crowded mobile housing estate out there at the moment. An infinity of little white boxes on wheels. I can't see the attraction of this sort of thing at all...getting away from home, only to park shoulder to shoulder with a couple of hundred other caravans packed into the same field? Not my idea of an escape from the daily grind, I'm afraid. But I guess some people prefer being amongst a crowd to quiet solitude. I guess I'm simply not the social type. Unfinished album projects: 'Model Village' and now, it seems, 'Fantasmatron.' (More of which later.) Enough diary for today. ***** The images accompanying this diary entry are as follows:- 1: Bill at Castle Howard surrounded by Spring. 2: Bill's Mum and Emi at Castle Howard, Spring 2011. 3: Bill's original artwork for the limited edition 'Sensoria' performance t-shirt. 4: Bethany Nelson, Ian Nelson's grand-daughter. 5: Ian's grave in Wakefield Cemetary, Spring 2011. 6: A flyer/advert for the 'Fantasmatron' album. Top of page

Chill & Kiss album - 1992 Ramon Tikaram Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Co-Producer, Guitar, Percussion and Synthesizer Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

The Best of and the Rest of Be Bop Deluxe retrospective collection - December 1978 Be Bop Deluxe Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: A1) Axe Victim A2) Maid In Heaven A3) Music In Dreamland A4) Sister Seagull A5) Sleep That Burns A6) Ships In The Night B1) Blazing Apostles B2) Kiss Of Light B3) Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids B4) Forbidden Lovers B5) Panic In The World C1) Blimps C2) Autosexual C3) Lovers Are Mortal C4) Shine C5) Quest For The Harvest Of The Stars D1) Japan D2) Speed Of The Wind D3) Lights D4) Blue As A Jewel D5) Face In The Rain D6) Futurist Manifesto NOTES: The Best of and the Rest of Be Bop Deluxe is a double album that brilliantly brought together an album of highlights taken from the band's five studio albums and an album of rarities, including at the time of release, 6 previously unreleased tracks and 5 non album 'A' side or 'B' side cuts. Housed in a wonderfully illustrated gatefold sleeve with inner sleeves bearing lyrics and musician credits for all tracks, the album was a fitting tribute to a band that had bowed out less than six months earlier. Despite a number of subsequent reissues and archive releases issued since this impressive collection first appeared, one of the previously unreleased tracks, "Face in the Rain", remained exclusive to this set right up until Esoteric Recordings produced their super-deluxe box sets. The rest of the rarities have re-appeared first as bonus cuts on the Be Bop Deluxe albums when released on CD in 1991, and more recently on the Futurist Manifesto 1974-1978 box set issued in 2012. PAST RELEASES: 16 of the 22 tracks on this compilation album had originally appeared spread across the band's five albums and four of the band's 7" singles issued on Harvest between 1974 and 1978. See individual entries of those albums and singles for full details. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: This compilation is now out of print. Collections Menu Future Past

Acquitted By Mirrors - Issue Two - Published June 1982 Back to Top

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) November 2007 Jan Feb Apr May Jul Sep Oct Dec Saturday 3rd November 2007 -- 4:00 pm Although the following diary entry has only just been posted, I began writing it on the 29th of October, intending to post the following day. However, various post-Nelsonica distractions have taken up the time that I intended to devote to it. So, rather than re-write the whole thing to suit its later appearance on my website, I'll add the most recent section at the end. Monday 29th October 2007 -- 6:00 pm. Still trying to take in the fact that this year's Nelsonica convention was, on Saturday, finally seen through to its proper conclusion. And with real style and panache too. I'm now able to wake up without the sense of panic that has filled my life these last couple of months. The event was a joy on all levels. The feedback from attendees, both on the day and afterwards on the Dreamsville forum, has been joyously positive. The most commonly expressed opinion is that this was the best Nelsonica to date and in the best venue so far. A happy result, especially after all the hard work that the convention team and myself had put into the creation of the event. I've recently found myself wondering whether Nelsonica is a sensible thing to continue to stage, especially when so many other projects demand my attention throughout the year. And this year has seen one task bleed seamlessly into another, leaving no time to gather my wits or recover energy. I'm ashamed to admit that all kinds of things have suffered as a result. I'm way behind with answering emails from friends, even close friends. My family haven't had the attention from me that they deserve, and I feel as if my emotional and physical batteries have been drained to the point where the world flows through me with hardly a blip on my internal radar. These last few months I've been working in a kind of fog, a mysterious, hypnotic state, guided by things beyond my control. It's been instinct and improvisation, thinking on my feet, flying by the seat of my pants, playing it by ear. Somehow, though, it gets there in the end. Things fall into place and the target is hit, albeit with the collusion of smoke and mirrors. The life of an independent artist certainly imposes peculiar and surreal demands, demands that I never had to think about when I was, (many years ago now), somewhat more 'gainfully employed.' People I worked with at that time said "don't give up your day job..." The truth is, despite the inevitable struggles and frustrations, I think I'd put up with just about anything not to have to return to the life I lived before I threw myself 100% into the arms of the muse. The work I do now makes the desk job I once held down feel like sonambulism. Those days of shuffling paperwork from one side of the desk to another and back, the glassy-eyed answering of office telephones and the ritual morning and evening clocking in and out, the endless rattling of filing cabinets and the gossipy whisper of inter-departmental political intrigue. All the sly, prejudiced comments I endured, simply because I wore a pink satin tie to work or didn't happen to have taken in last night's football on tv, or watched a popular soap opera or game show, or 'gone down the pub' with the boys or bought the latest Eurovision hit single. Hard to believe, nowadays, the insults that my disinterest in these things aroused in ostensibly, superficially decent people. But I've learned, over all these years, that fear of the unfamiliar or 'the different,' drives vitriol through the fuse. And, by the standards of local government politics back then, I must have appeared very unfamiliar. Sometimes, it was purgatory. So much so that I often dreaded going to work, simply because of the sly ridicule I'd have to endure. Liberal attitudes, an open mind, any sense of cultural adventure or notions of racial and sexual tolerance, (in fact ALL the hard-won advances of the 'sixties counter-culture), were regarded by these staunchly conservative fundamentalists as some kind of left-wing plot. It wasn't that I didn't TRY to communicate with my fellow workers, but the look of incomprehension in their eyes if I tried to explain what kind of things turned me on and why. Well...looking back now, it seems astonishing that such self-imposed limits of taste and ambition were regarded as some kind of 'standard.' I did what I could to understand and accept these attitudes but still found them disturbing, even a little frightening. I certainly felt intimidated. Things have changed these days though...haven't they? Well, we like to think so but I suspect we're not much further down the road to enlightenment. Thatcher's bastard offspring are everywhere, even in the damned government. Bearing in mind my natural inclination to plough my own furrow, I suppose it was inevitable that I would be regarded by certain captains of the office ship as some sort of freak from the deep, caught up in the local government net by an accident ofindiscriminate trawling. Certainly not one of their own but an unwelcome and uncertain entity. Maybe even, (check out that pink silk tie, boys), a raving queer! The first week I worked there, I accidentally overheard an office conversation. It went something like this: " Have you seen the new boy? He looks ill, like a skelton, too skinny, too pale. Something's wrong. I think he's on drugs. Dresses like a homo too. Wouldn't surprise me..." The speaker didn't know I'd overheard him. But I was just the other side of an office partition when these words were spoken. I've never forgotten them. Why? Because they didn't know or understand the first thing about me yet were prepared to pronounce judgement in such a dissmissive way. In truth, I couldn't have cared less about their accusations of homosexuality. I'd never been remotely homophobic, though from their derisory tone, I could tell they were probably typical of their generation. Back then, the slightest sartorial flamboyance got you labelled 'a puff.' I was actually mildly amused by the fact that they couldn't really work that side of me out. I considered myself to be reasonably sophisticated regarding sexual matters, knew exactly which side of the fence I sat on and was confident enough about my own hetrosexual orientation not to need to rush to its defence in these situations. What really got to me was the implication that I was ill, or strung out on something or other, no, maybe not even that, just the sheer audacity that they could presume to sum me up in such banal, conservative and inaccurate terms. The John Lennon/Yoko Ono 'Two Virgins' calendar that I pinned on the wall next to my desk in the office didn't help matters either. I soon found out that it was o.k. to pin up the usual cheescake busty nudes from the men's mags of the day but a naked John and Yoko was one nipple too far, even though they had their backs turned to the camera. Two obviously deviant perverts was how they were seen by the people sitting in the office with me. In their eyes John n' Yoko were nothing but anarchistic, dope-smoking hippies...filth, symbolising everything that was wrong with the country, eroders of 'true British values,' (and one of 'em was bloody Japanese for Christs sakes! Didn't we fight a war to rid ourselves of these types?) They gazed at the calendar, then gazed at me in horror. I was told to take it down or face serious consequences. Truth be told, I wore their angry glances like glittering medals. Their hatred felt like a badge of honour. I was glad to be the office enigma. But then, I was young, idealistic, enthusiastic, culturally ambitious. I shared none of their traditional aspirations although I quietly envied what seemed to me their lack of any philosophical complexity. The world to them was a simple thing, subject to a black and white moral and ethical absoluteness. There were no shades of grey and certainly no spectrum of colours. They regarded themselves as guardians of the British flame and anyone who dared disagree was labelled weird, crazy or worse. Of course, in many ways, I was just as ignorant of them as they were of me. Let's just say, I was ill equipped to be a local government officer. The beaurocratic ink was dry in my well. Nevertheless, I did try. I stuck it out, switching off at five pm every day, like everyone else, and never giving it another thought 'till next morn. The evenings were all mine, for writing, for drawing, for playing guitars and dreaming. I eventually was able to take those youthful dreams and blew air into them, float them over Wakefield's grey skies, and set their sails for tomorrow. And the only compass I had to guide me was that of my imagination. I had to escape and my need to do so may sometimes have appeared to others as ruthless, 'though that wasn't my intention. But that's what I did. One day, I walked away from it. And here I am now, doing what I once could only dream of. And now I complain that I'm exhausted. And still misunderstood. But, in reality..? I'm blessed. It's been a long hard struggle in many ways but I lead the life of an artist, not a pop star or rock guitarist. I've fought for the right to be free of all that. I hope it goes a little deeper. As always, I've drifted off-topic. I was trying to come to terms with the possibility of abdicating from the annual Nelsonica pressure. I don't think that I really could though. Abandon the convention, I mean. Whatever the mental uncertainties and physical stresses and strains, after Saturday's warm reception from the Nelsonica audience, and the wonderful support from the team, it's hard for me to think about drawing a line under the convention at all. It's become a surrogate family gathering with a group of people at its core who have been with me for some years. They're as committed and inventive as ever and it's impossible not to be swept along on their waves of energy and enthusiasm. I hope that they realise just how much their support means to me. Sometimes, it's difficult to communicate this without appearing maudlin or overly sentimental, but they're absolute gems, every one of them. I suppose I've never been particularly adept at expressing emotion, other than through my music. Other people, those really close to me, may disagree with this damning self-analysis, but that's my sorry take on it. Maybe it's because I'm frightened of pain and mortality and therefore scared of losing people who I deeply care for, (who isn't?) Perhaps I build barriers against losing them, or, even more so, them losing me. It's that old Buddhist thing of suffering though, isn't it? Existence is suffering. He was spot on, old Siddhartha. Absolutely on the money. Nevertheless, despite his realisation of suffering, (or because of it), he became a healer of souls and minds, an optimist, a viewer of the bigger picture. No one deserves trouble, no one deserves illness, no one deserves death and depression. The cruelty is that, whatever we DO deserve, we rarely achieve it. Things are generally unfair. Shit hits the fan with a regular dull thud. Suffering is as much our lot as breathing. To witness the struggle of others to maintain some sort of decency in the teeth of life's hurricane is often so heartbreaking that we avert our gaze. I've turned mine away too many times to presume the slightest hint of strength or honour in these matters. I look to those who prevail and endure and maintain their dignity in difficult circumstances with nothing but envy and admiration. And a deep sense of my own inadequecy and shame. And that's enough self-immolation for now, thank you very much. I'm going to open a bottle of wine and taste the sunshine. It's now Friday, 2nd of November. Time has moved on, as usual. Some of the above was written at intervals during the last week. I won't bother to date each tiny section, just the largest chunks. Nelsonica 07 was one week ago tomorrow. The pace hasn't slowed and I still owe some good people emails. Went to see Honeytone Cody at 'Fibbers' on Wednesday. The sound mix lost too much of Elliot's guitar for my liking but they played with their usual dark energy and mysterious atmospheres...and in Halloween costumes too. Even the staff in our village Co-op looked like extras from a Hammer horror movie. The young man who served me my 'Independent' newspaper was wrapped from head to toe in white bandages, like an Egyptian mummy. The parts of his face that were visible were covered in white makeup with dark rings shaded around his eyes. Fake blood oozed from gaps in the bandages at certain points of his body. He took my money and handed me the change as if there was nothing unusual about his appearance whatsoever . "You're looking well," I said. Elliot called 'round today to show me his new car. He's very proud of it and rightly so. My old banger is rotting on it's wheels. rust oozing from the inside out. Just had to spend almost four hundred pounds to get it through its MOT certificate. Two new tyres, a new silencer, couple of other things. I've had the car some years now and need to change it before it becomes totally worthless. But there are household/domestic priorities that need money spending on too. They're getting to the point where they can't go on in their present condition much longer. It's the same old story: As soon as any earnings come in, they're immediately spoken for. But, that's life. Dug out some black n' white photos that I took when I was working with The Skids in Rockfield Studios in Wales, a LONG time ago now. I'd created a cartoon/graffiti drawing, on the studio control room doors, of an alien family. I'd built it up a little at a time, over the duration that we were working there. (I've attached the pictures to this diary.) Also found some photos of myself with Elle and Elliot taken in the South Of France whilst on holiday. (Holiday? What's that?) Must have been a long time ago because they are so young. And I was so slim! Also found another picture of the first house I owned, 27, Anderson St. Wakefield. And a black n' white photo' taken of Haddlesey House from part way down the garden. It brought home the distance I'd travelled from Anderson Street to West Haddlesey. Quite a contrast! And all on the strings of a guitar. Things change constantly, of course, and that wonderful 3-acre garden is now a bland executive housing estate. And, in the intervening years since I lived there, I've been without a home of my own, then living with friends in Japan, then in rented accomodation, (for which I had to sell my guitars to pay the rent), and now in a home bought by my sweet Emiko from the sale of her Tokyo apartment. And I've got guitars again. Things are always in flux but two things I've learned to trust are love and music. It's 10:20 pm and I've had enough of sitting in front of this screen for today. I'll try to complete this entry tomorrow, 'though there are several things already scheduled to take my attention away from it. My friend Dave Standeven is calling round in the morning to collect Steve (Cook's) keyboards and amps which he left here last week, after Nelsonica. Dave's van should be able to accomodate them and then I can shift my own gear upstairs. It's all still in the hall and dining room as I need to clear Steve's stuff before I can find space in the spare bedroom to store everything. It's a real jigsaw puzzle, getting it all to fit into the house. Saturday 3rd November 2007 -- Afternoon. Dave called and we put Steve's gear in the van. Steve's ancient Fender Rhodes piano, which has been stored here since the 2004 tour, was a real backbreaker to get down stairs. How people used to lug those things around on a regular basis back in the '70's is beyond me. My lower back muscles have gone into spasm just dragging it from the spare bedroom downstairs and out to Dave's van. We're going to our friend's bonfire/fireworks party tonight. Lots of booms and whizz bangs. If my back holds out. Must make sure the cats are safely inside though. Just the two of them now...the two we've domesticated, 'Tink' and 'Django.' The others fell victim to our neighbours' desire to rid the area of them. Some went to the Cat's Protection League, some to a farm elsewhere, some mysteriously disappeared, and one, gentle and elegant Gizmo, was hit and killed by a speeding driver travelling at hellish speed down the lane outside our house. The two we've domesticated, (they were originally semi-feral), are funny, affectionate and dependent upon us. We'll have to sort out a cattery for the four days we're away in Paris. Something else to organise as soon as possible. Looking forward to our Paris break. I've finally got everything booked, Eurostar and a hotel. Have to decide on clothes to take yet though. Must make an effort to be stylish...it is Paris, after all. I'll make a start on the packing next week. I'm about to telephone my mother for a chat now, so will close here. Hard to take in that Nelsonica was exactly one week ago today. Time, as one strange scientific theory has it, is definitely speeding up. ***** The images accompanying this diary entry are as follows:- 1: Dreamsville Art Advert. 2: Bill Nelson on stage in the USA, 1980's. 3: Bill, Elle and Elliot in St. Paul, France. '80's. 4: Bill's Rockfield Studio art . 5: 27, Anderson St. 6: Haddlesey House, early '80's. Top of page Thursday 29th November 2007 -- 8:00 pm. Got back from Paris just over one week ago, 'though it now feels much longer than that. The timing of our French break was a little unfortunate as it coincided with a civil service strike which shut down the Metro system and caused traffic chaos in the city for the duration of our stay. It was difficult to get around and as a result, taxi's were almost impossible to find unoccupied. Emi and I eventually resigned ourselves to walking almost everywhere. Of course, walking in Paris is no great ordeal as the architecture is so breathtakingly beautiful, but the weather was cold and wet and we were glad of the warm clothing we'd packed. Despite the cold, we found ourselves stopping regularly to admire the exquisite details of the buildings, pointing out to each other little twists and turns of ironwork, the patina on door handles, the sculpting of stonework, the proportions of window frames, the art-nouveau richness of the stained-glass and so on. We also discovered exquisite, independent shops and galleries in the narrow streets of St. Germain Des Pres, not too far from our hotel in Montparnasse. I bought books at the 'Village Voice' bookshop and some beautiful little ruby red cut-glass, engraved goblets at a very chic interior design boutique. We also enjoyed browsing in the 'Agnes B' boutique, (one of our favourite designers, along with Margaret Howell, Paul Smith and Dries Van Noten), though the prices were high enough to be thought of as silly and certainly beyond our reach.. However, Emiko DID buy me an Agnes B black scarf that I took a shine to. It is to be one of my Christmas presents from her so has been hidden away until then. Our hotel, ('Hotel Raspail'), was situated on the junction of Boulevard Montparnasse and Boulevard Raspail, (actually on 'Place Pablo Picasso'), just across the road from three legendary restaurants, 'Le Dome,' 'La Coupole' and 'La Rotonde.' Whilst these venerable establishments are not quite what they were in the days when Montparnasse was an artist's village, the ghosts of Picasso, Man Ray, Leger, Kiki, Cocteau, Hemmingway, and even Lenin and Trotsky still haunt this area. It was once a vortex of creative energy, lit by the electricity of new ideas. Emi and I breakfasted at 'La Rotonde' and ate lunch at 'Cafe Flore' and 'Les Deaux Magots,' savouring the atmosphere and watching the elegant Parisians go about their daily business. I'm sure Emi caught me admiring the French babes out of the corner of my eye too, but she's magnaminous enough to not make a fuss. Jealousy is, thankfully, not her suite, 'though I'm sure she'd let me know if I ever overstepped the mark! On the Monday, we walked all the way to the Musee D'Orsay, only to find it closed. Damn, should have made enquiries first. So we walked a little further, crossed the Seine via Pont Royal and continued to the Louvre where we enjoyed a satisfying lunch with wine and an afternoon wandering through the museum's antiquities section, marvelling at the endless treasures on display. Afterwards, I bought myself cologne at the 'Fragonard' shop before ambling gently back through the charming streets of St. Germain (and the wintery weather), to our hotel, pausing to inspect more magical shop discoveries en route. That evening we went to the 'Casino D'Paris' to catch Rufus Wainwright in concert. He was his usual utterly charming and humungously talented self, chatting amusingly in French throughout the show and singing his heart out like the 21st Century Diva he is. This is the third time we've seen him perform live. I'm not in the habit of going to see concerts at all, these days, let alone three by the same artist in a concentrated period of time. But there's something about the boy. My only regret about this particular show is that I lost my favourite hat there, a black 'beanie' style cap that I often wore on stage at my own concerts. (Most recently at Nelsonica.) It suited me and is kind of irreplacable as that particular style isn't easy to come by at this point in time, at least in the U.K. (Not high street fashion, I suppose.) Anyway, I'd stuffed it into my coat pocket during the Rufus' concert, only to discover later that it had gone missing. I also lost my bio-magnetic bracelet in Paris, though I can't say that the aches and pains I bought it to relieve have become worse since it fell from my wrist somewhere in the Parisian streets, or maybe on the train coming back to the U.K. Getting a taxi back to Montparnasse after Rufus' concert wasn't easy. We'd met up with four of our friends from York at the show, (they'd travelled by car and ferry whilst we'd opted for Eurostar). We had dinner with them at a swish restaurant the previous evening. It was the first time they'd seen Rufus live and were duly impressed. I particularly enjoyed his beautifully sung version of 'A Foggy Day In London Town,' but then I'm a sucker for those old standards. After the show, we all decided to find a cafe bar to hole up in until the audience had dispersed, (beer and frites all round), then we waited at a taxi-rank until cabs arrived. Emi and I eventually got back to our hotel in the early hours and then packed in preparation for Tuesday's trip back home to England. On Tuesday morning, there was some panic about getting to Gare Du Nord from our hotel. The hotel receptionist said, with a stereotypical French waving of arms in the air, that it would prove impossible to get a cab but, miraculously, one arrived within minutes of our requesting it and we got to the station in plenty of time. I'm very impresssed with Eurostar. It was quick and comfortable and we were served champagne, wine and reasonably decent food. It really felt quite effortless. In fact, the least comfortable part of the journey was that from London back to Yorkshire on the standard GNER train, not least because of the boorish yobs in some of the coaches. I've reached the age where 'youthful high spirits' translates as 'ignorant louts,' I'm afraid. But this kind of senior-citizen grumpiness comes to us all, in time, I presume. Since returning home, it's been domestic catch-up time. The Nelsonica preparations occupied me for many weeks and, as a result, more prosaic tasks have accumulated. Mountains of emails to answer too. One of the first things we did on returning from Paris was to spring Django and Tink, (our feline friends), from the cattery where we'd left them. It was the first time they'd been away from their home environment and I was concerned about them whilst we were away...Needless to say, they appeared pleased to be back in familiar surroundings. Since we decided to look after them as domestic pets, (earlier this year), they've become a soulful part of the family and our home wouldn't feel the same without them now. Even though there's a LOT to occupy me domestically, I'm still thinking about musical work. Whenever am I not? I'm currently assembling an 'experimental' running order of tracks that will probably make up my next album. The album's title is 'SILVERTONE FOUNTAINS' and, at this moment in time, it consists of 16 instrumentals, a few of them left over from the now abandoned 'Frankie Ukelele And The Fire In The Lake' album. I'm planning to give the Nelsonica Team members a home burned cdr of the album's draft running order, (each CDr with an individually hand-drawn cover), at the annual team dinner party on the 1st December. Last year, I gave each of the team members framed drawings but thought that a preview of 'Fountains' with home-made packaging might be a nice idea for this year's dinner get-together. The album is still a work in progress though...I may yet decide to set aside some of the tracks for next year's limited edition Nelsonica album, whilst continuing to record further pieces for possible inclusion on 'Silvertone Fountains.' We'll see. here's the experimental track listing. (It will most likely channge by the time the album is released though.) 'Silvertone Fountains.' -BILL NELSON- (Experimental assembly only.) 1: 'The Fabulous Whirligig Of Now.' 2: 'Silvertone Fountains.' 3: 'Switch On The Sky, Light Up The Stars.' 4: 'The Walls Of Which Are Made Of Clouds.' 5: 'Marvelous Model Kit.' 6: 'No Memories Here To Make You Sad.' 7: 'Art Is My Aeroplane.' 8: 'The Standard Fireworks Stomp.' 9: 'Silver Sailboat On Samsara Sea.' 10: 'Summer Over Soon.' 11: 'Frankie Ukelele And The Fire In The Lake.' 12: 'The Phonograph Bird.' 13: 'Lakeside.' 14: 'The Lost Art Of Doing Nothing.' 15: 'Frankie Surfs The Milky Way.' 16: 'We Vanish At Shadowfall.' It's one of those albums that seems to be slowly evolving or mutating into something I can't yet quite grasp. The album has already been through several changes, giving birth to the 'And We Fell Into A Dream' album and parts of 'Secret Club' en route. And all this started from the 'Frankie Ukelele' concept. I wonder what the final result will be? The pleasure, for me, of course, is in the finding out, rather than in the end product itself. Once I feel it's arrived at its musical destination, I'll move on to the next thing, with my usual lack of interest in work completed. Current reading: 'Tripmaster Monkey, His Fake Book' by Maxine Hong Kingston. 'The Underground Man' by Mick Jackson. And 'Considering Genius, Writings On Jazz,' by Stanley Crouch. Oh, and Eric Clapton's autobiography, (this last a gift from a generous fan at Nelsonica). Current listening, (mostly in my car): Les Paul, Johnny Smith, Bill Frisell, Wes Montgomery, Chet Atkins and a selection of 1930's popular songs by various long dead artists. Nothing remotely modern, rock-oriented or new. Must be that age thing again. My problem is that I've heard so much music during my lifetime that work by younger artists rarely surprises me anymore. (There are a few exceptions, of course.) It all seems to be a re-hash of something originally made years ago at a time when the idea was really fresh. Even current day contemporary composition, the nouveau avant-garde, seems to be going over old ground. Some of it very nicely raked, but not startlingly cultivated or filled with beautiful and exotic blooms. Perhaps it's no longer possible, (or even important), to come up with anything truly new. Nevertheless, I tend to listen to music where the process of making it is invisible to me, where I can't quite understand how it's put together, technically or academically. I crave the surprise of not-knowing. Listening to ancient, promitive recordings of beautifully written and arranged music by the great composers and songwriters from the '30's and '40's appeals because, as well as being aesthetically beautiful, the music's inner clockwork remains a mystery to me. And, even more than this, I can hear time itself crackling in the ploughed circular furrows of the music's black plastic sound field. It conveys a poetic quality, a wistful, yearning dreaminess, a sophisticated, elegant sensibility transmitted from an imagined 'Golden Age.' At least, that's how I feel as I type these words. I may feel less romantic about it tomorrow. But mellow is my mood right now. ***** Images accompanying this diary are:- 1: Hotel Raspail, Paris. 2: Bill Nelson in Paris. November 2007. 3: Dreamsville windmill ad. 4: Dreamsville girl ad. 5: Dreamsville ad. Top of page

Guitar Tablature A fantastic selection of songs that Dreamsville regular Twilightcapers has give n his very own interpretation of. These may not be 100% accurate, we'll leave it for you to decide! After all...only Bill knows how they were actually played!!! If you're new to guitar tablature, check out this handy tutorial! Be Bop Deluxe Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Autosexual Axe Victim Beauty Secrets Between The Worlds Bird Charmers Destiny Blazing Apostles Blue As A Jewel Bring Back The Spark Crying To The Sky Crystal Gazing Dangerous Stranger Darkness (L'Immoraliste) Red Noise A Better Home In The Phantom Zone Acquitted By Mirrors Art/Empire/Industry Atom Age Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) For Young Moderns Furniture Music Out Of Touch Radar In My Heart Stay Young Stop/Go/Stop Substitute Flesh Wonder Toys That Last Forever Down On Terminal Street Electrical Language Face In The Rain Fair Exchange Forbidden Lovers The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow Heavenly Homes Islands Of The Dead Jean Cocteau Jets At Dawn Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus Kiss Of Light Life In The Air Age Lights Like An Old Blues Love In Flames Love Is Swift Arrows Lovers Are Mortal Love With The Madman Maid In Heaven Make The Music Magic Mill Street Junction Modern Music Suite Music In Dreamland New Mysteries New Precision Night Creatures No Trains To Heaven Orphans Of Babylon Panic In The World Piece Of Mine Possession Quest For The Harvest Of The Stars Rocket Catherdrals Shine (Live Version) Ships In The Night Sister Seagull Sleep That Burns Soundtrack Speed Of The Wind Bill Nelson - Solo A Kind Of Loving A Month Without A Moon A Private View Banal Bloo Blooz Chymepeace (An Ending) Contemplation Decline And Fall Do You Dream In Colour? Dream Ships Set Sail End Of The Seasons Eros Arriving Flaming Desire Flesh The Golden Days Of Radio House Of Sand Kid With Cowboy Tie Lacuna The Lamp Of Invisible Light Living In My Limousine Love's A Way Mr. Magnetism Himself My Electrical Empire Northern Dreamer November Fires The Ocean, The Night And The Big, Big Wheel The October Man October Sky Ordinary Idiots The Passion Photograph (A Beginning) The Raindrop Collector Rejoice Sad Feelings See It Through The Weather Song White Sound Stage Whispers Superenigmatix Surreal Estate Swansong Third Floor Heaven Twilight Capers

Furniture Music Bill Nelson's Red Noise single - 09 February 1979 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A) Furniture Music B1) Wonder Toys That Last Forever B2) Acquitted By Mirrors ORIGINALLY: A) was from the upcoming Sound-On-Sound album B-sides) were both non-album tracks NOTES: Furniture Music was Nelson's first solo release since the Northern Dream album in 1971, and it appeared one week ahead of the Sound-On-Sound album, providing a glimpse of the abrupt change in style that Nelson's Red Noise project represented compared to Be Bop Deluxe. Red Noise comprised a semi-fluid line up, which on their debut single featured a trio of Andy Clark, retained from Be Bop Deluxe on piano and synthesisers, Rick Ford on bass guitar, and Nelson playing drums, Mini Moog, electric guitars and vocals. Furniture Music was available in red vinyl (limited edition) as well as black vinyl, with both editions coming in a picture sleeve. Interest in the single was sufficient to take it to No. 59 in the UK charts. PAST RELEASES: B1 was also available on the US version of Cocteau Signature Tunes comp (out of print). B2 was also available on The Strangest Things comp (out of print). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: All 3 songs were added to the remastered Sound-On-Sound CD from Harvest in 2012, which is now out of print in physical form, but available as digital download on Amazon and iTunes.. BILL'S THOUGHTS: "It was a relief [to go solo]...the doors were opened, windows too, and everything seemed possible. No need to explain myself to others, no need to adapt my ideas to musicians who might have found it difficult to understand where I was coming from, no compromises required other than those which I personally felt justifiable, no need to reflect anything other than my own hard-won experience, my own true story. No need to follow fickle fashion or the desperate dictates of an industry that, even then, was floundering and becoming lost. Going 'solo' gave me permission to express my personal, private world, my own 'vision', without need for discussion or dilution. In a word: It brought me the FREEDOM to be 100% creative!" _____ "I simply took the idea of 'white noise', (which is the presence of every possible frequency happening at the same time), and changed it to 'Red' to suggest something fast and fiery and also to hint at the socialist/communist image we adapted, partly from the Beatles Shea Stadium stage outfits, partly from Maoist Chinese revolutionary suits but also nodding towards a retro-futuristic Orwellian dystopia ." _____ "Remember...the same heart and mind that created Northern Dream and all the Be Bop Deluxe variations also created everything else I've released. From Northern Dream to Sailor Bill and all the stops in between, the one consistent thread is that mind and the idealistic pursuit of excellence. I've never experimented just for the sake of experimentation...I'm simply trying to define and refine my musical vision." Singles Menu Future Past

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) September 2009 Jan Jul Aug Oct Nov Dec Thursday 24th September 2009 -- 8:20 pm This diary entry begins in almost exactly the same way as the previous entry of 20th August, that is to say with Emiko departing, once again, for Japan. She left very early this morning and will be away for an indefinite length of time, looking after her seriously ill mother in Tokyo. (I'll write in more detail about this latest trip towards the end of today's diary entry.) Emi was away, last time, for two weeks, but, even though I had a long list of Nelsonica preparations to occupy me, her absence felt more like two months. As always, I missed her terribly and found it very hard to fulfill my Nelsonica duties whilst having to deal with various home commitments plus responsibilities to my own mother. For Emi, the situation in Tokyo was very difficult. Her mother came home from hospital where she had become very depressed and insular. It seems that there's little that can be done for her in physical terms but it was hoped that the return to her apartment, coupled with Emi's presence and personal care, would raise her mum's spirits. It did so, noticably, but required constant attention on Emi's part and a daily care routine that hardly allowed Emi to leave her mother's apartment the whole time she was in Japan. Nevertheless, Emi WAS able to briefly return to the U.K, just in time to help with the final period of my convention preparations, taking care of domestic issues whilst I concentrated on the work remaining to be done. This included the selection, assembly and mastering of my live performance backing tracks and the last minute creation of several drawings for the Nelsonica auction along with the custom decoration of an Eastwood 'Ichiban' guitar, (generously donated by Eastwood boss Mike Robinson), for the Grand Prize Draw. I also took time out to arrange some essential guitar repairs with Gordon White at Music Ground in Leeds, the very nice man who does all my guitar set-up work for me: (www.singlecoil.co.uk ) I had Gordon apply his talents to the Gibson 'Black Beauty' Les Paul Custom guitar generously gifted to me by the late Michael Grime and his very kind wife Kate, (I had a new nut and heavier strings fitted and a general set-up). Gordon also worked on my Campbell Nelsonic Transitone signature guitar, (a slight lowering of the action and an intonation adjustment in this case). Two days before Nelsonica I'd spent a busy afternoon in a Leeds rehearsal room with guitar tech Pete Harwood and sound engineer Ian Thorpe, making sure that my full stage equipment set-up was functioning properly whilst reminding myself of its myriad features. Unfortunately, I don't have enough space in my home studio to accomodate this rather complex live performance rig, so it's essential that I hire a room big enough to wire everything up and get to grips with its various pedals and sounds before I give any concerts. As I only perform live once a year these days, an awful lot rides on that brief afternoon of rehearsal. Whilst Emi had been away in Japan, (from 20th August until the 4th September), I'd individually signed 250 special presentation tins that were designed to hold the Nelsonica convention album and various other 'welcome pack' items. (The autographing of these tins took far longer than I'd originally anticipated. In fact it took me several evenings and two permanent marker pens to complete the task!) During this time I also put finishing touches to the two new presentation audio-visual pieces created for the convention, ('Materialisation Phenomena' and 'Welcome To The Dream Transmission Pavilion'), as well as beginning and completing an eight minute long video piece designed to accompany a new 'Orchestra Futura' live performance track titled 'Machines Of Loving Grace.' Along with the above, I also managed to record 12 new backing tracks for the Nelsonica concert. However, I found it impossible to fit them all into the set list as I needed to leave enough space to include several older pieces alongside the newer material. I actually spent a few fraught days assembling draft running orders and changing them around until eventually arriving at a version that came close to satisfying me...but even then, I was forced to leave out several other pieces that I'd hoped to perform. Nevertheless, the final result was a live solo set lasting over 70 minutes and consisting of 14 numbers with a further three tracks on reserve as potential extras, plus seven extended improvisation 'Orchestra Futura' pieces for the separate live trio set. 'Orchestra Futura' musicians Dave Sturt and Theo Travis each contributed their own starting points/backing tracks to add to my own two Futura pieces, so this year we had a full set to present to the audience rather than the brief 'taster' of last year. Another unique feature of this year's convention was a live on-stage interview with legendary record producer John Leckie and myself. John and I co-produced Be Bop Deluxe's recordings from the 'Sunburst Finish' album onwards, plus the Red Noise 'Sound-On-Sound' album and also my 'Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam' solo album. We've kept in touch over the intervening years and I count John amongst my dearest friends, even though his busy schedule and my own crazy work ethic makes it difficult to actually meet up as often as we'd like. Luckily, this year John had a gap in his usually packed diary and contacted me to say that he'd like to come up to Yorkshire to attend Nelsonica. I immediately asked him if he'd be willing to take part in an on-stage interview alongside me and he very kindly accepted. Plans had already been put in place for me to take part in a live interview, (to be conducted by Nelsonica team member Ian Haydock), on the subject of Red Noise's 'Sound-On-Sound' album, but a last minute adjustment switched the theme over to the broader topic of the work that John and I had accomplished together in the past, plus some more general questions about John's extensive post Be Bop Deluxe production career. It was lovely to see John again...we always seem to resume where we left off, no matter how much water passes under the proverbial bridge in between our meetings. I guess we've always had a natural rapport which made the experience of working together a happy and comfortable one. The actual convention was very well attended and enthusiastically received. My two nephews, (my late brother Ian's two sons), came along, as did my mother and my cousin Ian. Guitarist/singer/artist Brendan Croker also was a guest, as was Kate Grime and Michael Grime's sister Sheila and her husband Brian. Kate had travelled from France to attend. Ian Gilby of 'Sound-On-Sound' magazine joined in with his brother Paul to enjoy the day too. My only regret with these things is that I'm so constantly 'on-call' throughout the event that I don't get enough time to properly attend to the needs of my guests. My mind is always whirling around, thinking ahead to the next part of the day's programme, stressing out about one thing or another, racing to get clothes changed between live performance sets, trying to speak to fans who come up to me with compliments or questions, etc, etc. However hard I try to relax and enjoy the day, I always end up worrying that I've not given enough time to everyone as a result of my pre-occupation with the event's performance and presentation duties. Anyway, the live music performances apparently went well, despite some very frustrating on-stage monitor problems encountered by myself during my solo set. Working with pre-recorded backing tracks, plus direct to pa system guitar feeds means, for me, that every single component of my performance exists only in the monitor speakers at my feet. There are no guitar amps, drums, acoustic instruments, etc on stage with me...the entire 'virtual band,' as it were, along with my live guitar playing and vocals, are only audible to myself via those basic on-stage monitors. This always presents problems of one sort or another, particularly as rock band pa monitors do not behave like studio monitor speakers. Bass frequencies and high frequencies tend to become over emphasised whilst the middle frequencies, (where much of the important detail resides), often gets overlooked or simply muddied by the extended low bass drones. Couple this imbalance with a hollow wooden stage that inadvertantly acts as a kind of huge, boomy bass cabinet, plus a hall that throws the front of house sound back at the stage as if from a long reverberant tunnel and you end up with a guitarist struggling to guess exactly where he is in the track. It was very difficult, on Saturday, for me to hear the cues and chord changes essential to finding my way through the music. Unsurprisingly, my playing always suffers because of this problem and so I ended up being a very disheartened bunny indeed. But, judging by the many positive comments I later recieved from the audience, it seems that the front-of-house sound was more than fine. This was, I'm sure, due to the care applied at the mixing desk by my good friend John Spence who was looking after the sound mix in the hall itself. I just wish I could have had something more comfortable to work with on-stage. 'In-ear' monitoring has been suggested as one possible alternative to the problem...but it's an expensive solution and one I'm not sure of. Actually, one of the best live performance experiences I've had was at two Leeds University School Of Music concerts when the on-stage monitoring was handled by a pair of in-house Genelec recording studio speakers, rather than the usual rock n' roll monitors. The sound was clear, detailed and inspiring to play to. My own selfish concerns aside, Nelsonica 09 was a big success and the friendship, warmth and kindness of everyone involved, from the fabulous and talented Nelsonica team, through to the various guests and the fans themselves, made it a wonderful day. I've said it before but these conventions have evolved to the point that they're more like extended family gatherings than fan conventions. I'm very lucky to have found such loyal and enthusiastic support for my music and I'm extremely grateful to everyone involved. But now, only four days since the hustle and bustle and human interaction of Nelsonica, I'm once again alone in the house, typing these words in an empty silence and wondering how long it will be before I see my wife again. Emiko's mother is still very ill but it seems that there is no way to estimate the speed of the disease's progress. Her condition has fluctuated, some days being worse than others but with occassional flashes of respite. We simply don't know what the future holds, other than an inevitably sad conclusion. When Emi returned to England on the 4th September, her mother went back into hospital, but now that Emi is, once again, on her way back to Japan, her mother will come out of hospital so that Emi can take care of her at her mum's Tokyo apartment. There is no social or free health care in Japan, everything has to be paid for and hospital costs are high. Emi's mum has no health insurance, nor enough money to deal with extensive and expensive medical costs, so being cared for at home by her family and friends as long as possible seems like the only practical solution. In any case, Emi's mum has not felt happy in hospital and prefers to be at home with Emi looking after her. And Emi is glad to be able to spend some time caring for her mother at this depressing and painful time. This morning, we were both up at 5 am to get ready for Emi's departure. Last time, she flew from Yeadon airport to Japan, via Amsterdam. As I noted in my previous diary entry, Yeadon (Leeds/Bradford airport) is very convenient for us but we just couldn't get a suitable flight from there this time. The only alternative was for Emi to fly to Tokyo via Helsinki from Manchester airport. And the most comfortable way to get to Manchester airport from here is by train, although the journey takes a while. So I drove Emi to York station at 6 am this morning and put her on the Manchester Airport train. After waving goodbye to her from the platform, I drove back home feeling predictably miserable and lost. Walking into our home, these sad feelings were magnified. It's just not a home without Emiko, only bricks and mortar. Since beginning this diary entry, Emi has called me from Manchester airport to let me know that she'd arrived safely there and checked in at the departure desk for her flight to Finland. Then, just over three hours later, she called again from Helsinki to say that she was awaiting her connecting flight to Tokyo. It is now 3:35 pm, (U.K. time), and Emi will be 15 minutes into her flight from Helsinki to Japan. This leg of the journey will take around 12 hours so she will arrive at Narita airport sometime around 3:20 am tomorrow morning. I've told her that it's o.k. to telephone me at any time, night or day, so I'm hoping to be woken in the early hours by her calling to let me know she's arrived safely. Then she will have to take the more than two hour coach ride from Narita airport into Tokyo itself, then a taxi to her mother's apartment. All told, a frustratingly long and exhausting journey. It is Emiko's 61st birthday next month, (4th of October), and it will be the first time since we've been together as a couple that we will not be able to celebrate her birthday together. I bought her two birthday gifts on Tuesday...one of which she has opened already, the other which I've insisted she pack in her suitcase and not open until October 4th in Tokyo. It's going to be tough, one way or another, because we will be apart for a much longer time than on her previous trip. Emi has an open-ended return ticket and the earliest she can estimate coming back home is the 19th of October. She also has a prestigious flower display commision for the Lord Mayor's Mansion House in November so will need to return to deal with that at some point anyway. But, meanwhile, I must keep my chin up, telephone her every day in Tokyo, take care of our cats, remember to feed myself properly, keep the house clean, help my mother with her still unresolved legal matter, try not to panic or stay awake all night worrying about this and that...and so on. Oh, and maybe make a start on the final preparations for my next two album releases, 'Non-Stop Mystery Action' and 'Picture Post.' There's packaging artwork to come up with for both of these projects, plus running orders need to be finalised and tracks mastered at Fairview studios with John Spence. And maybe, because time passes more quickly when I'm making music, I should also turn my recording equipment on, pick up a guitar and see what loneliness might bring to my solitary musical table. ***** The images accompanying this diary entry are as follows:- 1: An outake from 'The Love That Whirls' photo session. 2: A filtered outake from the 'Do You Dream In Colour' photo session. 3: Bill on stage in the 1980's. 4: Bill passport photo from the '80's with goatee beard. 5: Bill's photography for Nelsonica '09. 6: Bill's old resonator guitar which he painted in the mid 1960's. Top of page

Acquitted By Mirrors - Issue Three - Published October 1982 Back to Top

Stupid Serious Bill Nelson album - 13 January 2023 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this CD Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Polishing The Chromes 02) Time Is A Mechanism 03) Silver Rain (Marooned In A Fairytale) 04) Paging Mr. God 05) Lo And Behold 06) I Drift Away Amongst The Stars 07) Domain Of Echo 08) A Trembling In The Air 09) Stupid-Stupid (Deep And Serious) 10) Meek And Wild (The Ghost In Joe's Studio) 11) We Were Young 12) It's A Simple Life 13) Tongues Of Fire (Resist) 14) Nevermore 15) A Face In The Mirror 16) Dreams Turn To Dust 17) Twilight Planetarium ALBUM NOTES: Stupid/Serious is an album featuring a mixture of vocal and instrumental pieces released on the Sonoluxe label in a limited edition of 1000 copies. Work on Stupid/Serious began concurrently with the later recordings used for the Awakening of Dr Dream album back in October 2016 but the two projects have little else in common. The album was announced as "complete" in a Dreamsville forum post dated 11 January 2017 with a list of 12 tracks confirmed for inclusion with the final running order still to be decided upon. However by the time the final track listing was posted on 1 February 2017 it was evident that recording work on Stupid/Serious had continued throughout January with the album content expanded to feature a total of 17 tracks. Interestingly two tracks initially announced as being part of the album had been removed finding a home on Aqua Moon , another separate project that was largely recorded concurrently with Stupid/Serious . Once completed Stupid/Serious would be added to Nelson's list of unreleased albums which at that point totalled 14 with no indication of when it could appear. That day finally arrived almost 6 years later. The album was mastered at Fairview Studios by John Spence week commencing 21 November 2022 with artwork compiled by Martin Bostock using images selected by Nelson as the album approached release. Pre-orders for Stupid/Serious were announced by Burning Shed on 2 December 2022 with a CD release date of 13 January 2023. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Stupid/Serious is one of several albums recorded between 2016 and 2020 that have accrued in my archives whilst awaiting an opportunity for release. The album contains 17 tracks, some of which are vocal and some instrumental. The mood varies between light and dark, surreal psychedelia and avant-rock. Recorded on my old hardware-based recording system, prior to the installation of my current software-based system, the sound is richly textured and full. As always, there's a lot to take in and, hopefully, much to enjoy." Albums Menu Future Past

The Dead We Wake With Upstairs Drums Bill Nelson single - 1992 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 1) The Dead We Wake With Upstairs Drums 2) Boat To Forever 3) So It Goes NOTES: The Dead We Wake With Upstairs Drums is a CD single issued by Venture (Virgin) Records to promote the Blue Moons and Laughing Guitars album. All 3 tracks were lifted from that forthcoming album. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Although the single is long out of print, the Blue Moons and Laughing Guitars album is available as a digital download. Singles Menu Future Past

The Years Bill Nelson album - 22 June 2015 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Capricious Skies 02) The Bel-Air Rocketman 03) Atlantika 04) Southport 05) In The Realm Of The Super-Cute 06) The Invisible City Of Christian Rosenkruetz 07) A Charming Trick 08) Method Acting 09) A Garden That Sings To The Sky 10) Odeon 11) The Years 12) The Last Romantic ALBUM NOTES: The Years is an instrumental album issued in a one-off print run of 500 copies on the Sonoluxe label. Nelson revealed little in the way of detail about the development of this particular album, but it's likely that it progressed over a period of some time, and only really took shape once he had assembled sufficient material to make an album from his symphonic-based instrumentals. A posting on the Dreamsville forum from February 2014 refers to him nearly having completed "an epic neo-classical, pastoral, symphonic piece" during the writing sessions for the Velorama film soundtrack which may well have ended up on The Years album. The title The Years was first announced on the Dreamsville forum in late January 2015 when Nelson revealed it as an album he was then working on, and for which the final track running order was confirmed just a few weeks later. The album was originally to be issued after Loom , but once Nelson heard the mastered version he decided to bring its release date forward. It was also intended to be the third in the 'Super Listener Series' but in the end Nelson deemed The Years to be insufficiently challenging to be awarded that status, and it was given a normal Sonoluxe catalogue number. The album went on sale on 22 June 2015, and was in stock for a month before finally selling out on 1 August. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "The Years could mean the many years of making music, or the 66 years of being on this planet, or the 'wear and tear' of the years, or a looking back at them...I wanted it to be enigmatic, and slightly melancholy and nostalgic. "However, the music on the album, in the main, is kind of kitsch and easy-listening, quite jolly in parts but with deeper reflective moments. As always, it's not turned out quite the way I expected. It's not as pure or perfect as I'd hoped, but it's been made very spontaneously with a feeling of urgency. It's not an album that I've pondered too deeply or furrowed my brow about. It's emerged almost of its own accord. No doubt it will find its place, in time. "It's all instrumental, uses orchestral sounds with some guitar parts. Neo-classical/light music forms. The nearest thing to it would be parts of Picture Post , Pedalscope and the instrumental tracks from The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill. It's a strange thing in some ways, seems quite straight and easy on the surface but has a complexity in structure that undermines that. It's not quite what it appears to be!" _____ "Neo-classical composition isn't really about playing technique...it's more of a compositional approach. It takes classical music and re-frames it in a kind of 'post-modernist' atmosphere, referencing much older musical forms but with a twist. On this album, I pick up on the kind of music you might hear in those old black and white, between the wars and WW2 documentary films, (you know, those GPO film unit productions like 'Listen to Britain' by Humphrey Jennings, etc.) I'm particularly fond of that era and musical style but bring a more contemporary feel to bear on this album. It appears deliberately kitsch in places, superficially verging on easy listening but revealing more complexities and conundrums on deeper listening. It's meant to offer a somewhat enigmatic listening experience which never completely resolves itself." _____ "Not a 'down' album at all, despite my health issues and general darkness. It's an album of hope, of positivity, of beauty triumphing over drabness, a transcendent album, with a tinge of nostalgia and gentle melancholy at the heart of it." FAN THOUGHTS: felixt1: "I tell you what - it's a bloody great album! It actually took me a few days to really understand what's going on. It's kind of like what happens if a UFO lands in Model Village . The cinematic quality of the music cannot be exaggerated and there are some truly great moments from start to finish. The Years , is for me yet another special release. It hit me today, like a sledgehammer - really stopped me in my tracks. Gobsmacked" andygeorge: " The Years is a delightful collection of music and, as some have said, sits well with Model Village. But, as I sit here on a sunny Sunday morning in my study, with a cup of tea, catching up on paper work and other bits and pieces with The Years playing I can straight away hear that it is a rather more complex composition than Model Village punctuated with wonderful, sweet guitar sounds that only Bill can pull off..."Capricious Skies", "Southport", "Method Acting", "The Years'...all truly stunning!" Tourist in Wonderland: 'This new release really demands your attention...lots going on (in a good way)...many questions, much to discover, much wow-factor-ness. Initially blown away by "The Invisible City of Christian Rosenkruetz", "A Charming Trick", "Odeon", "The Years", "The Last Romantic". Can't stand chatting all day...got some seriously jaw-dropping music to listen to." Palladium: "The guitar (as you won't be surprised to hear) is blissful, and combines wonderfully with the ' orchestral ' sound/arrangements. A complex album, I think, which will take more than a few listens to get a proper sense of it." mark smith: "Once again the more you play it the more it makes sense, in my opinion. Another Bill Nelson masterpiece. It seems to sound even better listened to very late at night. Thank you again Mr Nelson." December Man: "After I'd finished listening to it on day two, I absent-mindedly pushed the FM button on my stereo, which was on the classical music station, and went outside for a bit, and when I returned I became aware of this beautiful sound coming out of my speakers and assumed it was still The Years that was playing! This went on for a good while before I realized what had happened! (Sometimes aging brings with it these little miracles of absent-minded fun.) But that kinda sums up this album in a strange way. It is 'deceptive' as Bill has stated. Each day that I've listened, it feels like I'm playing a whole new album! This is not unique in itself as many of Bill's albums do this, but The Years seems to make me more aware that this is happening somehow. This album also has a Bill Frisell kinda vibe to it (in its subtlety and strange beauty). Definitely one of Bill's best ever recordings." Albums Menu Future Past

Six String Super Apparatus Bill Nelson album - 1 December 2016 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Blackpool Pleasure Beach And The Road To Enlightenment 02) Nebulous Trolleybus 03) Andromeda Gardens 04) A Telescope Full Of Stars 05) Dance Of The Cosmic Signaller No. 2 06) Preamp 07) Hotel On Wheels 08) Spacehopper 09) Naughty Boy, Dirty Girl 10) When The World Was Beautiful 11) Happily Haunted 12) Two Brothers Test The Kite Flying Winds ALBUM NOTES: Six String Super Apparatus (Painting with Guitars Volume Three) is an instrumental album issued on Nelson’s own Tremelo Boy Records. The album is the third volume in an ongoing series entitled Painting with Guitars , which collects songs that Nelson had been performing live over the previous two decades, but which had yet to find their way onto albums. The first volume was The Romance of Sustain , the second was Plectrajet , and the fourth will be Astral Overdrive (scheduled to be released in 2017). Volumes two through four of the series were assembled during a 1 month stretch starting in February 2015. The project was the fulfillment of a long-standing promise by the artist to release the hoard of tracks, some of which had become favourites of fans who attended his live performances. In fact, the final track selection for these volumes were partly shaped by a small number of Dreamsville members who would remind Nelson of particular tracks they remembered fondly. The series also marked the end of an era for Nelson, who had all but given up live performances, due to continuing problems with his hearing. Six String Super Apparatus was issued as a download only release on December 1st, 2016. 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 , Plectrajet , Practically Wired , Fantastic Guitars, Plaything , The Awakening of Dr Dream , Confessions of a Hyperdreamer , Modern Moods for Mighty Atoms , Luxury Lodge , Tripping The Light Fantastic BILL'S THOUGHTS: "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." _____ "It's an album loaded with guitars and will form a further component in the gathering together of tracks from my concerts.” _____ "There's a certain adjunct between rock music and jazz which can often be missed by the casual listener. I'm thinking here of the free-flowing lines of Jimi Hendrix which have often been compared to the 'sheets of sound', or 'constant flux' approach to music such as those of jazz luminaries like John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman, (to mention just a few possibilities). This open-ended, unscripted, spontaneous attitude towards playing is frought with dangers but also potential wonders. It requires a kind of bravery, a willingness to step out beyond the familiar, pre-scripted lines that most musicians rely on and literally 'launch one's self off the cliff' and hope that fair winds and flying boats will carry the music into the blue sky. As the years go by, (and weigh more heavily on me), I'm increasingly drawn to the potential for entirely spontaneous playing, a sort of instant composition approach, but with nothing in mind other than the starting point with everything else being left entirely to chance. Sometimes this will bring melodic ideas to bear, other times abrasive ones, other times subtle inflections and sophisticated nuances, and othertimes just a sheer, exuberant, torrent of sound. Listening to today's transfer of my live solo concert tracks for the Six String Super Apparatus album, I was struck with the apparent open-ended, improvistional approach that emerged from the recordings. I'm not for one second implying that my music is in the exalted John Coltrane sphere...but, at times, it does seem to have something of the same spirit. A free, blowing, 'go wherever it will' attitude, which I find both flawed and yet perfect at the same time. It creates something with a combination of beauty and grit." FAN THOUGHTS: Big Dunc: "First impressions...Bloody Superb" andygeorge: "This is pure guitar heaven! Bill will probably dismiss this as a side project, something he can knock out in his sleep, (which he probably can!)...but, boy, this sounds soooo good!" Coach Matt: "Blackpool Pleasure Beach and the Road to Enlightenment": "Need I say anymore, as the hair elevates on my skin. This track grabbed me right away. Just makes me want to plug in, crank it up and play along. Fabulous guitar playing over a smashing, smooth bottom groove. Takes you sailing away on blissful roller coaster ride. I just dig this style of Bill and can never get enough! The groove and guitar is edgy, yet charming." Peter: "It is a guitar lover's dream come true – it has rock, jazz, blues, ambient...it has everything, the entire Bill Nelson canon collected in one place. Every technique, every effect...all interwoven into Bill's usual sterling compositions. Each song offers moments of "Oh, wow..." and "Oh, that's SO good". All instrumentals, this album has power, emotion, style, delicacy, grace, polish, joy...it is a showcase of Bill's mastery of both songwriting and guitar playing. It is a masterpiece." Pathdude: "This is another album of gorgeous Bill Nelson guitar music. If you liked Romance of Sustain or Plectrajet , you'll like this one. Quite a variety of sounds and styles. Personal favorite track right now is "When the World was Beautiful". Bravo Bill, another masterpiece!" Comsat Angel: "As always, another outstanding album!" RJR: "Very nice collection of songs. I don't know if it was intended, but at times there seem to be certain guitar playing that hearken back to the 80's, even some BBD." Neill_Burgess: "Six String Super Apparatus is a treat for anyone fortunate enough to have seen and heard Bill playing any of these tracks live in recent years, and it's a treat for anyone who missed the concerts. So, basically, it's a treat!" "It's a fairly varied set (space blues, big guitar heroics, gentler numbers) and the tracks fit together to form a coherent whole. Personal favourite is the joyous opener "Blackpool Pleasure Beech and the Road to Enlightenment". If you like Practically Wired , or the aforementioned The Romance of Sustain and Plectrajet , you'll love this." Sauropod: "I'm finding nowadays that whenever Bill releases a new album, it usually takes several listens to take it all in, even approaching things from a guitarist's point of view. They have a consistently high quality to them which I really appreciate and enjoy. "Andromeda Gardens" - This still remains my favorite track from the album after repeated listens. The use of a baritone guitar (?) on it sets the song apart from all the others on the album. One word sums it up - sublime. "Happily Haunted" - This is the one song from the record with a really memorable hook. If I were a record exec, this would be the one I would choose as the single. Summary/rating: I would rate this as a "must buy". It is, in my opinion, amongst the top 10% of Bill's output." james warner: "As has been the case with previous relatively low-key releases, I find myself enjoying this album more immediately than some of the 'fanfare' releases. Maybe it's because there is no concept to it, just a collection of really good tunes. There is a sense of sass and strut about many of the tracks, suggesting Bill was relaxed and having fun recording it. There are dreamy interludes, too, so this is an album with something for everyone." Prey: "WOW, the wizard of Wakefield brings the big notes to us for Christmas! An amazing journey through guitar heaven, thank you!" Albums Menu Future Past

Modern Music Be Bop Deluxe album - 10 September 1976 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this 2-CD Set TRACKS: 01) Orphans Of Babylon 02) Twilight Capers 03) Kiss Of Light 04) The Bird Charmer's Destiny 05) The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow 06) Bring Back The Spark 07) Modern Music 08) Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone) 09) Honeymoon On Mars 10) Lost In The Neon World 11) Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids 12) Modern Music (Reprise) 13) Forbidden Lovers 14) Down On Terminal Street 15) Make The Music Magic ALBUM NOTES: Modern Music is the fourth album by Be Bop Deluxe. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London during June 1976, and maintained the band's profile in the UK while adding to their international reputation in North America. Modern Music was the first Be Bop Deluxe album to feature an identical line up, in the form of Bill Nelson, Simon Fox, Charlie Tumahai and Andy Clarke. By now the band was establishing itself on the North American touring circuit, without forgetting about their home support. To have delivered two successful albums in one calendar year while undergoing a gruelling touring schedule is therefore all the more impressive. The album appeared on vinyl and cassette, and was promoted by the release of the single Kiss of Light , which failed to repeat the success of their previous release. Vinyl copies were released in a single sleeve, and the record was housed in an inner sleeve bearing lyrics to all songs. For North American radio use, Modern Music was promoted by a special "Banded for Air Play" edition, which featured a modified track listing. When reissued on CD in 1990, EMI elected to enhance the album by adding 6 bonus tracks, although the tracks they included were more relevant to other Be Bop Deluxe albums, instead of the the Modern Music sessions. If you no longer kept your vinyl copy, and require song lyrics, then this CD edition satisfies that need, and the informative sleeve notes penned by Kevin Cann provide useful context. In April 2017 Cherry Red and E soteric R ecordings , who, since 2011, have done so much to raise the profile of Bill Nelson's solo recordings from the period 1980 to 2002, acquired the rights to release the Be Bop Deluxe and Red Noise material issued between 1973 and 1979. While this resulted in the deletion of existing physical editions, Cherry Red kept Modern Music on catalogue from 1 June 2017 via the usual download sites such as Amazon and iTunes while an expanded edition was prepared for a 2019 physical release. On 6 December 2019 Modern Music became the third Be Bop Deluxe album to be issued as a Deluxe Edition comprising: a freshly remastered version of the original album. a 2019 remix of the full album. 2 unreleased studio recordings. previously released live 'BBC In Concert' recorded for Radio. a bonus CD of a previously unreleased "official bootleg" of a performance at The Riviera Theatre in Chicago in March 1976 recorded for FM Radio. the original album presented in a 5.1 mix and the previously released OGWT appearance from November 1976. The album was presented in a triple fold out digi-pack and contained a 68 page booklet with an essay penned by Bill Nelson, previously unseen photographs from the period, postcards and a replica poster. A 2CD edition of the album was also released at the same time as the Deluxe Edition featuring Discs 1 and 2 which also replaced the standard download edition. The full track listing for the Deluxe Edition is: Disc 1: 01) Orphans Of Babylon 02) Twilight Capers 03) Kiss Of Light 04) The Bird Charmer's Destiny 05) The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow 06) Bring Back The Spark 07) Modern Music 08) Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone) 09) Honeymoon On Mars 10) Lost In The Neon World 11) Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids 12) Modern Music (Reprise) 13) Forbidden Lovers 14) Down On Terminal Street 15) Make The Music Magic Bonus Track 16) Shine (B-Side Of Single) Disc 2: 01) Orphans Of Babylon (New Stereo Mix) 02) Twilight Capers (New Stereo Mix) 03) Kiss Of Light (New Stereo Mix) 04) The Bird Charmer's Destiny (New Stereo Mix) 05) The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow (New Stereo Mix) 06) Bring Back The Spark (New Stereo Mix) 07) Modern Music (New Stereo Mix) 08) Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone) (New Stereo Mix) 09) Honeymoon On Mars (New Stereo Mix) 10) Lost In The Neon World (New Stereo Mix) 11) Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids (New Stereo Mix) 12) Modern Music (Reprise) (New Stereo Mix) 13) Forbidden Lovers (New Stereo Mix) 14) Down On Terminal Street (New Stereo Mix) 15) Make The Music Magic (New Stereo Mix) Bonus Tracks 16) Shine (New Stereo Mix) 17) Forbidden Lovers (First Version) 18) The Bird Charmer's Destiny (First Version) Disc 3: 01) Maid In Heaven (BBC In Concert 1976) 02) Bring Back The Spark (BBC In Concert 1976) 03) Kiss Of Light (BBC In Concert 1976) 04) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (BBC In Concert 1976) 05) Fair Exchange (BBC In Concert 1976) 06) Ships In The Night (BBC In Concert 1976) 07) Twilight Capers (BBC In Concert 1976) 08) Modern Music (BBC In Concert 1976) i. Modern Music ii. Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone) iii. Honeymoon On Mars iv. Lost In The Neon World v. Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids vi. Modern Music (Reprise) 09) Blazing Apostles (BBC In Concert 1976) Disc 4: 01) Fair Exchange (Live 1976 – Previously Unreleased) 02) Stage Whispers (Live 1976 – Previously Unreleased) 03) Life In The Air Age (Live 1976 – Previously Unreleased) 04) Sister Seagull (Live 1976 – Previously Unreleased) 05) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (Live 1976 – Previously Unreleased) 06) Maid In Heaven (Live 1976 – Previously Unreleased) 07) Ships In The Night (Live 1976 – Previously Unreleased) 08) Bill's Blues (Live 1976 – Previously Unreleased) 09) Blazing Apostles (Live 1976 – Previously Unreleased) Disc 5: 01) Orphans Of Babylon (5.1 Mix) 02) Twilight Capers (5.1 Mix) 03) Kiss Of Light (5.1 Mix) 04) The Bird Charmer's Destiny (5.1 Mix) 05) The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow (5.1 Mix) 06) Bring Back The Spark (5.1 Mix) 07) Modern Music (5.1 Mix) 08) Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone) (5.1 Mix) 09) Honeymoon On Mars (5.1 Mix) 10) Lost In The Neon World (5.1 Mix) 11) Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids (5.1 Mix) 12) Modern Music (Reprise) (5.1 Mix) 13) Forbidden Lovers (5.1 Mix) 14) Down On Terminal Street (5.1 Mix) 15) Make The Music Magic (5.1 Mix) Bonus Tracks 16) Shine (5.1 Mix) 17) Forbidden Lovers (First Version) (5.1 Mix) 18) The Bird Charmer's Destiny (First Version) (5.1 Mix) 19) Forbidden Lovers (BBC Old Grey Whistle Test - November 1976) 20) Down On Terminal Street (BBC Old Grey Whistle Test - November 1976) PAST RELEASES: The album can be found in a number of guises. The 1990 CD edition was released as a physical CD, but strangely not as a download in its own right. The album without the bonus tracks was included in the budget box set Original Album Series (2014), as well as on Disc 3 of the Futurist Manifesto box set (2012). Extra songs on the 1990 CD: 16) Futurist Manifesto 17) Quest For The Harvest Of The Stars 18) Autosexual All 3 are Drastic Plastic outtakes and were all previously on The Best Of and the Rest Of . "Futurist Manifesto" was the b-side to the Japan single, and was therefore on Singles As and Bs. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The 2-CD set is available for purchase in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Modern Music came directly from my experiences on the American tour. I'd been exposed to American culture for years, through movies and television and music so I imagined that when I got there it would be something very familiar. But it was so foreign that it seemed almost like being on another planet." (from an interview in Guitarist Magazine, 1996) _____ "The entire "Modern Music Suite" for instance, is about my experience of touring the USA but has sequences that seem surreal and dream-like." _____ "I've used voice samples for more than 30 years...the intro to Be Bop Deluxe's "Modern Music Suite" being an early example. I like the way a voice sample can add an enigmatic spin to an instrumental." _____ "The voice/radio collage at the start of the "Modern Music Suite" was a combination of random radio dial spinning and some deliberately chosen recordings." _____ "You'll notice, if you have heard all the band's albums, that, after Sunburst Finish , the music becomes slightly less guitar focused and moves into synthy textures with the guitar becoming sort of 'orchestrated' or integrated into the songs, rather than constant up-front solo improvisations. The emphasis switches to songwriting on Modern Music and to more surreal/sci-fi atmospheres on Drastic Plastic before flipping over into the near-future dystopian moods of Red Noise. But those first three albums were intended to bring the guitar playing thing to the fore." _____ Commenting on the Modern Music watch and badge from the cover: "I thought up the idea and gave a written description/drawing of the style of the items. They were actually made by the same BBC props department who provided gadgets for the 'Doctor Who' tv series at that time." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review on Prog Rock Music Talk Review on God Is In The TV Review on ProgNaut Review on Louder Than War Review on Spill Magazine Review on Goldmine Magazine Review o n At The Barrier Review on Exclusive Magazine Review on Sea Of Tranquility Review on LMNOP Review on Part-Time Audiophile Review by Michael Doherty Review on Music Street Journal Review by Dmitry M. Epstein Review on Musoscribe FAN THOUGHTS: Prey: "I go back to that afternoon in the 70's when listening to Modern Music for the first time when an emotion washed over me that the music I was hearing was the music of the future, unlike anything else at the time. Modern Music was a revelation for me at that point, it affected me deeply and I never forgot that day." paul.smith: "Modern Music is my favourite Be Bop album - I've always seen it as a concept album full of many rich layers, twists and turns and real musical cohesion." Debtworker: "Modern Music is the album where I really came on board, as a Be-Bop Deluxe fan. The music is still as fresh today, as it was all those years ago. It's a great album packed full of well crafted songs and tight melodies, whilst still pushing Bill's musical boundaries - even though he was constantly touring America at the time, if I remember right." TwentySmallCigars: "I've been a fan of Be Bop Deluxe (and eventually Bill Nelson) since the mid-70's when a friend of mine bought a copy of Modern Music because Ace Frehley mentioned Bill as one of his favourite guitarists in an interview in Circus Magazine." Mick Winsford: "Modern Music is for me, my favourite BBD album. There's just something really special about this album, from the opening acoustic riff of "Orphans of Babylon" to the the simple beauty of "Make the Music Magic". This was the second BBD album I heard (SF being the first one) and that image I have of me traipsing up stairs on Xmas night with my copy of MM in my hands and putting it on the stereo for the first play has never left me. I loved it from the first play and haven't fallen out of love with it since." Steve Zodiac: "Like many here I've been a listener of Bill's music since the seventies. I have clear memories of playing my Modern Music LP over and over as a teenager; it must have been Christmas '76 when I asked mum & dad to buy it for me as a present and I remember being absolutely bowled over by it. I had already seen BBD live at the Liverpool Empire 23 Jan 1976; I think that may well have been the first gig I ever went to. I saw them again Feb 1978 for the Drastic Plastic Tour and saw Red Noise in March 1979." Parsongs: "Sunburst Finish , purchased at Korvette's in Matteson, IL, right after seeing BBD for the first time. Within a month, I returned and bought Futurama and Axe Victim . After seeing BBD about 8 months later, I returned and bought Modern Music (first time I ever saw a rock & roll band in business suits!!)." CoachMatt: "Bill, I am, and believe all of us here are enjoying the journey with you. Ever since running home from school to hear Scott Muni of WNEW, New York City play the whole side two of Modern Music !" Tourist In Wonderland: "I met Charlie backstage during the Modern Music tour after a show and he was indeed a very nice person. He greeted us warmly and made us feel very welcome...he was very open and friendly and yes, he did have that lovely warm smile on his face...from my experience, he was a true gentleman...in fact I still have a tour program that Charlie and the rest of Be Bop signed, something I will never part with. Simon and Andy were equally friendly and it was a great atmosphere after a fabulous live performance...Bill had slipped off early via the back exit on this occasion, I think Jan waiting in a rather nice Jaguar XJS in the rear car park, if memory serves accurately?...wonderful memories..." Ged: "Modern Music will always hold special memories for me - remember the Newcastle City Hall gig Garry - mirror ball, videos in the background - absolutely wonderful - My son Mark (15 years of age) has taken all of my Be-Bop CDs into his room - (I haven't heard the Kaiser Chiefs or Franz Ferdinand for weeks!!) He absolutely adores Modern Music and its lovely to hear "Terminal Street" and "Orphans of Babylon" blasting from his music system - He asked me to get him a Be Bop Deluxe badge today. He saw Bill and the Lost Satellites twice last year and said they were awesome - a new generation Nelsonian." Zen Archer: "If I were the sort to make those comparisons, I'd say Modern Music was Bill's Abbey Road, but I'm not, so you didn't hear that from me." Albums Menu Future Past

Ancient Guitars A collection of Bill's guitars and various other stringed instruments... More coming soon!

New Vibrato Wonderland Bill Nelson album - 18 December 2020 Albums Menu Past Future Purchase this CD Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Hide And Seek 02) Welcome To Wonderland 03) I Oil The Ticking Of Antique Clocks 04) Crazy Dreamer 05) The Golden Hour 06) Complicated 07) Mercuria Magnetica 08) Crazy Right Now 09) Bless Me, Bless You 10) New Vibrato Wonderland 11) The House Of A Hundred Clocks 12) In The Middle Of A Dream 13) Earthbound 14) Some Times, These Times ALBUM NOTES: New Vibrato Wonderland is an album of songs issued on the Sonoluxe label in a limited edition of 1000 copies. The album was recorded throughout 2020 and comprises 14 tracks selected from a total of well over 100 songs and instrumentals that Nelson produced between January and October that year. New Vibrato Wonderland represents the first Bill Nelson album to be released since moving to his recently established Cubase recording set-up that he had assembled in 2019 and which he began utilising from January 2020. The title of the album implies a sense of optimism although the music itself, at times, betrays that notion through its melancholic and reflective content. The album was mastered on the 16th November at Fairview Studios by John Spence with artwork created by Martin Bostock working with images selected by Nelson. With the UK still in the grip of the Coronavirus pandemic any sort of event to launch New Vibrato Wonderland was understandably out of the question and consequently the album received no such fanfare. Pre-orders for the New Vibrato Wonderland were announced by Burning Shed on 17th November 2020. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Last year I installed a Cubase Pro advanced recording system in my home studio, after my much loved Mackie hardware based system finally gave up the ghost after 20 years of constant use. I had been reluctant to go down the purely software based route but now there was no other choice. The learning curve was fairly steep and it has been a slow process but I'm gradually getting used to it. "Since installing the new system I've recorded over 100 tracks, putting ideas down spontaneously, just to get to grips with how the equipment works. It's been a sometimes frustrating process but now is the time to begin releasing some of this material. "I've chosen 14 tracks from the 100 or so recordings I've made and assembled them into an album. This is the first album to be released using the Cubase system, but more will follow. The album is titled New Vibrato Wonderland and is vocal and guitar based with a hint of modern psychedelia coupled with electro-glitch percussion sounds and a touch of string orchestra. But don't take that description as accurate, you might hear something quite different. Whatever it is, it is certainly recognisable as a 'Bill Nelson album'. How could it be otherwise? Hope you like it!" Albums Menu Future Past

A collection of Bill Nelson memorabilia, pictures submitted by fans. Fan Memorabilia A collection of memorabilia pictures submitted by fans! If you would like yours included, please get in touch

Fables And Dreamsongs Bill Nelson album - 26 November 2010 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) A Window Open Onto Eden 02) Wireless World 03) Machines Of Loving Grace 04) Indoor Astronomy (Bella Luna) 05) The Shining Staircase 06) My Wonder Book Of Wings And Sails 07) Beautiful Diamonds Are Falling From The Clouds 08) Stranger Flowers Now Than Ever 09) Way Back When 10) The Drawing Room 11) Pondering The Mystery 12) Moon Gold Palladium ALBUM NOTES: Fables and Dreamsongs (A Golden Book of Experimental Ballads) features a mix of vocal and instrumental tracks. It was released on the Sonoluxe label in a single print run of 1000 copies. The album had begun life with a working title of Moon Gold Palladium , but Nelson revised his plans in the summer of 2010. The album was initially made available on pre-release on the same day as Nelsonica ‘10 before going on general sale 5 days later through SOS. Fables And Dreamsongs sold out in September 2019. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "An album for thinkers, dreamers and poets, though not one that surrenders much to the mainstream." _____ "Fables and Dreamsongs was inspired, in part, from the 'Golden Wonder Books' that my mother owned as a child, and from which she read to me when I was a little boy. These thick, beautifully illustrated compendiums contained classic fables and stories by Britains best authors and artists. Looking at them now, what strikes me is how high the standard of writing was. The vocabulary used, (though they were children's stories), was so much more sophisticated than our modern day approach to children's literature. I suspect that many of these tales would prove difficult for contemporary adults to grasp, let alone children. There certainly was no 'talking down' involved. Back when these books were published, in the 1920s and '30s, the elegance, descriptive and emotive properties of the English language magically connected with children, even at an early age. (Well, they certainly did with me, thanks to my mother reading to me from these books when I was still an infant.) "So, whilst Fables and Dreamsongs is a book of experimental ballads, it is also firmly rooted in the feelings I had when I sat by my mother's side as an infant, as she read to me from these wonderful collections of classic children's literature." _____ "Two of the pieces, "Machines of Loving Grace" and "Stranger Flowers Now Than Ever" were actually premiered live as part of the 'Orchestra Futura' set at Nelsonica '09 . The versions on Fables and Dreamsongs are solo studio versions. "The Drawing Room" was first performed as part of my solo live set at Nelsonica '09 . Again, this is a studio version of the piece. None of the other tracks have been heard outside of my studio before." FAN THOUGHTS: BenTucker: "Totally different, unexpected, psychedelic and utterly mind-blowing is my reaction to this album after just a few listens. But really it's too early to comment for me, as this seems like a very complex, sophisticated masterpiece. The first track alone (a quite stunningly wonderful experience) contains enough richness to fill a whole album, but that's only the beginning..." " Fables and Dreamsongs is Be Bop Deluxe on acid. Unmissable." Andre: " Fables and Dreamsongs is definitely a trip. "For madmen only", as was the club found by the Steppenwolf. Complete with weeping werewolves and machines of loving grace. This is some great stuff!" jetboy: "I love this album to bits, the musical equivalent of Halloween orange flickering on the back parlour wall...a f@xxing classic!" Palladium: "A very accessible, beautifully melodic and satisfying record. "Moon Gold Palladium", for instance, could easily be Be Bop Deluxe from an alternative universe where some of the parameters have been tinkered with a little (in a good, weird way)." mthom: "Had a first listen last night and was pretty much blown away, and dare I say "surprised"? This is uniquely different for Bill. Not so much jazzy or bluesy with some beautiful, yet edgy, ambient soundscapes and some down right rockin' drums. Nice mix of vocals here and there. Fantastic sound quality. I seem to recall Bill saying this is a cross between Sailor Bill and Golden Melodies , and that is an apt description (if he didn't say it, then I did!). This is one to play for the friends who need converting. Great stuff!!!" Wasp In Aspic: "This one could just be one of Bill's most special albums. I would place it near the nexus of Sailor Bill , Golden Melodies of Tomorrow , and Non-Stop Mystery Action . It has a winning balance between enchanted instrumental tracks and passages and beautiful romantic songs." BobK: "Must say I am rather taken by Fables . One of those albums which is initially very likable and then after a few more plays starts to really hit the spot. How to describe it? Whilst it has moments that remind me of Sailor Bill and Golden Melodies , it is more pastoral and dreamlike and, in places, rather strange and mysterious... For some reason I keep thinking it could be the perfect soundtrack to accompany you whilst walking round an old stately home. One that is occupied, but you never see the occupants and one that carries many memories...Does that make sense?" tommaso: " Fables and Dreamsongs immediately gripped me. It seems indeed to be a continuation of Sailor Bill and Golden Melodies , but it is perhaps even more introspective and heartfelt. I like the slow tempo of the album, and its musical complexity, with some quite long tracks which nevertheless seem very accessible. "Moon Gold Palladium" is stunning, but it's only the final highlight of what seems to me one of the best Nelson albums of the last few years." felixt1: " Fables and Dreamsongs is a gem of an album, and "Beautiful Diamonds..." is one of my absolute favourite songs, by anyone!" "Completely blew my socks off!" Tourist in Wonderland: "I think, for the want of better words, Bill has really gone to a different level with this one, and for me, it is rapidly shaping to become one of Mr.N's greatest works. I do not use these words lightly, a masterpiece...and I would urge any Bill Nelson fan who hasn't got this one yet, to get a copy...you won't regret it." Albums Menu Future Past

Dreams & Absurdities album - 2015 Dave Sturt Production/Contribution Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Mirage 02) Transcendence 03) Hollow Form 04) Bouncing Like Gagarin 05) Jaffa Market 06) (In My Head) I'm Swimming 07) Unique & Irreplaceable 08) Dreams & Absurdities 09) Whites & Greens In Blue 10) Vast Indifference BILL: Guitar, E-Bow and co-writing on one song, "White & Greens In Blue". NOTES: "Bill plays an absolutely beautiful solo that gets better every time I hear it! So understated and yet it's perfect for the track." - Dave Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

That Old Mysterioso Bill Nelson album - 29 January 2018 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Queen Of The Infra-Red 02) Time Is A Thief 03) That Old Mysterioso 04) Reflect On This 05) A Dizzy Spell 06) The Nebulous Land Of Nod 07) Melancholy Dreams 08) Travels In The Spirit World 09) What Have We Got To Show For This? 10) To Disappear 11) Singing My Life Away 12) The Man Who Dreamed Of Glory 13) Loco-Motive (Off The Track) 14) Trembling Rainbows 15) Well, Well, Well (Rock N' Roll It) 16) Celestina Swoons 17) End Of The Future ALBUM NOTES: That Old Mysterioso is an album mixing vocal pieces and guitar instrumentals released on the Sonoluxe label in a limited print run of 500 copies. An album with this title was first mentioned on the Dreamsville Forum as long ago as 7 May 2012 but it failed to make much impact into Nelson’s busy schedule that year that would see him undertake the final Nelsonica. That Old Mysterioso would be referred to again on 10 July 2013 in another post on the Dreamsville Forum in which Nelson referred to it as a tentative title for an incomplete album project that he was then currently assembling. However it appears that material originally earmarked for the original version of That Old Mysterioso would be transferred to other, as yet unconfirmed, projects arising from this time. No further mention of the album by this title would be made by Nelson for over 3 years. Eventually though, in another post on the Dreamsville Forum dated 6 April 2016, Nelson revealed that a new album, tentatively titled That Old Mysterioso was "sounding good right now" and would go on to confirm that a "15 track album" was complete on 25 April 2016. By the time Nelson revealed the track listing for the album on 8 May 2016, it had gained an extra track and shortly after that, he added 'Time is a Thief' to finally complete it. Artwork for the album was also commenced around this time, the main image being "a rather sinister and surreal" photo of Nelson taken by Martin Bostock. Mastering of the album was undertaken with John Spence on 16 November 2017 at Fairview concurrently with another "download only" album called The Unrealist with the artwork for That Old Mysterioso completed later that month. The album was released on 29 January 2018. It only took 7 days to sell out. The album was then released as a digital download on 15 March 2018. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Golden Melodies of Tomorrow , Songs for Ghosts , Fantasmatron , Stereo Star Maps , Blip !, The Dreamshire Chronicles , Perfect Monsters , Electric Atlas , The Awakening of Dr. Dream BILL'S THOUGHTS: Upon having the album mastered, Bill wrote: " I was very pleasantly surprised by That Old Mysterioso . I haven't heard it since I completed mixing and assembling the draft running order sometime last year. But, I have to say that it's sounding very good, far better than I'd remembered. I'm extremely pleased with it and excited for you to hear it. John [Spence] said that he thought it would become a firm favourite with fans, though I think it will take several listens to really sink in for most listeners as it's a somewhat oblique and complex album, but also, perhaps, sweet and melodic and warm. The lyrics, which were written in a 'stream of consciousness' kind of way, seemed opaque at the time of putting them to paper, but now a definite theme seems to have emerged. Strange how even their author was unaware of their meaning until quite some time after. So, the concept, or theme, seems to be about my current pre-occupation with ageing, the quickness of time, the fragility of life, the persistence of memory, the shift between reality and dreams, the nature of love and longing and the acceptance of the inevitable. All wrapped up in a kind of 'psychedelic-prog-jazz,-pop-rock' musical style for want of a better description. Strangely, (though not planned,) the words, 'drifting away' re-occur on several songs for some reason or other... But, in other words...business as unusual." _____ "The visual theme for That Old Mysterioso will be a series of mysterious photographs of myself wearing different face masks." "This album will sport a fantastic cover photo of me by Martin Bostock. It's rather sinister and surreal." "The other photographs in the package will be a number of photographic self-portraits, manipulated by myself." "The photo's I've taken of myself are heavily treated and have an intensely graphic effect. I'm wearing various masks for the pictures, most of them strange or weirdly disturbing..." _____ "That Old Mysterioso is destined, I think, to become one of my favourite things. It has its own atmosphere but sits nicely alongside such albums as Golden Melodies of Tomorrow , Fantasmatron , Stereo Star Maps and The Dreamshire Chronicles . The album is mainly vocal-based but with a sprinkling of instrumentals. The tracks feature a cosmic combination of guitars, keyboards and electronics. The front cover features a surreal photograph of myself taken by Martin Bostock and the rest of the package has a range of bizarre self-portraiture. As always with my work, it will reward repeated listenings and, I'm sure, become one of your favourites as well as mine." FAN THOUGHTS: felixt1: "I have to say, I agree with what Bill wrote back at the time of release...I think it's destined to become one of my favourite albums also! I had a couple of listens earlier this evening and it is indeed an instant hit with me. Typical of my personal favourite kind of Bill Nelson album - lush, gentle strings, lovely melodies, beautiful guitar tone... It was truly an absolute joy to once again experience the thrill of receiving a new, Bill Nelson, album and be able to instantly put it on the CD player...life is good and balance is restored to the universe once again." Palladium: "Very much agree. That Old Mysterioso is album of the year for me so far. Really beautiful songs." The Sound: "This is certainly a special album. They all are. However, this strikes me on my first listen to be BN at his pinnacle so far. 'Songs for Ghosts' was resplendent but this improves on that stunning recording. Think I'll give it another play before bedtime." Returningman: "After a few detailed listens this seems to be destined to become one of my "go to" albums, without doubt one of the strongest albums released over the past 3 years or so (and that is an impressive feat). Track 8 - 'Travels In The Spirit World' absolute fire. Tracks like this are why I buy these albums, wonderful evocative music that takes you away and shows you places that you never thought could even exist. Joy...More please. CoachMatt: "There is no bones about it, Bill is relaying that time is ticking, and for us all. The album is full of deep, dark textures, yet has a sentimental beauty about it. So many layers of sound that only Bill can deliver. The maturity of Bill's music has come full swing for me and I am honored and pleased to have come for the ride since the mid 70's." Tourist: A great album...'Time Is A Thief' a personal favourite. Albums Menu Future Past

Plaything Bill Nelson album - 25 January 2004 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) The Revenge Of The Man In The Burning Ice-Cream Van 02) A Prayer To Sleep With Mercurial Women 03) Come To Me In My Dreams 04) Beauty In A Sparkly Bra 05) Nipples Of Venus 06) The Embarkation Song Of The Last Fast Airship 07) Luana 08) Spanish Galleons Cruise The Sunrise 09) Lagoon 10) Lost Planet Sunset 11) Six Legged Critter Singing In The Trees 12) Rainclouds Over Paris Of My Dreams ALBUM NOTES: Plaything is an album of guitar instrumentals issued in a one off pressing of 500 copies on the Universal Twang label. Much of the material on this album stemmed from the same sessions that had produced The Romance of Sustain . Plaything was first made available on the evening Nelson performed a solo set at the Mick Jagger Centre, Dartford. As with Nelsonica '03 , attendees could purchase a second copy to forward to fans who couldn't attend the show. The few remaining copies were then made available for sale at the Rooms With Brittle Views website. 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 , Plectrajet , Dreamland to Starboard , Custom Deluxe , Wah-Wah Galaxy , Sparkle Machine , Gleaming Without Lights , Loom , Astroloops , And We Fell Into A Dream , Quiet Bells , Awakening of Dr Dream BILL'S THOUGHTS: " Plaything is a unique album in some ways, (and not least because it has absolutely wonderful cover art by my friend Frank Olinsky). "There are some unusual tracks on the album, covering a lot of guitar oriented, musical-instrumental territory ie: twisted, wah-wah, avant noise guitar and free-jazz piano on the track "The Revenge of the Man in the Burning Ice-Cream Van". Romantic, nostalgic sonic cinema in "The Embarkation Song of The Last Fast Airship". And psycho-erotic music in "A Prayer to Sleep with Mercurial Women" as well as poetic, yearning, melancholic dreaminess in "Raincloud Over Paris of My Dreams". "It's perhaps a slightly overlooked album of mine...but nonetheless a deeply satisfying one, at least in my opinion." _____ "The Embarkation Song of The Last Fast Airship": "an 'operatic' guitar instrumental, (if you can imagine such a thing). Flying from a flowery meadow across a crystal cityscape whose architecture looks like a combination of a 'Little Nemo' dreamtown and the 1920's towers of 'Metropolis'. The airship floats away to the coast, carrying its gorgeously attired passengers into an art-deco sunset." _____ "A darkly erotic listening suggestion..."A Prayer to Sleep with Mercurial Women" from the Plaything album. This track uses various noisy by-products of amplification and the muted crackle of acoustic ambience as a backdrop for a piece that sounds, to my ears at least, like a half-demented, perverse Flamenco player, struggling with a steel stringed acoustic guitar whilst simultaneously trying to resist being sexually entertained by a crazy, full-bosomed, high-heeled bordello madam wielding a vintage 1950's tremolo unit. Our poor guitar player, after experiencing a little more mercurial shenanigans than he'd initially bargained for, finally exits on a rattling tram, vowing to be more careful about what he prays for in future." FAN THOUGHTS: Westdeep: "Plaything is an essential purchase. For me it is one of a golden trio from that period along with The Romance of Sustain and Dreamland to Starboard . They are all subtly different but all wonderful instrumental albums...Wonderful stuff." Douglas Barry: "The album was inspired after Bill received a gift, and listening to it again I wondered if this might have been an early seedling that eventually blossomed into Signals From Realms of Light . Either way, for me, both albums demonstrate Bill's unique talent and consummate inventiveness with sound beyond the guitar that remains undiminished from one year to the next. And long may his muse cajole him!" Peter: "This is a really fun album. Just have to say that the song titles on this one brought a smile to my face. The music had me grinning more than a few times also, with joy. A couple tracks feature acoustic guitar, which is nice to hear, as Bill can really play. "Lagoon" stands up for me with anything Bill has done recently and "Rainclouds Over Paris of My Dreams" is an ethereal wonderland. One can sense that Bill really enjoyed making this one. And, not to be overlooked, the cover design is fantastic!" fricker: "Well, just sitting in the garden wondering which album to play and plucked Plaything out. What a choice! Forgot how good it is. Anyway, was drifting when "Lagoon" came on. What an atmospheric track that is. I could have been on a dessert island! And before anyone says it - No I haven't had a drink or anything else. Fantastic Bill. You put me in the Caribbean for the price of a CD." wadcorp: "Absolutely love Bill's work with samples. "Come to Me in My Dreams" is one of my top fave Bill tracks. The voices capture my imagination in that one." Sue: "Come to Me in My Dreams": "I remember the house where I was born" fits so beautifully into the music on that track, I love it. And I also love "Come to Me in My Dreams" so much that I had it tattooed onto my wrist. In fact, I love Plaything , it's a fabulous CD." Pathdude: "Lost Planet Sunset": "is one of my all time faves. Definitely the highlight of the album for me." james warner: "A strong, but judicious use of guitar effects creates a series of beautiful instrumental soundscapes. Music to float away on!" Dar: "Just have to say that this is now on my Top Five List of Bill's releases. Headphone heaven, baby. Hypnotic dreamsville of guitars and noises from an electrified wonderland. Impossible to even choose only 5, yet this one is filled with so much that is quintessential Bill that it's an easy pick." "Six-Legged Critter Singing in the Trees": "This track is my favorite example of an evolving, loop-constructed piece that just keeps on morphing subtly from one minute to the next. It stays in the same general area and becomes more detailed and embellished...6-legged changes it's skins but not its bones, and became an instant classic as soon as I heard it; utterly engaging and hypnotic. It's more about playing various parts over the basic loop rhythm and chord progression; whatever, the effect is amazing and I always wished more were like this." Albums Menu Future Past

Pink and Clean ep - 1998 Honeytone Cody Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars Bill Nelson album - August 1992 Albums Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Ancient Guitars 02) Girl From Another Planet 03) Spinnin' Around 04) Shaker 05) God Man Slain 06) The Dead We Wake With Upstairs Drums 07) New Moon Rising 08) The Glory Days 09) Wishes 10) Angel In My System 11) Wings And Everything 12) Boat To Forever 13) The Invisible Man And The Unforgettable Girl 14) So It Goes 15) Fires In The Sky 16) Dream Ships Set Sail ALBUM NOTES: Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars saw Nelson return to a major label for the first time since 1986 – and maybe had the album taken off, bigger and brighter things may have followed. This is a further example of Nelson having completed a set of demo tracks, which he intended to revisit and flesh out with a full band, only for those plans to be changed, and the demos to be issued rather than see them gather dust. Originally the album was issued in CD and cassette, and for the first time in 10 years Nelson would achieve a simultaneous US release of a new album (with the added bonus of not having to amend the track listing or artwork to suit record company moguls or the moral right wing elements of society). It was rarely this simple for the collector of Nelson's work! CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Though now deleted in a physical format in 2008, the album was reissued as a digital download through major online retailers. BILL'S THOUGHTS: "The album is one of those collections of recordings that I regarded as demos or 'sketches' at the time. I'd originally intended to re-record these songs in a proper studio, possibly with a band, though this never proved viable. Virgin were interested enough to release the demos as they were. "It's interesting to see that some people are fond of the album now as it wasn't so well received at the time...at least in terms of sales. It didn't take long for it to become a 'lost' or overlooked work. Perhaps, like many of my albums, several years need to pass before the music starts to feel like it might belong to the mainstream, and therefore become acceptable." FAN THOUGHTS: bradford mick: "My fave being Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars , it's so full of colour, mystery, symbols and intrigue." alec: "I can remember crying after listening to "So It Goes" from Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars . Trying to find that exquisite emotional connection again was elusive but did happen a few times, after that, with that song." Dar: The most powerful album cover: "maybe Blue Moons and Laughing Guitars . Lots of powerful medicine there." "Had no idea what any of the symbolism on the cover was about at the time, thinking "this is an interesting person"." Paul Andrews: "Earlier on this evening I was playing Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars and thinking "this is bloody wonderful!"." Grey Lensman: "Some great musical moments throughout the album. Textured, woven and crafted with that outstanding ear for detail and harmony that Bill has." Anorak: "I'm not one for listing things in order, but if I did then surely this album would be in my top five of Bill's work at the moment, although I still have many more future albums of Bill's to listen too." tommaso: "I bought Blue Moons way back in the early 90s, and having become a Bill fan via his 80s electronic work, I was almost shocked to hear so many guitars on the album (especially because I couldn't stand 'rock' music at the time). But guitars or not, it immediately became one of my favourites among all of Bill's albums and has remained so ever since. "New Moon Rising", "Angel in My System" and especially the utterly beautiful final song, "Dream Ships Set Sail" are my favourites, and I agree that there isn't a single weak moment on the whole of the album." mthom: "Don't forget "The Invisible Man and The Unforgettable Girl", quite possibly MY desert island classic...A shining example of Bill's irony, word-play and heart on its sleeve. And not to mention the blazing guitar work and thundering drums. Oh my." G. Vazquez: "A favorite of mine as well...If I need to choose just one among all Bill's albums to keep, it would be that. Years ago, in times of (emotional) trouble, this record helped me a lot." Mr. Mercury: "Blimey Charlie, I tell you, from "God Man Slain" on, this is a fantastic record! It sounds great in 'demo/sketch' form, but if this album had been given the full studio treatment/label support it deserved, I truly believe it could have been a MASSIVE record!...can you imagine it?!!...(sigh) "I think this album is easily your most immediate, accessible and 'mainstream'. Not as complex as Golden Melodies or your other recent material, but a collective of simple, perfect pop songs." wadcorp: "Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars is still one of my all-time faves. Gee, the denizens of Dreamsville tend to say that quite a bit." Albums Menu Future Past

Rice Music album - 1982 Masami Tsuchiya Production/Contribution Menu Future Past TRACKS: A1) Rice Music A2) Se! Se! Se! A3) Haina-Haila A4) Tao-Tao A5) Neo-Rice Music B1) Kafka B2) Rice Dog Jam B3) Secret Party B4) Silent Object B5) Night In The Park BILL: E-bow guitar on the tracks 'Rice Music' and 'Tao-Tao'. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

After The Satellite Sings Bill Nelson album - 30 April 1996 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Deeply Dazzled 02) Dreamster 2.L.R. 03) Flipside 04) Streamliner 05) Memory Babe 06) Skull Baby Cluster 07) Zoom Sequence 08) Rocket To Damascus 09) Beautiful Nudes 10) Old Goat 11) Squirm 12) Wow! It's Scootercar Sexkitten! 13) Phantom Sedan (Theme From Tail-Fin City) 14) Ordinary Idiots 15) V-Ghost (For Harold And Ellen) 16) Blink-Agog Digital download version bonus tracks: 17) Ordinary Idiots (Original Demo) 18) Ordinary Idiots (Live At Nelsonica 03 ) ALBUM NOTES: After the Satellite Sings is the third album recorded for Resurgence, and saw Nelson return to Fairview Studios over the Winter of 1995 to produce what would be his final album recorded in a commercial studio. After this, all of his solo output would come from his domestic recording set-up. The album is predominantly a vocal album that crosses several styles, including the then emerging drum 'n' bass genre that was a dominant part of the dance music scene in the '90s. Although promo material suggests the US release of After the Satellite Sings (on Gyroscope) was issued two weeks ahead of the UK version, their release dates appear to be effectively the same (US releases were typically issued on Tuesdays, UK on Mondays). The album was promoted with a 3 track 12" white label single (Nelson's final vinyl release for 16 years), which was issued free to subscribers of the Nelsonian Navigator . In the US, a 4 track CD promo entitled Four Songs From After the Satellite Sings was issued to promote the album, on which the track 'Dreamster 2.L.R' was called 'Tomorrow Yesterday'. A remastered version of After The Satellite Sings , was reissued in 2014 under the Esoteric/Cherry Red record label. In May 2025, the digital download version of After The Satellite Sings was released which included two bonus tracks: Ordinary Idiots (Original Demo) which was recorded at Bill's home studio prior to recording the main album, and Ordinary Idiots (Live At Nelsonica 03) recorded at 'The Duke Of Cumberland' in North Ferriby, with Bill's band at the time - 'The Lost satellites'. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "After the Satellite Sings is one of my favourite albums. In fact it functions as a key element amongst my recorded work and is an album that has apparently inspired other artists....Which is nice! "I had a great time making this album and it features some new departures for me. The whole project was written, performed, recorded and mixed in an intense 28 day session at Fairview studios, and despite the short amount of time available in the studio, I'm very pleased with the outcome." _____ "The album was an attempt to fuse rock and pop songwriting with the then cutting-edge rhythms of 'drum n' bass'. The album apparently inspired and influenced David Bowie's later 'Earthling' album, (according to then Bowie collaborator and guitarist Reeves Gabrels). It's an album I'm personally very fond of as, aside from the cool grooves it contains, it features some poetic lyrics and highly electrical guitar playing." _____ "At the start of the project, I went into the studio with no songs written or demo'd, just a rough idea of the overall concept and how I wanted the album to feel. I wrote the music as I recorded it, basically putting ideas to tape as soon as they came to me. It was a rush of inspiration, structures captured quickly whilst still materialising. "I would then take a cassette of a monitor mix, of whatever track I'd recorded that day, back to the hotel and, using a little ghetto blaster to hear it, sit on the edge of my hotel bed and dream up lyrics to suit the song. Next morning, I'd record a vocal using the previous night's lyrics, working out the melody lines as we ran through the piece. And so on, day by day until the album was completed and ready to mix. A continuous process from day one, (with absolutely zero preparation and no pre-composed music), to finished, mixed album. Some bands would still have been trying to get a drum sound together." _____ "I recall driving from Albuquerque to Phoenix, back in the 1970's. What a romantic, fabulous trip that was. Listen to those beat generation influenced tracks that are hidden away on After The Satellite Sings and you'll pick up on my U.S. romantic fantasies..." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review by Dmitry M. Epstein FAN THOUGHTS: Puzzleoyster: "The essential, and still essential, groundbreaking, After the Satellite Sings . That album broke my nuts for sure - you got an hour of pure." Bloonoise: "You's can name all the classic albums you like but if I ever got marooned on some desert island this is the album I'd pick to go with me above all others and I'd probably never want to leave either!!! Yeah that's the stuff for me-ee." Tony Raven: "I had one to simply recommend, it'd be After the Satellite Sings , an excellent range of depth & complexity, yet (in my opinion) the one that'd most readily gain widest airplay, as the nuances don't overshadow the "pop sensibilities"." Peter: "A big favorite of mine...I remember listening to this album for the first time upon its release and thinking that it possessed a sense of optimism and raw energy that I loved." "The whole thing just DOES IT from beginning to end. As with all Bill's work, it can be described as INSPIRED." Johnny Jazz: "One of my favourite albums, it's got a few wonderful 'Grooves' and 'Chops' this one." Da kril: "The sonic masterpiece that is After the Satellite Sings - each track more bona fide than the last, all fairly crackling with energy and invention." alec: "Wow! It's Scootercar Sexkitten": "is an irresistible number that is just the right length (leaves listener wanting more). I liked "Squirm" right away, too, for many reasons and one of those reasons was that it made me laugh. There's just so much going on in the track and I always appreciate when Bill throws in a strange-sounding voice. Eventually got addicted to all the tracks." paul.smith: "Deeply Dazzled": "is a superb track - the whole album took me by surprise in the mid 90's - it took a bit of time to settle in to it all those years ago but...16 years later...no ipod shuffle for that album - suffice to say...lower the lights, light the lamps and keep all channels clear, say a few mantras, turn off the mobile and listen to the whole thing in its entirety - a seminal album of the 90s." Dar: "That scratchy, staccato lead sound, at the same time the notes flow freely and fluently...I mean, who does that?!. Our Man Flint, that's who. "Old Goat" is still my top pick; always was and always will be. I'll never get over the perfect solos on that; it just has a sublime, mystical quality to it, while driving all the way in an epic groove." "The story in that song was like nothing I'd ever heard in a song at that time, woven in such colorfully descriptive ways. A great tapestry of images; a contrasting and complimentary mix of airy, esoteric musings, serious mystical evolutions, and playful, visceral goat-dancing. I was already hooked, but that was a song for my soul; I thought "here's a man of vision, and I like what he sees"." A Lad Inane: "Rocket to Damascus": "is one of those songs that I always put on repeat. It's catchy, energetic, well produced, multi-layered, and downright fun." soteloscope: "Zoom Sequence": "Groovalicious bassline in the middle and at the ending. Total disco dancing warfare going on." Merikan1: "When you get around to it, crank up "Ordinary Idiot". Holy sh*t Batman!" Jon Wallinger: "This album is one that is very close to my heart. Bill borrowed my keyboard for the recording sessions at Fairview Studios and it still brings a smile to my face hearing some of the distinctive sounds used." December Man: "Oh, what joy awaited me when I walked into a small 'used' record store to find a NEW BILL NELSON CD there for sale! And you could 'sample' it ahead of time! Ear phones soon leaped onto my head, and though the drumming felt completely alien for a BN record, the lyrics, the guitars, the vocals were just so familiar and such a welcoming noise for sore ears, I began to blissfully writhe right there in the aisle! ATSS made me fall in love with that BN sound all over again, but in a new way and with the internet now available, I soon bought my first computer and, of course, magically, joyfully, gratefully found that Bill had never really gone away, and that there was a 'community' of Nelsonians out there (the old website) and now here we are!" JovialBob: "I was also knocked over when I got After the Satellite Sings and couldn't stop playing it with a huge grin on my face." "I have to say that for pure musical energy and excitement it has to be After the Satellite Sings cos this is the album I come back to over and over. For me it is just such a complete record. Almost every track is a winner and when I attempt to wake people up to the genius of Mr N, this is the most grooooovy and exciting album to entice them with...Don't wait - Get ATSS !" Albums Menu Future Past

Saturday 30th September 2006 -- 9:00 pm O.k...I know. I've been absent. From both this diary AND the Dreamsville website. Had to hide away and concentrate on the intensely time-consuming work that will hopefully provide this year's Nelsonica Convention attendees with something very, very special. No choice really, it was a matter of 'head down' or 'off with his head'. I would have been for the proverbial chop if I hadn't got everything together in time. Maybe I still haven't, despite all efforts. It's been a tremendously long haul, this one, and not 100% finished yet...some things still to complete... but, I've finally got close to seeing it all through to its conclusion. The amount of work that goes into these annual events is staggering. Impossible for someone viewing it from the outside to appreciate just how much effort is needed. Not just the input from myself, ('though this year's Nelsonica has a more direct, personal touch than previous years), but from the dedicated, talented and loyal Nelsonica Team whose enthusiasm and expertise helps to make the day so unique. Although the convention lasts for just one single day, there have been several months of constant, concentrated, hard work from all sides to make it a day to remember. As noted in earlier diary entries, my own schedule has been dominated by the wide-ranging creativity that this year's Nelsonica has demanded. I'm shattered by it all at the moment. It's required a daily effort to pull it all together. I don't know whether my age makes the going harder each year, or whether it's just that I've attempted to give even more of myself to the various projects than before. I definitely think that my standards are higher, though perhaps I'm far too obsessive about minor details, (even though it could be argued that I've always been that way). Ultimately, I have no idea how much of this fanatical attention to detail will become apparent at Nelsonica. I guess that it will look pretty much effortless on the day. Nevertheless, the bite that this thing has taken out of my life is quite something. No one to blame for these struggles but myself, of course. I don't really need to put quite so much into it, it's just that I feel compelled to do so and am subsequently exhausted by it. Here is a list, of things achieved, giving an idea of some of the preparatory work of the last few months: 1. The writing and recording of a limited edition Nelsonica album, 'Arcadian Salon' and it's cover art and packaging. (LOTS of tracks on it too.) 2. The creation of an autobiographical video-film presentation, ('Memory Codex Number One'), exclusive to Nelsonica, lasting almost 40 minutes and capturing in images, text and music the essence of my early life. It is a 'sketch' or preliminary draft of what will eventually be a much longer and more complex work. It is also quite likely that this special screening will be the only time that this particular version of the film will be seen in public. Of course, this version is not perfect but I just hope that people will sit and concentrate on it, try to follow its drift and not treat it as a background piece. It took almost four weeks of long hours per day to get this finished for the convention, preliminary work or not. Perhaps it deserves attention for that reason alone. 3. The creation of a continuous musical soundtrack score to the above film.This will appear on an album in the earlier part of next year, along with some other recently recorded but previously unreleased material.The soundtrack occupied a great deal of my time too. 4. The creation of an hour-long, pre-recorded, radio show featuring myself as presenter and dj, playing and talking about early musical inspirations from my childhood and teenage years. I've chosen some very early musical memories to present to the listeners...from Freddie Gardener, through Danny Kaye to Chet Atkins and Johnny Smith with lots of stops in between. This will constitute part one of 'Radio Dreamsville' and will eventually be available as a Dreamsville website broadcast, 'though aired for the first time ever at this year's Nelsonica. 5. The preparation of a live instrumental performance, lasting approximately 90 minutes. I've just settled on what will probably be the final choice of tracks and running order for the set. 19 pieces of music in all. now I have to start checking through equipment and getting repairs done, then pack it all ready for transportation. I also still have to write out my 'charts' to guide me through the various pieces of music. This latter takes time. 6. The creation of several brand new pieces of music to be included in the above performance. Nine of which made it to the set. (I've still been working on this aspect of the event today.) 7. The involvement, in the above live performance, of Theo Travis and Dave Sturt, (who sometimes operate as the duo 'Cipher'), who are planning to join with me in an improvisational trio, to which I've given the name 'Orchestra Futura.' I've created an almost ten-minute long 'foundation' track for us to play over. The piece is titled 'FEVER DREAM OF THE STARLIGHT MAN.' It's a compelling, complex, modal, polyrhythmic piece. It may not frighten the horses but it may bewilder the artistically faint of heart. At least, that's my intention. 8. A special section of the convention will be given over to a tribute to my much loved and deeply missed brother Ian who passed away in April of this year. There will be rare video presentations of his work with Fiat Lux and a chance to hear the last music he ever recorded, (a cd of original material by Ian and his musical partner and good friend, John Nixon). 9. A 'live on stage' interview with myself conducted by Leeds University School Of Music's Senior Lecturer Simon Warner. Simon's appearance at last year's Nelsonica provided the audience with an insight into the pop-cultural inspirations and influences that underpin my work. This year's interview will deal with songwriting and it's methods and inspirational energies. Maybe I'll learn something. I've often wondered how I do it. 10. I've yet to prepare, (but will, in the end, probably improvise), a free-ranging talk about guitar philosophies and inspirations. This will include video illustrations and an audience question and answer session at its conclusion. I've already chosen some video illustrations for the talk. Not sure how wise my choices are though as they will definitely make my own guitar playing appear quite amateur by comparison. Impossible to compete with the likes of Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery and Charlie Bird! 11. I've created and framed 16 original artworks for the traditional annual Nelsonica auction. Along with these, there will be a rare electric guitar of mine and some Red Noise memorabilia offered for sale. 12. I've yet to create any ambient video projections for my live performance. This visual aspect may, due to the above heavy workload, end up being somewhat compromised, (or even missed out altogether), but no-one can say I've not tried my best under the circumstances, particularly considering everything else I've attempted to achieve this year. Ultimately, there's only so much one person can do, no matter how stubborn my persistence. Still, I have to sympathise with those who may regard the ordeal of just looking at me, sans projections, all alone on stage, as somewhat depressing. Believe me, even I'd prefer something projected behind me to distract the audience from the ugly old creature clinging to all those beautiful guitars. You know..."What's a lovely guitar like you doing hanging 'round that old goat's neck?" But...luck being on my side, it should fall in place on the day, even though as you can tell from this diary entry, dear reader, that it's been a long hard slog, one way or another! Oh, the above list doesn't take into account things such as the 'Return To Jazz Of Lights' album which will, I can confirm, be available for the very first time at the convention, before its 'official' release. (Once the convention is over, it will be available for general purchase through the Dreamsville Department Store.) As regular diary readers know, I'm proud of this album and, along with 'The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill,' 'Dreamland To Starboard' and the two 'Rosewood' albums, I consider it one of the more personal and satisfying achievements of my recent solo career. And you know that I'm a difficult cove to satisfy. Then there is the forthcoming re-issue, (first time EVER on cd), of the 1980's 'Getting The Holy Ghost Across' album, which, for a limited period only, I've managed to license from the mighty Sony Records. (Mighty maybe, but virtually oblivious to my musical worth.) There will be a unique chance to hear a preview of this re-issue at Nelsonica, time permitting. The album will be officially released in November on my Sonoluxe label. There will also be an opportunity to hear my recent mixes of some extremely rare and previously unreleased Be Bop Deluxe live recordings from the 1970's which are scheduled for inclusion as part of an EMI Records special boxed set next year. There are a few other surprises in store for convention attendees...Those who secured tickets for themselves as soon as they became available will be glad that they did so. The event was, amazingly, sold out within a couple of weeks of its announcement and there has apparently been a waiting list of people eager to gain tickets in the event of any cancellations. Does all this lovely and loving interest in my work make me nervous? Damn right it does! It's 12 months or so since I last appeared or performed in public and I'm definitely feeling slightly freaked out about playing live again. (The word 'slightly' reveals an attempt at understatement.) I have, however, chosen to focus on instrumental works for this convention, not being in a vocal mood at the moment, for various reasons too complex to go into here. So the first person to shout out 'Ships In The Night' will be taken out back and his underwear searched for signs of boorish insensitvity. And if it happens to be a female person, I'll undertake the search myself. (Did I really say that?) I've just been reading George Melly's wonderful, 'Slowing Down' book and have gained encouragement from the revelation that even at an advanced stage of decrepitude, it's still possible to have a scandalous moment or two in the, er...lets say,er.. 'erotic' deparment. (Third floor, ladies corsetry and gentlemen's relish.) Of course, Emiko has been instructed to pour me a cup of medicinal libido-suppressive tea if I become a little too frisky at the thought of this. Failing that, a stern look and a slap on the wrists will suffice. All in the interests of my blood pressure you understand. But back to the music. Rest assured, I'm gearing up for a major vocal/song-oriented project for the coming year. (Apparently, the'chicks' go for that sort of thing. ;-) Can I take my tongue out of my cheek now? (Oh, sorry, dear, didn't realise it was in YOUR cheek!) What AM I like?!! This Nelsonica concert, the only live performance I've agreed to during 2006, will be centred on the instrument that has fuelled my imagination for so many years: the electric guitar. As will several aspects of the rest of the convention. The performance itself is called 'Guitar Dharmas And Bleeping Electricals,' a whimsical title but, as attendees will discover, a perfectly apt one. I've actually included several new pieces created especially for this performance. Actually, there are now more new backing tracks than I can practically incorporate into the set, but even so, I've managed to squeeze NINE of them, all brand new, into the already packed concert agenda. This still leaves some further unheard tracks waiting in the wings for the 'Painting With Guitars Volume 2' album which will be completed early next year, all being well. So, here is a preview of the Nelsonica Concert set list: Bill Nelson Nelsonica 2006 Set List. 1. 'This Very Moment.' 2. 'I Always Knew You Would Find Me.' 3. 'Blue Amorini.' 4. 'Imperial Parade.' 5. 'Blackpool Pleasure Beach and The Road To Enlightenment.' 6. 'Naughty Boy, Dirty girl.' 7. 'Time Travel For Beginners. 8. 'Steamboat In The Clouds.' 9. 'A Day To remember.' 10. 'Panorama Park.' 11. 'The Girl On The Fairground Waltzer.' 12. 'Happily Haunted.' 13. 'A Dream For Ian.' 14. 'Two Brothers Test The Kite Flying Winds.' 15. 'Transoceanic.' 16. 'A Telescope Full Of Stars.' 17. 'Fever dream Of The Starlight Man.' (To be performed with ORCHESTRA FUTURA.) 18. 'Artifex.' (Possible Orchestra Futura involvement.) 19. 'Beyond These Clouds, The Sweetest Dream.' Other things that have occupied me of late: The final stages of the development of my Campbell American Signature Model 'Nelsonic Transitone' guitar, (including the signing of the limited edition certificates that will accompany each guitar sold). Dean Campbell has been trying to get a completed guitar over to me in time for the convention but has been held up by a couple of outside suppliers, mainly the case manufacturer and the supplier of the custom made 'Atom' symbol 12th fret marker. (Cutting these atom inlays is a skilled job and it takes a while to get them perfect.) As a compromise, the guitar he will send me for Nelsonica will be missing some minor cosmetic details but I'm assured that I will be able to exchange this for a fully completed production model in a month or so's time. Dean called me the other week to ask if I could let people know, via the Dreamsville site, that these production models are not yet ready but, as soon as they are, an announcement will be made. (Both on the Campbell Website and here in Dreamsville.) Apparently, Dean has been getting swamped by calls from people who have either ordered the guitar in advance or who would like to order one. His message to customers is to please be patient and wait for the official starting gun. We will inform potential buyers and those with a deposit as soon as things are ready to roll. Not too long now though, all being well. The guitar is looking fabulous in the photo's that Dean has sent me of the partially assembled instrument. The colour is super-vibrant. I've christened it 'Rocketship Red.' With its cream and smoke grey pickguard and gold hardware, the guitar should be both beautiful and unique to behold as well as sonically exciting. Guitars still bring sunshine into the dark corners my life. I received a great new model from Eastwood Guitars a few weeks ago, their re-issue of the early '60's Airline 'Town And Country' model. Three pickups, more controls than Dr. Who's Tardis and a retro-art-deco design that wouldn't look out of place in a classic Flash Gordon Saturday matinee cliffhanger. It will also be making an appearance at Nelsonica, along with some other favourite guitars of mine. (And a couple of other surprises.) For all the stress that live performance brings, playing in public does allow me to take my guitars out 'for a proper run' and it's satisfying to share their sound and visual charms with an audience, rather than keeping them selfishly to myself in my recording room. I'm just as excited about the visual aspect of guitars as I was as a beginner, all those long, lost years ago. I sometimes sit contemplating my favourite instruments, hardly believing my luck. What a wonderful thing, what a privelege, to be able to dedicate one's life to something so musically rewarding. Of course, all this creative activity has its downside. As mentioned above, I really HAVE been pushing things too hard and I've definitely felt the consequences of this, health wise. Some worrying issues which, with my usual paranoia concerning all things medical, I've ignored, avoiding seeking a doctor's advice. Thankfully, most of these have improved of their own accord and I think it is mainly stress and tiredness that is affecting me at the moment. Nor do I suppose that much will change until the convention is over and I can ease off the fast pedal for a little while. I do need to recover from this year's exertions though. Nevertheless, projects are already stacking up for the post-Nelsonica months. Hopefully, I'll be able to deal with them at a more leisurely and humane pace than recent months have allowed. But I must try to take a little break before starting again, if only a weekend away somewhere with my patient and loving wife. Working on the live set list for the Nelsonica performance has also held an emotional impact for me. My brother Ian was originally planning to join me on stage for much of this year's Nelsonica set. AND the concert in Leeds next Spring. The two of us spoke about this, the last time we saw each other, just two weeks before he died. He was looking forward to it as much as I. This last week, whilst going through some of the older material to select pieces for the performance, I was forcefully reminded of previous concerts where Ian and I had stood alongside each other on stage. There will be difficult moments during this year's Nelsonica set where his spiritual prescence will be tangible but his physical loss deeply painful. It's something that I won't be able to avoid, other than by giving up playing these pieces altogether, but Ian, I know, wouldn't want that. He'd tell me to get out there and play. And so I'll try. But I'll be missing him so much. Forgive my melancholy mood. It's unavoidable I suppose. On the domestic front, there have been repairs to external windows and doors and, finally, the completion of the house's exterior paintwork. The new colour scheme I've chosen, of Buttermilk and Peridot, really suits the old brickwork and ivy clad walls. (The ivy goes a spectacular shade of red in the Autumn too.) This renovation/repair work has required me to be constantly present at the house so I've had to forgo aspects of my creative work that might have taken me away from my recording room for a while. I now have to catch up with that side of things. Guitar repairs and so on. It will feel a little bit like being let off the leash. The house's interior needs attention too, and in more than one area. One of the house's two bathrooms (the en-suite one) has been out of commission since our ill-fated brush with MFI and is still in need of renovation. The kitchen is now seriously ready for an overhaul. It's starting to look like a 19th Century cow-herder's hut, with dripping tap and lime encrusted walls. All I need is some straw on the floor and a few chickens. Actually, our neighbours already have the latter. A 21st Century version of 'The Good Life' 'though Emi and I are more of the Margot and Jerry type, (were those their names?) than the Barbara and Tom couple's 'back-to-the-land' pseudo-rusticism. Perhaps I've got their names wrong...it was a 1970's tv series after all. Actually, I'm probably more like Margot than Jerry, being insufferably snobby at times and just as partial to low cut dresses and canapes. More tea vicar? And more household problems: Our living room tv set has been broken for several weeks now, the Sky digi-box has packed in completely, the hi-fi has given up the ghost long ago and both Emi's car and mine are virtually on their last legs. (Or wheels.) But I've had no time spare to deal with organising repairs due to the long hours I've been putting into the music. My mind gets focussed on work and everything else is forgotten. Perhaps, once Nelsonica is over, I can attempt to tackle some of these domestic issues, one at a time. A headstone has now been ordered for Ian's grave and should be in place by Christmas. Despite moaning about my workload, I have managed to make fairly regular visits to the cemetary in Wakefield to place fresh flowers and to quietly remember our years together as brothers. The 'Memory Codex' video I've made for Nelsonica contains some very touching images of the two of us when we were just innocent kids. It's terribly poignant in places. One thing I've had to acknowledge is that a certain amount of my health problems of late have been caused by a kind of suppressed, interiorised grief. The truth is, I've been and still am suffering from depression over Ian's loss. It's a submerged anguish, the silent cry of an angry creature gripped by tentacles of despair. Black, green and dark. I've tried to help my mother deal with her own deeply felt bereavement but, underneath it all, despite my own advice, I guess I'm struggling too. I'm not putting on a brave face so much as wearing a mask. The plunge into such an intensely self-punishing work schedule has, in part, been a desperate attempt to escape the reality of what has happened. But sudden awakenings in the middle of the night have brought a confrontation with the finality of it all, cold realizations that have been difficult, sad and painful for me. It's impossible to accurately put these things into words. I just don't have the language for it. Nor does anyone else suffering bereavement.There's a hopelessness at the bottom of this particular emotional pit that I find extremely debilitating. I just need to work my way through it to something approaching equilibrium. Right now, it's all mood swings and extremes. Lots of well meaning advice from people and, of course, lots of well meaning advice from myself to my mother. But it's all noise and static at the end of the day. It can be tuned out. In truth, Mum, Diane and Ian's children, Ian's friends and myself have no option but to walk on these burning coals until we feel their pain no more. One day, (I'm told), the coals will become just glowing embers, warm, happy memories of Ian's life and a final acceptance of its outcome. Right now though, it's something else entirely. More future projects for me: Pomona Books have approached me with a proposal to publish volume 2 of 'Diary Of A Hyperdreamer.' I had some reservations about the merit of a further printed volume of these diaries but the Pomona have pursuaded me that it's an artistically valid project, so I think I'll give it a go. I'll sort it out in November/December. I also have had an offer from Sound-On-Sound publications to publish my autobiography. This isn't complete yet so I need to spend a large part of next year working on it. I've completed the period from birth to leaving school but that still leaves an enormous amount of writing and research for the rest of the book. It will be a large publication and, all being well, may have an accompanying DVD documenting parts of my earlier life. Still no definite news regarding the Paul Sutton-Reeves authored biography 'Music In Dreamland' but I understand that there have been some behind the scenes proposals to try and get it finally into print. It's been a difficult time for Helter Skelter as the company's guiding light and main man has become seriously ill. His health is of much more concern to me than the book though and I accept that patience in needed. It will surface when the time is right for it to do so. There will soon be discussions regarding the content of the EMI Be Bop Deluxe box set, mainly in terms of my contribution to its booklet text and images. Mark Powell, the independent researcher whom EMI employ to remind them of what treasures they have in their back catalogue, is planning a visit to interview me for the project. I also have to make a start on the 'Ghosts Engraved On Glass' video-film that I'm to present at Leeds University's School Of Music next spring. The 'Memory Codex' video I'm presenting at Nelsonica is, as already noted, a kind of rehearsal or dry run for that project. It's enabled me to see what material I have already and how much more I need to locate to bring the project to a fuller conclusion. A lot of work to do here. There is review of the forthcoming re-issue of 'Getting The Holy Ghost Across' album in the latest issue of 'Record Collector' magazine. Not a bad review at all but, (and Mark P should really know better), the album wasn't produced by John Leckie, as Mark's review states, but by myself. It says as much on the tin. Credit where credit is due and all that. Actually, there was a similar error from Mark P a while back when, in another review for Record Collector, he stated that I'd worked with Ryuichi Sakamoto on my 'Chimera' album when in fact it was Yukihero Takahashi. Next time he visits our house, I'll give him a gentle refresher course! He's a nice guy though and wrote a very good book called 'The Ambient Century' in which I feature alongside some of my contemporaries. For those new to this kind of music, it's an enlightening read. Time is passing and here I am, still typing. There are other things that I'd like to deal with in this diary entry but, already, I'm feeling guilty for spending so much time writing it when I should really be working on the final details of Nelsonica. So...I'll turn my attentions back to the job in hand. Nearly there now. Lord, I hope it all comes together on the day. 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