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Tuesday 31st January 2006 -- 10:30 am Last day of January 2006 and no diary entry since 20th December last year. Should I put this down to a Christmas/New Year letting go of the reins? Or is it simply the usual pre-occupation with all things creative? A lot of the former and quite a bit of the latter is the answer. The usual over-indulgences at Christmas and New year have taken their toll, as they always do. Last year's constant pace came to a halt as soon as the shops closed on Christmas Eve and I dropped my accumulated stress at the door along with the final bags of shopping. I'd eventually posted all my Christmas cards, found gifts for everyone, bought enough food to see us through to the New Year and stocked up on wine, mulled and otherwise, to keep the cold at bay. It wasn't a white Christmas but it snowed a little the day after Boxing Day, enough to make the landscape momentarily magical. Walking through York's Museum Gardens at twilight, snowflakes spinning in gentle orbit around the amber glow of the old street lamps, the river gleaming silver at the foot of the hill beneath an indigo and rose pink star studded sky, I felt a welcome sense of wonder. It didn't last, of course, the snow that is. Within a couple of days it was a brown muddy sludge that made everything seem grimy and forlorn. A sudden grey plunge into the annual January doldrums. For a few brief days though, it had been a hedonistic, friends and family centred celebration of, not just the season, but for me, the completion of a year's constant work, a year with hardly a breathing space between one project and another. Early in the year, I had worked hard on the design of the Dreamsville website, gathering visual material and bouncing ideas back and forth with David Graham until we got a look that suited the site's purpose. Then 'stage one' of Dreamsville was opened up to the world, generating a very positive response from all those who accessed it. Later, there was the release of the two Rosewood acoustic guitar instrumental albums. Again, artwork had to be created for them, once I'd completed the composition and recording of the music. (And yet another challenge for Dave and myself.) These two albums, particularly Rosewood Volume One, I found very satisfying to make. I'd wanted to create a set of acoustic flavoured instrumental compositions for several years but, somehow, had never got around to it until the Rosewood project. What really took me by surprise though was the next of the year's albums: 'The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill.' For some reason, I was gripped more tightly by the hand of the muse with this album than anything I'd done for a long time. It completely took over my life and I worked longer and harder on the composition, arrangement and recording of the songs than I would normally have thought wise. Nothing's ever perfect, of course, but this set of songs comes as close to being personally fulfilling than almost any other album of mine. I think the reason for this is to be found in my current state of mind, conditioned as it is by advancing age and thoughts of mortality. Not morbid thoughts, mind, just melancholy ones... At least some of the time. 'Sailor Bill' successfully captures a certain mood, something that could, I think, genuinely be called an indicator of the 'essence' of myself. It is, if I may be allowed the indulgence, a 'mature' statement. In three years I'll be sixty, (and how fast three years travels in this light-speed era of ours). But sixty, damn it! I can't really comprehend this, it's somehow beyond belief, staggering. My childhood seems only a few heartbeats away, its memories still vivid, its hopes and fears hardly changed. Nevertheless, the face in the mirror reminds me that young Billy has vanished with the passing clouds of time and now only grandfather William remains, hobbled and earthbound. And do I feel my age? Well, yes and no but increasingly yes. Aches and pains and other little annoyances, a brittle creakiness, an inevitable erosion of flexibility, physical or otherwise, a stealthy dulling of the senses, an increasing world weariness. Life as she is lived, with wear and tear an inevitable part of the living. Yet still a mystery and still a wonder...Snowflakes under gaslight, a river beneath the stars. As good a reason to make music as any, I suppose. What else occupied my energies last year? Have I forgotten? Already it seems to have become a blur. A lot achieved though, all told. Here are some of the other things that I found time for:- The recording of the limited edition 'Orpheus In Ultraland' fan convention album. The Nelsonica 05 fan convention project with its attendant preparations and programming of content. The 'Popular Music From Other Planets' concert tour around the U.K. And yes, of course...lots of new music and video was created for that. But even earlier last year, before the above, more live concerts: The Harold Budd tribute that I took part in that was held at Brighton's Dome. Fun with Harold and John Foxx, Jah Wobble, Theo Travis, Steve Jansen, Robin Guthrie and others...a lovely, memorable event. Then the Lewes Guitar Festival with more new material to perform. And some other bits and pieces that slip my thoughts at this moment. Too much time spent in my room though, hidden from the world. Whichever way I look at it, the last two years have been intensely creative. Maybe I should feel a much higher sense of achievement than I currently do? Here and now, at the end of January, there's the usual weight gain to contend with, the usual promise to myself that it will be easier come spring, that the return of outdoor weather will coax the bike from the shed and encourage some sort of exercise... What usually happens is the opposite of course. I end up trapped here in the studio, hypnotised by guitars and keyboards and computer screens whilst time accelerates around my wristwatch in dizzy circles. A little vortex of used-up life. Some progress already: A couple of days ago, I completed the task of checking through Paul Sutton-Reeves' book about my career, ('Music In Dreamland'). It's taken me most of January to get through it all as I felt that I should explain to Paul in some detail my observations and reasons for suggested amendments. Due to approximately 30,000 words being edited from Paul's original text by the publishers, I felt that there were places where a little re-clarification might help. I've left it entirely up to Paul to incorporate or ignore these suggestions as he sees fit but I'm hoping that the time I've spent typing out emails to him will prove valuable to the book's integrity. It has been a weird experience reading about my career in this way. I imagine it would be disconcerting for anyone who had been made the subject of such a book, but I found it particularly strange. Sometimes I don't recognise the person on the page and am not even sure that I want to. At other times it's like being caught with my clothes off in public. I'm too unguarded, too ready to explain the music away, this eagerness to please resulting in some invented 'on the spot' descriptions of what the songs are about when often, in truth, I don't really have a clue as to their meaning. Do songs have to mean anything? It seems that, most of the time, mine do. I can't find a suitable justification for this though and would be equally happy if they contained no meaning at all. Here's something I've learned over the years but still regularly ignore: An honest pop musician does not generate as much public 'mystique' as a dishonest one. (Or one that plays his cards close to his chest.) And in pop music, mystique is everything. This indicates two things to me. First of all, I'm not by nature a pop musician, despite once, many years ago, pretending to be so. Secondly: I'm more interested in unmasking the conceits of celebrity than perpetuating them. This, of course, is not a formula for a successful commercial career, nor is it an attitude welcomed by those who benefit from such jiggery-pokery. The cult of fame, that so captures the imagination of the 'general public', thrives on fake glamour and artfully manipulated image-mongering. People, it seems, prefer being hoodwinked to being liberated. Certainly my own experience backs that up. Whilst the majority of my own audience appears to be reasonably intelligent and sane, there have been, (and sometimes still are,) worrying exceptions. I've occasionally gotten into quite heated arguments with overzealous fans who have taken issue with the fact that the 'real' Bill Nelson doesn't quite fit the 'virtual' Bill Nelson of their dreams. In fact, one sure way to experience just how negatively the cult of celebrity affects the human mind is to enter the arena of popular music. No matter how modest the level of celebrity one attains, sooner or later comes encounters with people who will obsessively claim you as the spiritual centre of their own fragile lives. You will be unceremoniously crowned the tin-pot God of their tin-pot universe... And woe betide you should you ever seek to unburden them of their illusion. Hell hath no fury like a fantasist brought down to earth. How easy it must be to create a spurious religion with so many willing, potential disciples. But such unhealthy mystification is all part of the entertainment business and is accepted as its general currency. Entertainment over enlightenment? As Brian Eno said in a recent article, 'we're all entertained to death.' Or something like that. Anyway, back to the book. All said and done, (and taking the above into account), I enjoyed reading it and expect that fans will enjoy reading it even more. It's Paul Sutton-Reeves' first published book and the first published biography of my career. A cause for celebration or trepidation? Well, perhaps we're both nervous of its reception. Will I have to hide from old girlfriends and ex-wives? Will my children understand their father any more than they do now? Will my friends still talk to me or look at me as if I've escaped from some travelling freak show? (Or do they already see me in that way?) The problem with books is they exile our frail lives to cruel islands of print. They banish fleeting experience to the state of permanence. Books adopt a form that appears, on the surface, substantial. We invest the printed word with a faith that would do the Pope proud. Words on a computer screen can be made to vanish with the click of a mouse but that thick brick of a thing that sits on your bookshelf or coffee table in constant view..? Well, it can't be denied so easily. It can't be switched off by the removal of its electricity. Well...let's see what this thing unlocks when it's published. Maybe I'll have to leave the country. There was some sad news just after Christmas which I've already commented on in postings on the Dreamsville Inn Forum. Derek Bailey, pioneer free-music guitarist and someone who has proved constantly inspirational to me over many years, passed away on 25th December, 2005. This came as quite a shock. I knew he had suffered some illness in recent years but didn't realise quite how serious things were. Derek died from complications arising from motor neurone disease. I learned of his death a couple of days after it happened. Ironically, I'd finally completed Ben Watson's lengthy biography of Derek and the free-music scene on Christmas Eve. On Boxing day, when my son Elliot and daughter Elle came to the house for a seasonal dinner, the conversation got around to Derek and I played them some selections of his music. The following day, the news came that he'd gone. Perhaps many of my fans might be puzzled as to why Derek was so important or as to why I found his work inspirational. It could be argued that, in terms of form and intent, our approach to music was quite different. Derek's playing might be seen by some fans of mine as being too abstract, too confrontational, too fractured, too something or other, but certainly not comfortable listening. But these 'too whatevers' were exactly what atttracted me to his work. He appealed to the part of me that resists the herd mentality, that akward, stubborn, 'I know best' part of me that rudely and clumsily and some times stupidly resists compromise. His music also worked as a purely aesthetic artform, sound and gesture for its own sake, open to appreciation without it always being dependent upon the academic theories that surround much of free music's barbed history. There were threads, I might have argued, that connected Derek's music to Cage and Partch, though I'm sure he'd have considered these slender and quite possibly totally subjective. Webern seems to have come into his equation though, through his own admission. There was also humour and mischievousness, grace and fire in Derek's playing. In his hands, the guitar was elevated to gallery status, a legitimate instrument of art. He was, in my mind, astonishing, revolutionary, the one player who I hoped I might one day be given the pleasure and challenge of playing with. Too late now. Like Cage, like Partch, like Picasso and Pollock and all of Art's far scouts and secret agents, the world required only one Derek Bailey. To attempt to play like him, (and some people did and still do), would be a travesty. What he created was his and his alone, unique, absolutely essential and unrepeatable. The world of music was made more curious, more kinetic by his contribution to it. And that's an achievement. There's an eloquent and reasoned account of Derek Bailey's life in the latest issue of WIRE magazine, a piece written by David Toop, (who curated the Hayward Gallery's 'Sonic Boom' exhibition that I contributed some music to a few years ago). It's worth reading, especially as David had the opportunity to talk with Derek on numerous occasions over the years. It's as fine an introduction to the man and his music as possible within the restrictions of a slim magazine. Derek's own book , 'Improvisation' is an essential read too, even for musicians who aren't naturally sympathetic to the free-music cause. Yet another positive force...gone, gone, gone...but not yet forgotten. Whilst on the subject of books. Christmas brought me new ones, as it always does. They were added to the small mountain of books that have accumulated throughout last year and which pressure of work has denied me access. I've made a start, although my reading is still done at the end of the day in the minutes before sleep. Here are some of the titles stacked by my bedside:- 'Despite The System: Orson Welles Versus The Hollywood Studios' by Clinton Heylin. 'Lovesick Blues, The Life Of Hank Williams' by Paul Hemphill. 'Dylan Thomas, A New Life' by Andrew Lycett. 'Quicksilver' by Neal Stephenson. 'The Sea' by John Banville. 'The Spirit Of Place, Nine Neo-Romantic Artists And Their Times.' by Malcolm Yorke. 'Untold Stories' and 'Writing Home' by Alan Bennett. 'Audio Culture, Readings In Modern Music' by Christopher Cox and Daniel Warner. 'The Rise Of The Sixties' by Thomas Crow. 'The Making Of Modern Britain' by Jeremy Black. 'Surrealism In Britain' by Michel Remy. 'Lost Highway' by Peter Guralnick. 'Ted Hughes, The Life Of A Poet' by Elaine Feinstein. 'American Odyssey, The Letters and Journals Of Wilhelm Reich' edited by Mary Boyd Higgins. 'Fritz Lang, The Nature Of The Beast' by Patrick McGilligan. 'Bill Brandt, A Life' by Paul Delaney. Some of the above I made a start on earlier last year but because I was so busy I broke off reading them and need to begin again when time allows. I also was given some very welcome DVDs, the most special of which is a boxed set of a mammoth twelve and a half hour long film/series called simply 'JAZZ, A Film By Ken Burns.' I'd caught some of this when it was screened as a series on tv, quite a while ago now, but never got around to buying the DVD, partly due to its high price. However, Christmas presents are one of life's little luxuries and Emiko generously bought it for me as a surprise gift. Whilst some have said that Ken Burns' view of Jazz history is a particularly selective one, for me the film is beautifully put together. I could watch it over and over again...it's uplifting, inspiring and heartfelt. Watching it is a wonderful way to unwind at the end of the day, the film's music and musicians providing a poetic reminder of why some of us became so besotted with music in the first place. It's the kind of programme that makes me feel proud to be part of a tremendous chain of musicians stretching back through history, meagre though my own contribution has been. Anyway, I'd recommend this fine piece of work to all music lovers, irrespective of whether Jazz rings their bell or not. If, after watching this film, the penny still hasn't dropped, then they're beyond redemption. In terms of musical listening, when I've found the time, (usually over dinner), I've been in a retro mood, albums by Ella Fitzgerald, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Django Reinhardt, Ben Webster, Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass. Also Bill Evans' 'Conversations With Myself' album and, (not exactly a 'retro' record), Bill Frisell's 'East-West' live album. There's a real sense of elegance, intelligence and sophistication in these jazz albums, qualities that seem to have gone missing in action amongst our current pop/rock luminaries. To listen to these classic recordings is to enter another world, a world, I have to say, in which I feel comfortably at home. So, what are my plans for this coming year? Well, the 'Music In Dreamland' book's obligations now discharged, the next thing on the agenda is the possibility of working with Russian musicians again. My old 'Nautilus Pompillius' friend Slava Butusov and his new band 'Jupiter.' Still awaiting budget conformation on this though. The next thing I'll need to do after this is to mix the Be Bop Deluxe Decca audition tapes. I'm hoping to make these available on my own 'Sonoluxe' label before very long. Current favourite title for this cd is 'Tomorrow The World.' (Which was the title of an early Be Bop Deluxe song but equally suggests the group's ambition back in those early days.) Also, I've been asked by EMI records to mix some later Be Bop Deluxe live album tracks, different takes from those that found their way onto the 'Live In The Air Age' album, but from the same tour, or so I'm presuming. These tracks will be part of EMI's proposed big Be Bop Box set which will contain just about everything the band ever recorded. This is due for release later this year. Then I must work on a new instrumental guitar album, volume two in the 'Painting With Guitars' series, (of which 'The Romance Of Sustain' was volume one). I've yet to choose the 'main' title for this album but it will contain versions of the more recent instrumental material that I've incorporated into my solo performances these last two years, tracks such as 'The Girl On The Fairground Waltzer,' 'Blue Amorini,' 'Blackpool Pleasure Beach And The Road To Enlightenment,' and 'Electric Milkcart Blues' amongst others. Also planned is an album of unreleased sketches and demos from my 1980's archives. The main focus of my attention will be a new vocal album, the next step on from 'Sailor Bill.' I want to take my time with this though and, bearing in mind the archive material already planned for release, I may not find time to complete a brand new album this year. We'll see... This year's fan convention, Nelsonica 06, is yet another project to deal with, and very soon too if it is to be ready for a proposed autumn event date. New venues to check out first. I have had an idea about including a sort of guitar 'masterclass' as part of the convention, a non-academically inclined one that will allow me to talk about aesthetic approaches to the instrument as well as technical ones. A special, limited edition CD will be required for the convention too, as is usual, and 'Snow Is Falling', a song which I featured in last year's tour, is definitely going to be one of the tracks on it. Live dates? Well...I have some ambitious plans but I'm not sure at this stage how practical they will be. As always, it's down to funding. And that's plenty to be getting on with, I think. Letters from Harold who is moving house, heart and head. A jolly note from Roger Eno too. Emails from Peter Coulombe and Chuck Bird with reference to a possible Nelsonica USA fan convention. They are starting to get results back from a survey to discover how many American fans would be interested in attending such a thing. I'm told it looks promising at the moment. If all goes to plan, it may be that there will be two Nelsonicas next year, one here in England and one in the States. Three new doors being fitted to the house due to weather damage. Awaiting quotations from decorators to repair all the exterior woodwork which will need doing once the new doors are fitted. One door has been hung today, ('though only undercoated at the moment). The other two were not quite the right fit so have been taken away to be adjusted and will be fitted next Monday I'm told. Elliot passed his driving test, first time! I'm pleased but now I've something extra to worry about. Part of being a parent, I suppose. My mother still worries about me when I'm out on the roads, even though I'm 57 years old and have been driving since the 1960's. (Why does that last sentence remind me of Alan Bennett?) Emiko has had one day a week cut from her schedule at the flower shop and is looking for a way to fill the financial gap. She's thinking about putting in some time at an old people's home as a carer. Whilst I'm sure that she'd be able to do this quite well, it seems a shame as her talent is really with flowers. Sometimes, I wish she had more ambition and would make more of her gifts but she says she's too old to do so. I think she's too easy going in some ways but, I love her as she is. She accepts the difficulties of being married to someone whose career is always up and down and insecure so I have nothing to complain about. I'm very lucky to have her share my life with me. Outside my window: grey, undistinguished January weather. Nothing much to uplift the spirits, just that typically flat, beginning of the year mood-dulling atmosphere. Roll on Spring and the saffron song of daffodils. Top of page William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) January 2006 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013

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

Viva Lava Liva 1980 - 1983 album - 1984 Sandii & the Sunsetz Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Nelson is credited with writing the lyrics for one song, "Walk Away". Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

La Rocca! album - 1981 Snips Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Keyboards BILL'S THOUGHTS: "I was asked to play on the album by Snips himself, (real name Steve Parsons) who was originally, I think, a musician from Hull who had a background with various Hull bands, including 'Throbbing Gristle' in their earliest days, (though he wasn't really involved with that music, but just a friend of Cosey Fanni Tutti's). The album was produced by guitarist Chris Spedding, a great player who had been a session musician on many pop singles, (including 'The Wombles' novelty hit), but who also had a respectable jazz background. Chris played on Jack Bruce's wonderful, 'Songs For A Tailor' album as well as on several other respected recordings. Chris later went on to be a member of 'Sharks', a band which also featured Snips as vocalist and who, I recall, supported Roxy Music back in the day. I bought the Sharks album when it first came out and loved it, particularly the track 'Snakes And Swallowtails'. That album was played in the van in the earliest days of Be Bop Deluxe when we'd be driving from Wakefield to Leeds for a gig at 'The Staging Post' pub or wherever. Sharks also had the late Andy Fraser (from 'Free') on bass too. (I'd once been asked to join a 'supergroup' that Island Records were attempting to put together with Andy Fraser on bass and ex-Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell on drums). Anyway, jumping forward in time, Snips asked me to play keyboards on the album 'La Rocca'. I was surprised by this as I'd always considered my keyboard playing to be secondary to my guitar playing but, because I'd been such a fan of Sharks' music, I agreed to do it. I was incredibly nervous during the session, especially as Chris Spending was the producer and guitarist. I struggled through as best I could on an instrument I'd never had to deliver on in that kind of situation. I recall inordinate amounts of booze being consumed by both Chris and Snips during the session but I was too nervous to partake myself and desperately tried to stay focused and professional. It was one of those, dive in, sink or swim moments. Having said that, I think I acquitted myself reasonably well, without my guitar in hand. Played mostly Mini-Moog as far as I recall. A long time ago now. I still love what Snips and Chris do." Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Giants of the Perpetual Wurlitzer Bill Nelson ep - 29 December 1984 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A1) The Strangest Things, The Strangest Times A2) Phantom Gardens A3) French Promenade B1) Golden Mile B2) West-Deep B3) Threnodia ORIGINALLY: All six songs were initially non-album tracks, two of which were exclusive to the 7" EP. NOTES: Giants of the Perpetual Wurlitzer is a 6 track EP of instrumentals issued on Cocteau Records. This was the sixth in the series of Cocteau Club EPs issued to fan club members, and the only one to appear in a picture sleeve. The EP was included in Issue #11 of the club magazine, Acquitted By Mirrors . Note that "Threnodia" is misspelt as "Threnolia" on the sleeve. PAST RELEASES: A1 was released on the Enigma compilation of the same name in 1989. A2, B2, B3 were all later included on Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights album (Cocteau, 1987). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: All tracks are available on the retrospective compilation album Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings) . Singles Menu Future Past

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

Three White Roses & A Budd ep - 2002 Harold Budd, Bill Nelson & Fila Brazillia Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Guitar and Co-Writer on all tracks. NOTES: The brief liner notes say that it was recorded at "Stunk Dusty" (duo Fila Brazillia's studio?) in 2000, although not released until 2002. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Acceleration Bill Nelson single - 13 August 1984 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 7" Singles: A) Acceleration (7" Remix) B) Hard Facts From The Fiction Department 12" Singles: A1) Hard Facts From The Fiction Department A2) Acceleration (Dub) B1) Acceleration (Long Version) B2) Acceleration (Short Version) ORIGINALLY: The various mixes of "Acceleration" (a song originally from the Chimera mini-album) were initially exclusive to these singles. "Hard Facts from the Fiction Department" was the lead track from the fifth ABM club ep (May 1984). NOTES: Acceleration is a single issued in three formats (7", 12", and 12" picture disc) on the Cocteau Records label. The 7" single was available in two different picture sleeves (as illustrated above). The picture disc would be the first and last Bill Nelson picture disc, and resembles the illustration that would be used on the cover of the Trial By Intimacy box set. PAST RELEASES: The "Acceleration" 7" remix was included on the original 2LP version of The Two Fold Aspect of Everything (1985) and the Duplex compilation set (1989). All tracks except the 7" remix were added to the remastered 2005 CD of Chimera . B2) was included in the The Practice of Everyday Life box set (2011). Both of the above releases are out of print in physical form. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The 2005 reissue of Chimera is available via digital download through major online retailers. BILL'S THOUGHTS: "At that point in time, I had been making a fair bit of music along the lines of "Acceleration". I'd used some drum tracks sent to me from Japan by Yukihiro Takahashi of Yellow Magic Orchestra and had written various musics to go with them. Also the album The Love That Whirls featured electronica based tracks which provided the basis for things like "Acceleration". It wasn't really new to me, but maybe sounded new to others." Singles Menu Future Past

The Dreamer's Companion Volume One retrospective collection - 13 January 2014 Bill Nelson Collections Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Golden Balloon (Luxury Lodge) 02) Take It Off And Thrill Me (Rock Option) (Arcadian Salon) 03) Ghost Show (Secret Club For Members Only) 04) Real Men With Ray Guns (The Romance Of Sustain) 05) Escondido Oleander (Rosewood Volume One) 06) Sailor Blue (The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill) 07) The Golden Days Of Radio (Compact Mix) (Fancy Planets) 08) For You And I (Return To Jazz Of Lights) 09) Once I Had A Time Machine (Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow) 10) Boyhood Shadows (Secret Club For Members Only) 11) Moments Catch Fire On The Crests Of Waves (Alternative Mix) (Orpheus In Ultraland) 12) Silent Glides My Armstrong Siddeley (Blossom Tree Optimists) 13) Creamy Clouds (Dreamland To Starboard) 14) Hey, Bill Diddley! (Secret Club For Members Only) ALBUM NOTES: The Dreamer's Companion is a three volume series of compilation albums designed to introduce both new and lapsed fans to Nelson's recordings from the 21st Century. These are significant in that they represent the point where Nelson embraced the notion of downloading as a way of generating additional interest in his music. Prior to their announcement in August 2013, there had been frequent mention by fans of the advantages that Nelson would see from going down the download route, but the artist consistently resisted doing so on the basis that he remained unconvinced that it would yield much in the way of sales. What seemed to change his opinion, or at least convince him to give it a go, was a Be Bop Deluxe Facebook page which clearly indicated that there are a significant number of fans who knew little of Nelson's work over the previous 30 years. Nelson therefore set about compiling three volumes in The Dreamer's Companion series that provided a detailed overview of his output since 2003. Even for fans who had rediscovered Nelson's music at some point in the period from 2003 to 2013, these offer some out of print material. And for the lapsed fans that knew nothing at all from this period, they offer them a chance to find out precisely what they have been missing. For those who aren't willing or able to spend £30 on a full set, each volume of The Dreamer's Companion is available at £10 each. The 42 tracks featured are taken from a total of 28 different albums, and provide a healthy mixture of vocal and instrumental pieces covering a range of styles and moods. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "There's nothing difficult or tricky about any of my music, it's all very easy to listen to. I certainly don't aim at purely esoteric targets, I just make pop music with a twist. But, if you're feeling a bit nervous about buying some albums, it doesn't get less esoteric than Fancy Planets , Joy Through Amplification , and Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists . Easy listening all! Or, to get a great overview of my 21st Century recordings, try downloading the digital three volume compilation set, The Dreamers Companion from Bandcamp. It acts as a really nice taster or 'grazing' menu. A bit of everything on there." Collections Menu Future Past

Think And You'll Miss It/Beat Street Free download single Click image for cover Artwork A free Christmas single for you to download and enjoy - Released Dec 2012. A-Side: THINK AND YOU'LL MISS IT B-Side: BEAT STREET Both tracks are exclusive and currently unavailable on any album. Written, performed, recorded and produced by Bill Nelson. All rights Bill Nelson 2012.

The Sparkle Machine Bill Nelson album - 11 December 2013 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) The Awakening 02) Full Of Desire 03) Blaze Ye Now The Golden Trail 04) The Boy Who Lived In The Future 05) Eros Ghost Trails Gleaming Echoes 06) Colossal Figures Shrouded In Clouds 07) The Martian Boulevardier 08) Jimi Sifts The Sands Of Time 09) Whirlpool Meditation 10) Saturnalia 11) Hermetica Automatica 12) Velo-Sola 13) Jupiter Commander 14) The Sparkle Machine (Phenomena 77) ALBUM NOTES: The Sparkle Machine (Several Sustained Moments) is an instrumental album issued in a single print run of 500 copies on the Sonoluxe label. The material for The Sparkle Machine was largely created alongside that for Albion Dream Vortex , with material assigned to either album as Nelson saw fit. The first mention of the album was in late October 2013, at which point the track listing had been decided on, and given a rush release on 11 December 2013. Demand to acquire the album was sufficient to force SOS to take it off sale 8 days later, as they needed to catch up with orders received, and to ensure that existing orders could be fulfilled. After the Christmas holidays were over the album was put back on sale, and eventually sold out on 7 January 2014. It was reissued as a digital download on Bandcamp on 2 May 2015. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: " The Sparkle Machine is an instrumental album with a heavy emphasis on the electric guitar and features some densely packed, exploratory improvisation. It could also been regarded as a psychedelic space rock album though it spreads its wings wider than that definition might suggest. I think it's fair to say that it also acts as a 'virtual' stepping stone between Albion Dream Vortex and next year's release of my recent collaboration with jet-ace guitarist Reeves Gabrels." _____ "When I say 'space rock' I don't mean of the Hawkwind variety...(though no slight meant to them...they're absolutely splendid space captains!). My version is rather more loose, slips through a number of wormholes and emerges somewhere in a universe where the barriers between rock, improvisation, electronica, classical and jazz have never existed. It's just expansive music with the electric guitar pushing hard at the edges. But don't worry, if you've ever liked electric guitar trips, you'll love this one!" _____ "Actually, I never think in terms of a 'best' guitar. I have a very eclectic collection of guitars and they each have their own character and qualities. I'll sometimes choose to use one simply because of how it looks and the 'mind set' it puts me in on any particular day. It's rather like deciding what shirt or jacket to wear depending on my mood and the weather. Obviously, a guitar's sound plays a part too, the warmth and jazziness of my Guild X500, Peerless Monarch or D'Angelico will generally inspire and suit a jazz tinted solo. My Gretsches, my Stratocaster and Hallmark Stradette will bring out the twang, country and '60s instro side of my playing. My Les Paul, Campbell Nelsonics and some of my Eastwood, Airline guitars will encourage a more rock, blues or vintage rock n' roll approach, and so on. To a certain extent, it's horses for courses but also not as strictly regimented as that might seem. Sometimes it's interesting to play something opposite to what a certain guitar might dictate. To mix things up a bit. In fact, I tend to use more than one guitar on any given track. Sometimes there will be three or four different guitars on a tune. I'm a bit like a guy with a private harem...I love all my guitars and try to get around to each one on a fairly regular basis!" _____ "It's a musical equivalent of a big old oak table laden with a huge variety of delicious food and autumn fruits and shining golden goblets of rich, warm wine. Beautiful maidens breathing in your ear and a log fireplace ablaze with sensual love energy. Hey...when you've got that, who needs listening notes?" FAN THOUGHTS: TimeSlip: "Truly enjoying The Sparkle Machine Bill. I have to say it contains some of your "wildest" riffs. I noticed that your liner notes list the guitar brands you play on this album. You could probably make a stick with string tied on it sound good..." major snagg: "Oh deep joy, this is a magnificent album, which goes beautifully with your last two awesome albums, The Dreamshire Chronicles and Albion Dream Vortex . Wow...Guitar Heaven..." alec: "Full of Desire": "The guitar seems to catch flame in places in that one. A flaming desire so to speak." CoachMatt: "Has anyone ever get fixed on one of Bill's tunes ? I do a lot, and now, I am fixed on "The Martian Boulevardier" !! I can just listen to it over and over again!! Just flows so nicely. I enjoy the beats and rhythms of that tune. I can just picture this high end, OO7 acting Martian, just strolling around and acting cool !!" felixt1: "I think this is possibly a perfect re-introduction for the old Be Bop Deluxe fans, certainly as far as guitar instrumental albums by Bill, go." swampboy: "Any newcomers to his music could use these as a starting point and go on from there." AJ: "I didn't think for a moment that anything could beat Albion Dream Vortex this year. The Sparkle Machine has done it for me. How he does it so well and in such volume is beyond my comprehension. 2013 has to be the best BN year ever. Utterly stunning." BenTucker: "Loving every moment of this dazzling, dramatic, life-affirming album." "If this doesn't represent a high point in guitar music for the decade, then I don't know what does! Just breathtaking, spectacular, beautiful..." Albums Menu Future Past

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) December 2013 Tuesday 24th December 2013 -- 9: 00 pm Apologies, and not just one but an entire alternative universe filled with them. Yes, ok, I know...I'm outrageously late with this diary entry...despite all good intentions. My previous diary was, (deep breath, flushed cheeks, lowered gaze), two years ago this month. Two dizzy, madly spinning, bee-hive buzzing years! Where did the time go? Why so fast? Why so long to write these words? The truth is that music, along with various other pre-occupations, has made an increasingly severe demand on my time and only now have I returned to these pages in the vain hope of catching up. Heck, the word 'vain' should maybe read 'impossible.' So much has happened since my December 2011 diary entry. I'm struggling to recall anything, (let alone everything), as there has been such a remorseless whirlwind of activity, particularly with regard to recording. A dust cloud of cosmic proportions stirred up and I'm forever stumbling away from the storm. My own damn fault, of course. So...forgive me. I'm not even going to attempt to fill in that two year gap with what would amount to an endless list of activity. Should you, dear reader, be even remotely curious, please take a stroll through the last two years of the Dreamsville online forum, or browse the list of releases in the Dreamsville Department Store and you may get a vague idea of where the majority of my energies have been spent. Of course, those of you who regularly cruise this twinkling realm will already know of what I speak. ;-) With the above in mind, I intend to start afresh and not cover the missing two years in any great detail. It would involve far too much typing and even more digging back into my archives to wrestle two year's worth of memories from the grip of oblivion. Nevertheless...There have been more than a few album releases: 'Songs Of The Blossom Tree Optimists'; 'Joy Through Amplification'; 'The Palace Of Strange Voltages'; 'Return To Tomorrow'; 'The Last Of The Neon Cynics'; 'The Dreamshire Chronicles'; 'Blip!'; 'The Tremulous Doo-Wah-Diddy,' 'Albion Dream Vortex' and a short while ago, 'The Sparkle Machine.' I threw a couple of exclusive album launch parties too, both of which were relaxed and enjoyable for both myself and my special guests. These events gave me the opportunity to give a pre-release playback of a new album or two and throw a little light on their creative evolution. I also threw in an intimate solo performance as part of the 'Blip!' launch. ;-) Also, back in 2012, a Nelsonica fan convention was staged featuring 3 live sets and other special entertainments, (including the traditional, though rather exhausting, 3-hour long meet 'n' greet). A lot of hard work and preparation goes into these Nelsonica events...so much so that I've begun to feel I should perhaps mount them only once every two years instead of annually. Coming up with concepts and content for them, plus musical preparation and the exclusive Nelsonica CD takes up an inordinate amount of my time for what amounts to a one day event....Nevertheless, the chance to interact with people who appreciate my work is valued. So, I do my best. More recently I was involved in a unique fund raising concert for the Wakefield Unity Hall restoration project, held at Wakefield's award winning Hepworth Gallery where I performed an intimate solo instrumental concert for just over 300 people. I have a personal family connection with the Unity Hall building. My father played there in the 1940's and 1950's, (he was a talented saxophonist). I played there in the 1960's with 'The Teenagers' and 'The Gibson 4' and even with Be Bop Deluxe in the early 1970's. As I child of the '50's, I visited the the building with my mother and grandmother when it was the largest branch of the Co-operative Society in Yorkshire...Mum, Gran and I went shopping there every Saturday afternoon in the 1950's. At that time it was a kind of 'dream department store.' At least to a small child like me. As part of the restoration appeal, I donated a limited edition print of an etching I made a long time ago, (in 1963), whilst I was still an art student at Wakefield Art School. The print has been put on sale in the Hepworth Gallery's shop to generate additional funds for the Unity Hall restoration project. I was a teenager when I etched the original image and had no idea, at that time, that 50 years later it would be available as a limited edition print in such a setting. The etching shows a view of Wakefield from nearby Heath Common, (as it looked back in 1963), complete with the City's now long ago demolished power station and cooling towers. I remember spending that 1960's afternoon on Heath Common, sketching the view of Wakefield and later trying to transform it, (back in the Art School's print making room), into a kind of 'neo-cubist' rendition of the scene. The resulting zinc-plate etching had something about it, despite my relative inexperience with the medium. Can I admit that I'm rather proud of it? I've also recently been involved with a more contemporary art exhibition. My 'Lacuna' video piece has been shown as part of 'Noise And Whispers,' an exhibition of sound art held at the GV gallery in London. I wasn't able to make the trip for the opening/private view (or the closing party), but I'm really pleased to have one of my video pieces exhibited as part of it. Hopefully, some of this diary's London readers will have found time to attend. Other activities: I opened a Facebook page some time ago and have attempted to contribute to it and other Facebook pages/groups devoted to my music. Despite its allure, I find Facebook to be a frustrating and time-consuming experience, particularly the latter. I'm amazed by just how much time people seem to have available to post superficial or banal comments. Don't they have work to do? ;-) Facebook, it appears, is the perfect digital platform for the celebration of trivia, though it isn't entirely without redeeming features...but...sometimes it's a struggle to find them. Anyway, I'm hoping that my less than enthusiastic embrace of Facebook might serve as a promotional device of some sort, a means of spreading my music to a wider audience, (though I'm wondering whether I really want to deal with such a possible outcome). I'm forced to wonder, do these self-declared fans from the past really care about the music itself? Or is it just a social opportunity to wallow in feelings of nostalgia, a flickering, virtual space in which to re-live long-lost youth? Maybe I'm being a little too critical here. Well, don't misunderstand...I'm not knocking nostalgia itself, of course not. I'm an old nostalgia fetishist myself, especially when the nights close in and life gets grim. At those moments I allow myself to drift back to more innocent times, opening my mental cinema to replay movies of childhood and days of romantic longing from an era before I was even born.. I'm ok with all that....up to a point. But it's the reluctance of some people to balance the past with the here and now that bugs me. How to encourage them to step away from the damp fogs of yesteryear into the bright sunlight of the present day? One thing the FB experience has revealed is the appreciation of certain fans who have taken the musical trip with me from the 1970's to now. I'm lucky in that respect...my current music resonates with many people and I'm thrilled and grateful that it does. Anyway... New projects? This year, I've enjoyed an absolutely lovely collaboration with the fabulously talented guitarist Reeves Gabrels. We've spent several days together in my little home studio, (across the year), creating an album which we are currently thinking of calling 'Fantastic Guitars.' It's now finished, apart from giving the eleven individual tracks their titles and choosing a running order before finally mastering the album over at Fairview with John Spence . (Oh, and the package design needs to be done too.) But, this album is, I think, genuinely special. I've long been a big fan of Reeves' playing, but the icing on the cake is that he has turned out to be one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure to collaborate with. And music is Reeves' heartbeat. His CV is enviable...David Bowie, Lou Reed, The Cure, to name but three major artists whose music he has graced. (But I don't need to tell you that, you already know.) I'm honoured to know him as a valued friend and inspiring musician. 'Fantastic Guitars' will, all being well, emerge around Spring of 2014. It's a rich, complex, quirky album of guitar instrumentals. Many hours of listening pleasure for those with ears to hear! Even more work lined up for next year: I'm not allowed to reveal details yet, but there's something quite grand on the horizon. It looks as if it will make such an intense demand on my time that I won't be able to deal with much else for at least the first third of 2014. I was hoping to stage a 2014 Nelsonica but this new project may take precedence over it. I'll reveal all when the time is right. What else? As mentioned earlier, the release of my latest album, 'The Sparkle Machine.' This is a guitar-based exploratory instrumental album. Richly textured with processed and filtered guitar sounds. It combines psychedelia with improvisation, mashing up rock and jazz and blues to such a degree that genres and barriers dissolve in a sort of widescreen 'guitar-scope.' This album builds a crystal bridge between 'Albion Dream Vortex' and next year's 'Fantastic Guitars' collaboration with Reeves. I'm limiting 'The Sparkle Machine' to strictly 500 copies, most of which have already sold out. An item of sad news: On the 10th of December, jazz guitarist Jim Hall passed away at the age of 83. Jim was one of the true geniuses of Jazz guitar. I first heard him in my teens. His playing was refined and sophisticated and his influence and inspiration extended beyond the realms of jazz to so many other guitarists. I've been an admirer of his playing for years and was thrilled to receive a little note and autograph from him last year when a friend (and fan of my music) in America gave Jim a couple of my albums at an event where Jim was appearing. Jim immediately and kindly wrote a little note to me, which my friend forwarded to me. I treasure it, even now more than ever. Here's an excerpt from a tribute to Jim which appeared in Premier Guitar magazine. I hope that it will serve to introduce you to his work in case you don't know of it: “Every time Jim Hall opened his case there was a sticker inside the lid that reminded him of his mantra. “Make musical sense.” Hall died in his sleep on December 10, 2013, at the age of 83. His contributions to guitar—both as a player and composer—elevated the instrument and made a deep and lasting impression on the musical world. At times, Hall could be both elegant and angular with his approach but he never stopped searching for the next sound. Much in the mold of Hendrix, Michael Hedges, and Les Paul, Hall was an innovator who stretched, bent, and pushed the boundaries of modern jazz guitar and created a uniquely soulful language all his own. His approach to harmony, comping, and rhythm was groundbreaking and his landmark album with saxophonist Sonny Rollins, The Bridge, is a classic example of this. The integrity of a musical passage always trumped the desire for technical flash. Hall's unassuming personality and sharp wit mirrored his approach to music. "He had the most incredible sense of humor andcould cast his listening like a light on everyone in sight, so when in his company, you felt like you couldn't ever go wrong," shares guitarist Julian Lage, who had recently formed a quartet with Hall. After a recent tribute concert organized by guitarist Joel Harrison, Hall tracked down the names and addresses of all the musicians who performed and wrote each one a handwritten thank you note. It could be argued that the jazz guitar tree is rooted in four names: Django, Charlie, Wes, and Jim. Virtually every guitarist, from classical to shred, has been touched by the music that flowed from that quartet. Even after some recent health issues slowed down Hall's physical abilities, he never lost his touch for the instrument. The notes that would flow out of his Sadowsky archtop combined the best of bebop, folk, blues, and Americana. His individual spirit brought joy to many people and he will be sorely missed.” Jim had a reputation for being a really nice person as well as a maestro. His recorded legacy will continue to inspire me and so many others. My birthday a week ago already...I'm now 65 and am in the first week of my 66th year. Life, as they say, is short and feels shorter with every passing moment. Not nearly enough hours on the dial of the clock and, sadly, not enough power in its batteries. So much more I want to achieve, so much to learn, so much to refine and bring to fruition. When I was a 1950's kid, playing in the back garden of my parent's Eastmoor Estate council flat, in the West Yorkshire City of Wakefield, I caught summer's bright butterflies in old glass jam-jars. Now I try to catch fleeting moments in words and music. Time is a great mystery. A big THANK YOU for your much appreciated support this last year. I hope I will be able to provide you with more listening pleasure in 2014. Until then, a very MERRY CHRISTMAS to one and all! Much love from your old pal Bill. xxx Top of page

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

And We Fell Into A Dream Bill Nelson album - 27 October 2007 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) And We Fell Into A Dream 02) Somewhere In Far Tomorrow 03) Fever Dream Of The Starlight Man 04) The Raindrop Collector 05) Night Song Of The Last Tram 06) Dreamt I Was Floating In A Summer Sky 07) The House At The End Of Memory Lane 08) A Line Of Trees Gives Rise To Thought 09) Blue Amorini 10) Here Come The Rain Comets 11) Cloudy Billows Kiss The Moon 12) The Rose Covered Cottage At The End Of Time 13) Streamlined Train, Passing Fast 14) At Home In High Clouds 15) Chapel Of Chimes ALBUM NOTES: And We Fell into a Dream is an instrumental album issued on the Sonoluxe label in a single print run of 1000 copies. Work on the album was effectively commenced in mid-2007 when Nelson was developing an album project called Frankie Ukelele and the Fire in the Lake . Before that album had been fully realised much of the completed material was transferred to the And We Fell into a Dream album, with the residual material initially retained for a revised Frankie Ukelele album which fragmented further into a number of albums including Silvertone Fountains and Illuminated at Dusk . The album was issued at Nelsonica '07 with remaining stock then sold through SOS. The track "At Home in High Clouds" is erroneously listed as "At Home in the Clouds" on the artwork due to a proof reading error made during production. It was announced on 6 January 2016 that the album had sold out. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Several of the tracks are from the same sessions that produced the Gleaming Without Lights album...AWFIAD uses exactly the same instrumentation as Gleaming but offers a more deliberately 'composed', melodic, economical path." _____ "The similarities to Dreamland to Starboard are deliberate but there's a more minimal element at work here. There's more of a minor key feel, a touch of melancholy, even a hint of 'unease', (especially in "Fever Dream"). Dreamland , by contrast, has a lighter mood, is generally a 'sunny' album. And We Fell Into A Dream purposely plays the moon card in response to this. Dreamland is Solar, Fell Into A Dream is Lunar. They're complementary works, two sides of one coin. "More and more, my music is cross-referenced. Albums are not made in isolation but as components in one epic structure. There's a web of connections, a grid on which ideas are passed back and forth and modulated and modified." FAN THOUGHTS: BobK: "Whilst all of BN's albums are hugely enjoyable there are certain releases that, in my opinion, can be classed as 'career peaks'. In recent years I personally think Romance , Dreamland and Sailor Bill are in this category. (Possibly Plaything and Rosewood ?). Well, I think Dream is another. It is absolutely wonderful...The top line melodies are rather gorgeous, but I think the real pleasure (as is often the case) is what is going on BEHIND the guitar/piano melody. Personal preference I guess, but the noises/sounds/instruments etc that often come in and out of the mix are fascinating to listen to." Peter: "The little touches, the subtle musical elements and the fun little whirs and buzzes and swooshes...they add delightful character and depth that no one else equals. I think of them as part of the "Bill Nelson-ness" of Bill's music..." "This is a beautiful album...love it from beginning to end." steve lyles: "It is a magical experience...almost too rich to take in in one sitting...even for me. It is one of Bill's richest musical paintings...a masterpiece." Johnny Jazz: "This CD is very special...It's bloody lovely. Ambient soundscapes, a retro, jazzy feel. I love it" Holer: "Bill - the jazz elements are definitely there, as are many of your signature sounds and motifs that echo other recent albums. The thing that I find really striking about this album though is the way you deploy those different aspects of your arsenal. I get an overwhelming sense of the absence or stripping away of certain sounds, almost like there is just enough of something to remind me how little it is used, or that it suggests more than it actually reveals. I feel like you are minimising or stripping away familiar themes to reveal new sounds and experiences, but even the new stuff is presented in a spare, almost austere fashion...It's like you are paring away layers to get to an essential sound, reducing and concentrating the experience...An outstanding record all around for me." Kalamazoo Kid: " AWFIAD is certainly beautiful...Like Gleaming Without Lights , it is understated but intricate, quiet but large. Enveloping." "I think the gradual drift of Nelson's music has been away from the traditionally structured song into a far more narrative mode, in which the song unfolds with evident themes and variations, but also with a gradual development that is strongly beginning-middle-end...Seriously, I think that he has cast off traditional forms far more than in the past. In the instrumentals this ranges from a fairly constrained investigation of improvisational possibilities and minimalist patterns to very systematic constructions that justify Nelson's comparison of Gleaming Without Lights to "progressive" music... On And We Fell Into a Dream , he seems to want to pare it down to a minimum, while still filling up the composition to a maximum. At a distance, this album can be enjoyed the same way as Simplex . But up close, it's often as active as Atom Shop ." wonder toy: "What an excellent album!!! SO much great stuff from top to bottom...This is one of those records that when you first listen to it you never want it to end." Terminal_Street: "This album has some cracking stuff on it and every time I listen to it I hear something new to excite me. I think this one will last the test of time and be added to my personal faves in years to come. Great stuff Bill." Radium Girl: "What a perfect title for this gorgeous ensemble. I did fall into a dream that day, and in fact - I'm still in it! I am particularly in love with "Fever Dream of The Starlight Man" at the moment. Though I have to admit every time "The Raindrop Collector" starts I get the most exquisite shudder all the way through me." Lonnie: "Fever Dream of The Starlight Man": "Oooooooo! What a tasty, jazzy, smooth as glass groove. Bill solos on that one like a mother! The man can play jazz." wadcorp: " And We Fell Into A Dream may be the standout release of the Twenty-First Century for Bill. Tops my list. "The Raindrop Collector", "Fever Dream of the Starlight Man", "A Line of Trees Gives Rise to Thought" and more. Classic in every way." felixt1: "One of Bill's absolute, absolute best guitar instrumental albums." Andre: "It may be Bill's most romantic sounding music, AND on top of that his sexiest album cover. Everybody on this planet should own a copy of And We Fell Into A Dream . And THAT'S the bottom line!" Albums Menu Future Past

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

Bill Nelson Live! Unfortunately, Bill has no live shows planned at the moment and due to health issues it is unlikely that he will perform live in the future... Make sure you have subscribed to this website's mailing list for news and updates. Bill's Live Show Archive

Electrical Language Be Bop Deluxe single - 5 May 1978 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A) Electrical Language B) Surreal Estate ORIGINALLY: A) Edited version of the Drastic Plastic album cut. B) Lifted unchanged from the same album. NOTES: Electrical Language was the final Be Bop Deluxe single issued during the band's existence. The single was issued in a picture sleeve with Nelson sporting his Cocteau 'signature' sweater. Promo copies exist with the words "Demo Record, Not For Sale", and a large 'A' printed on the label. PAST RELEASES: Both tracks would be included on the Singles As and Bs compilation (1981) and "Electrical Language" would find its way onto the Bill Nelson's Be Bop Deluxe 7" EP included in the Permanent Flame box set (1982), and on the re-promoted stand-alone 12" EP on Cocteau in September 1983, with an extra track, "Jean Cocteau". CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The single is long deleted, but both tracks can be found on the Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings reissue of Dr astic Plastic (2021 ) - both in physical form and as a digital download. Singles Menu Future Past

Practically Wired album - 2 March 1995 Bill Nelson Albums Menu Future Past Currently unavailable TRACKS: 01) Roses And Rocketships 02) Spinning Planet 03) Thousand Fountain Island 04) Piano 45 05) Pink Buddha Blues 06) Kid With Cowboy Tie 07) Royal Ghosts 08) Her Presence In Flowers 09) Big Noise In Twangtown 10) Tiny Little Thing 11) Wild Blue Sky Cycle 12) Every Moment Infinite 13) Friends From Heaven 14) Eternal For Emiko ALBUM NOTES: Issued within a month of the appearance of Crimsworth , Practically Wired was a complete contrast in style and content. Issued by All Saints Records as an off shoot of the deal Nelson had acquired through the work with Channel Light Vessel, Practically Wired (Or How I Became Guitar Boy) was very much a guitar album, recorded at Fairview Studios, which would quickly play an increasing role in Nelson's career and remains his main option when it comes to mastering his current work (with engineer in residence, John Spence). Practically Wired was issued in the US by Gyroscope about two months after it appeared in the UK. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Currently out of print and a potential future Bandcamp digital download reissue. BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Practically Wired is very much a studio album with me playing all the (quite complex) parts. Many tracks on the album have reversed tape parts, backwards reverb and several layers of overdubbed guitars, various samples, loops, electronic percussion, sequenced beats and so on. The album was actually written in the studio (no pre-prepared demos or structures), using all the technology at hand to create an entire guitar fantasia, a virtual cornucopia of pluck n' twang...Extremely tricky to recreate live, if not totally impossible." _____ "Like so many of those vocal samples from the '80s and '90s, they were spontaneous captures...often being edited, chopped and changed and re-pitched, reversed and looped, so in many cases my sampling bears little resemblance to the original starting point. I can't recall exactly where the "Spinning Planet" one originated, but it was edited and changed in pitch from the original sample phrase...and cut into a loop to create the rhythm that it brings to the tune. When I make these pieces, I work 'on the fly' most of the time, rarely writing anything down for future reference...it's all created on the spur of the moment, manipulating whatever sonic material happens to fall to hand. I kind of like the fact that these creative acts happen only once and constitute a unique event in time...impossible to recreate." _____ "I didn't have any design input for the original Practically Wired sleeve, other than supplying the childhood photo' of myself and writing the sleevenotes. And, as you might suspect, the 'flying V' guitar silhouette was the wrong choice as it is not a guitar I'm associated with." "I was never 100% convinced by the album's original sleeve design, but the re-issue version captures the feel I originally intended. It's a clever evocation of the 1950's 'Practical Wireless' magazine visual style. The magazine was avidly read by my father who was an amateur electronics/radio boffin and I grew up seeing copies of 'Practical Wireless' around the house. I won't give too much away here and now but the re-issue of the album will be much closer to my original concept." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review by Dmitry M. Epstein FAN THOUGHTS: amok: " Practically Wired is absolutely required in any BN collection, IMO. I love this disc; it's with me on every road trip of more than 1 hour. PW marks the beginning of a new chapter in Bill's sound and playing, a turn to what we know and love about his output of the last 20 years or so." "If you have not heard Practically Wired ...it is in a class of its own." JovialBob: "I think the best introduction you could have of Mr. Bill's later guitar adventures will be Practically Wired , an instrumental CD featuring some of his most blistering guitar playing. The first track has to be one of the most exciting album starts ever, it also demonstrates the eclectic nature of Bill's musical influences. It will also show that Mr Bill is very up to date..." Dar: Which of Bill's albums would you take on an island: " Practically Wired ...It has "Wild Blue Sky Cycle", "Friends from Heaven", "Thousand Fountain Island", "Big Noise in Twangtown", and some others, in a balanced variety of styles. Wildly original and inventive stuff that made a huge and instant impact." "I had grown used to Practically Wired , Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars , After the Satellite Sings , Summer of God's Piano , and Deep Dream Decoder , and was eagerly awaiting Noise Candy , by the time I first heard any BBD. It sounded dated, frankly, compared to the forward-reaching sounds of the Bill I knew, and although there was lots of yummy guitar on what little I heard, it didn't have nearly the pull that the later work, and the then-future Noise Candy did." "Be Bop sounded dated (though fine indeed for its time and context), while Practically Wired sounded explosively fresh and wonderfully inventive." machman767: "What a blinder! Stylewise it has everything in there, full on guitars, more ambient-ish pieces, the lot." Pathdude: "My reintroduction into the world of Bill Nelson. And what a wonderful thing it was. My daughters still love "Roses and Rocketships" today." Quinault: "Just start listening to "Roses and Rocketships" and see if your mood doesn't change for the better." GettingOnTheBeam: "Roses and Rocketships": "That is one of many Bill Nelson songs which for me achieve musical perfection. Whenever I play that for someone they excitedly ask "Who is this. who is this?!?!" felixt1: "I had had a couple of stressful days, but last night I was ready to be happy again. I put on Practically Wired because I somehow needed to hear "Pink Buddha Blues"...instant gratification (or should that be Karma?). This composition is one of many that Bill has written that simply lifts your spirit and brings a little sunshine into your life. I cannot recommend Practically Wired enough." "This one is pretty essential. As well as the awesome guitar stuff it's got a couple of beautiful piano pieces and the genius ambient track "Her Presence in Flowers"." Johnny Jazz: " Practically Wired was one massive Nelsonic breath of fresh air as far as I'm concerned. Bill's muses must have worked overtime during the, I believe 14 days Bill spent on it in the studio? Anyroad, this album is very special, if only for "Pink Buddha Blues", but thankfully the whole shebang is more than worthy. Practically Wired kinda hotwired itself into the mind of the listener. It was 'Immediate', it was, as far as I'm concerned, the start of Bill's present creative phase which leads us to now." steve lyles: "If I was going to recommend just one to track down it would be Practically Wired from 1995, an upbeat cornucopia of guitar delights...I envy you hearing it for the first time. You will not be disappointed." Mozo: "I have heard nothing but continual improvement of recordings from Bill, ever since the mid 90's Practically Wired CD. I simply marvel at how the man keeps topping the last effort." Bluegoldfish: "It's a flawless album, and a must have for any fan of Bill's." Albums Menu Future Past

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

The Unrealist Bill Nelson album - 21 February 2018 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Elliptic Waterfall 02) Colour Floods The Bay With Blue 03) Powerglide 04) The Impatient Hour 05) Fractious Electrons 06) Through Drifting Clouds 07) A Circus To Remember 08) Loose Box 09) Falling Water 10) Little Motors Move The Moon 11) Wonder And Excitement 12) What To Wear Now, What To Wear Next 13) Your Hand Today Holds The Future Of Tomorrow 14) Wonder Street 15) Waves ALBUM NOTES: The Unrealist is an album of improvised guitar instrumentals issued as a download-only album on the Tremelo Boy label available through Nelson's Bandcamp page. The Unrealist album was created between June and November 2017 from material recorded immediately after completing work on Songs For Ghosts . As he completed the track listing for the Songs For Ghosts album, Nelson realised he still had more to explore in this vein. Starting with these new "overflow" tracks, he went on to record another double album's worth of songs for the project. He then separated out the instrumental tracks, which became The Unrealist album. Assembly of the resulting album, including the recording of the final couple of tracks featured on it, was undertaken in the first two weeks of November 2017. Having a new website to experiment with, Nelson adapted his normal practice of posting news and updates to the Dreamsville Forum , preferring instead to create illustrated journal entries that he would post directly to the new site. The material was initially given a series of tentative titles, No Ghosts Here , Spooky Annexe , Singing in the Ether , and Lovely Apparitions , all signalling its links to the Songs For Ghosts project. However, once Nelson had elected to separate out the material and concentrate on completing an instrumental record, it would be re-named Wonder Street in honour of the album's newest composition (completed on 7 November 2017). Fleetingly, Nelson considered calling the album Guitar Stories , before changing his mind a couple of days later to Lumiluxe , while also confirming its proposed track listing. Within 24 hours though, Nelson changed the title again, settling on The Unrealist . During the mastering stage one track, "Deep Blue", was removed from the album as Nelson "felt disconnected from it in some way", reducing The Unrealist to 15 tracks. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "The Unrealist is an instrumental album featuring 15 prominent electric guitar, keyboard and percussion tracks in a mainly rock setting but with some gentler, more reflective pieces plus a couple of abrasive avant-garde moments, (and, of course, the occasional jazzy mood). It will hopefully appeal to those fans who enjoy my extended guitar improvisations." _____ "Some of the songs on here are, I suspect, destined to be greatly favoured by fans. Forgive me for sounding immodest, but this album is chock-full of prime, rock-pop material (and quite a few left-field excursions) and therefore worthy of your intelligent and enthusiastic attention. All ongoing but almost there!" _____ "The track "Fractious Electrons" may prove a bit challenging for some listeners...it's an abstract, slightly chaotic and mad thing. Closest similar track in attitude would be "The Revenge of The Man in the Burning Ice Cream Van" but this is less linear. I like it! But, there are other, sweeter, more melodic tracks on there too, (for those listeners less inclined towards the avant-garde). It's a very varied and interesting set of tunes." _____ "A casual, free roaming instrumental album for guitar lovers." FAN THOUGHTS: merikan1: "One of my favourites. I cannot recommend this one highly enough. To me, it encapsulates the core BN instrumental styles. It would make a great introduction if you are wanting to introduce someone to Bill's instrumental music." Steve: "Just playing The Unrealist for the FIFTH time in a row - so - track 12 (What To Wear Now, What To Wear Next) is particularly fab..." Coach Matt: "One of Bill's best I believe. He was not kidding when he said, more good music is ahead. I find this album very sensual, pleasing and yet invigorating. Plenty of Bill Nelson sounds we all come to enjoy. And with the lovely ebow injections." mo497: "Pure instrumental guitar bliss from the maestro! Lots of tasty licks mainly in a rock vein, but 'Falling Water' is an evocative masterpiece and one of Bill's most beautiful recorded performances." Albums Menu Future Past

Sound-On-Sound Bill Nelson's Red Noise album - 16 February 1979 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this box set Purchase this double CD TRACKS: 01) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) 02) For Young Moderns 03) Stop/Go/Stop 04) Furniture Music 05) Radar In My Heart 06) Stay Young 07) Out Of Touch 08) A Better Home In The Phantom Zone 09) Substitute Flesh 10) The Atom Age 11) Art/Empire/Industry 12) Revolt Into Style ALBUM NOTES: Sound-On-Sound was Bill Nelson's first album to be issued subsequent to the dissolution of Be Bop Deluxe. The album would prove to be his final for EMI. Sound-On-Sound represents a major departure from Nelson's previous work, combining the urgency of New Wave music with the layering of synthesisers that would come to define the Synth Pop sounds of 1979-83. Consequently, the album is virtually absent of guitar solos, and the songs are delivered in a frantic, accelerated pace compared to most of Nelson's past work. Most of the tracks on Sound-On-Sound feature the nucleus of Nelson, Clark and Ford (as described for the Furniture Music single) with Ian Nelson playing saxophones and/or synthesisers on 10 of the 12 tracks. Dave Mattacks from Fairport Convention played drums on only four tracks. Sound-on-Sound was initially issued by Harvest on vinyl (complete with lyrics on the inner sleeve) and cassette, and peaked at No. 33 in the UK album chart. The album failed to sustain the level of interest associated with Be Bop Deluxe, and when EMI underwent a major re-structure in late 1979, Bill Nelson's Red Noise were dropped. Sound-On-Sound was deleted (along with the Be Bop Deluxe catalogue) sometime around 1980/81. 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. On 26 August 2022, after all the Be Bop Deluxe albums had been given a deluxe box set release, it was now the turn of the Red Noise material. Due to licensing restrictions, the box set couldn't be called Sound-On-Sound , but was instead given the title Art/Empire/Industry . The Deluxe Edition comprised of: a freshly remastered version of the original album. a 2022 remix of the full album. includes previously unreleased concert recorded at De Montfort Hall, Leicester on 8 March 1979 a previously unreleased track entitled 'My Light' recorded for the Sound-On-Sound sessions. 4 recordings from a 1979 BBC Friday Rock Show session. a CD of previously unreleased Bill Nelson demos for the Sound-On Sound sessions. the original album presented in a 5.1 mix. previously unreleased promotional video of 'Revolt Into Style'. three tracks performed by Red Noise on BBC TV's 'Old Grey Whistle Test'. The box set includes a lavishly-illustrated book with extensive essay by Bill Nelson and a foreword by Steven Wilson, a facsimile tour programme, poster and four postcards. A 2CD edition of the album is also being released at the same time as the Deluxe Edition. The full track listing for the Deluxe Edition is: Disc One: 01) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) 02) For Young Moderns 03) Stop/Go/Stop 04) Furniture Music 05) Radar In My Heart 06) Stay Young 07) Out Of Touch 08) A Better Home In The Phantom Zone 09) Substitute Flesh 10) The Atom Age 11) Art/Empire/Industry 12) Revolt Into Style 13) Wonder Toys That Last Forever 14) Acquitted by Mirrors (B-side Of 'Furniture Music' EP) 15) Stay Young (BBC Session 17.02.1979) 16) Furniture Music (BBC Session 17.02.1979) 17) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) (BBC Session 17.02.1979) 18) Out Of Touch (BBC Session 17.02.1979) Disc Two Live At The De Montfort Hall, Leicester 1979 01) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) 02) For Young Moderns 03) Furniture Music 04) Out Of Touch 05) Stop/Go/Stop 06) Atom Age 07) Possession 08) Superenigmatix 09) Substitute Flesh 10) A Better Home In The Phantom Zone 11) Radar in My Heart 12) Art/Empire/Industry 13) Revolt Into Style 14) Stay Young 15) For Young Moderns (Encore) Disc Three 01) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) (New Stereo Mix) 02) For Young Moderns (New Stereo Mix) 03) Stop/Go/Stop (New Stereo Mix) 04) Furniture Music (New Stereo Mix) 05) Radar In My Heart (New Stereo Mix) 06) Stay Young (New Stereo Mix) 07) Out Of Touch (New Stereo Mix) 08) A Better Home In The Phantom Zone (New Stereo Mix) 09) Substitute Flesh (New Stereo Mix) 10) The Atom Age (New Stereo Mix) 11) Art/Empire/Industry (New Stereo Mix) 12) Revolt Into Style (New Stereo Mix) 13) Wonder Toys That Last Forever (New Stereo Mix) 14) Acquitted By Mirrors (New Stereo Mix) 15) My Light (Previously Unreleased - Recorded For The 'Sound On Sound' Sessions) (New Stereo Mix) 16) Instantly Yours (New Stereo Mix) 17) Ideal Homes (New Stereo Mix) 18) Disposable (New Stereo Mix) Disc Four 01) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) (5.1 mix) 02) For Young Moderns (5.1 mix) 03) Stop/Go/Stop (5.1 mix) 04) Furniture Music (5.1 mix) 05) Radar In My Heart (5.1 mix) 06) Stay Young (5.1 mix) 07) Out Of Touch (5.1 mix) 08) A Better Home In The Phantom Zone (5.1 mix) 09) Substitute Flesh (5.1 mix) 10) The Atom Age (5.1 mix) 11) Art/Empire/Industry (5.1 mix) 12) Revolt Into Style (5.1 mix) Disc Five 01) Wonder Toys That Last Forever (5.1 mix) 02) Acquitted By Mirrors (5.1 mix) 03) My Light (5.1 mix) (Recorded For The 'Sound On Sound' Sessions) 04) Instantly Yours (5.1 mix) 05) Ideal Homes (5.1 mix) 06) Disposable (5.1 mix) Video Content 01) Revolt into Style (Promotional video 1979) 02) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) (BBC TV Old Grey Whistle Test – 1979) 03) Furniture Music (BBC TV Old Grey Whistle Test 1979) 04) Stay Young (BBC TV Old Grey Whistle Test 1979) Disc Six Bill Nelson Red Noise Demos 1978 – Previously Unreleased 01) Acquitted By Mirrors (Demo) 02) For Young Moderns (Demo) 03) Stop/Go/Stop (Demo) 04) Furniture Music (Demo) 05) Radar In My Heart (Demo) 06) Stay Young (Demo) 07) Out Of Touch (Demo) 08) A Better Home In The Phantom Zone (Demo) 09) Substitute Flesh (Demo) 10) The Atom Age (Demo) 11) Revolt Into Style (Demo) 12) Waiting For The Night (Demo) 13) My Light (Demo) On 22 April 2023, Bill Nelson's Red Noise Live – De Montfort Hall Leicester 1979 was released separately to the above Deluxe edition as a 2x10" LP set, pressed on red vinyl released by Esoteric Recordings in a limited edition of 500 copies for Record Store Day, available while stocks last at participating independent record shops. The track listing for the 2x10" vinyl set is: A1) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) A2) For Young Moderns A3) Furniture Music A4) Out Of Touch B1) Stop/Go/Stop B2) Atom Age B3) Possession B4) Superenigmatix B5) Substitute Flesh C1) A Better Home In The Phantom Zone C2) Radar in My Heart C3) Art/Empire/Industry C4) Revolt Into Style D1) Stay Young D2) For Young Moderns (Encore) PAST RELEASES: Sound-On-Sound has been re-issued on vinyl once (1986, Cocteau), and on CD on three separate occasions (1989 Enigma, 1999 EMI, and 2012 EMI). The 2012 CD from EMI is the most extensive in content, coming as it does with all four b-side tracks from the album's two singles, plus four previously unreleased tracks recorded from a BBC 'session' (17/02/79 Friday Rock Show). Extra songs on the 2012 CD: Furniture Music b-sides: 13) Wonder Toys That Last Forever 14) Acquitted By Mirrors Revolt Into Style b-sides: 15) Stay Young (Live at Leicester De Montfort Hall, 8 March 1979) 16) Out Of Touch (Live at Leicester De Montfort Hall, 8 March 1979) Radio 1 Friday Rock Show session (17 February 1979) 17) Stay Young 18) Furniture Music 19) Don't Touch Me (I'm Electric) 20) Out Of Touch This 2012 edition was remastered (using the 1999 remaster), includes new liners notes and contains a nice selection of photos from the time period. Although overall the sound quality is an improvement over the previous CD issues, the album version of "Stay Young" on this edition suffers from a what appears to be a 'drop out' introduced in the remastering process. The 2012 reissue was deleted in 2014 and is currently out of print as a physical CD, but is still available as a digital download from Amazon and iTunes. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The deluxe box set and the 2-CD set is available for purchase in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "The main inspirations were dystopian science fiction novels from the likes of George Orwell (and E.M. Forster's 'The Machine Stops', written in 1909 and frighteningly prophetic of the internet). Also images from Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' and the ideas encapsulated in Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'. But there's also a future-kitsch element to the Red Noise album's stylings, a sense of irony and a slight tongue-in-cheek quality that suggests humorous absurdity. Although the songs portray a future with sinister overtones, the album attempts to have fun with these concepts, almost as if the citizens who inhabit the future-world the album portrays are too wrapped up in its electric distractions to register the negative effect it is having on their cultural values. Or something like that!" _____ "Punk wasn't the reason I disbanded Be Bop Deluxe, just frustration with the 'straightjacket' I felt we'd been fitted with by the industry and our success. The band's commercial machine was on an ever increasing upward path when I switched it off. I'd actually tried to pull the plug much earlier, before the Drastic Plastic album was recorded, but had been persuaded by the band's management to hold on a bit longer. Had I gotten my way, the Drastic Plastic material would have been recorded as the first Red Noise album. Instead, I adapted it for the final Be Bop album." _____ "I don't separate Be Bop era from Red Noise Era from whatever. It's a constantly flowing river heading out into an ocean of whatever is left when I'm gone. What appears to be different sections or parts appears so only if you view them from close up, from a particular point of bias. If you stand back and take in the entire work, you'll see it as a unity, a single expression of 'being', a single, unwavering, personal voice. And it's ALL relevant to the story I'm telling. No single part is any less or more important than another." _____ "I chose the album title, Sound-On-Sound , as a reference to early multi-track recording techniques, as pioneered by the great Les Paul." _____ "The little 'notice' on the vinyl version about playing the album loud and 'motorised in sequence' etc, etc, was written by me, tongue firmly in cheek... On the original back cover, an "Important Notice" stated: "This record has been styled with today's hi-fi in mind. For optimum results it should be played at high volume in a room with no views other than those afforded by the use of subliminal image video apparatus. Dancing is allowed though electrical stimulation of the nervous system is unnecessary. The music has been motorized in sequence to conserve real time. File under Absolute A-Go-Go." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review on Punk Brighton by Stuart Jones Review of the deluxe edition on Echoes And Dust by Zachary Nathanson FAN THOUGHTS: Peter: "SOS is a masterpiece! Everyone is so right about how this collection is so unique, so alive, so frantically searching for something -- and so revealing of exciting new things to come. Rather like Bill throwing down the gauntlet at the feet of the world (and the music industry) and hollering "Take THAT!" "It reflects Bill's love-hate relationship with change and technology in a raw, pureness that makes it jump into your ears and run around your brain pan laughing at the top of its lungs." asterisk: "Every time I listen to this album, not only do I hear some of the best, tightest, and most exhilarating songs ever recorded, I also heard Bill's muse moaning, panting, and screaming in ecstasy. It's no wonder she's stayed with him all these years." telekon: "It's fun, self-conscious punk-post-punk-new-wave-prog-rock-eletronica-kitchen-sink-garage-door-glass-of-aspirin-cats-on-fire kind of stuff." Swan: "Sound-On-Sound blew my head clean away at the time...it was like a shot of oxygen in a carbon dioxide rich environment...I re-bought it only last year...and...my head is still remote from my neck! A class and very important album. Dare I say it?...away ahead of its time..." John Izzard: "Don't be misled by the title, Sound-On-Sound is not an audio recording, it's a feature film in your head. Never in my long and delirious love affair with the album as an art-format, have I experienced a more cohesive, coherent - and fun - explosion of creativity. Unprecedented and unsurpassed in concept and delivery, I'm forever a rabbit in the dazzling glare of this album's headlights." andygeorge: "I remember when I played SOS for the first time thinking WTF!! is this? I think it was the shock of hearing Bill explode out of the speakers, guns blazing and taking no prisoners! Then it clicked. I played it continuously, hooked by the frantic energy of the opening track until the last tracks killer ending...and yes, I can remember my mum, god bless her soul, shouting out that classic line "turn that bloody music down!"..." paul.smith: "I have had sex to "Don't Touch Me, I'm Electric", but that's another story - resulting in an ambulance being called and several paramedics attempting to restart my heart..." Southern Dreamer: "I cycled home from town, put the LP on my ancient record player and pretty much sat there for the whole length of the album with my jaw dropping on the bedroom carpet as I listed to the incredible sound (on sound) coming out of the small battery powered speaker. "One after another the songs burst out from the vinyl grooves; each track sending my pulse racing, as well as to my amazement, when each track finished I just couldn't imagine that the next one would match it, but they did - and some! When the final chords of Revolt into Style crashed out and the pick-up arm lifted the stylus off the LP; my one & only thought - I HAVE GOT TO LISTEN TO THAT RECORD AGAIN, NOW!! And listen to it again I did; and again, and again and… "Be-Bop Deluxe were brilliant, but here was an entirely different listening experience; this was music for the now - hip hop and happening! I listened to the album so many times over the course of the following months and not once did it fail to reach the parts that most other albums of that period could only dream of getting anywhere near. "However when all is said and done SOS will always stand up to any scrutiny that could be applied towards the recordings from that period and it will forever remain one of THE stand-out albums of the post punk era. It is with us now for all to marvel at and will be there for generations of listeners to come." Paul Gilby - Sound on Sound: "Back in Feb 1979 I was in my final year at art college. The Red Noise album was playing on my cassette machine time after time and driving many of the girls in the art studio mad. But, the guys all loved it and we'd put up with listening to plenty of 'their music'. The Red Noise concert at Newcastle City Hall was stunning and I have a clear memory of how it made me feel even today. My brother Ian had a band at the time, so "Revolt Into Style" and "Furniture Music" were rehearsed and added to the playlist within weeks of the album coming out. Fast-forward many years, Ian and I were working in publishing and itching to start our own music magazine. Whilst writing the business plan in March 1985 and getting the editorial ideas together, we would often play the Sound-On-Sound album. Then when we were making a list of possible magazine names such as Studio World or Recording Monthly, we added Sound-On-Sound. This was not only the album we were listening to but also the name is actually taken from the sound recording process pioneered by Les Paul and was very applicable to our readership. So, we thought we'd drop the dashes and named the mag Sound On Sound and launched in Oct 1985. Over the years we would often interview Bill but it wasn't until 2004 that we got involved to help him out with his web site and then manage the CD pressing and mail order. Back in 1979 I would never have believed this would ever have happened. Life takes some interesting turns! Regards all, Paul" wonder toy: "We must all stand back in awe and honor the tremendous courage and sheer BALLS it must have taken in the name of art and following one's creative spirit at all costs. Cheers to Bill Nelson. This album is a monument to why that struggle to get your vision across as an artist is so important." Albums Menu Future Past

Think and You'll Miss It Bill Nelson download single - 17 December 2012 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Think And You'll Miss It 02) Beat Street NOTES: "Think and You'll Miss It" and "Beat Street" are two exclusive instrumentals issued as a free 2 track digital single on the same day that Nelson issued his cover version of "Silent Night". "Think and You'll Miss It" was premiered at Nelsonica 12 (the final such event in all likelihood) on 29 September 2012 when it was part of Nelson's live solo set. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available as a free digital download on this page, or in the Free Downloads section . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "I've made a special Christmas Gift to all my friends and fans in the form of a FREE downloadable single! Hopefully, a nice surprise... It has an 'A' and a 'B' side. The A-side is titled "Think And You'll Miss It". This free download track is a studio version of a new instrumental which was performed, (and premiered), at this year's Nelsonica. It's a piece full of shiny electric guitar. The B-side of the free single is titled "Beat Street", and is a cool, but angular, jazzy guitar instrumental. "PS: I've also created a simple cover image for you to download and place in your mp3 players to accompany the single. Hope you will enjoy both tracks! Merry Christmas, chums!" Singles Menu Future Past

The Tremulous Doo-Wah Diddy (Blip! 2) Bill Nelson album - 15 June 2013 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) The Kiss Of History 02) Away 03) 17 Electric Women 04) Gooseberry Jam 05) Paradox Jukebox 06) Naughty, Naughty 07) Dr Synth's Disco Demento 08) Fruity Ornaments 09) A Fountain In The Middle Of Nowhere 10) The Queen Of Atlantis 11) Whoop-Be-Doopy-Doopy! 12) Thundercloudy 13) The Buddha Boys 14) Glisten ALBUM NOTES: The Tremulous Doo-Wah Diddy (Blip! 2) is a CDR album of vocal pieces recorded for the Blip! project, but which failed to make the final running order. Limited to less than 200 copies, Blip 2 was produced in recognition of the support Nelson received from fans for attending the launch party of Blip! , and was issued free to all attendees on the evening of the event. Each copy was individually numbered and autographed by Nelson on the printed labels, bearing the Sonoluxe catalogue number CD026. The album came in a clear plastic sleeve with neither artwork nor track listing (although the latter was available on the Dreamsville forum). The limited nature of Blip 2 caused some dissension on the Dreamsville forum before the event had even been staged, and as a way to placate those who didn't attend the event (and therefore couldn't obtain the music), the album was released as a download through Bandcamp on 1 July 2013, complete with full artwork. At Nelson's very next public appearance, at the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield on 20 September 2013, a few 'spare' copies of Blip 2 were available to buy at the merch table, which merely served to re-stoke the previous debate. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "I've spent much of today sorting through the recordings that, for one reason or another, didn't quite make the final running order for my forthcoming BLIP! album. I'm currently in the process of choosing a track list for the free, limited-edition, personally-signed BLIP 2 out-takes album that will be given free to fans who purchase a ticket for the exclusive BLIP! launch party event in June. "The surprising thing for me, (if not for you, dear fans), is that this 'out-takes' album sounds equally as potent and vital as the main BLIP! album itself...However, this bonus, personally autographed out-takes disc will only be available as an individually burned and personally signed CDR for those of you who purchase tickets for the special BLIP! launch party event." _____ "14 tracks may seem relatively modest, (at least compared to the 22 tracks on BLIP! ), but several of the pieces are long-form and develop slowly over a relaxed period of time, morphing and meta-morphing like the view seen from a train travelling through a timeless landscape..." _____ "One of the tracks, titled "Paradox Jukebox", features quotes from "Do You Dream in Colour?", "Ships in the Night", "Sister Seagull" and "Crying to the Sky", all set to a sequenced synth pattern with heavy guitars and a sweetly melodic vocal line. It's as smooth as silk and as weird and funny as Uncle Fester." _____ The front cover: "It's actually a photograph of a vintage guitar...but dramatically twisted and altered by myself via computer software!" FAN THOUGHTS: andygeorge: "Paradox Jukebox": "What's all that about Bill? Thought my CD had warped back to the seventies all by itself, caught me right off guard! Loving it...I heard "Quit Dreaming", "Sister Seagull", " Crying to the Sky" and "Maid in Heaven" in there. I must say it's excellent! Lots of guitars and trademark Nelson shenanigans going on here, liking it a lot!" "As good as Blip! is, and I've been playing it daily since the gig, Blip 2 for me is the better of the two...Loving "A Fountain in the Middle of Nowhere", could have fallen off Gleaming Without Lights , beautiful guitar work...just love it when Bill flows so freely and effortlessly like this. And "Paradox Jukebox" is also a fav... So, those that are hesitating...GET IT NOW!!" Prey: "I have only heard Blip 2 so far and I'm thinking...if this is the second string group of tunes how can the first be better? If this were a sports team I'd be shaking in my boots that I just faced the little guys and barely survived, what will the real deal do to me?!" Captain Custard: "Is Bill the only person who's productive career expands the older he gets...The quality does not diminish. Blip! is great, Blip 2 amazing. When Blip 2 was part of the package for those of us lucky enough to attend the launch, it may have been seen as a freebie, a disc of not such good tracks, but we'll bung'em in anyway and give it away. A bit like a kid with a lucky bag...'Oh I'll eat the rice paper flying saucer, but you can have that crap plastic whistle'...but oh no, Blip 2 is full of really listenable, ahead of its time music. Well done Bill, you've done it again." MondoJohnny: "I don't know...I almost feel like I like Blip 2 more than Blip! . It has such a quirky eclectic feel to it. I wonder what it is exactly that makes me like it so much. I guess its sort of that Blip! all seems like "goes together" whatever that means. Ok, here it is. Blip! is a treasury of precious objects, where Blip 2 is more a menagerie of strange animals." RJR: "Blip 2 seems to have found a home somewhat instantly. Good, good stuff. "Glisten" is truly remarkable." Dar: "Glisten": "It's TOO good. Makes me want more like it, and made my interest level in the rest of the tunes drop off. Also, the 10 sec intro to "Fruity Ornaments" had the same effect. Things so astonishingly beautiful that all else pales beside them." G. Vazquez: "I'm quite enjoying the album. It has a great vibe. I think the first songs I was most impressed at are "The Kiss of History", "Away" and "The Queen of Atlantis". So: be smart, do buy Blip 2 !" Puzzleoyster: "For me again it has to be " Buddha Boys" from Blip 2 . I count around nine Different sections of bliss musicality on this track and keep on counting. Money alone cannot buy this. Awesome is not enough and most likely never will be. It is for me an artist nailed on the top of his game." Albums Menu Future Past

The Lockdown Song (It's All Downhill From Here) download single - 24 November 2020 Bill Nelson Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) The Lockdown Song NOTES: 'The Lockdown Song (It's All Downhill From Here)' was recorded during the first UK lockdown resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, but when the situation eased up it, Nelson felt the track became redundant, so it just became a curio. But once the second lockdown happened, it seemed appropriate again and was made available as a free download, here in its unmastered state! CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available as a free digital download on this page, or in the Free Downloads section . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Titled 'The Lockdown Song (It's All Downhill From Here)', it was recorded during the first UK lockdown, but still seems it might be appropriate for the current moment. It's one of the Cubase recordings that I've amassed and will appear here in its raw, unmastered and naked state. (Heck, you're getting it for free, so don't expect it to be polished to burnished!)" _____ Regarding the Cover image: "Actually, it's not Pinocchio, though I can see why you might think it was. It's a paper mask of a 'funny' man with a moustache which I attached to an antique wooden wig stand. The hat is a children's party hat which I bought because it resembles a hat that Rupert Bear wore at a Christmas party in an old 1950s Rupert Annual story. I added it to the creation to bring more of a comic element to the image. I then placed it in our garden shed, a dusty, cobwebbed place, and photographed it through the window as if the man was looking out at the world from his confinement." Singles Menu Future Past

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

Bill Nelson Picture Gallery Pictures of Bill after the Be Bop Deluxe years...

Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow Bill Nelson album - 1 November 2008 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Welcome To Electric City 02) Once I Had A Time Machine 03) Summer Hums In The Bee-Loud Glade 04) Frosty Lawns (Snowballs And Oranges) 05) God Glows Green In Small Town Park 06) My Empty Bowl Is Full Of Sky 07) When Aeroplanes Were Dragonflys 08) Night Is The Engine Of My Imagination 09) The Old Nebulosity Waltz 10) Help Us Magic Robot 11) Time's Quick-Spun Globe 12) Fountains Are Singing In Cities Of Light 13) The Emperor Of The Evening 14) I Saw Galaxies 15) Until All Our Lights Combine 16) Heaven Is A Haunted Realm 17) Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow 18) Golden Coda (Farewell To Electric City) ALBUM NOTES: Golden Melodies of Tomorrow is a vocal album issued on the Sonoluxe label in a single print run of 1000 copies. Work on the album coincided with writing material for that year's Nelsonica release, Clocks and Dials , with Nelson completing 64 tracks by July 2008, at which point he began the task of selecting track listings for each album. Golden Melodies of Tomorrow was issued at Nelsonica '08 , with remaining stock then sold through SOS. The album sold out on 7 March 2018. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: " Golden Melodies of Tomorrow is, I think, destined to become one of my own personal favourite albums. One that defines me, here and now, in a very direct and special way. "It's an album that ignores whatever the current mainstream is pursuing. It approaches the listener from a very different musical universe. I was aiming for beauty and transcendence and quiet power too, something futuristic but also ancient, ultra-modern but timeless. "In keeping with recent themes, I think of the album as a sort of clock mechanism, a hand-made, bejewelled movement that, (hopefully), once set in motion, fascinates and intrigues the listener with its interlocking parts and shining, myriad cogs and wheels. A golden, whirring, dream factory of song." _____ "As you may know, for me, Golden Melodie s is a special moment in my ongoing musical journey. And yes, there's a weird nostalgia and a kind of melancholy sweetness in there but it's deliberately intended...It's meant to be surreal, arch, kitsch, ironic, knowing. "It IS a fantasy album, it is escapism, it does refute the realm of aggressive truck drivers, it DOES try to steer away from the 'real' world. It does avoid rock and all its macho struttings, it is paradoxical and deceptive. Evasive even. "Golden Melodies is about an interior world, it's about the psyche and the desires and imagination of a man of my own age, sensibilities and background. It could also be said to be psychedelic, in the classical sense. "Its momentum is achieved by playing off my innocent inner nature against my cynical outer nature. 'm asking questions of myself about certain romantic, poetic impulses that motivate me. I'm also indulging those impulses, giving them full rein, seeing where they lead. I'm trying to be brave, to address the things that many men suppress for fear of feminising themselves. It's a sensual album, it's as much about sex as it is about spirituality. It's deliberately 'away with the fairies' with their transparent skirts, shapely legs and come-hither smiles. As my pal Hal once put it: "Butterflies with Tits". "Think Richard Gadd dining with Gilbert and Sullivan whilst Edward Elgar tries to get to grips with a Yamaha Motif keyboard in a Busby Berkley film set in tea-room off the coast of dreams. Somewhere in there sits Johnny Smith with a big Gibson archtop, filling the air with liquid silver improvisations guided by the ghost of Charlie Christian. "I'm trying to pile image on image, beauty on beauty, relentlessly, orgasmically, to the point of overload. It's a haunting, a view of somewhere beyond this world, yet sprung from it... "Aspects of the album are pure nostalgia, turned up to number 11, pushed and pushed until it becomes something else, something almost supernatural, maybe alien. "Like Sailor Bill, it is an alchemic act of composition. "Working on the album has transformed me in ways that are invisible to the outer world." _____ "The whole album runs like an epic movie from start to finish. Widescreen, Vista-vision, etc...I think this is a special one, a high point. "If you're not staggered and amazed by this when you finally get to hear it, then there's no hope. If Sailor Bill was my 'Smile', then this is my 'Smile' plus 'Sgt. Pepper', wrapped up in one...but entirely different to either. It's post-post-modern, more fractured than a broken mirror, more delicate than a butterfly's wing, tougher and rougher than Richard Harris in 'This Sporting Life', more romantic and sexy than a kiss under a gas-lamp in a cobbled street in a rainstorm...More 'me' than ever before. An entire pocket universe of sound and lyrics...you're going to LOVE it!" _____ "Sometimes, I approached the writing and recording of the album as if it were a sharp, clearly defined painting but then took a large, soft brush and blurred the edges, placing the music in a slightly foggy, twilight world, a world formed by the flickering amber glow of gas-lamps and mysterious shadows. "Other times, (such as "Summer Hums", and "When Aeroplanes Were Dragonflys"), I threw the doors and windows wide open and let the Sun and birdsong stream in." _____ "The songs are constructed from the ground up...not just with surprise codas, but with contrasting and contradictory 'movements' that occur throughout the entire song. "I've often made the analogy of my music being like a kind of Frankenstein monster...lots of unrelated bits of lost or dead music stitched together, then thousands of crackling volts of electricity applied to them until they come to life, get up off the studio table and walk out the door to haunt the neighbours. "Maybe Golden Melodies is more of a 'Bride of Frankenstein', weirdly beautiful, shockingly sexy, a composite angel, part butterfly, part dark moth." _____ "The image of the lady on the front cover of Golden Melodies of Tomorrow is taken from the catalogue of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The designer of the dress forecast near nudity in the future and made this creation from cellophane and a synthetic opaque fabric called 'Teca'. The model's shoes are made from Dupont Lucite. The designer thought that, in the future, we'd all have better bodies and that there would be scientifically maintained temperatures, therefore clothes would be reduced to the minimum." FAN THOUGHTS: jetboy: "The first thing that strikes me with this album is that it's so 'cinematic' in approach...filled to the brim with achingly beautiful melodies that disappear as quickly as they appeared. "Imagine taking your seat in a cinema, low lit and ready for dreamland, the curtain rises, the journey begins. The music acts as a roving eye would be, swooping and flying down from the hills into "Welcome to Electric City"...angelic keys, backwards loops, fanfares, chimes and Bill Nelson's spectral orchestra works its magic... "This album is stunning. My favourite Bill Nelson vocal album to date. Give yourself some quality listening time, relax (try candlelight) and let the music work its magic. The final track, "Golden Coda (Farewell to Electric City)" is a fanfare of symphony, drum and piano rolls, guitars and trumpets, the credits are now rolling and it's back to now. Which isn't so bad, just press the play button again... "This album is...Lamplit seduction, moonlight kisses, fluted alabaster, soaring wurlitzers, bubbling static, English meadows and the girl or boy of your dreams." BobK: "At the risk of sounding a bit over the top, this is possibly the best 'vocal' album BN has made in 25 years. Not simply because the vocals are wonderful, (and a lot of care has obviously gone into them), but it is chock full of simply GORGEOUS melodies. The word that keeps coming into my head is 'beautiful'. Check out the melody that kicks in at 1.28 on "My Empty Bowl is Full of Sky". Now THAT'S a gorgeous melody, and simply one of many... "The style, for want of a better word, is a curious mixture of past albums, such as Whimsy , Sailor Bill , Jazz of Lights , but is something very different and certainly, to my ears, more immediate and less 'thematic' than those. The structure of the tracks are often strange and unpredictable and have unexpected changes in melody and unexpected instrumental sections. "Finally, there are loads of new sounds and bleeps and whirls and it 'sounds' stunning, ie. very well produced and engineered. This is a veritable corker. BUY! BUY!! BUY!!!" " Golden Melodies is possibly my fave BN album ever. Certainly in my top 3 or so. Absolutely brilliant from beginning to end." tommaso: "Well, right when I heard the opening chords of "Welcome to Electric City" I felt convinced that I was in for something very special and extraordinary, and I was right. Golden Melodies just doesn't compare to anything else in Bill's oeuvre, not even Sailor Bill . Each and every track has a complexity that I can't remember to have found in any other album by Bill (let alone other 'pop' artists). This is much more akin to classical composition than to 'pop' music, BUT it doesn't ever appear to be forced or 'experimental' for experimentalism's sake. There are indeed a lot of golden melodies here, and they are not hidden, but right on the surface to behold in all their glory. But they are graced with extremely well worked-out arrangements, and an ever-changing bustle of sound underneath, and the result is nothing short of magical. "I'm surprised how 'visual' this album is, how much it conjures up images of early Hollywood musicals - Bill himself mentioned Busby Berkeley - or fashion shows of the era (at least for me). Of course these images are triggered by the cover designs, but they can be found in the music alone I believe; those swooping string cascades in many songs, for instance. It is all about elegance and a world past, but it's not nostalgia, but definitely a sort of futuristic recreation of that world. This could very well be the soundtrack to Fred and Ginger doing The Continental in the year 2050. "There's something exceedingly warm and pleasing about this music, something very emotionally satisfying. And it is so well constructed down in its tiniest details: no 'noodling', every sound is necessary and in its proper place. Great singing and production, too. Oh, and I liked the idea of a sort of 'double coda' that is formed by the last two tracks. An extended farewell to a world that I hope Bill will very soon re-visit." Wasp In Aspic: "I must add my voice to those who feel that Golden Melodies is quite possibly Bill's best album for 25 years. This is a magical work of art which makes everything else around seem inadequate. Even the timing of the release is great, sounding as it does like the ultimate dream of a favourite Christmas time musical from the past's future. Bill - it just does not compute that someone in their sixtieth year has produced such a landmark in their career." Mozo: "Quite honestly must confess...I am simply mesmerized! Golden Melodies of Tomorrow is essentially the perfect title for this gem. The scope and majesty of this offering is simply beyond words. A masterpiece of musical landscape laid out right before your ears and mind, courtesy of the maestro of musical luster, Mr. Bill Nelson. My thanks to you are forever for this journey Bill and I just can't help but ask the million dollar question...Just how do you keep doing it??? I was wondering when you were going to top Sailor Bill . In my mind, we didn't have to wait too long!" Man in the rexine pyjamas: "Must just say that the tracks are epic. Not similar in style to Sailor Bill , but the same wide, sonic horizons. How the man has completed that many work-intense pieces is amazing." Swan: "It's lovely...it's now...it's a record of a musician at the very height of his powers...I love it." "Once I Had a Time Machine" - "How the hell was that recorded in a spare bedroom???? I'm boggled!" Nigel Wade: "Beautiful, uplifting, complex, heartfelt music. There's a yearning right there in the vocals that really cuts through to my bones." BenTucker: "I think the whole of Golden Melodies is a sort of poetic tonic, which never fails to raise my spirits. It should probably be available on the NHS." "It makes pretty much everything else out there seem inadequate by comparison. Truly a magical, moving experience submerging yourself in this music. I think I've already exhausted the superlatives a few albums back, so I'll cut my "review" short (leaves more time for listening to the music)." steve lyles: "Some of the best music Bill has ever made...the musicianship...songwriting composition and emotional brilliance of these pieces transcend time and space for me...there are not enough superlatives to describe how wonderfully grateful I am to be plugged in to Bill Nelson's musical Jukebox galaxy...Bill Nelson may you live forever. Cheers from Sycophantic Steve." Pathdude: "It is without a doubt that this is some of the best Bill Nelson music I've ever heard. I'm completely delighted with the concept of Golden Melodies . These are some of the most potent melodies, sound effects, and arrangements to be delivered to my ears." prodgers: "Just when you think BN would some day run out of Inspirational Ideas like so many other greats have, he puts out Golden Melodies of Tomorrow . All I can say is WOW! A big WOW!! This should be called Bill's White album, as it has all the ingredients that make it his Most complete music to date." wadcorp: "I find that Bill's output of the last few years is amazing stuff. Dense & textured in ways no other artist is even attempting. And he's pulled elements from a huge array of sources, usually in small touches. One cannot absorb all of it in one go. It takes multiple listenings. You need to let it wash over you." blackdograilroad: "A Great Big Onion!...by which I mean every time I listen I hear yet another layer to it, a new melody, a new texture, a new tone. If this was a film it would be a sleeper. Not as instantly catchy as others, I needed quite a few listens to start 'getting' it but repeated spins are wonderfully rewarding, sort of a different taste with every bite...really a remarkable work. Thanks, Bill." felixt1: " Golden Melodies of Tomorrow will blow you away." "This is an absolute classic and really should be owned by everyone." "I was once again struck by the sheer quality of the songwriting and performance of these songs, which are already so familiar to me - and how well they connect with me. So thanks again, Bill, for creating such beautiful music which at times touches us so deeply." stpetelou: "Last night I put on Golden Melodies of Tomorrow and was once again reminded of what a wonderfully special one it is to me! Anyone who doesn't own it, should grab it IMMEDIATELY! "Help Us Magic Robot", "I Saw Galaxies", so many fantastic compositions and enchanting lyrics. Not to mention, the CD artwork is a thing of beauty also!" Albums Menu Future Past

Old Haunts More Listening Notes Go to Album Listening Notes to accompany the album Blip! by Bill Nelson General introduction: Towards the end of 2012 I began work on a series of recordings which were ultimately intended for release as a double album titled 'Grand Auditoria.' The idea behind 'Grand Auditoria' was that it would touch on the diverse musical styles explored throughout my life as a musician. I hoped each track would reflect a different genre from my past, but with a contemporary twist. These were not to be re-arrangements of old songs but brand new compositions. The album would feature rock, pop, jazzy instrumentals, acoustic pieces, neo-classical orchestral compositions, minimalist electronica, ambient and avant- garde experiments, and so on. It would be a way of celebrating the breadth of my music over the years and, hopefully, illuminate the threads that tie it all together. As each track for the project was completed, I set it to one side and immediately began work on the next. I didn't dwell on the end result of each piece, didn't even listen back to it beyond the final mix but eagerly moved on in anticipation of the next track. Gradually, over some months, enough pieces were completed to fill the album's proposed two discs. I called a halt to the recording process and listened through to the accumulated tracks to choose a running order. To my surprise, (and somewhat to my horror,) I realised that what had actually emerged from the months of 'heads down' writing and recording was not at all what I'd originally had in mind. True, there was a certain amount of variety in the material but it appeared to have followed a far more 'pop and rock' direction than I'd originally hoped for. Worryingly, I had no idea why this was the case. I couldn't recall any particular inner or outer reason for it straying into such territory. Somehow, it just turned out that way, seemingly of its own accord. Creating music in such an intensely focused and seamless manner can instigate a sort of trance- state in the mind of the musician or composer. Hours melt into days into weeks into months and life beyond the studio door becomes an intrusion. I often feel as if I'm existing in an intermediary realm between sensible, pragmatic reality and something far more nebulous, otherworldly and strange. No matter how poetic or romantic that particular description may sound, I am not entirely convinced that such a realm is a desirable or healthy place to locate one's life but, worryingly, it seems that I've long ago lost the will or ability to escape. Eventually I had to concede that 'Grand Auditoria' had been weirdly hi-jacked by something just beyond my reach and it became clear to me that this was now quite a different album from my original concept and as such required a new title to suit its altered nature. So... I temporarily put the 'Grand Auditoria' idea to one side for possible future use and decided to re- think the album's title to better embrace the music that had emerged from the months of recording. Almost immediately after making the decision to shift my creative gears the word 'blip' came to mind. It made me think of an unexpected event emerging from an ocean of possibilities, a bubble on the surface of a calm pool, a 'blip on the radar,' a happy surprise, a little explosion of air and light against a dark background. The word seemed to resonate with the way this music had 'popped up' out of the void, and it evoked a sound, an acoustic-organic, but also synthetic-electronic sound. It was this coincidental sound inference which led me to the idea of creating short instrumental pieces to link the main vocal tracks together. This, I realised, would be a similar approach to the abstract guitar instrumentals I'd used to link the songs on the 'Joy Through Amplification' album, though this time I would be working with more whimsical, analogue synth textures. I immediately began to record some brief 'linking' pieces, recording them quickly and resisting the temptation to polish them too vigourously. The intention was that they would be be simple, direct, relaxed...light, concise and, hopefully, fun. Just as with the 'Ampex' interludes on the July 2012 'Joy Through Amplification' album, listeners are free to treat them as an album within an album or, alternatively, a set of 'sonic sorbets' to refresh their ears between main courses. Once these interludes were recorded and set in place within the general running order I then made the decision to release the album as a single disc, rather than as a double, choosing certain tracks for inclusion over others, tracks which I felt offered the listener a more cohesive, developmental journey from the beginning of the album to its conclusion. The tracks which were 'left over' from this process have been gathered together to create a limited edition, hand-signed CDR album, which I am giving as an exclusive bonus to those fans who have supported the 'BLIP!' pre-release launch party by attending the event. This limited edition pressing bears the title 'The Tremulous Doo-Wah-Diddy, (BLIP 2.') It further illuminates the process by which these recordings came about. It also has some more loosely arranged songs with longer improvisational sections. Well, that's the background to the album. Now here is a track by track breakdown: 1: 'BATS AT BEDTIME.' 'Bats At Bedtime' wouldn't have felt out of place on the 'Joy Through Amplification' album. It's perhaps my favourite track on the album, which is why it's right up front. I've incorporated non-musical sounds into my music for many years and this track features the sound of the jack plug on the end of an electric guitar cable being shorted out by tapping it on the edge of a metal table which supports my mixing desk in my home studio. The same sound also works in unison with the bass drum in the first verse of the song. One of the guitars is heavily fuzzed and features a broken, asymmetrical solo with both fuzz and octave divider effects. As well as the bass and drums and layers of guitars, an imaginary, utterly synthetic Indian orchestra enters for the bridge section. The opening lyrics make a surreal, 'wink-wink' reference to 'The Wizard Of Oz,' as follows: “I am the great and powerful Oz, I am the wizard of what once was, I am ecstatic, drunk and giddy, I am the tremulous doo-wah-diddy-wah-diddy...” After an instrumental section the lyrics continue: “I drive a blue car through the stars, in search of miracles and small surprises, boost my mind into bloom of Spring, bumble bees and bats at bedtime...” More Indian orchestra, then a segue into a gentle coda with chiming guitar and ambient choir. 2: 'YOU DO LIKE MUSIC?' (BLIP No 1.) This is the first of the short Blip interlude instrumental tracks. It's based on a found voice sample which speaks the tune's title. Perhaps this piece connects with my 'Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus' album in that it conjures up a whimsical sci-fi carnival atmosphere via its plastic, '60s Farfisa organ and space-age waltz time rhythm. It's patently a track with its tongue set firmly in its cheek, a candy-floss, sugar pink confection, an antique seaside postcard apparition, a steam-driven fantasy written for a parade of pavilion ghosts. 3: 'WHERE YOU IS, IS WHERE YOU ARE.' A combination of layered electric guitars, hard drums, distorted Hammond organ, bell-tone electric pianos, a subliminally pulsing string section and lyrics which suggest that we are only ever in the moment, even though our minds are constantly turning over past events and anticipating future ones. A sample of the lyrics: “I see the moth fly to the flame, I see myself in all but name, sometimes I feel like John Coltrane, like a saxophone in the pouring rain...” The ecstasy and exuberance of the artist versus the banality of the weather. A pair of wah-wah infected, neo-psychedelic guitar solos puncture the chiming backdrop, tubular bells enter later as the lyrics sing cheerfully of “ghosts in your window pane...” 4: 'BELL WEATHER.' (Blip No 2.) The second of the eleven Blip instrumental interludes. The title of this one goes some way towards describing its mood. Glockenspiel, a high pizzicato bass, synthetic strings, a brief, light-filled change of mood. Some things exist only in passing moments. 5: 'YOUR NAME COMPLETES THIS FREQUENCY.' A sort of techno-psychedelic fantasia embracing reversed guitars, fragmentary electronics, artificial strings, hovering synths and a lyric whose chorus states, “It seems to me that recently, your name completes this frequency...” A short, acid inflected pop-trip into luminous realms of the mind. 6: 'A DREAM OF THEE.' (Blip No 3.) Pulsing synths, sitar decorations, retro TR808 percussion, mini-moog squiggles suggesting a Blade Runner-like off-world exotica and a voice sample which anchors the title in a vague, mock- religious, nowhere-land....A chirping bird of an instrumental. Evaporates after only one minute and forty two seconds. 7: 'THE FABULOUS MR FUTURISMO.' Begins with a brief soundscape of abstract noise, leading into an angular piano, radio dial and orchestra riff. The lyrics sing thus: “The Captain's captured his caution horses/kept their treasure in crystal cages...The fabulous Mr Futurismo/waves from his window high in the sky...” A full orchestra joins the piece stating an oblique melodic theme. Elements akin to 'The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill' album begin to colour the mood before the lyric sing : “Where were you when the snow was falling...where were you when the sun was rising...” Later there is mention of “pie in the sky.” (Is that a God shaped pie or a corporate McDonalds one?) The mood shifts to describe a girl with a 'wiggly walk.' Guitars join the orchestral flow as the song winds its way to a rusty needle-static coda, distressed and patinated. But just who is this nebulous Mr Futurismo? A time-travelling philanthropist from some utopian world of Far Tomorrow? A techno-gnostic being from beyond space and time? Or, your next door neighbour who has the secret ability to levitate through the ceiling of his 1930s semi-detached bungalow and hover like an angel under silver suburban stars? Well...only you know the answer... 8: 'SPARKLETTE.' (BLIP No 4.) Another brief instrumental interlude, this one hinting at the textures and moods of the 'Model Village' album, but with a central glockenspiel motif. Also connects with certain tracks from the 'Picture Post' album. The title comes from the name of a vintage soda water syphon company. I do enjoy creating music inspired by the minutiae of memory! 9: 'YOUR SEXY THUNDER.' Another of my personal favourites from this album. Possibly a song about sexual dalliance, or at least flirtation. It begins with a stuttering electric guitar and a brief blast of electronic sound before mutating into a kind of twisted heavy metal riff over an asymmetric, crippled drum pattern. Features wah-wah guitar, a non-linear arrangement and lyrics which state: “I saw your luxury lingerie in a dream inside my head, you were in my most mysterious thoughts, here in my celestial bed...Your sexy thunder, was always under my skin...” Chorus changes to a more major key mood with Blackpool Tower organ overtones. Wailing, ecstatic wah-wah guitar spurts crazily. Mad piano ending. This too could have fitted nicely on the 'Joy Through Amplification' album. 10: 'METEOR BRIDGE.' (Blip No 5.) A mysterious start leads to a rattling percussion loop and a squirmy mini-moog melody followed by a cute, bleeping bridge and more moog style leads lines...brief piano section followed by mock '80s synth horns. A track filled with deliberately cheesy, '80s synth irony. The title is a play on 'Meter Bridge,' the area of a recording studio's mixing desk which houses its VU meters. Is this real or is it Memorex? 11: 'IN A CLOUD OF STARS.' Keyboard intro, joined by pulsing string quartet then french horn, oboe, xylophone and choir, leading to melodic, harmonised vocals. The opening lyrics state: “Restless are the ides of March, the wind that howls beneath God's arch...but here at home by hearth and fire, I fan the flames of heart's desire...” A neo-classical hymn to nostalgic, romanticised domesticity, or something like that. 12: 'BRIGHT AND GLITTERING.' (Blip No 6.) Another brief instrumental interlude. This one has a rather spooky feel with electronic percussion, electric piano, flanged synth and a sampled voice which repeats the phrase “Bright and glittering in the smokeless air...” An airship gliding by, high in golden sunlight. 13: 'WHIRLWIND WINTERS WIND THE CLOCKS OF SPRING.' Floating synths, reggae organ, sub-bass, filtered guitar, hand-bells, mellotron-flutes and lyrics which begin “There's a half-moon in the sky, a full moon in her eye, but right now the sun is shining in her garden...Birds are singing in the trees, her skirts are blowing in the breeze, and I'm down on my knees to please my darling...” As John Peel might have said: 'a song in praise of fair weather and sturdy thighs.' 14: 'FLUTTERBYE.' (Blip No 7.) The title is a play on the word 'butterfly,' which infants sometimes charmingly pronounce as 'flutterbye.' This short instrumental evokes the shining flight of a cabbage-white butterfly as it dances, Tinkerbell-like, amongst the flowers of an idealised English country garden. Mini-Moog lines and a delicately arpeggiated keyboard backdrop hark back to my earliest synth recordings on albums such as 'Sounding The Ritual Echo' and 'The Summer Of God's Piano.' 15: 'PAINTING YOUR SKY WITH MARVELLOUS BIRDS.' A gentle, trippy ballad decorated by speeded-up backwards guitars, clockwork percussion, electric piano, floating synths and, on an extended coda, a twisted sample of an orchestra which, with the addition of further guitars, gradually transforms into something a little more sinster. Opening lyrics are “Soft treble sings in amber light and all is well beyond the night...” 16: 'PURE IMAGINATION.' (Blip No 8.) This retro-styled instrumental interlude has an almost cartoon like atmosphere...toytown reggae with a munchkin-like sampled voice. Lead lines are handled by a series of mini-moog tones evoking some of the synth sounds used on Be Bop Deluxe's 'Ships In The Night.' A short burst of musical surrealism. 17: 'NO TWO THOUGHTS.' A strange one, this. Opening lyrics state: “Weird thoughts wind my clockwork brain...and no two thoughts are ever the same...” Sung over a repetitive, filtered choir sample,Wurlitzer piano and electro-bleeps. The chorus shifts gear and becomes pseudo-romantic with smooth synths, chiming guitar and lyrics which sing of 'lantern light.' A love song for shiny robots. The song ends with a short coda which changes the landscape yet again. 18: 'AEOLIAN MAGIC.' (Blip No 9.) The word 'aeolian' comes from the greek god 'Aeolus,' the god of wind in greek myth. An 'Aeolian Harp' is a stringed instrument whose strings produce sound when the wind blows across them. This short keyboard instrumental does not attempt to evoke a wind harp but used a sampled voice which speaks the track's title over a brisk percussion track, electric piano, synths and orchestra. Another blip on the radar. 19: 'DARLING STAR.' Opens with electric guitar, keyboards and e-bow. First verse lyrics sing: “Sunday morning's little swimmers, seek thou swift the sleeping egg...” Reverse guitars and choir lead to the repeated refrain “Holy River...Holy River...” Features guitar solos which change texture and direction throughout and a trippy looped guitar coda. I didn't quite realise until after recording the song that it is probably about the mystical nature of conception and the urge of life's essence towards incarnation and birth. Sometimes interpretation comes after the event of creation. 20: 'DAZZLE.' (Blip No 10.) The title is spoken by a sampled voice over pulsing synth and jigsaw-puzzle toy xylophone patterns on this short instrumental interlude. 21: 'AFTER ALL THESE YEARS.' Another of my favourites on the album and, in some ways, one of the 'straighter' more orthodox tracks. Predominantly guitar driven, this is a philosophical sort of song with lyrics which state: “Man goes to the mountain, the mountain disappears...Man goes to the fountain, with all his hopes and fears...Behind the wizard's curtain, nothing to be found, of this I am quite certain, our clocks are all unwound....” The song contains two nice, contrasting guitar solos and coda with guitars that peal like church bells. 22: 'I DANCED IN A DREAM.' (Blip No 11.) The final instrumental interlude and the last track on the album...A sampled voice states the track's title over a hybrid acoustic guitar/harpsichord pattern whilst a distant choir and curious backwards sounds decorate. Little melodies emerge from synths to dance freely over all. Ends with the words “And everything glowed with a gleam...” Music and Lyrics Copyright Bill Nelson 2013 All Rights Reserved. More Listening Notes Go to Album

Publication of 'The Dreamsville Rocket' has ceased, these archived issues are still available for you to read. Issue 1 - May 2005 Issue 2 - June 2005 Issue 3 - September 2005

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) January 2010 May Jun Sep Nov Dec Tuesday 5th January 2010 -- 10:00 pm Woke up to even more snow this morning. We're in the middle of one of the longest and most newsworthy cold snaps for several years. 1995 was, apparently the last time anything of this severity occurred...'Snow on snow' as the old carol 'In The Bleak Midwinter' would have it. Actually, now I come to think of it, that's one of my all-time favourite carols. A lovely melancholy melody and beautiful, poignant lyrics. It takes me right back to my earliest schooldays when I was a five-year old, wide-eyed, shy pupil at the Wakefield Academy, (also known, at that time, as 'The Collegiate School'). The school was located in a lovely old building known as 'The Orangery,' which was situated in Back Lane in Wakefield, just across from Westgate Station. Westgate Station had a gothic clock tower then, with a face that seemed to me not unlike 'Big Ben' in London, ('though I'd never been to London and only had picture books to inform me). Steam trains would huff and puff their way across the bridge and viaduct above the school's playground, leaving sooty clouds hanging in the frosty winter air. 'The Orangery,' even in December, looked more like a garden house than a school and the small grassy area at the front of the building was dotted with trees and bushes. (And ancient gravestones too as it was connected by a tunnel, running mysteriously under Back Lane, to the nearby Unitarian Chapel.) Despite the architectural vandalism of modern-day Wakefield, The Orangery still stands,only slightly altered in outward appearance, although it is now used as a sort of arts centre. I'm thankful that the building has been spared the heartless demolition that befell my later places of education: The Wakefield Tutorial School in Southgate, Saint John's Junior School in Kilby Street, Ings Road Secondary Modern School in Ings Road and Wakefield Art School off Wood Street have all long vanished from the city's architectural scene. The latter's demise is of particular regret to me as I spent four very happy years there when beatnik-dom gradually gave way to proto-psychedelia. But 'The Collegiate School' is fondly remembered as my very first experience of formal education and I retain vivid images of my time there. We'd always sing carols in assembly at Christmas and if snow fell during lessons, the entire class would rush from our wooden desks to gaze excitedly through the tall windows at the swirling whiteness. Our tutors didn't seem to mind this disruption and seemed as eager as ourselves to witness the dancing snowflakes. The school was a small, privately run establishment with very few pupils but there was a genteel, enlightened approach to teaching, (or so it seems to me now, looking back). Classes included ballet and music appreciation and, yes, I took the ballet classes in my stride and actually enjoyed them despite never being an athletic sort of child. I was far less fond of the physical education lessons though...Vaulting horses and rubber mats were destined to become objects of fear for me. My parents were working class and lived on a council estate whereas the other pupils at the school came from what would now, I suppose, be considered an upper middle class background. It must have been financially difficult for my parents to send me to a private school as the fees per term would have been almost beyond their modest reach. I once asked my mother why they chose to send me there for my infant education instead of to an orthodox state school. She replied: "your father thought you were too sensitive to go to a state school and a private school seemed more suitable for your temperament." It must have been in 1953 or thereabouts that I was a pupil there... Now it's 2010 and we're living in the distant 'future' I once read about in the 'Eagle' comics my dad used to bring home for me every Friday night in the 1950's. Unfortunately, today's future has little in common with artist Frank Hampson's wonderful Dan Dare imaginings and I'm sure many post-war boys have felt disenchanted with the way things eventually turned out. Nevertheless, snow remains snow, and it looks quietly beautiful from the windows of our house...the horizon and the sky blending together into a seamless frosty grey. Snow in the unfenced front garden flows uninterupted into the lane and the big field beyond. Charcoal trees and hedges, fading to feathery sketches as they recede into the distance. Silent, still, and minus 3 degrees. Today we took down the Christmas decorations. A not insubstantial job as we always make an effort to ensure our home appears festive at this time of year and there are lots of trimmings around the house. This afternoon Emiko and I packed away the sparkling lights in the dining room, living room, kitchen, upstairs corridor, landing, and outside in the back garden. (Two sets strung like jewels across the branches of two fruit trees.) We also stripped the Christmas tree of its garlands and baubles and tinsel and packed it all away until next year. Our Christmas tree is an artificial one that Emi and I bought when we first lived together in England, at a rented property in Gateforth, near Selby. Must be 15 years ago now. We've hung on to it for nostalgia's sake, although it's beginning to look its age. Our collection of Christmas tree decorations, (or 'Wescelcups' as my mum used to call them in the 1950's), is rather special. Some beautiful items that will only increase in nostalgia value as the years go by, all chosen for their particular resonance with my own childhood Christmases. I guess they're potential heirlooms. Taking them down and dismantling the tree brought back the faint sadness I used to feel as a young boy when '12th night' finally came around. Christmas seemed so magical then and its symbolic packing away left a void. Even throughout Christmas itself, all those distant years ago, I would feel stupidly sorry for the tiny Christmas lights that blinked on and off constantly. For some reason, I associated their intermittent flickering with an infinite, heartless succession of little deaths, as if the bulbs were somehow, cruelly, made to suffer by being switched on and off with such rapidity. Perhaps my father wasn't too shy of the mark with his notion that I was a 'sensitive boy!' Today, I ventured away from the house only briefly. Risked the icy, snowy, slippy lane to drive to our local supermarket, intending to buy all-weather screenwash for the car but became wrapped up in conversation with Johnny Moo who happened to be shopping there too. (Johnny was monitor sound engineer on my 'Be Bop Deluxe And Beyond' 30th anniversary tour in 2004 and is a veteran crew member of several Nelsonica fan conventions.) I haven't seen him since Nelsonica 09 so we did a bit of catching up. By the time I got back to shopping, I'd forgotten several items I was supposed to buy and returned home only to slap my forehead in desperation when I realised how my memory had failed me. 'Senior moments,' I think these things are called... Here's another memory lapse: In my previous diary entry, I'd meant to mention a very generous Christmas gift given to Emi and myself by a certain fan. He didn't want his name revealing so I have no idea who he is, (he dealt with two good friends of mine to bring this about), but his gift was to arrange a pre-paid meal for Emiko and myself at one of our favourite restaurants, (in this instance, 'San Martino's' in Harrogate). Emi and I are really looking forward to enjoying his generous gift and will be arranging to go there soon...once the winter weather allows us to travel sensibly to Harrogate! Whoever he is, we are both extremely grareful for his kindness and will raise a glass of thanks to our unknown benefactor when we dine at San Martino's! Another loyal and generous fan sent me a wonderful seasonal gift of two books: 'The Hollywood Eye' by John Boorstin and 'Times Square Spectacular. Lighting up Broadway' by Darcy Tell. In this instance, I know exactly who my benefactor was but won't mention his name here in case I cause him unwanted embarassment. Nevertheless, these books are not the first gifts he's sent me over recent years. This kind person has a knack of locating books and items for me that suit me to a 'T' and I'm extremely grateful for his thoughtfulness and generosity. I've mentioned it before in my diary entries but I'm blessed with some extremely dedicated and kind fans. My website enables me to interact with them in ways that, in past years, would have not been possible. The internet, despite my aversion to aspects of it, has some benefits after all. Soon, I must try to make some sonic marks on the digital hard drive recorder, here in my tiny, snow-bound music studio. I'm still wrapped up in the grey cotton-wool of winter though and have yet to muster the warm glow of inspiration. It will come, in its own time. Meanwhile, I have two albums awaiting release from last year and artwork still to conceive for them. And time ticks on... ***** The images accompanying this diary entry are as follows:- 1: A view from a window of Nelson Acres. 2: A Japanese-styled area of Bill 'n' Emi's garden. 3: Kitchen window lights at Nelson Acres. 4: A potted bush by the front door. 5: Detail of Xmas tree in front room. 6: A view thru' a window of Castle Howard. (Pre-snow.) Top of page