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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) June 2010 Jan May Sep Nov Dec Tuesday 15th June 2010 -- 7:00 pm (Begun Sunday 13th June 2010 and concluded Tuesday 15th June 2010.) Well, what a fabulous week it's been! Last Sunday, 6th of June, I received an email inviting me to attend Mojo magazine's annual 'Honours List' award ceremony in London. The email informed me that the magazine was planning to give a special signature award to one of rock n' roll's legendary artists and that they would like me to personally present it to him at the event. Well...you could have knocked me down with the proverbial feather. I was both excited and terrified by the prospect. The truth is I'm never really at my best in these 'celebrity situations,' being rather quiet and maybe a little shy compared to many rock musicians, but THIS was something that I couldn't possibly pass up, this was something REALLY special: Mojo magazine's 'Icon' award was going to be bestowed upon the legendary American guitarist Duane Eddy, an artist who, I can genuinely say, I owe my love of the guitar to. I've cited Duane many times in interviews over the 36 years since Be Bop Deluxe released their first album and journalists took an interest in my musical roots but, for the record, I really should tell the story again here. In fact, I'll throw caution to the wind and allow readers of this diary a sneak preview of my unpublished autobiography. This short excerpt from the book relates how Duane came to inspire my original passion for the electric guitar. So, here's an exclusive peek at the relevant section. Remember, at this point in the autobiography, I'm just eleven years old: "Around this time, Rock and roll entered my life in a big way via radio, television and records. My parents had bought a second-hand radiogram, a big console model with a beautifully veneered cabinet and an automatic turntable. It was a vast improvement on the family's ancient wind-up gramophone. A number of records came with the purchase, mostly old 78 rpm discs but with a few modern 45's scattered amongst them. Some were early Elvis Presley records and others were English 'skiffle' music, the precursor of rock n' roll in the UK. Whilst listening to the console's radio one day, I heard a BBC programme, (hosted, I think, by DJ Johnny Walker), that used a beautiful instrumental recording as its opening and closing theme. It was a single, released on the 'London' record label, by a young American guitarist called Duane Eddy. The track was titled 'Because They're Young.' It was originally composed as the title theme for a movie in which Duane briefly featured with his band, 'The Rebels.' (The film also featured actress Tuesday Weld.) Duane Eddy was cool and handsome, a kind of rock n' roll James Dean. He developed a highly distinctive and original approach to the guitar. Duane played a beautiful Gretsch 6120 electric archtop, (although I wasn't aware of such technical details back then), and, as a result of the sound he created with producer Lee Hazelwood, became known as the 'King Of Twang.' This new and unique sound was achieved by playing the melody mostly on the bass strings of the guitar, which were then amplified and fed through a reverberation chamber, often with the addition of tremolo. I discovered, many years later, that Duane had actually used a Danelectro baritone guitar on this recording, rather than the Gretsch he was so often photographed with. When I first heard 'Because They're Young' on the radio, I had no idea who was playing the piece, all that I was aware of was a beautiful, deep, shimmering sound, offset to great effect by an orchestral string arrangement courtesy of Lee Hazelwood, the record's producer. But this sweet little tune, played so perfectly by Duane Eddy, was the spark that lit the fire under me, the one record that inspired all my consequent guitar dreams. Not long after, I caught some flu virus or other and was allowed to stay at home to recuperate, rather than go to school. Resting in bed, I asked my mother to switch the radio on so that I could listen to 'Because They're Young' at it's usual broadcast time. She evidently realised my delight in hearing this piece of music and somehow made a note of its title and the name of the artist performing it. The next day she went into Wakefield and purchased the 45 rpm single for me in the hope of cheering me up and encouraging my recuperation. I was ecstatic about being given the single and asked for it to be played over and over on the radiogram which stood majestically in a corner of the living room. I vividly recall laying on my bed, the sound of Duane's guitar floating through from the front room, echoing across the narrow hallway of 28 Conistone Crescent, and into my bedroom. Somehow, it was as if the future had finally come knocking at my door. The B-side of the single was titled 'Rebel Walk.' This was a supremely moody piece, a kind of beatnik, 'film-noir' theme, based around a haunting, simple riff augmented by wordless backing vocals in a kind of 'Jordinairs' (Elvis Presley's backing vocalists), style. I enjoyed this piece just as much as the 'A' side. Looking back on this, 50 years later here in the 21st Century, I now realise that I had found my life-changing 'eureka' moment, the sort of moment we are never able to never forget, a moment to appreciate forever, and, yes, to feel genuinely grateful for. If I had to sum it up in one single word, it would be: 'Magic.' Actually, I still have the original 'Because They're Young' single in my possession and treasure it greatly. Owning that record inspired me to attempt to play 'Because They're Young' on my recently acquired Zenith guitar, but I only got as far as the opening few bars of the main melody. The size of the real guitar's neck was much bigger than the toy guitar that I had been more familiar with, and the steel strings were much thicker and cut into the ends of my fingers. I was temporarily discouraged but it didn't diminish my passion for the sound of the instrument. Or the look of the thing. In fact, the visual appeal of the guitar was very important to me. Not long after getting the single, I discovered a photograph of Duane Eddy in one of my mother's magazines and was impressed by how sharp he looked and how 'sci-fi' his Gretsch electric guitar appeared with it's shiny pickups and mysterious controls. I made a life-sized copy of this guitar from a flat piece of cardboard which I cut to the appropriate shape and then painted, gluing it to a piece of wood to represent the neck. (The wood was appropriated from a child's painting easel I'd had for a few years. It was the first time that I sacrificed the visual arts to music!) To emulate the controls of the guitar, I glued old shirt buttons onto the cardboard body, totally unaware of the function of these controls on the real thing. Once my non-playing facsimile was complete, I would stand in front of my bedroom mirror and mime to Duane's record, throwing the appropriate shapes, as observed from his publicity photographs." Ok, dear diary readers...I'm not going to give away any more of my autobiography here...but the above brief excerpt should give you an idea of the impact that Duane had on the life of an eleven year old schoolboy living in a council estate flat in Wakefield, fifty years ago. Fifty years ago? Wow.... And THAT'S the amazing thing. I've held onto my original 'Because They're Young' single and kept it close to my heart, (and all that it symbolised), for fifty years. I guess that the unassuming young guitar player who recorded that track had no idea of the power it contained, the ripples that radiated out from his far away American reverb tank, out across the world, to a skinny schoolboy here in Yorkshire. As an eleven year old kid, I would sometimes dream about meeting Duane Eddy and, in these dreams, I'd ask him about guitar playing and he'd pass on a secret technique or two. But if anyone had said to me, "one day, fifty years from now, you will personally present Duane with an award recognising him as an icon of rock n' roll." Well, I would have thought that they were crazy. But, it seems, magic happens. (Well, I of all people, should know that!) Something about the award ceremony itself now: The three days before travelling to London were excruciatingly stressful. I hardly slept, worrying about what to say, about my appearance, my clothes, worrying about every single thing to the point of feeling physically sick and ill with it all. I tried to keep as much of this trepidation to myself as possible but it leaked out in even the most mundane tasks around the house. Emiko was not able to travel with me to London to attend the Mojo awards. She had been given an important and prestigious freelance floral design commission which required her to work long hours thoughout the week if she was to prepare all the complex arrangements for her client. At first, I thought that I wouldn't be able to face the stress of the Mojo event without her by my side. I am not naturally gregarious in social situations and my nerves often betray me. Emiko has the quiet charm and ease that I lack, and her gentle presence is a great asset whenever I have to socialise in such circumstances. Don't misunderstand, I'm fine and dandy around people who I've had the opportunity to get to know and trust, but the superficial celebrity charm that seems to work for other people often evades me. Anyway, I called my friend Paul Gilby and asked him if he'd be at all interested in accompanying me to the event to lend a little moral support. Paul, very encouragingly, said he'd be honoured to do so and I felt a little less anxious about the whole thing. However, once the day arrived, my nerves kicked in again...even more excruciatingly than before. I was shaking at York station, shaking on the train to London and trembling like a daisy as I changed at the hotel before being whisked off in a limo to the event itself. All I could do was think of the alternative, which would have been to stay at home and later regret not accepting this wonderful opportunity to say 'thank you' to my first ever guitar hero. I HAD to do this, for Duane and for myself. First little miracle of the evening came when the limo arrived to pick me up to take me to the event. As I walked out of the hotel door, there in front of me, (actually with his back to me), was a person I thought I knew. He turned his face, ever so slightly, to speak to someone standing next to him. The resultant half-glimpsed profile was instantly recognisable to me. It was Peter Hammill, an artist who I'd toured with many, many years previously during the early days of Be Bop Deluxe. I probably don't need to introduce readers of this diary to Peter's extensive and highly respected work as a singer-songwriter and founder member of the band 'Van der Graaf Generator.' He is a unique and very special artist who anyone interested in music as an art form should be aware of. (And shame on you if you're not.) Peter has chosen to plough the same deep furrow as all those artists who are driven by something other than the lure of the corn market. In short, he's the genuine article. The first ever tour Be Bop Deluxe undertook as a support act was with Peter Hammill, on one of his solo concert tours. I remember it with great fondness. Peter treated us kindly and sympathetically. We landed our contract with EMI records during the course of that tour and Peter seemed genuinely overjoyed for us. To celebrate our signing, Peter bought a bottle of Polish White Spirit for us...(a fierce alcoholic drink with pyrotechnic capabilities). I remember a drop or two of it being poured onto a wooden bench in the dressing room of a venue on that tour. And a match being set to it...It caught fire in a whoosh of incandescent energy. We were lucky...the entire building could have burned to the ground, such was the drink's potency. Rocket fuel in a bottle. We each, (this was the original line-up of the band), had a sip from the bottle...but it was far too fierce and strong a medicine for us. Remarkably, the band's drummer, Nicholas Chatterton-Dew, seemed able to handle it without the top of his head coming off in a cloud of fire and brimstone. What a guy! Towards the end of the tour, Peter gave me a copy of a book of his lyrics and poetry that had recently been published. In the first pages of the book he drew a little caricature of me and signed it. I still have that book and treasure it, along with the now distant memories of that first Be Bop Deluxe tour. So, meeting Peter again, after all these years, was a very happy experience for me. But, back to the Mojo Honours List awards: There was a red carpet awaiting at the venue. And a line up of press photographers. A kind of modest Hollywood Oscar moment, I thought. I had my photograph taken by the gathered photographers and, despite my trepidation and natural inclination to be dismissive of the importance of such things, I somehow slipped into the grin and bear it mode that was so often required during my Be Bop Deluxe years. "This way Bill...", "Could you look into the camera, Bill?", "Head up a little Bill...", Etc, etc. It wasn't too difficult, just a bit embarrassing. I guess it's that, 'once you've learned to ride a bike' syndrome. All bollocks, of course, but a kind of acceptable bollocks. Most artists just grin and give out what's required of them, no matter how ridiculous they feel or how surreal it all becomes. I suppose we're all flogging our individual horses, dead or alive, according to public perception. Truth is, I don't mind this sort of thing at all really. In fact I almost enjoy it, musician's egos being what they are... Entering the interior of the venue, I mingled with the crowd who had not yet been invited to sit at the circular tables situated before the stage where the actual awards would be given. The stage was designed to resemble an oversized stately home library, or something similar, complete with fake wood panelled wall, a giant fireplace complete with a video fire, (a pair of Gibson Les Paul guitars crossed above it like armorial bearings), and a huge screen and table filled with the actual Mojo award trophies. All very impressive I thought, but also a little overwhelming. Amongst the crowd of celebrities I came across my old pal John Leckie. Ah...here was someone I actually KNEW and could relate to without pretence. John is a dear, dear friend who has always remained the same sweet and lovely person he was back in the '70's when we first worked together. And that despite his fame and success as the producer of many well-known bands during the intervening years. I was relieved and pleased to see him. We'd last met at the 2009 Nelsonica fan convention when John and I gave an on-stage interview about our years of working together. John's also coming up to this year's Nelsonica. I think he really enjoyed himself at last year's event. But there were other familiar faces too: Some I knew personally from other situations, (Mark Powell, Peter Blake, John Foxx, Marc Almond, to name just four), but also people whom I had only previously been able to admire from afar, (Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Richard Thompson, Emmylou Harris, Jimmy Page, Jarvis Cocker, Roy Wood, Wilco Johnson, Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO, Roger Daltrey, Tony Christie, Richard Hawley and others.) The place seemed to be teeming with pop and rock celebrities. Shame Julian Cope didn't show though...it would have been nice to thank him for the kind words he's written about me on his website. The table at which I was seated was graced by Beth Orton, Alex James from Blur and Andy Gill and Jon King from Gang Of Four. All very nice people. A combination of shyness, nerves and ambient noise from the hall limited my entering into anything other than superficial conversation with my fellow diners, but it was good to be seated amongst them, even though my mind was constantly fretting about the daunting task ahead of me. We were served a three course meal, (vegetable terrine starter, braised lamb main course, then bread n' butter pudding desert). Each table was groaning with its own vast supply of booze: several bottles of wine, a crate of beer, even a bottle of Scotch. I stuck to water, worried that I might become a bit too 'loose' if I drank the wine. It then turned out that the Mojo Icon award was going to be the final presentation of the evening, the culminating event. I would have to sit through all the other presentations before I could do my bit and relax. As the evening went on, my nerves became more and more acute. I watched in envy as each presenter took to the stage and announced the various awards in witty and professional style. How could I compete with such bravado? My nerves leapt up another octave, almost to the realm of 'screech.' Ok...maybe just a half glass of wine wouldn't go amiss. I'd prepared a pre-composed speech which I'd printed out, as a back up, just in case my nerves got the better of me but, as it happened, the format of the presentation was slightly different to what I'd expected and the speech would not have worked in the actual context of the show. A very nice girl, one of the event's staff, came over to our table and explained the drill to me. The format was that I would take the stage, say a few words but not reveal who the award was for. I then had to say, 'and let's have a look at his work' which would cue a short video presentation. At the end of the video, I was then to announce Duane's name, he would come on stage and accept the award from me. Right...(mild panic). It looked like I'd have to wing it, come up with something reasonably spontaneous but loosely based on my original idea. I decided to trust to the moment and play it by ear. I watched the various award trophies being handed over to their recipients by the presenters until there was just one award left. I took a deep breath and began to squeeze my way between the closely packed tables, heading toward the stage. I was expecting the ceremony's host, Mojo editor Phil Alexander, to say something basic along the lines of, "and here's Bill Nelson to present the Mojo Icon award...". But, Phil was very generous and said some quite flattering things about my work, which came as a welcome surprise and gave my confidence a much needed boost. (Thanks for that Phil, it was very kind of you.) I'd got up from my seat a little too soon so stood at the foot of the stage for a few moments until Phil's introduction was concluded...it must have appeared as if I was incredibly eager to get onto the stage but, the truth was, I wasn't expecting such a nice introduction. Finally I was on stage, shook hands with Phil and walked to the microphone. I'd taken my 50 year old copy of 'Because They're Young' on stage with me. I began my short speech with "Some people will try to tell you that records don't change lives..." (Then I held up my Duane Eddy single), "But THIS one changed mine...!" I'm afraid that was all I could remember from my prepared speech, the rest of it I made up as I went along. I can't recall exactly what I said now as the next five minutes or so became a dream-like, near hallucinogenic, blur. I managed to give the cue for the video, (which showed various album sleeves of Duane's whilst a selection of his tracks played,) then said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome, the legendary King Of Twang, Mr. Duane Eddy!" Then suddenly, walking towards me across the stage was the man whose music had launched an 11 year old boy on a fifty year long journey to here and now. I can't describe how emotional a moment it was. Quite unbelievable! Duane walked right up to me and gave me a big hug and thanked me warmly for my introduction, then took the microphone and spoke to the assembled celebrity audience. He was given a wonderfully enthusiastic reception by everyone. We were then both led backstage where we were to be photographed together, then on to a joint interview for the Mojo website, then a few more photographs. Next came the group photographs with a selection of winners and presenters lined up in three rows. I stood on the back row next to Richard Thompson. Rufus was on the next row down and Duane sat at the front. As I said, it was all a bit of a blur and quite unreal.Duane and I were then asked to sign a Gibson Les Paul guitar that will be auctioned to raise funds for the War Child charity. It's not every day that my signature sits on a guitar alongside the signatures of Duane Eddy, Jimmy Page and Richard Thompson. Another honour that I'll treasure. Duane also offered to sign my original 'Because They're Young' single...which was what I'd hoped he'd do. I plan to frame it along with a photo of Duane and hang it on my studio wall, next to my Les Paul, Hank Marvin and Joe Pass framed photographs. One more nice surprise: Duane and his lovely and thoughtful wife Deed thanked me for all the things I've said about Duane in interviews and on my website over the years. I had no idea that they were aware of me at all so this came as a happy surprise. Duane's wife told me that she supports Duane in the same practical ways that Emiko supports me, so it seems Duane and Deed actually read this diary sometimes. What a thrill to discover that! Duane asked for my 'phone number and we exchanged email addresses. It would be terrific if we could keep in touch and perhaps collaborate on something in the not too distant future. I would definitely be thrilled to create a track for both of us to play on. Oh, I also gave Duane two albums of mine, 'Rosewood Volume 1' and 'Here comes Mr. Mercury.' I'd grabbed them just before setting off to the station to travel to London. I hope they're a good choice for him. With such a large and varied catalogue of music, it's sometimes difficult to know what to choose when I want to introduce someone to my work. None of it follows the usual routes anyway, but these two albums might have one or two tracks on them that a guitar player might enjoy. Next, it was off to the aftershow party. This was held in a little cellar club, just across the road from the awards ceremony venue. The place reminded me of a 'sixties club called 'Cafe Des Artistes' which, all those years ago, used to be in Fulham Road, (I think). I'd visited it in the latter half of the 'sixties when I'd spent a weekend with an art school pal whose parents lived in Hampstead. (And THERE'S another tale to tell in volume 2 of my autobiography!) The aftershow party place however, had a much louder sound system than any 'sixties club. The DJ played some classic music from the past, 'Green Onions' by Booker T and the MG's, and other tracks that evoked a groovy '60's retro atmosphere. Great track choices but it was just a little too loud, and of such an aggressive mid frequency that conversation was nigh on impossible. It would have been nice to have a slightly quieter environment where people could have met without having to literally yell in each other's ears. Nevertheless, it WAS enjoyable to hear some classic tracks and watch several rather attractive girls dance a 21st Century version of the 'Hully Gully' or whatever. I almost joined in but thought better of it...best to hang on to whatever decorum that remains to me as a 61 year old! John Leckie and I shouted into each other's ears for an hour or so and I managed to catch a few words from Mark Powell and a nice guy from the band 'Kasabian.' (At least, I think that's who it was.) I also met a guy from Gibson guitars who was very helpful. I had my photo taken with ace vocalist Tony Christie too. What a very nice chap and looking enviously slim and youthful too. Oh, and I managed to wish Roy Wood well, just as he was about to head back to the hotel. I first met Roy on a Kid Jensen radio show, quite some years ago now. He's another lovely chap...he'd been given a well deserved songwriter award at the Mojo Honours List. I still recall those early Move singles...they were a band I very much enthused about back then. The noise levels eventually got the better of me and Paul and I decided it was time to head back to our hotel in Bloomsbury. A car was summoned, I thanked everyone in sight for allowing me to bestow my first ever guitar hero with the Mojo Icon award, and fell gratefully into the back seat of the car and set off for the hotel, tired and happy. Next morning, I awoke, after little more than three hours sleep, with a very sore throat and an extremely hoarse voice, probably a direct result of the previous evening's aftershow yelling. I met Peter Hamill in the hotel foyer and we exchanged emails and 'phone numbers. Then Paul and I wandered down the street for breakfast, and then to Foyles bookshop so that I could peruse the 'Ray's Jazz' section. Bought a book dealing with English swing bands of the 1930s and '40s. Also a Bill Frisell album titled 'Where In The World' that I'd not previously heard. Whilst in Foyles, I got a call from Richard at Opium on my mobile. He was calling to say that the Mojo site had my 'red carpet' photo' on it. Then it was a taxi ride to Kings Cross and the train journey back to York and home. And a huge sigh of relief. Saturday morning, I helped Emiko to deliver the final part of her important flower commission. She had enlisted a friend of hers to help her on the Friday morning, whilst I was in London. Everything went to plan and her client was overjoyed with the many arrangements that Emi had created for her. I'm so pleased when people recognise the sophistication of her designs. Our new kitchen is now, finally, complete. (Fanfare!) All that remains is to move various items back into it, a task which Emiko and I began this weekend. We've almost concluded that process now and it is so good to have our kitchen back, in much brighter and shinier condition than before. There's more to tell, as always, but this diary entry has taken up more time than I expected. I'm now going to catch up with some recording work. But what an unexpected and much appreciated honour that was. Duane, thank you so much for being so gracious to me. And Mojo magazine...thanks for giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity. All I can say, to end this diary entry is: WOW! ***** The images accompanying this diary are as follows:- 1: Bill and John Leckie at the Mojo Honours 2010 event. 2: Bill and Peter Blake at the Mojo Honours 2010 event. (Note Jarvis Cocker in the background.) 3: Bill and Duane Eddy at the Mojo Honours 2010 event. (Bill holding his original 50 year old 'Because They're Young' single, now signed by Duane.) 4: A close up of the single that Duane signed for Bill. It reads: 'To Bill, thank you so much, Duane Eddy.' 5: Bill with Tony Christie at the Mojo awards aftershow party. 6: The Gibson Les Paul guitar, signed by various guitarists, including Duane and Bill, at the Mojo awards. This guitar will be auctioned to raise funds for the 'War Child' charity. All photographs taken by Paul Gilby with the exception of the close up of the signed 'Because They're Young' single which was taken by Bill Nelson in his home studio. Top of page

Acquitted By Mirrors - Issue Fifteen - Published early 1990 Back to Top

Return To Jazz Of Lights Bill Nelson album - 14 October 2006 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Return To Jazz Of Lights 02) Fearless Beauty (Kisses And Cream) 03) Mysterious Chemicals Of Love 04) It's A Big World And I'm In It (The Great Rememberer) 05) October Sky 06) For You And I 07) Velocity Dansette 08) Now Is Not And Never Was 09) Windswept 10) Always You 11) Steam Radio Blues 12) All These Days Are Gone (For Ian) ALBUM NOTES: Return to Jazz of Lights is a mainly vocal album issued on the Sonoluxe label in a one off print run of 1000 copies. The cover features a photograph of Nelson's wife Emiko taken on her 20th birthday on the driveway of her parents' house in Japan in the 1960s. The final track "All These Days Are Gone (For Ian)" is a tribute to the artist's younger brother Ian Nelson, who passed away on his 50th birthday on 23 April 2006. The album was first made available at Nelsonica '06 before going on general sale through S.O.S two days later. Return to Jazz of Lights sold out in January 2014. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Secret Club For Members Only , Here Comes Mr Mercury , Arcadian Salon , Silvertone Fountains , Illuminated At Dusk , Mazda Kaleidoscope , Rosewood One , Rosewood Two , Luxury Wonder Moments , BILL'S THOUGHTS: "As some of you have discovered, (possibly to your surprise), it's not REALLY a jazz album at all, but an album that simply is inspired by jazz. At its root, it is an almost genre-less collection of melodic, positive and heartfelt songs. You'll hear touches of many of my musical interests in there, from pop and rock to blues and electronica..." _____ "As for 'jazz', there's a jazz influence in nearly all of my guitar work, even the old Be Bop Deluxe stuff! I've listened to jazz since I was a teenager, even before that, as my father played some jazz as a saxophonist. I love the genre, (which actually covers a LOT of different ground). I try to find a way to have some jazz sensibility in everything I do, without it being limited to just jazz." _____ " "Windswept" is one of my favourites on the album. I was writing that song around the time my brother passed away and it suddenly took on a new significance. One of the things I'm particularly proud of with this album is the vocals. I think I've found a comfortable place for my more 'mature' voice with these songs. It's an album that, for me at least, marries emotion and intellect in a harmonious way and without strain or pretension. It's a very direct, unmasked statement." _____ "The front cover photo' of Emiko was taken in the drive of her parents house and the Jaguar car in the background belonged to her father, (who also took the picture). The original photographs were somewhat over saturated and rather 'orangey' but I manipulated them in photoshop to create a sort of '50s/'60s technicolour movie tint. I wanted them to look as if they were stills from an early James Bond movie, something that the viewer might read a storyline into." On the cover: "The Verve/Blue Note thing was exactly what I had in mind, and my lovely wife Emiko is the perfect model. Isn't she beautiful?" _____ "I can't tell you how pleased I am at the number of positive comments I've received regarding the Return to Jazz of Lights album. It's gratifying to know that so many of you have picked up on and enjoyed its moods and also understood the general onward thrust of my music over the years. It's thanks to fans such as yourselves that I gain the confidence to follow my muse and take these leaps into what, for me, is always exciting territory." _____ "I was working up here in my studio last night. Downstairs I could hear that Emiko was playing the Return to Jazz of Lights album on the dining room stereo. After a while, it finished. A couple of seconds later, Emi appeared in the doorway of my studio room. Visibly moved, she just said, "It's SO beautiful." Well, she' bound to be biased to some degree...I am her husband after all and she IS on the cover, but she genuinely felt moved by the album. I couldn’t wish for a better appraisal. When the one you love most deeply digs your work, that's all that really matters." FAN THOUGHTS: Holer: "Bill has done it again, transcending a whole genre and taking another huge creative leap into unknown territory. Ever since the Romance of Sustain album, it seems to me, each official release seems to confound expectations as to what Bill will do next, and Jazz is certainly no exception. Whereas Sailor Bill slowly revealed (and continues to reveal) its intricate pop melodies over repeated listenings, Jazz drilled directly into my pleasure center immediately. This record has amazing energy and I can easily picture Bill and a tight little combo tearing through these tunes with vigorous abandon in a smokey jazz club. I doubt if I can add anything brilliant too all that has already been said here. Suffice to say that this is as strong a set of songs as Bill has ever produced and it’s a most worthy addition to his ever growing catalog." "Bill's vocal chops are quite extraordinary lately. Not only Arcadian Salon , but especially on Jazz of Lights . A true singers album, and I think has some of Bill's best vocal performances ever." felixt1: " Return to Jazz of Lights only comes close to what some may call Jazz on the opening title track, the rest of the album is essentially pop. It's an album that stands out in that it has its own individual style. A life affirming vibe on this album." "The guitar playing throughout the album is just sublime. The tone that Bill delivers is on a level that only the very best achieve, so warm!...It's Jazz, but it's Bill Nelson Jazz!" paul.smith: "This wonderful album is a must have...it's got less to do with jazz and more to do with Bill - if anybody is put off by the title - forget it...it's a nod to jazz in my humble opinion...and a wonderful nod at that...but it's one of Bill's best ever as far as I'm concerned...so get the bloody thing before it goes...mad if ya don't." swampboy: " Jazz of Lights turned out to be a total delight. I should have known that it wouldn't be a straight jazz album. While it is primarily a jazz album, it also features blues, pop, and other guitar styles over jazz backdrops. The song "Windswept", may be the most beautiful melody Bill has ever composed. The whole album pumps and jumps along nicely, with a wonderful energy that leaves a warm afterglow after the last song fades out. Miss this one at your own risk!" MondoJohnny: "I figured it would probably be a strictly instrumental album with really long meandering jazz tracks, with out much form, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Great album, and I find myself humming the tunes as they are stuck in my head all the time now!" Mick Winsford: "It's a great CD. Don't be fooled by the Jazz reference in the title - there are strains of Jazz for sure but its not the dominant style. The closing track "All These Days Are Gone (For Ian)" is simply pure class." Sandwich Man: " Jazz of Lights is so cool. After seeing Bill do his guitar seminar and play bits of videos of his guitar heros, it brings a real insight into this album. It's smooth, beautifully constructed like Sailor Bill and the songs are varied. Bill, how can you keep producing such great works? Totally different direction but so wonderful. The bar is raised yet again! In fact I'm going to stop typing this and listen to it again." Marshall: "Have to say it's hands down one of Nelson's best records in some time--which is exactly what I said about Satellite Songs ! In fact, his vocal records over the last two or three years have been absolutely spectacular, unexpected career highlights in an amazing career...it's instantly accessible and yet richly textured at the same time, with mind-boggling guitar playing and lush, catchy melodies." jazzman1: "My Favourite Bill Nelson albums now are Jazz of Lights and the Rosewoods . I love Bill eclecticism and diversity. I hope Bill lives long and prospers, because true individual artists are very thin on the ground in this time of production line mass produced wannabes." kreiger: "One song got my heart: "Velocity Dansette". I wonder why no one in this forum has talked about it... it's incredible! It's one of the best musics Bill has ever recorded - and this is something. The lyrics, the guitar, piano, drums, they are all wonderful. Above all, his voice in this song is something to sit back and listen. Thank you, Bill!" Catherine Bradder: "I just love Jazz of Lights , and I'm sat listening to it now, relaxing and dreaming and loving the music, it's all oh so rich. Just simply rich to sink into and enjoy. Thank you." Panoramicon: "I was (gently) blown away. Driving the rural backroads the other day and I placed Jazz of Lights in the deck for the first time; suddenly I'm back in the 'Sixties with my Dad talking about the jazz music on the radio, as he attempted to explain to me how to follow the melodies' shifts and swerves. Through "..Chemicals" and "October Sky", "Windswept" and "Steam Radio Blues" and on, happily navigating the winding roads with the music playing loud, it all came back to me. How your music manages to do this is still a sweet mystery to me, but I sure appreciate it. Dad (long gone now) was a clarinet player way back but everyday life and work took it away from him and he sorely regretted losing his chops, but I really believe he would have enjoyed this album. Even from a young rebel like you! Dig those crooning vocals, and your guitar lines never cease to pop an occasional warm tear from the corner of my eye. I'm always afraid to sound like just another sycophantic dweeb when I post but...wherever you want to go with your music...just go - you're just so damned coool!" chromiumlad: "I even hear touches of lounge and exotica in Return to Jazz of Lights . I feel the really quality stuff from that genre, like Les Baxter and Martin Denny, had lots of the same devil may care attitude of tossing up and intermingling styles and sounds from all sources. That spirit of adventure is one of the things I've always loved about your music Bill. And I have only noticed it increase with each album, especially since around the Atom Shop and Noise Candy times. Thanks once again for the music and inspiring words." Mungo: "Folks, I'm delighted. I got RTJOL a week ago and I just love it, but more to the point, so do my cows. I got 89 of Ayrshire's finest dairy cattle in Scotland and I've been playing them RTJOL during milking for a week. Not only has production gone up 6%, an enormous amount, but they are all mellow and behaving themselves. Even Jessica, who is a cantankerous and evil old crow at the best of times, has a jolly swagger in her back end when I play "Fearless Beauty". The last time I saw an effect like this was when I played Barry White to them years ago, but that made me grumpy so I gave it up. Bill, many thanks for more wonderful music and for increasing my income. It looks like I'll be able to get shoes for the bairns feet this Xmas after all." Peter: "Very evocative and timeless, it takes me back to many places I have passed through in my life, reminding me of people, places and experiences. "All These Days Are Gone" is a gorgeous tear-jerker (so beautiful, Bill), while "Steam Radio Blues" hits a chord with me, missing and always remembering my dad tinkering in his woodshop.... And the cigarette smoke was stinging my eyes listening to "Windswept' (I think the slightly world-weary blonde at the end of the bar was making eyes at me over a watered-down bourbon and soda)... I'm going to put another nickel in the jukebox (maybe "Fearless Beauty" this time) and go over and say hi to that blonde....the night is young (even if I'm not) and the music is right." Albums Menu Future Past

Air Age Anthology retrospective 2CD collection - 17 February 1997 Be Bop Deluxe Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: 1-01) Axe Victim 1-02) Love With The Madman 1-03) Sister Seagull 1-04) Heavenly Homes 1-05) Ships In The Night 1-06) Twilight Capers 1-07) Kiss Of Light 1-08) Crying To The Sky 1-09) Sleep That Burns 1-10) Life In The Air Age (Live) 1-11) Electrical Language 1-12) Panic In The World 1-13) Maid In Heaven 1-14) Between The Worlds 1-15) Blazing Apostles 1-16) Lovers Are Mortal 1-17) Down On Terminal Street 1-18) Darkness (L'immoraliste) TRACKS: 2-01) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 2-02) Night Creatures 2-03) Music In Dreamland 2-04) Jean Cocteau 2-05) Beauty Secrets 2-06) Life In The Air Age 2-07) Speed Of The Wind 2-08) Modern Music 2-09) Dancing In The Moonlight 2-10) Honeymoon On Mars 2-11) Lost In The Neon World 2-12) Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids 2-13) Modern Music (Reprise) 2-14) Fair Exchange (Live) 2-15) Autosexual 2-16) New Mysteries 2-17) Surreal Estate 2-18) Islands Of The Dead 2-19) Visions Of Endless Hopes 2-20) The Bird Charmers Destiny 2-21) The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow NOTES: Air Age Anthology is a double CD compilation offering the new listener a thorough introduction to Be Bop Deluxe. No room was found for any rarities, but three tracks came with previously unheard studio talk (Nelson counting in a couple of tracks, and ending one take with the observation "we'll keep that one"). The set was enhanced by a nicely illustrated booklet with a sleeve notes written by Kevin Cann. PAST RELEASES: 36 of the 39 tracks on this compilation album were taken from the six albums released in the band's lifetime (issued between 1974 and 1978), with the remaining 3 tracks originally released on The Best Of and the Rest Of double album (1978). See individual entries of those albums for full details including vinyl editions of the same material. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: This compilation is now out of print in physical form, but is available to download from online stores. Collections Menu Future Past

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) April 2007 Jan Feb May Jul Sep Oct Nov Dec Tuesday 24th April 2007 -- 9:00 pm Was it really as long ago as Februrary that I posted my previous diary entry? Almost the end of April now and the gaps between writing seem longer and longer. Unfortunately, because of this, each subsequent entry contains a punishingly large amount of text. Unavoidable if I'm to allow the reader to catch up on what's been going on in my life, I suppose. But a less than desirable situation, I'm afraid. Let me see if I can possibly limit this diary entry to essentials, even though I suspect that it's the less essential ramblings that provide my readers with the most revealing and entertaining experience. There's an element of voyourism involved in scanning these pages after all. (Isn't there?) Perhaps there's also an element of exhibitionism involved in the writing of them. So...a kind of symbiotic relationship. Well, let's not worry unduly about that. Just accept it as one more aspect of the artist/audience dynamic. AIl part of the act. Yesterday was emotionally difficult. April 23rd marked the first year since my brother Ian passed away. It would also have been his 51st birthday. The fact that it feels like only yesterday that I first wrote about losing him in this diary is a testimony to the fact that I'm far from over it. It's exactly 12 months ago yesterday but still so vivid and fresh and shocking. So sharp it cuts to the heart. Emi and I attended a memorial service for him at a church in Wakefield on Sunday the 22nd. Ian's wife Diane was there, along with Ian's daughter and two sons and several good friends of Ian's. My one-time painting tutor from my Wakefield Art-School days in the '60's, Peter Murray, was there too. He is better known, these days, as the founder and current director of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park where Ian worked happily for several years. Also present was Ian's good friend and musical collaborator, John Nixon. John informed me that the cd album that he and Ian had been working on will very soon be available for purchase. He is awaiting an immanent delivery of stock from the manufacturers. Of course, the memorial service poured salt into what is still an open wound for many of us. It was an emotional and at times uncomfortable event. Painful to get through. Ian would probably not have been particularly enthusiastic about the idea, being very much 'anti-churchianity' and highly sceptical of anything to do with religion or for what passes as 'spirituality' these days. His acid wit regarding such things would have turned holy water to dry dust. In this respect he was very much like my late father who regarded any religious matter as a fair target for a thorough tongue-thrashing. Certainly, there were moments of what Ian would have interpreted as high absurdity. I could hear his voice, twisting the sermons and hymn lyrics around until they shrieked with Dadaist humour.The two of us, if we'd been standing side by side, would have had all on to contain ourselves, outraged one minute, reduced to giggles the next. Not nice for those sincere and devout people who find solace in this kind of thing. And, as the service was for several people who had lost loved ones, there were members of the congregation who, I'm sure, sincerely benefitted from the event. It's far easier to pour scorn than have faith, I guess. Nevertheless, regardless of any religious cynicism, Ian is still around in the lives of those of us who love him. Whether this 'around' is created by supernatural means or by the heartbeat of personal memory depends on one's philosophical point of view. His framed photograph hangs on my studio wall, just above and to the left of my keyboards, (as I've probably mentioned before in this diary). In the photograph he is blowing his saxophone with what, in the literature of my youth, would be referred to as 'gusto.' And this was how he lived his life, with GUSTO, with abandon, with an appetite for the joyous, laughing moment. And, (it has to be said), sometimes without thought for his own health and well-being. How well I know and understand that temptation, being far from immune to self-abandonment myself. (Shhh...don't tell anyone.) But we choose our personal path and follow it, regardless of the judgement or advice of others. We live our OWN lives our own way, for better or worse. After the memorial service, we all, (family and friends), went to the cemetary and stood around Ian's grave, waiting for him to show up and make fun of us. A big bouquet of flowers, sent by my cousin Ian, (after whom my brother is named), was laid on top of the grass in front of the grey marble headstone with its silver lettering and musical note motif. The trees that line the little avenue that leads through the cemetary to Ian's resting place were abundant with spring blossoms. If our hearts could have charmed him to appearance, he would have been there amongst us in 3-D and technicolour. Actually, no doubt about it, for a moment, He WAS there.. ("Fuck off," comes Ian's voice, "no bloody resurrections for Christ's sake!") Then, my mother, Ian's three children, (Lucy, Louis and Julian), Emiko and I drove up to 'The Kings Arms' pub at Heath Common, on the edge of Wakefield. I've written about this place before, how it was a haunt of my art-school years in the '60's, how it is 'woody' and 'stoney' and full of ghosts and gaslamp atmosphere...how I sometimes had a drink there with my brother in years gone by. Yes, I've written about it, I'm sure... Anyway, we all ate a meal together in the modern conservatory built onto the rear of the pub. I much prefer the older part of the building with it's unspoilt, oak panelled, gaslit, low ceilinged dark, tobacco-stained rooms, but there were no available tables for us all to sit together so the conservatory had to do. I felt that this provided a much needed opportunity to sit down and relax with my nephews and niece. They don't really know me quite as well as I'd like them to...not their fault, mine entirely, being so insular and pre-occupied with my music. I guess I'm not the easiest person to get to know. Still, I hope that I can correct this shameful fault in some way, I hope that my nephews and niece can grow to understand their father even more from my own fond memories of the childhood years (and beyond), that Ian and I shared. Ian's eldest son, Julian, is to be married in June of this year. Emi and I and Elle and Elliot are all invited and we're very much looking forward to attending the wedding. The Nelson family NEED something to look forward to at the moment, something connected with joy and hope for the future. There's been far too much sadness. Another positive note: My stepfather George is now out of hospital and on the way to recovery. The major surgery he underwent has left him skinny and frail, but he's on the mend. The current priority is to fatten him up. All the foods he was once advised to avoid he's now been told to devour as often as possible, (the things we all love but fear are not good for us). Until he reaches a weight appropriate to good health that is. My mother is much relieved to have him back at home and I'm relieved to see at least a little of her burden lifted. She worried terribly about him when he was in the hospital but, hopefully, things will improve for them both from here on. I drove to Wakefield again yesterday, (Monday 23rd), to take my mother up to the cemetary once more, but this time to deliver personal bouquets and birthday cards to Ian. Just mum and I there, in the light April rain and wind, cleaning and arranging flowers. What remains of the Wakefield skyline of my long lost childhood slipped in and out of my peripheral vision like a half-glimpsed ghost. I took a tissue, soaked it under the nearby water tap and used it to wipe clean some bird shit from Ian's headstone. Strange that whenever we go there on this particular date, to remember both his coming and his going, (a shocking irony), it will always be spring and the trees will be heavy with blossom. Just as they were on Monday. Nature continues to renew itself in the midst of our sadness, indifferent to the human condition and yet in perfect harmony with it. If I was a poet of any sort, perhaps I'd suggest that this was some kind of cruel but beautiful mystery. But what has been stemming the flow of this diary? What negative magic has banished words from these pages for so long? Depression? A stupidly intense work schedule? Well, yes, a lot of the latter and perhaps too much of the former. Dark night of the soul and all that. It seems, despite all efforts to the contrary, that I can be as angst-ridden and self-pitying as the next man. (Maybe even more so, given a chance to conjure a little love from out of the void.) A studio filled with brightly coloured toys does not neccesarily a Disney mentality make. Sometimes we're crippled by longings beyond easy articulation. Enough.... My Leeds University School Of Music concert is immanent, this coming Saturday in fact. (28th April.) I've spent at least three months physically working on it, ('though I'm sure the actual performance won't reflect this mad effort). Pointless or not, it's been non-stop: Long, long hours, every day, making new pieces of music, devising video backdrops to go with them, etc, etc. (11 new video pieces in total.) The audience won't ever realise just how much hard work has gone into this. It will probably appear seamless and effortless, just another concert. But it has taken SO much out of me. But why? And for what? Where's the point? I really can't answer that one. I genuinely don't understand why I should apply so much energy for such a meagre result. It's really not a sensible thing to do at all. Some might say that it borders on obsessive behaviour and is extremely unheathy. The latter point is clear to me: I've put on weight, sitting day after day in my little studio surrounded by buzzing electrical fields, getting no exercise, hunched over either a mixing desk or a computer keyboard. Absolutely crazy, stupid behaviour. Look...see? I'm still hunched here, tap tap tapping away. Went to 'The Clothworker's Hall' in Leeds today...the venue that I'm performing in on Saturday at Leeds University School Of Music. The purpose of the visit was to allow John Spence the opportunity to see the space he will be mixing my live sound in. Paul Gilby met us there too. He will be projectionist for the concert. It's a beautiful environment...perhaps much more suited to an acoustic classical recital than the guitar/electronica I will be unleashing there. A careful manipulation of sound levels will be needed to get the best of the space, acoustically. Not too loud, I think. The piano provided for my use sounds nice, a good action and a full size grand to boot. I won't be playing it a lot, but just a little. Same with the marimba...a hint of colour here and there. A tinkle and a twinkle, tap, tap, tappity tap. The totally improvised piece I'm hoping to perform with Steve Cook on keyboards now has a proper title. It will be called 'Seance In Suburban-Semi.' The title alludes to a seance I personally conducted at a suburban semi-detatched house in Stanley, on the edge of Wakefield at a Christmas party during the 1960's. I faked the 'results' of the seance to great effect. It scared the participants to the point where they ran shrieking from the house. The improvisation that Steve and I intend to embark upon on Saturday will have as much uncertainty and spookiness as that long ago party prank. Hopefully, the audience will remain in place, despite the uncertainty of the musicians. Here is the set list for Saturday's concert, minus the encore section. (Hopefully, there will be one!) Leeds University School Of Music Concert: April 28th 2007. 'Memories, Dreams And Gleaming Guitars.' SET LIST. 1: 'This Very Moment.' 2: 'Blue Amorini.' 3: 'Skylark's Rise.' 4: 'Beyond These Clouds,The Sweetest Dream.' 5: 'A Day To Remember.' 6: 'Fuzzy Dux.' 7: 'Only A Dream But Nevertheless.' 8: 'Steamboat In The Clouds.' 9: 'The Girl On The Fairground Waltzer.' 10: 'If I Were The Pilot Of Your Perfect Cloud.' 11: 'Neon Lights And Japanese Lanterns.' 12: 'Secret Club For Members Only.' 13: 'I Was A Junior Spaceman.' 14: 'Seance In Suburban-Semi.' (No backing track.) Loop piece. 15: 'A Dream For Ian.' Now a brief run through of other things before closing. This has already become a longer entry than planned. Spent a wonderful Easter weekend with my good friend Harold Budd and his family who were visiting Yorkshire. Went to Castle Howard, Harrogate and York...and a hidden village called Bolton Percy for Sunday lunch at 'The Crown' pub. Sam Smith's ales and Yorkshire pudding. All served in a tiny, unspoiled village pub with a tobacco-stained ceiling and hearty local chaps sporting natty waistcoats and World War Two Spitfire pilot's mustaches. A welcome break from my work schedule and, to tell the truth, a much needed one. Despite the guilt I felt at switching off my studio for a few days, the chance to sit and relax with Harold was such an easy joy. Prior to that, I'd taken in David Lynch's new film, 'Inland Empire,' at the local art cinema. Loved the rabbits...(Tremendous sound design too.) Blossoms out in our garden now, a riot of pink and white. Absolutely beautiful. So much still to prepare for Saturday's concert during what remains of this week. The video creation has dominated the last couple of months to the exclusion of music. I have new videos, new backing tracks, but little knowledge of what I will play over them. Improvisation in the main. I can't deny that I'm nervous. Performing live isn't one of my favourite things, yet the challenge taunts me. It will be, as always in these situations, very much touch and go. Weather dependent, mood permitting, wind in the right direction and so on. Unfortunately, it's not a simple matter of trotting out tried and tested, crowd-pleasing favourites. It's more like looking at a guitar for the first time in my life and thinking, 'what the heck am I supposed to do with this?' Performing live is sometimes a frightening experience for me. No matter how much I succeed in giving the audience the impression that I'm in control, behind the facade, it's all hanging on a very slender thread. The other day, my mother gave me a pencil. It was a magic pencil because it once belonged to my father. The pencil came from the 1950's and had been hidden away in a drawer for many, many years. My dad had brought it home from the place where he worked, a radio and television shop in the Hunslet area of Leeds during the 'fifties. On the pencil was the name of the shop that he managed back then: 'R. BROUGHTON AND SONS.' The shop stocked radios, tvs, washing machines, cycles, electrical goods and, (to my great delight as a young boy back then), toys, including Hornby Train sets, Dinky Toy model cars and Meccano. This long lost, ancient promotional pencil not only bears the name of the shop my father managed but it's address of 40-42, Waterloo Road, (now long gone), and a list of its stock in trade. It also bears my father's teeth marks where, after using it to mark out some measurement or other, he'd placed it in his mouth whilst sawing DIY wood in his garden shed, or maybe in the garage with me watching him. It probably sounds nostalgic and overtly romantic to say this but, the recent rediscovery of that old pencil brought my father and I suddenly close together, even though he passed away in his seventies, in 1976. It goes to show that even the most mudane of objects can become a modern-day holy relic, a bridge to another shore, given enough time to mature... At a certain point in our lives, we each become a museum surrounded by weeping willows. ***** The photographs attached to this diary are:- 1: The river and railway viaduct at Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. 2: The Rose Gardens in Wakefield park. 3 and 4: My father's old pencil with the name and address of the shop where he worked printed on it. 5: Emiko's Buddha-flower-blossom arrangement. Top of page

Live Archive Bill Nelson - Songs For Ghosts CD Launch Party Clothworkers Centenary Hall, Dept of Music, University Of Leeds A special invitation to an exclusive VIP launch of the new album from Bill Nelson Every guest will receive an advance signed copy of the Songs For Ghosts double-album Note: CD will go on sale to the public in November. PROGRAMME: Doors Open 4:00 pm and the event ends at approximately 9:30pm The event will include: Album playback: Bill will talk about the ideas and inspiration behind the music before playing back a selection of tracks from the double-album over a high quality Genelec sound system. Bill Nelson solo set: Bill's only solo performance this year. Further details and timings of the various parts of the programme will be announced nearer the date of the event. Merchandise: Your chance to pickup back catalogue CDs at very special prices. Plus various other limited edition goodies. Wallet Warning - there will also be some very rare items available from Bill's personal CD stock. Don't miss them ! NOTE: We will not have credit card facilities. Cash only. Catering: There will be a pay bar serving refreshments. Tea, coffee, soft drinks, beer and wine. There are plenty of places near the University to buy food. Cafes, Takeaways etc. TICKETS: The special VIP ticket price includes an advance copy of the new album. NOTE: These items are for collection on the day and we have no means of forwarding them on. You need to be there! Ticket price non-refunadable see booking site for T&Cs. Cost £75 This event is now over - please send your recollections and best pictures to the web masters HERE 'Songs For Ghosts' Launch Party - Fan Reviews - Saturday 28th October 2017 -

William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) May 2006 Tuesday 9th May 2006 -- 8:20 pm Two weeks and two days have passed since my brother Ian died. Although I frequently note, in these diary entries, how quickly time flies, the last two weeks have gone by at hyperspeed. Life has been a blur, a world in a spin, glimpsed through a watery lens. I'm tempted to say 'dreamlike' but it's been more like a waking nightmare. I am still struggling to grasp the reality of it, to understand just what has happened and why. The 'why' evades me. Ian's funeral was held on Tuesday the 2nd of May. Exactly one week ago today. Already. I should try to capture a little of that painful event here in my diary, both for posterity and my own failing memory's sake. The funeral service was held in a little church in the village of Walton on the edge of Wakefield, (not far from Ian's home), followed by burial at the city cemetary in Wakefield itself. Ian's wife Diane had been a little unsure about Ian's wishes in this regard, whether he would have preferred a cremation or burial. She said that she seemed to recall Ian saying that he'd never felt comfortable with the idea of cremation. I remember that Ian and I, in our distant youth, talked about the subject sometimes. We talked about it in the casual way that young men do when life seems to stretch on infinitely ahead of them and death seems nothing more than a vague, abstract concept. Nevertheless, neither of us were favorably disposed towards cremation and thought that a burial, in pleasant surroundings, would offer more comfort to loved ones and leave some form of an indication to others that we'd existed in this world. So, with all this in mind, Diane decided that Ian would have opted for a burial. My mother and myself felt that this was more appropriate too. It provided us with some small comfort that there would be a place where we could visit him from time to time, a kind of 'bridge' to his ethereal world, even though he would always be close inside our hearts. This need came as a surprise to me as, in recent years, I'd adopted the attitude that there would be no survival of spirit, soul or essence when life ends, just a slow dissolution of the elements, a scattering of atoms in the void. A poetic, zen-like emptiness. But of course, religious belief isn't for the departed but for those who are left behind to grieve. Any comfort, no matter how scant, furnishes our consolation. We grasp at any passing detrius the ocean of mortality throws at us, in the hope of staying afloat. My cousin Ian Boyle travelled all the way from Cantebury to attend the funeral. He stayed here with Emi and I from Sunday through to Wednesday. My brother Ian was actually named in honour of my cousin Ian, who is the youngest of our father's sister's two sons. (Dad and his sister passed away many years ago now.) My brother's middle name, Walter, was also chosen to honour family members. 'Walter' was both my father's name and my father's sister's eldest son's name. Sadly, cousin Walter was away in Venice so couldn't attend my brother's funeral. The passing-on of family forenames seems to extend to me too: I'm named after my father's younger brother, Bill, who was killed in a motorbike accident before I was born. The Nelson family history has many lost chapters. It is shrouded in mists and forgotten memories, as I discovered when I began work on my autobiography a few years ago. Trying to piece together a complete picture is almost impossible. My mother, though originally from the Griffith's side of the family, is the oldest living repository of our family history but, as she admits, she has limited recall of the facts. My autobiography does what it can with what little information is available but a perpetual twilight mist hovers over certain aspects. Perhaps I'll never know the full story. My two daughters, Julia and Elle, travelled up from their homes in London to attend the funeral. It was the first time that the surving members of the Nelson clan had all been together in the same place for quite a while, the last time being a Christmas gathering at my home some years ago when cousins Walter and Ian, my mother, my youngest daughter Elle, my son Elliot, brother Ian and Diane, joined Emi and I for a pleasant day of family talk and seasonal celebrations. I can remember my brother Ian's laughter on that day. As usual, his ability to make people feel at ease in his company was clearly evident. Emiko created the family's funeral flower arrangements. It was nice to have that personal touch and I think that Ian would have been pleased that Emi took care of his flowers, rather than a stranger treating it as just another job. Emi made a very large arrangement with Lillies and Roses from Diane, an arrangement spelling out the words DAD in delicate, tiny blue blooms with cream roses from Ian's children, a posy with roses and other flowers from my mum and an alto saxophone constructed from flowers from myself and Emi. I created a short verse to go with the message on the card that accompanied the floral saxophone. The verse part of the message read: "Go blow your Saxophones of Golden Eternity, wild and free in The Blue Beyond... Go blow your Saxophones Of Golden Eternity, safe and sound inside our hearts..." I felt that it had something of Kerouac and The Beats about it that Ian might have enjoyed. Jack Kerouac shared Ian's sense of the immediate moment being all that mattered. The days leading up to the funeral were filled with grief and a kind of dread. We all knew that the day of the funeral itself was going to be a grim one, an inescapable confrontation with our loss. I travelled over to Wakefield to see my mother almost every day. Although we were all devastated, we knew that my mother was suffering in a way that only a mother does when she loses her youngest son. Mum is 77 years old and fighting her own battle with illness. That she should have to face this kind of grief too is so very sad. But my mother is an amazing, beautiful person, (and yes, I'm aware that all sons think that of their mothers). She has borne the weight of so many problems throughout her life, as many mothers do. My father's long illnesses, his confinement to a wheelchair after suffering the amputation of both his legs, her own medical problems, the worrying, wayward nature of both her sons, my two failed marriages and their unpleasant side-effects, etc, etc. Through the years she has always cared more about other people's sufferings than her own. She has never complained, never been judgemental. Mum has always been steadily supportive, a perfect example of unconditional love. Her generosity, strength, dignity and compassion are self-evident qualities, recognised by all who know her. And she thinks the world of Diane and Ian's children. And I realised, this last couple of weeks, that they think the world of her too. On the morning of the funeral, Elliot and Elle and Julia travelled in Elliot's car whilst my mother, Emi, cousin Ian and I travelled in one of the two funeral cars, Diane and Ian's family led in the other, directly behind the hearse bearing Ian's casket. The emotional moment of the arrival of the hearse at Ian and Diane's house that morning, prior to setting off for the church, is beyond my ability to describe. I'll never forget it. A conformation of everything I'd tried to deny. The little church was filled to capacity with Ian's friends. As part of the family, the church's front pews were reserved for us and Ian's flower covered coffin was displayed a couple of feet away from where we sat. Here was the hard reality of it all: my brother, the one person (other than my mother and late father), who had been a stable part of my life for so long, was now about to be laid to rest forever. Sitting there, looking at that polished, crafted, dreadful symbol of finality, I remembered so many things that we'd shared, both as children and as adults. The sadness engulfed me, drowned me, crushed me. The vicar, whose first name, I believe, was Rupert, (somehow appropriate as Ian and I grew up with Rupert The Bear stories), read a few Biblical passages. I could almost hear my brother, a passionately non-religious person, groaning, " Get ON with it!" Ian would have favoured an Irish style wake or a New Orleans style musical blast off with Bachanallian revels and joyous memories. He wasn't really one for morbid melancholia. That curse, it seems, has been left to me. Then Ian's sister-in-law Angie read a tribute to him, after which, as part of the service, some recent recordings of Ian playing saxophone with his friend John were played to the congregation. The music unlocked the floodgates.The grief was unbearable. Everyone wept openly. So poignant and sad. After the church service, the funeral procession slowly wound its way out of the village and headed towards Wakefield and the cemetary. We travelled in silence and tears. I kept getting glimpses of the hearse ahead of us as it turned this way and that through the blossom filled, tree-lined lanes that had been so familiar to Ian in life. In the car in front of us, Diane, Julian, Louis and Lucy followed Ian on his last ride. I can only begin to imagine how painful it must have been for them, losing a husband and a father so suddenly, and at such a relatively young age. The morning weather had started out reasonably spring-like but, when we arrived at the graveside, the sky had turned a uniform grey and a cold wind animated the priest's vestments as he stood at the head of the grave that had been dug to receive Ian's casket. Ian's family, my mother and myself were beckoned forward to stand at the edge.The coffin was lowered down to rest at the bottom.The grave was much deeper than I'd imagined but I could clearly read Ian's name and the date of his birth and passing on the polished brass plate that was fastened to the lid of his coffin. I really can't begin to describe the emotions and thoughts that flooded me at that moment. Here was my little brother, whose coming into the world had been part of my own life and whose exit from it will haunt me forever. Ian was born at home, at my parent's ground floor flat, number 28, Conistone Crescent on Eastmoor Estate on the 23rd April 1956. When mum went into labour, the midwife had suggested that my bed would be more comfortable or suitable for Ian's birth than my parent's one, so I was moved into my parents bedroom whilst mum occupied mine at the front of the house. (The move was softened by a pile of comic books that my father had bought for me.) As a result, Ian was actually born in my bed, in my bedroom. It was in this same room that we would spend so much time playing with our toys when we were kids. I remember Ian being a big fan of Gerry Anderson's 'Supercar', as was I. My dad bought the family an early domestic tape recorder, a two-tone grey plastic Phillips model with a 'magic-eye' device that flashed whilst recording to show the level of sound. Ian and I recorded little 'plays' on that machine, often re-creating 'Supercar' or 'Stingray' stories. I can still hear his high-pitched young voice saying " Stand by for action! Anything can happen in the next half-hour!" (A phrase from the opening sequence of 'Stingray.') I wish I still had that recording. Our bedroom was filled with model cars, aeroplanes, trains, toy spaceships, books and games. We shared that room for many years, our theatre of youth, filled with the symbolic contents of our nascent imagination. And now, here I was, gazing down at all that remained of that life, those far memories, reduced to just a name and two dates etched on a brass plaque. I could feel my mother shaking as she clung to my arm next to me. I was shaking too, an icy combination of the cold wind and the deep emotions we were suffering. It seemed unreal, surreal, film-like. Ironically, Wakefield Cemetary features briefly in one of my favourite films, 'This Sporting Life' and Wakefield Trinity football ground, which plays a big part in the film, is almost next door to the cemetary. Richard Harris played the central role in the film, a hard-living, down to earth character. I'm sure Ian would have appreciated this connection and felt it appropriate. I can remember long-ago visits to Wakefield cemetary when I was very young. Walking trips on Saturday mornings with my mother to place flowers on the grave of my great grandfather, John Henry Griffiths, (who died when I was three or four, I think). My great grandmother is buried somewhere in there too and also my father's brother Bill, mentioned previously in this diary entry. I've been unable to locate their graves in recent years and my mum can't recall exactly where they were buried. I think they had extremely small, modest headstones. Maybe just initials and a date. The area where I seem to remember my great grandfather's grave being located has several such small stones, now heavily worn away by the weather. Impossible to decipher. I'll try to locate them through the cemetary archives later this year...they must have official records of the graves, maybe a plan to help me locate them. I'd like to take flowers to my ancestors. They've been neglected for so long. My brother Ian's grave is in a newer part of the cemetary, across the quiet road called 'Sugar Lane,' that runs off from the main, busy, Agbrigg Road. Sugar Lane divides the newer cemetary from the older part. The older section is mostly filled with Victorian and Edwardian graves, some of them marked by grandiose monuments, obelisks and angels. The 'newer' part, opened in 1961, is simpler, without the gothic trappings. Ian rests at the end of a tree-lined walk on the right hand side of the path. After the burial, everyone went on to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park where a reception had been organised in Ian's honour by his former colleagues, including park director Peter Murray, (one of my painting tutors from Wakefield Art School days), and Ian's sister-in-law Angie who has worked there for many years. Ian's children had prepared a slide show of photographs of their dad, taken at different points in his life, which moved everyone deeply and reduced me to tears again. Ian's eldest son Julian, after giving a moving and eloquent speech which impressed everyone there, proposed a toast to his dad. Ian would have been so proud of his children. I had the opportunity to speak with many of Ian's friends including members of 'Bolt From The Blue', the band that I'd enjoyed playing a few gigs with back in the late '80's (or very early '90's). Ian had been a member of the band, as had an old art school friend of mine from the '60's, drummer Martin Foye. (Martin sadly passed away in the 90's, another one gone too young.) 'Bolt From The Blue' had been very kind to me back then. At the time of those gigs I'd been struggling to survive. My problems with business management and the music industry were at their peak and I had virtually no income at all. My life was filled with stress and fear. It was suggested that, if I performed a handful of gigs with Bolt From The Blue in local pubs, I could make a little money to help me out of some of the financial mess I was in, or at least pay an outstanding bill or two. I hadn't played live for quite a while and was understandably nervous about performing, but I ended up having fun with the band. The first performance I gave with them was in Wakefield at a pub called 'The Post Haste.' I recall playing covers of Van Morrison's 'Dweller On The Threshold' and Muddy Water's 'Got My Mojo Working.' The local Wakefield Express newspaper kindly wrote a generous review about the show. We even travelled to Manchester, if I remember rightly, to do a gig in a pub there. It was an enforced return to my roots, a reminder of what it was all about. The generosity and care that Ian and the rest of the band showed me has never been forgotten, so it was good to meet up with some of the original members again at the Sculpture Park last week, despite the terrible circumstances. Amongst many other people attending the Sculpture Park reception were musicians who had been part of my 'Lost Satellites' band: Dave Standeven, Steven Cook and my long-time friend Jon Wallinger. They all have fond memories of Ian from the 'Be Bop Deluxe And Beyond' 30 year anniversary tour that we undertook in 2004, and from the annual Nelsonica fan conventions. As they're much valued friends of mine, it was extremely supportive for me to see them there. Two more, very dear friends were also present to honour Ian: John Spence who had worked with Ian in various musical situations over the years and Paul Gilby who had worked alongside the Lost Satellites on the 2004 tour. It was so comforting to have all these familiar faces close by at such a difficult time and everyone recalled their experiences of Ian generously. Another warm and welcome gesture was the presence of several loyal fans and regular members of the 'Dreamsville' on-line community. Everyone was extremely kind and I was touched by their considerate and compassionate concern. At the end of the afternoon, people began to drift away. In a manner that Ian would have approved of, I was feeling somewhat woozy from the wine that had been served up by the Park's staff. I was hoping it would act as a kind of anaesthetic but it simply heightened the unreality of it all. Paul and Elliot provided transport to get Mum, her husband George, Julia, Emi and I back to our cars which had been left at Ian and Diane's house that morning. We then collected my grandson Luke from his grandmother's house, (my first wife Shirley). Once Luke was on board, Julia, Luke, Elle ,Elliot, Emi, Mum, George, my cousin Ian and my friend Paul Gilby, drove out to Heath Common, another old village on the edge of Wakefield. We all went to 'The Kings Arms' pub, a place that still has gaslight and stone-flagged floors. I used to go there as an art student in my teens and have also visited it several times with my brother in the past. After the day's stresses and strains it was theraputic to sit and eat and drink together in this old haunt with its history, both local and personal. My little grandson Luke, with his positive, wide-eyed wonder, inspired a smile for us amidst the sad recollections. I too, inadvertantly provided some humour by accidentally setting my hair on fire whilst standing beneath one of the pub's wall-mounted gas mantles. The first we knew of it was when we smelled something burning. Then the top of my head felt very hot. I managed to move away from the gas light just in time. I could almost hear my brother Ian laughing at my folly. That evening I sat up with cousin Ian, talking about this and that. He's a lovely guy, good company, intelligent and knowledgable, (as is my other cousin, Walter). The next morning, cousin Ian set off on the long drive back to Canterbury. We plan to get together again before too long...a summer break. I went back to the cemetary last Friday with my mother. It was a warm, sunny, spring day...a clear blue sky overhead, the trees leading to Ian's grave heavy with pink blossom. Such a contrast to the day of the funeral and so much new-life and fecundity evident in the immediate environment. By coincidence, Diane had also chosen to re-visit the spot at exactly the same time. As mum and I arrived, Diane was just helping her mother and father from her car. Diane's mum and dad are lovely people and it's plain that they both were very fond of my brother. I was conscious that we might be intruding on their privacy but my mother said not to worry and we joined them at Ian's grave. Emi's flowers were still in place though the more delicate ones had either become wilted or blown away with the winds and occassional rain of the previous day. The floral saxophone, magically, seemed reasonably intact. I fetched water to nourish the remaining flowers in the hope of keeping them going a short while longer. After a while, when Diane and her parents had left, Mum and I walked around the older side of the cemetary, looking at the old gravestones in the hope of maybe locating John Henry Griffiths, (mentioned above), my great grandfather on my mother's side of the family. He was, in the 1920's and early '30's, a lamplighter, going around the Wakefield streets at twilight, lighting the gas lamps, then going around again at dawn, putting them out and knocking on people's windows with his lamplighter's pole to wake them up to go to work in the local textile mills. My mother tells me that she sometimes accompanied him in the evenings when she was a young child. She has told me of walking the rainy cobbled streets with him and watching the gas mantles burst into light as he switched them on, one by one. A poetic and beautiful image. However, his resting place still eludes us. After dropping mum off at her home, I bought a copy of 'The Wakefield Express' as I'd been told that there was an article in it about Ian's passing. Ironically, in another part of the newspaper, (as I was later informed), there was a photograph of myself, printed as part of an article about a local radio station that was apparently planning to broadcast my instrumental recording 'Radiant Spires.' How I wish that the only announcement in the paper could have been about Ian and myself performing somewhere together, as we'd done at the Wakefield Arts Festival at the end of the '90's, instead of the sad news that Friday's Express carried. That we won't be able to share a stage again in that way is an extra blow for me, something that will hurt every time I perform solo from now on. Since the funeral, there's been an attempt by us all at some kind of adjustment, an attempt to come to terms with things. Not at all easy. Impossible right now. I travelled to London on Saturday to attend the London Guitar Show at Wembley Exhibition Centre where I'd promised to appear on the Campbell American Guitar stand. Readers of this diary will know that Dean Campbell and his team are developing a signature model guitar for me. I picked up the prototype of the signature model and brought it back home, along with an intense blue 'Precix' model that has a vibrato arm fitted. It was actually the first time I'd met Dean 'in the flesh', (despite many emails and 'phone conversations), and I was made to feel very welcome by him. He's a warm, genuine, lovely guy and couldn't have been kinder to me. His care helped ease what was going on behind my smile and he, plus his colleague Dan, plus Music Ground's Rick Harrison, (who travelled down on the train and back with Emi and I), helped me through what might otherwise have been a difficult day. And so here I am, one week after the funeral, still in a dark cloud despite all attempts at moving on. Too soon, of course, but I have to try to pick up my workload again. The song 'Steam Radio Blues' that I was working on just over two weeks ago needs to be finished. It's just a matter of the mix really. But then I have to write and record more songs for the 'jazzy' album. I realise that it will be impossible not to write something about this recent tragedy and sadness. In fact it may be a way forward for me, an attempt to exorcise some of the pain. I also hope to make a special tribute album for Ian later in the year, something that might directly benefit Ian's family. I have some ideas regarding this that I need to work on, but will announce more about it when things begin to fall into place. Meanwhile, the sun shines outside my window, the swallows have arrived from Africa and swoop around the rooftops of the house. A cuckoo can be heard in the distant yellow meadow and fat bumble bees buzz amongst the flowers by our front door, oblivious to human suffering. Next month, Emi and I will fly to Tokyo for two weeks to visit Emi's mum and two brothers. And the work of making music will continue. Life goes on, though much more tenderly and tearfully than before. Finally, I'd like to thank all those good people, family, friends and fans, whose words and deeds have brought a measure of comfort and kindness to what has been an extremely difficult time. Everyone's life is a work of art and everyone's life is precious. Heartfelt love to all. ****** The photographs accompanying this diary entry show: 1. Emiko working on Ian's flowers. 2. The floral Saxophone. 3. Ian (in foreground), and Bill behind. Photo taken at Reighton Gap on the East Coast Of Yorkshire during a 1950's holiday. Top of page Thursday 25th May 2006 -- 8:20 pm It's now just over a month since my brother Ian passed away. I'd like to think that I've begun to accept the situation and am coping reasonably well...but the truth is a little different. There's an underlying depression at work here, dark and muted but insistent, insidious. So, how does one deal with bereavment of this kind? What's the precise formula? I presume that there isn't one. It just takes time. Maybe several years and, even then...I'm still in shock. Was else can I say? I'm doing my best? I've immersed myself in work this last week or so. Concentrating on the 'Return To Jazz Of Lights' album. The hard work doesn't remove the sadness but at least temporarily distracts me from it. It has to be said that some of the more melancholy pieces on the album, even though they were written before the events of 23rd of April, seem remarkably apt with hindsight.There are several poignant, prescient moments. This album has been an unexpected struggle...perhaps even more so than 'The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill.' Maybe it doesn't have Sailor Bill's sense of absolute completeness, or maybe I personally don't have a sense of completeness right now. The whole album seems to comprise one big fragmented statement and could be judged tenderly flawed, 'though for special reasons. It's subtle imperfections may be interpreted by some listeners as seductive come-ons. ( Well...I DO hope it slides the pants off you.) So, yes...It's another personal, unique thing, sentimental, but with a dash more irony than Sailor Bill. It has a bizarre mix of inspirations / influences, containing elements of jazz, big band swing, jive, lounge, electronica, easy listening and Vegas show music, shot through with what, I guess, an objective ear might describe as archetypal Bill Nelson ' whimsicality.' It's somewhere to the left of post-modern...not easy to describe in precise terms at all. The truth is, I don't really know what to make of it. But it's finished, as of this last, exhausting hour. I've decided upon the final song selection and running order and now have to arrange time at Fairview to master the damn thing. It's gone through several mutations. It started life as a throwaway side-project, a light-hearted six song ep or mini-album, everything recorded quickly, something that I hoped might be reasonably painless to put together. But, despite those modest intentions, over the last few months it has taken on a peculiar life of its own and I've had no choice but to follow wherever it led. The project grew from six tracks to ten.Then to 12 and now, this week, to 15. (Although I've recorded 18 songs for it in total.) Listening back to the 15 track version last night, I decided it was too long and have spent all of today re-working the running order to get it back to a more easily digested 12 track album. I think this latest 12 song version works better. The six songs left over from my final selection will be moved to the list of possibilities for this year's fothcoming Nelsonica fan convention cd. In that respect, the project has gone down almost the same path as Sailor Bill. Last year's Nelsonica cd, 'Orpheus In Ultraland', provided a home for tracks that didn't make it onto the Sailor Bill project. Ironically, people snapped that one up faster than the Sailor Bill album. Anyway... The final selection, as of this moment in time, looks like this:- BILL NELSON: 'RETURN TO JAZZ OF LIGHTS.' 1. 'Return To Jazz Of Lights.' 2. 'Fearless Beauty. (Kisses and Cream.)' 3. 'Mysterious Chemicals Of Love.' 4. 'It's A Big World And I'm In It. (The Great Rememberer.)' 5. 'October Sky.' 6. 'For You And I.' 7. 'Velocity Dansette.' 8. 'Now Is Not And Never Was.' 9. 'Windswept.' 10. 'Always You.' 11. 'Steam Radio Blues.' 12. 'All These Days Are Gone. (For Ian.) ' As I noted above, the six songs that didn't make it to the album will be held over for this year's Nelsonica limited edition album. Their titles are:- 'Premium Standard Number One.' 'Distant Towns With Different Lights.' 'Memory Skyline.' 'The Girl In The Galaxy Dress.' 'Take It Off And Thrill Me.' 'The Song My Silver Planet Sings.' There will be a few more tracks to add to the convention album, including the song that proved very popular on last year's concert tour, 'Snow Is Falling.' (But how that will fit with the above 'jazzy' stylings is another mystery.) So...for the moment, that is ALL the music I have to offer, other than the completed though not yet mastered 'Neptune's Galaxy' album. As usual, there are other concepts percolating in the coffee shop of dreams but I'm feeling genuinely tired right now and need a break. Perhaps the trip to Tokyo in June will give me a breather of some kind, 'though it won't be particularly relaxing. To be honest, I'm not looking forward to the journey at all...I don't enjoy flying, especially long haul flights to Japan that involve several hour's stop-over, awaiting connections at some Europen airport or other, (in this case, Amsterdam). But cheap tickets require one to endure such tedium. I'll take my camcorder, still camera and small sketchbook/watercolour set with me. Perhaps there may be a moment's grace during our Tokyo stay when I can capture the tranquility of a Zen temple garden amidst the city's hustle and bustle. I fear there will hardly be time to relax though, as Emi needs to hook up with long-missed family and friends. It will be a very busy schedule, once we arrive. I bought a book dealing with aspects of the history of Wakefield, yesterday. Wakefield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, is my birthplace. In the book, there is a section dealing with the history of Wakefield's 'yards.' Amazingly, there is mention of Marriot's Yard, around which Marriot's Buildings were located. (I've searched for years to find reference to this personally important location.) Marriot's Buildings was where my grandmother lived and where I was born. (Now long since demolished.) The book quotes from an ancient report written by a medical official in the 1800's. He comments on the unsanitary conditions of the housing there and briefly describes the setting. When I was born there, in 1948, Marriot's Buildings and its yard had not changed at all from those dark Victorian times. There was still no hot water, no electricity and only a communal outside privy with newspaper for toilet paper. An old tin bath for the once-a-week bathnight and a stone floor that would later, briefly, receive the 'luxury' of linoleum. Unbelievable. Nevertheless, I remember the place with clarity and great fondness. As I've often mentioned in these diary pages, my autobiography contains elaborate descriptions of that dwelling, exactly as it was when I was a very young infant, not yet able to walk but definitely able to retain strong visual impressions of my surroundings, albeit from ground level. How I wish I could trace some photographs of the building as it was around the time of my birth. Or at ANY time before its demise. My old pal John Spence called me last night. We spoke for quite a while, talking about my brother, (and life and its struggles in general). John has come to play an important part in my life over the years, not just because of his talents in the realm of studio engineering, but because of his understanding of me as a human being. I value his friendship tremendously and feel priveleged to know him. I'm still receiving kind messages of sympathy from various people. So many that it is proving difficult to answer every single one of them, although I'm still attempting to. I've certainly felt the spiritual embrace of many good hearted people these last few weeks. A lot of love has come my way and I'm very grateful. I've been reading some Buddhist texts before sleeping. In the mornings I've watched the clouds passing overhead, glimpsed through the bathroom skylight as I lay in the bath. I've also watched the recent torrential rain hitting the vast pool of water in our garden, making rippling circles of light on the driveway. Our garden and drive doesn't drain and becomes a virtual lake when the weather turns wet. One of dozens of flaws that this place has. It needs lots of money spending on it at the moment, but things are tight and it will have to wait. I live in a perpetual state of 'make-do', and that includes the recording of my music. It's a never ending compromise. But, isn't everything? I've been playing the first prototype of my Campbell American 'Transitone' signature guitar and have refined my initial ideas for the instrument's development which I'll be passing on to the campbell company soon. It is, unsurprisingly, a very unique instrument and will become even more so as its development continues. Meeting Dean Campbell himself at the London Guitar Show a week or two ago was a real pleasure. I actually saw Bert Weedon there too, 'though just from the back as he walked the show's corridors with, (I presume), his wife. He looked very frail. His 'Play In A Day' book was purchased for me by my father when I got my first guitar. I did absorb the info in the tutor book about which way up to hold the instrument and how to attach the strap but, beyond that was a mystery to me and remains so to this day. I have fond memories of Bert on 'Five-O'Clock Club' on television in the late '50's, early '60's. He used to have very thick, crinkly, shiny hair in those days. It's very white, faint and wispy now. Top of page Jan Apr Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013

Silvertone Fountains Bill Nelson album - 16 June 2008 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Beauty Rides The Last Bus Home 02) The Fabulous Whirlygig Of Now 03) Autumn Drowns Apples In Golden Tides 04) Silvertone Fountains 05) La Vie Moderne 06) Slow Clouds 07) Happy In My Helicopter Hat 08) December Waltz 09) The World Sleeps Late On New Year's Day 10) Young Dreams, Whirled Away 11) Spearmint And Moonbeams 12) We Vanish At Shadowfall 13) The Bells Of Villefranche 14) Fish Are Dancing In The Fountain Of Dreams 15) Shower Of Sparks ALBUM NOTES: Silvertone Fountains is an instrumental album issued on the Sonoluxe label in a single print run of 1000 copies. The album was recorded as the first part of a trilogy of complementary releases, the associated albums being Illuminated at Dusk (issued concurrently with Silvertone Fountains ) and Mazda Kaleidoscope . Work on the album effectively stretches back to 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 what became the And We Fell into a Dream album, with the residual material initially retained for a revised Frankie Ukulele album. Around the time of Nelsonica '07 , Nelson re-thought his plans and abandoned the Frankie Ukulele concept altogether and shifted his attention towards a new album called Silvertone Fountains , which initially contained a mixture of both new material as well as tracks slated for inclusion on Frankie Ukelele and the Fire in the Lake . Nelson revealed in a diary entry dated 4 December 2007 that he had prepared a CDR of the new compositions ear-marked for this album which he distributed to members of the Nelsonica team. In the event though just 2 tracks included on that early draft version of Silvertone Fountains would make it to the finished album, with all but one track ("The Lost Art of Doing Nothing") distributed among four other future album releases, namely Illuminated at Dusk , Clocks and Dials , The Dream Transmission Pavilion and Here Comes Mr Mercury . In January 2008 Nelson produced another album's worth of guitar instrumentals that would signal completion of both Silvertone Fountains and Illuminated at Dusk , the track listings for which were simultaneously confirmed in February 2008. 2008 was clearly an important year for Nelson who would celebrate his 60th birthday in December, and each album issued that year would bear a special 60th birthday insignia in recognition of this fact. The year would see Nelson issue a total of 5 distinct albums in a period of around 7 months, making it as prolific a year as 2004. It would set a standard that, more often than not, would be matched in future years. Silvertone Fountains sold out in January 2019. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Mazda Kaleidoscope , Illuminated At Dusk , Dreamland to Starboard , Return to Jazz of Lights , Luxury Wonder Moments , Gleaming Without Lights , And We Fell Into A Dream , Rosewood One , Rosewood Two BILL'S THOUGHTS: Each album is designed to bring its own distinctive colour to the trilogy. My original concept involved listening to the albums in a fixed order...Which is as follows: Silvertone , then Illuminated , followed by Mazda . Silvertone sets out the stall, as it were, introducing a calm and contemplative note in the listener but also hinting at things to come on the companion albums. It is a quite intense album in some ways, exploring various corners of my work in an introspective fashion, though there are light-hearted moments too. The tracks should not be judged by only hearing the first minute or so of each track in 'channel-hopping' fashion though. The pieces sometimes go through quite dramatic changes within each composition, often ending up in a different musical space from the one in which they started. (For instance: "Young Love Whirled Away" begins as a melancholy, other-worldly waltz, then mutates into a brief 'ambient noise' interlude before plunging enthusiastically into a hot 'jump-jive' barnstorming guitar section.) It's important to hear each piece in its entirety. This album requires complete, concentrated listening...rather than a skimming through the intros of each track to seek something instantly appealing. It will reward the listener who appreciates subtleties, detail and cross-references to other styles of music. It's also quite an emotional album for me, containing much tenderness, as well as careful thought. _____ I was listening avidly to the great jazz guitarists long before I became a professional player with Be Bop Deluxe and I've always 'had a thing' about the sound and feel of a traditional archtop acoustic-electric guitar. My recent instrumental music fuses these long-time jazz leanings with rock, avant and ambient tendencies...it's not 'fusion' music but something beyond that, something personal. The recently released instrumental albums, Silvertone Fountains and Illuminated At Dusk , provide particular examples of this approach. The guitar playing on them mixes more traditional, rich and luxurious jazz guitar sounds with bright n' shiny rock n' roll tones. (The former from my Peerless 'Monarch', the latter courtesy of my Campbell 'Nelsonic Transitone' signature solid-body guitar and my Eastwood/Airline retro-styled instruments.) I've always derived a perverse pleasure from playing games with musical expectations, whether those expectations are mine or my audience's. _____ Bill's Listening Suggestion of the Day: A track with a sort of 'split' personality today: "Young Dreams Whirled Away", an instrumental from the Silvertone Fountains album. The track opens with a short blast of weird amusement arcade bleeps and buzzes before turning into a light, jazzy waltz with arpeggio guitar chords and a clean, reverb-tinted and echo-delayed Space Guitar solo, improvising over the previously mentioned chord changes...a contrapuntal feel to this section...then a short but ambiguous, floating, almost ambient bridge into section number two: A fast, tricky, almost '50s Be Bop jazz meets '70s funk guitar jam with harmony lead guitar overdubs and a sound that brings to my mind the idea of a non-existent album titled 'Les Paul on the Moon'. This is one of my favourite guitar recordings from my albums, though it was quite demanding to record. Play it nice and loud to get the full effect! _____ The album's title comes partly from the old 'Silvertone' guitar company of America. Think of it as a fountain of shining, silver strings. FAN THOUGHTS: BenTucker: On Silvertone Fountains , the track, "Autumn Drowns Apples in Golden Tides", alone is worth the price of admission. That's followed by the sublime title track. That's enough beauty to last the whole day, but you're still only at track 4! An absolute must-buy. Holer: This is a lush, exciting, thrilling sonic experience, and reaffirms why I am such a fan of Bill's work and have been for so many years. Peter: The standouts for me so far are "Happy in My Helicopter Hat" and "Young Dreams, Whirled Away" which is heartbreakingly beautiful. Oh...and Bill, your guitar playing has never been more wonderful. Thank you. Andre: The song "Silvertone Fountains", so sensual, followed by "La Vie Moderne' with its changes and moooods...This has got to be at the top of the list of the best Bill Nelson music, of all eras. chromiumlad: It's like sipping from a tall glass of lemonade while lounging in a hammock on a warm breezy day. I love Bill's playing! "Young Dreams, Whirled Away" is incredible! Swan: "Young Dreams Whirled Away": Could go on forever as far as I'm concerned! Mr. Mercury: I can't recommend Silvertone Fountains enough. It's one of my favourites. noggin: I have listened to both new albums [ Silvertone Fountains and Illuminated at Dusk ] several times now, and I have to say I'm very impressed. At this early stage, Silvertone is my pick of the two, but this could change. I struggled with And We Fell Into a Dream at first but play it often now. On a different note, I find it remarkable that 33 years! after purchasing my first Bill Nelson recording ( Futurama ) I still feel that same sense of anticipation and excitement whenever I hear a new album as I did way back then. I can't think of any other musician/artist that has had that affect on me. It must be quite an achievement to have maintained a career in such a fickle industry for so long, particularly as an independent artist, and it's a great tribute to Bill's abilities and creativity that he's still around. Space Buddha No1: I guess what really keeps me listening is the sense of being called along on a journey I don't really understand. I listen to a vast amount of different musics all the time but always return to discover this one obsessive journey into creativity. It's sometimes tempting to try and imagine a linear narrative connecting all the ideas but it's also clear that it's a futile game. Side paths, loops and eddy currents are all part of the flow. I guess I launched my own boat into the stream of the Nelson oeuvre after hearing "Do You Dream in Colour?" and "Revolt Into Style" back to back and became fascinated with the juxtaposition and continuity. These latest two [ Silvertone Fountains and Illuminated at Dusk ] just push me further into discovery. Kalamazoo Kid: He's doing everything right musically. I'd burn my entire Be Bop and Red Noise collection before I'd part with Silvertone Fountains . Albums Menu Future Past

My Secret Studio, Vol. 1 Bill Nelson album box set - December 1995 Albums Menu Future Past CD 1 - Buddha Head: 01) My Philosophy 02) Killing My Desires 03) Buddha Head 04) The Way 05) Big River 06) Karma Kisses 07) We Will Rise 08) Signs And Signals 09) Lotus In The Stream 10) Enlightenment 11) Eternally 12) Duality 13) Perfect World 14) The Heart Has Its Reasons 15) Sun Will Rise 16) The Big Illumination 17) Life As We Know It Purchase this download CD 2 - Electricity Made Us Angels: 01) Begin To Burn 02) Heaven's Happy Hemisphere 03) God In Her Eyes 04) Float Away 05) Big Blue Day 06) Sweet Is The Mystery 07) If Wishes Were Horses 08) Fair Winds And Flying Boats 09) Ocean Over Blue 10) River Of Love 11) This Is Destiny 12) Wonders Never Cease 13) Nothing Yet 14) God Thundered Boy 15) She Sends Me Purchase this download CD 3 - Deep Dream Decoder: 01) Things To Come 02) God Bless Me 03) Rise (Above These Things) 04) Snowing Outside 05) It's All True 06) A Head Full Of Lights And A Hat Full Of Haloes 07) The Girls I've Loved 08) Amazing Things 09) Deep Dream Decoder 10) Dissolve 11) Year 44 (The Birthday Song) 12) Wing And A Prayer 13) Dreamnoise And Angel 14) Tired Eyes 15) Golden Girl 16) The Spark Purchase this download CD 4 - Juke Box For Jet Boy: 01) She's So Extreme 02) On A Train I Never Boarded 03) Sail Away 04) Only Dreaming 05) Swing With The Rhythm Boys 06) The King And Queen Of Now Or Never 07) Hold On To Your Heart 08) Turn Me Over 09) Runaway 10) It' s Always Maybe 11) Dream Up, Billy 12) All You Need To Know 13) Warm And Wonderful 14) A Thing About That 15) No Fool For You 16) Living For Today 17) Birds In Blue Sky Again Purchase this download ALBUM NOTES: My Secret Studio is a 4CD boxed set issued on the Resurgence label, issued as a limited edition of 2000 copies. All 4 albums were compiled from Nelson's archive of previously unreleased recordings made between 1988 and 1992. The tracks were arranged non-chronologically, making it impossible to know for sure when any track was recorded. The album sleeve notes that the recordings were made at The Echo Observatory, Studio Rose Croix, and Tape Recorder Cottage. The 4 albums in the set were efficiently packaged in 2 two double slimline jewel cases housed inside a thick paper slip case, and were accompanied by a set of small cards in a polythene wallet. The package retailed at around £30 and was on catalogue for approximately 8 years before selling out. PAST RELEASES: Unlike previous Bill Nelson box sets, where the individual albums were soon released separately, My Secret Studio was handled slightly differently. The albums Buddha Head , Electricity Made Us Angels and Deep Dream Decoder were granted individual releases in 1997 on a Resurgence off shoot label, Populuxe, with each repackaged into its own jewel case. However, Juke Box For Jet Boy remained exclusive to the set. The 4CD box set was reissued on February 24, 2017, as part of the Esoteric/Cherry Red reissue series. With this version, Cherry Red has separated each disc into its own mini-lp sleeve. The result is a design which is both less cluttered and more appealing. They also took the opportunity to remaster the set, which now boasts better sound than the original Resurgence box and Populuxe issues (both of which used the same master). Although the difference is not considerable, on the whole, the remastering brings more definition and clarity to the sound. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: All albums are available to purchase individually as digital downloads here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "For many years now, I've tried to apply what some people might think of as 'painterly techniques' to my music, at least to that aspect of it that lends itself to such techniques, (and sometimes to that which doesn't). "I suppose this involves a non-linear approach, treating sounds as blocks of colour, words as blips and signals, suggestions, rather than specific storytelling. Of course, (inevitably), my ingrained pop-sensibility comes into play, often unbidden, and creates certain recognisable shapes from the apparent formlessness, giving the listener an illusion of a song, even when my original intention is quite the opposite. "The music has a mutant form, perhaps, or, to employ painterly terms, it's a nebulous mix of expressionism and pop-art. But I strive not to become too po-faced or precious about it. (An arty-fartist is not an artist). I try to quash such self-indulgent pretensions as soon as they raise their ugly head. ('Though I sometimes allow them to peep above the parapet so that they can be shot down with the chuckling gatling gun of self-deprecation). "At the end of the day, it's all about a search for a unique and personal voice, one that expresses my life and inner experience as authentically and appropriately as possible. Whether it's considered by others to be rubbish or genius is besides the point. It's not about competing in the rock/pop music marketplace, or hitting certain technical/athletic 'muso' standards...it's simply about a very personal take on life itself, with all its trivia, magic and mystery." _____ "The 'ambient' things, the 'rock' things, the 'pop' things don't exist as separate, discreet entities in my creative heart, they're just facets of one, personal, unchanging musical expression. I personally regard all these categorisations as outward manifestations of a single interior vision, rather than some kind of split-personality or any desire to appear 'multi-talented'. And I've never really abandoned anything, it's all still there...the guitars, the pre-occupations, the same world-view...I've not 'gone ambient' or 'gone rock' as if changing my spots. I guess it's not the form that's important, it's the inner content, the motivation, the 'soul' that sets it reeling. The musical garment I've woven over all these years, from Northern Dream to now, constitutes a single, seamless piece of material. Study it closely from top to bottom, going beneath the immediate surface and you'll see what I mean. It's a single organic piece of work, rather than a linear, chronological series of dislocated cuttings. Just thought I'd point these things out as they are very much a part of the philosophy than provides the foundation of everything I do in creative terms. It's all one continuous song, sung over a lifetime. It's the only song I know." FAN THOUGHTS: swampboy: "After listening to all 4 discs multiple times, I fell in love with this set. The whole thing has a warm, intimate feel to it that also radiates joy, hope and compassion. There are a few dark moments here and there, but for the most part is positive and uplifting, lyrically and musically. I'm glad that Bill never got the chance to translate these song into a band setting. The sense of warmth and intimacy may have been lost with a band. What we get with this set is raw Bill, at his most vulnerable and hopeful. An intimate evening with Bill. Highly recommended! This set will be re-issued by Cherry Red sometime in the future. Miss it at your own loss!" wadcorp: Deep Dream Decoder : "What's really amazing is what an understated yet complex collection of tunes this is. Bill's vocals are laid-back, but wrestling with universal issues & emotions. Nothing is "downer" in any way. There is a continual focus on the positive here. And it goes without saying, that the guitar & instrumentation is spot-on throughout." Phil_Graham: Which of Bill's albums would you take on an island: "The box set of My Secret Studio Vol 1 . Mr N seemed to have found himself in fine form with ideas to spare on that collection, and it's the one I return to the most." tommaso: " MSS1 is among the most perfectly constructed of Bill's 'archive' releases. It's a shame that Juke Box for Jet Boy is so rare, as I think it's the best of the four! "Swing with the Rhythm Boys" is one of my favourite Nelson tracks ever; nothing better to wake up after a long night out. But Buddha Head also has very, very beautiful tracks, think of "Big River" or "Lotus in the Stream". And somehow these lyrics say much more to me than the later songs about rocketships and satellites... " Juke Box for Jet Boy was never released individually, but incidentally I find it the best of the four! Some real stand-out tracks on it like "A Train I Never Boarded", and the extremely catchy "Swing with the Rhythm Boys", but it has a wonderful flow to it that never ceases and in my view not a single weak track." Westdeep: "One of my favourite Nelson ditties is relatively rare as it's on Juke Box for Jet Boy . "Hold On to Your Heart" is worth the price of the box set alone. 2:16 of pure magic and some wonderful vocals. MSS 1 and 2 are both wonderful slices of BN and worthy of your attention though radically different. Buy them if you see them." BenTucker: "Is it really as long ago as 1995 that this was released? Scary how time goes by so quickly. Such great songs - lost none of their resonance over time. "Heaven's Happy Hemisphere" is still a favourite of mine. And also "Perfect World", "Wonders Never Cease"...and several others..." sneakypete: " My Secret Studio really opened my eyes. I personally think it is Bill's greatest work and still listen to it to this day." Marshall: " MSS Vol. 1 is one of my absolute favorite chunks of Nelsonica... MSS 1 yields rich rewards with prolonged exposure. The warm, dense mix beautifully complements the vulnerability of the lyrics and the singing...On MSS the songs are intricately constructed and fully fleshed, while the portrait I glean throughout is of a man coming out of a funk and reclaiming his confidence and his muse. That moment, on "Begin to Burn," where he shyly asks, "May I play my guitar for you?", and then rips out this searing lead - that's where Nelson returns after some (again, for me) lost years in the ambient haze. And he hasn't let up since.” Kalamazoo Kid: "I like the original 4-disc Secret Studio quite a bit. For me, it fills out a pretty distinct episode in the story - which also includes Luminous , Blue Moons , and (off to one side) Demonstrations of Affection . This is the period when Nelson took up "pop" song writing again in earnest, moving quickly from (IMHO) a rather creaky start around '87 to a whole lot of classic songs. "And this is where Nelson honed the low-key narrative-voice vocal style that would soon deliver the excellent beat-poet-derived lyrics of the techno-fied shiny spaceship period ( Practically Wired , After the Satellite , Secret Studio 2 , Atom Shop , Noise Candy )." Albums Menu Future Past

Warriors single - 1983 Gary Numan Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer, Guitar and Keyboard. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Nelsonica 03 Live Archive For the third annual 'Nelsonica' convention, Bill again put his band The Lost Satellites together to perform a one-off gig, held for the second year at 'The Duke of Cumberland' in North Ferriby near Hull. A slightly different line-up from the previous year, as it saw the return of Nick Dew on drums for the first time with Bill since the 'Axe Victim' days. The band rehearsed for just three days and performed 12 songs, including a cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'I Need You Tonight'. The band consisted of... Bill Nelson - Guitars & Voice Nick Dew - Drums Ian Nelson - Saxophone Ian Leese - Bass & Backing Vocals Dave Standeven - Guitar Steve Cook - Keyboards Jon Wallinger - Keyboard & Acoustic Guitar Elle & Elliot Nelson also performed as support act, with their band Honeytone Cody. Here's a few pictures from Martin Bostock...if you have any you would like to add, please get in touch!

Live In Concert At Metropolis Studios Bill Nelson and the Gentlemen Rocketeers double live album & DVD - 4 June 2012 Albums Menu Future Past TRACKS: Band Set 01) The October Man 02) Night Creatures 03) God Man Slain 04) Contemplation 05) Lady You're A Strange Girl 06) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 07) Furniture Music 08) Do You Dream In Colour? 09) Ships In The Night 10) Lovers Are Mortal 11) Maid In Heaven 12) Sister Seagull 13) Wonder Of The Moment 14) Panic In The World Solo Set 15) Beyond These Clouds The Sweetest Dream 16) Golden Dream Of Circus Horses 17) A Dream For Ian 18) For Stuart 19) Interview (DVD only) ALBUM NOTES: The Recorded Live In Concert at Metropolis Studios, London album is a double CD + DVD package that had appeared the previous May as a DVD only release. The story behind the recording and the controversy that followed can be viewed here at the DVD page. The musicians that Nelson assembled for this one-off performance under the guise of The Gentlemen Rocketeers were: Theo Travis on flute and saxophone; Jon Wallinger on Keyboards and acoustic guitar; Steve Cook on keyboards; Dave Standeven on guitar; Dave Sturt on bass guitar; and Gavin Griffiths on drums. The rights to the audio and video recording at some point transferred to a company called Salvo, who re-packaged the whole show into a 2CD/DVD combo, released on 4 June 2012. The audio material was simultaneously released as a digital download with three video tracks. Salvo then followed this with a double vinyl edition issued on 28 April 2014, which loses the four tracks from Nelson's solo set that can be found on the DVD and 2CD/DVD editions. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The album has been discontinued, but is available as an (audio) download. BILL'S THOUGHTS: "When I first started to revive some of this material back in 2004, it took a while for me to re-learn, as I hadn't played any of it, (or even listened to any of it), for many, many years. None of it is written out, apart from transcriptions of the lyrics for the songs we played. It's just a matter of sitting down with the old albums and trying to figure out what I played 35 years ago..." _____ "I don't want to seem too dismissive BUT...it was possibly the worst on-stage sound I'd ever experienced, absolutely horrendous to be brutally honest. (This isn't just my opinion, by the way, it is shared by the rest of the band too). So, we all found the performance aspect deeply unsatisfying and the monitor/on-stage sound problem distracting. (Not what any of us predicted, given that we were in a recording studio.) Someone said to me, "If you had known that the band would be expected to give their best under such difficult circumstances, would you have taken the gig on?" Well, truth is, I probably wouldn't. I think I'd almost certainly have turned the opportunity down. However, despite us feeling that we'd been lashed to a very creaky mast, our audience was terrifically supportive...they were the real stars of the show. Bless you all for being there for us and being so into it. I'm glad you had a good time. "Anyway, I've decided to take up the option of mixing the performance with John Spence and myself, rather than leaving it to chance. Maybe we can salvage something decent from it. Seems that, if I do this, the costs will have to come out of my own pocket, but I now need to take control of the quality of the performance to make sure the band comes across as favourably as possible. It's one thing to deal with it as one evening's live thrill, enjoyed for the moment, and unexamined...but anything more permanent requires extra effort and attention to detail if it is to hold up to repeated scrutiny. So, I'm now waiting to hear if it is possible to begin work on the recording at Fairview tomorrow. A few more days of hard work yet before I can feel more happy about it than I do right now." _____ "Have spent the last three days trying to get rid of microphone feedback overtones from the recording, correcting out-of-tune vocal lines caused by the poor quality monitoring and strange, muddy, overtone-laden room acoustics. Generally trying to minimise the problems caused by the conditions we had to deal with… …When I did finally get home from Fairview this evening, I found Emiko listening to "The Girl in the Galaxy Dress" on the kitchen stereo system. After three days of listening to old rock material played live, I was knocked out by hearing this more recent album track...it sounded fresh, sophisticated, 'cool' and alive, really made me feel proud of what I've achieved in recent years. This is what I'd like/prefer people to hear, this is where my heart lays, where whatever talent I have nowadays lives and breathes. The guitar playing on this track alone is something I would happily put up as a single example of my deep, almost life-long love affair with the instrument. I just hope that whatever the exhumation of those cobwebby '70s songs achieves, that it will direct listeners to the music I'm making now." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review by Pete Brown in Vintage Guitar Magazine FAN THOUGHTS: andygeorge: "Ever wondered what it would be like if Bill came and played in your front room? Well I found out last night. Talk about intimate, I feel even closer to my fellow Nelsonians than ever before...what a bloody good night that was!! Worth every penny... Bill and the band played a storming set, I got to hear "Sister Seagull" live again for the first time in over 35 years, hearing "Wonder of the Moment" was a bonus, as was hearing "Maid in Heaven" twice!, so close to guitarist Dave Standeven that his sweat was flying in my direction...A night to remember by all that attended, thanks to Bill and the Gentlemen Rocketeers..." Zoot: "It was tight and it was loud, but it was glorious and all of the guys worked their socks off. At one point I had the TV camera man using my shoulder to balance the camera so that he could get better low-down shots." Cary: "Did someone say it was erotic??? It was for me!! What an introduction to the world of Bill Nelson! I've been a long time fan of Be Bop Deluxe but when the hairs were standing to attention on the back of my neck & down the eternal spine when Bill performed "Contemplation", that was it for me!! Thanks Again Bill you still have a lot to answer for!!" markriley: "I was utterly knocked out by the new life, vigour and sheer joy that you and the Gentlemen managed to infuse the back catalogue with. Old things visited by the bloke you are now works for me!!! I've never heard a band quite so tight after only a few days rehearsal. They did you proud. I wish they could have been standing where my Missus and I were. The onstage problems would explain the look on the two Dave's faces when I spoke to them after - if I'd known I would have done a bit better at reassuring them how great a night it was. I was unbelievably touched by the good grace and time you lavished on us after the show. I understand what a demanding evening it was for you for all the reasons already stated." Douglas Barry: "The intimacy of this performance was absolutely mesmerising. To look around and see close up the reactions of all the fans was just brilliant. Bill, thanks for deciding to take a punt on doing the Legends show as you made it clear that it was a difficult decision. Thanks also to the Gentleman Rocketeers, who were just wonderful in their professionalism as I know it was hot up there on the stage. I hope the TV public will repay your courage when the show is eventually aired. And to all the fans who made it to Chiswick High Street on Saturday, it was a pleasure to be amongst you all." bingethink: "I had a fantastic evening at the Metropolis and felt very privileged to see Bill in such a 'cozy' venue. The solo set was a revelation for me, seeing and hearing Bill play live backed by his collection of 'gizmology' has given me a fresh perspective. The band set was of course a joy." "The evening had far too many magic moment to recall at one time. Let me think for a sec. "Maid in Heaven" played twice was very special. "A Dream for Ian" I have to confess never having heard before…wonderful and heartfelt. "Panic in the World" was a perfect ending and Bill letting rip at the end was amazing." hong_kong_simon: "All I can say is that, from the audience's side, it was fantastic - you've risen even further in our estimation, if that's possible! Some of my friends and colleagues here think I'm mad to have travelled all the way from Hong Kong to the UK for a weekend "just to see a concert", but I can tell you that since I got back here I've had a permanent smile on my face. Credit to you for being able to connect with and affect people so deeply! Your performance was perfect, whatever story the tapes may tell!" Tourist in Wonderland: "From the opening few seconds I thought wow, this is really good!...in fact much better than I was expecting, having read about some of the issues...I know Bill chose the expensive option of 'tweaking' things with John...thanks Bill...but it was surely worth it...absolutely fabulous playing, sound, vision, production." "I know Bill will always have reservations and doubts, and that's totally understandable, but I think the finished product of this project is a total success...and imho, it stands up on its own as a great recording that Bill and the whole band should be really proud of...I'm proud to own it...and it's got some knockout reactions from the friends I've played it to...So hopefully this will showcase what some of the Bill Nelson things are about and act as a springboard to get a lot more new people listening to (and buying) the more recent recordings. "When you think about it, what a great document this DVD is also...50 years from now, the people who watch this will be stunned, just as we are, and will see just what being able to play and compose at the very highest level is all about...they'll say 'Damn...these guys can really play!'...and then they can spend the next 40 years trying to figure out, just how did one guy manage to come up with all this wonderful music?...I guess, much like us, they will never know." ColinCaroline: "I can only speak for myself in this but it was a view echoed by everyone I spoke to on the night. I never thought at my age that I would experience such an intense, vibrant show and feel the way I felt 30 years ago when I was staring dumbfounded and awestruck at the performers on stage. I assumed I was too long in the tooth for that. How wrong was I? I wasn't alone either because when I looked around almost everybody was the same. "The stupid grin has not left my face yet. A guy a work asked me what I did at the weekend and must have regretted it 'cause I subjected him to about 30 mins of my weekend experience. He did nothing. "Still, I didn't need the title of a TV recording and a DVD to tell me what I already knew - the meaning of the word legend. You could have trebled the ticket price and I still would not have hesitated to click the 'Buy' button. (And I've got to buy two of the damned things). I will not forget that night. "I haven't got an appropriate thank you to say - there isn't one. You can rest assured that I will be talking about this for a long time. Our gratitude is boundless, Love Colin & Caroline" Theo Travis: "I know there were some contractual and financial issues relating to the Live at Metropolis DVD/CD, but I think it is great that the band got to be filmed and recorded in front of a live audience. That line-up played at a few Nelsonica Conventions in Yorkshire to die-hard fans and all those gigs were great. I am just pleased that this band of Bill's got properly recorded for a greater number of people to see and hear. "Despite the various setbacks, Bill sang and played fantastically well and it is a wonderful selection of songs from his enormous catalogue. Bill has written so many great songs, and he plays so beautifully. I am glad and grateful to have been a part of it." Albums Menu Future Past

Acquitted By Mirrors - Issue One - Published early 1982 Back to Top

Discography Menu Productions and Contributions Clicking on a cover below will take you to a full page devoted to that release...more details will be added to each page in the fullness of time! Fiat Lux - Hired History Plus Producer 2019 album (originally recorded in 1982/1983) Units - Animals They Dream About Co-Producer, Synthesisers, Guitar, Drums 2016 album (originally recorded in 1981) Dave Sturt - Dreams & Absurdities Guitar, E-bow, Co-writer 2015 album Sea Of Wires - Leaving The Electric Circus Guitar, Co-producer 2010 album Harold Budd, Bill Nelson & Fila Brazilia - Three White Roses & A Budd Collaborator 2002 ep Dr. Jan (Guru) - Alienshamanism Guitar 2000 album Honeytone Cody - Believe In The Promise Of Tomorrow Producer 2000 ep Honeytone Cody - Pink And Clean Producer 1998 ep Nautilus Pompilius - Yablokitay Producer, Various instruments 1997 album Various Artists - The Mick Ronson Memorial Concert Guitar 1997 album Gillcover & The Monkey - 360º Producer, Keyboards 1996 album Audio Active And Laraaji - The Way Out Is The Way In Guitar 1995 album Culturemix - Culturemix Producer, Collaborator 1995 album Su Lyn - Lines Of Desire Producer, Guitar, Bass 1995 album Joe Hisaishi - Earthly Paradise Guitar, Vocals 1994 album Bogus Brothers - Battle Of Big Soup Producer, Guitar 1993 album Roger Eno With Kate St. John - The Familiar Producer, Guitar, Percussion, Synthesisers 1992 album Ramon Tikaram - Chill And Kiss Guitar 1992 album Harold Budd - By The Dawn's Early Light Guitar 1991 album Jean Park - Lovesnake Producer 1991 album Rain Poets - Rain Producer, Guitar 1991 single Rain Tree Crow - Blackwater Guitar 1991 single Rain Tree Crow - Rain Tree Crow Guitar 1991 album The Rhythm Sisters - Willerby Producer, Guitar, Sitar, Keyboards 1991 album Various Artists - Heaven & Hell Volume 2: A Tribute To The Velvet Underground Producer, Keyboards (on the 'Mock Turtles' track) 1991 album Various A rtists - Loose Routes: Two Guitar 1991 album Various A rtists - Loose Routes: One Guitar 1991 album The Mock Turtles - Magic Boomerang Producer 1990 single The Rhythm Sisters - Infotainment Producer, Guitar, Sitar, Keyboards 1990 single Cabaret Voltaire - Code Guitar 1987 album Cabaret Voltaire - Don't Argue Guitar 1987 single Cabaret Voltaire - Here To Go Guitar 1987 single Crazy House - Burning Rain Guitar 1987 single Crazy House - Still Looking For Heaven On Earth Guitar 1987 album David Sylvian - Gone To Earth Guitar 1986 album David Sylvian - Silver Moon Guitar 1986 single The Armoury Show - Castles In Spain Co-writer 1985 single The Associates - Take Me To The Girl Guitar 1985 single Yukihiro Takahashi - Stranger Things Have Happened Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass 1985 single Sandii & The Sunsets - Viva Lava Liva 1980 - 1983 Lyrics 1984 album Yukihiro Takahashi - Time And Place Guitar, Vocals 1984 album Yukihiro Takahashi - Wild & Moody Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass 1984 album A Flock Of Seagulls - Listen Producer 1983 album Monsoon - Third Eye Guitar 1983 album Gary Numan - Sister Surprise Producer, Guitar, Keyboards 1983 single Gary Numan - Warriors Producer, Guitar, Keyboards 1983 album Gary Numan - Warriors Producer, Guitar, Keyboards 1983 single Yukihiro Takahashi - Tomorrow's Just Another Day Guitar, Vocals 1983 album Units - New Way To Move Producer, Guitar, Synthesizers 1983 mini-album YMO - Naughty Boys Guitar 1983 album A Flock Of Seagulls - A Flock Of Seagulls Producer 1982 album Fiat Lux - Feels Like Winter Again Producer, Guitar, Keyboards 1982 single Jobson And Nelson - Ieyasu Collaborator 1982 compilation cassette Monsoon - Tomorrow Never Knows Guitar, Bass 1982 single Monsoon - Wings Of The Dawn Guitar 1982 single Yukihiro Takahashi - Are You Receiving Me? Guitar, Vocals 1982 single Yukihiro Takahashi - What, Me Worry? Guitar 1982 album Masami Tsuchiya - Rice Music Guitar 1982 album A Flock Of Seagulls - Talking Producer 1981 single A Flock Of Seagulls - Telecommunication Producer 1981 single Last Man In Europe - A Certain Bridge Producer 1981 single Nash The Slash - Novel Romance Producer 1981 single Snips - La Rocca! Keyboards 1981 album To Heaven A Jet - Airfields Producer, Bass 1981 single Stranger Than Fiction - Losing You Producer 1980 single Moving Targets - The Boys Own Producer 1980 single Original Mirrors - Could This Be Heaven Producer 1979 single Skids - Charade Producer, Keyboards 1979 single Skids - Days In Europa Producer, Keyboards 1979 album Skids - Masquerade Producer, Keyboards 1979 single Skids - Working For The Yankee Dollar Producer, Keyboards 1979 single John Cooper Clarke - Disguise In Love Guitar 1978 album Lightyears Away/Thundermother - Astral Navigations Guitar 1971 album Lightyears Away/Thundermother - Gagalactyca Guitar 1971 album A To Austr - Musics From Holyground Producer, Guitar 1970 album Discography Menu

Electric Atlas Bill Nelson album - 16 November 2015 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Atoms And Electrons 02) Tonight Picasso Dreams 03) Drift Of Narcissus 04) The Moment Has Gone 05) Searching For Utopia And Other Shangrilas 06) All Hail The Witching Hour 07) Mutually Enchanted 08) Golden Moments 09) I Dream Of Lightning 10) Alice In The Palace Of Stardust And Pearl 11) High Beam Sensation 12) Bubbles In The Cosmos 13) Mind Is A Harbour From Which Dreams Set Sail 14) Bright Magic ALBUM NOTES: Electric Atlas is a vocal album issued in a one-off print run of 500 copies issued on the Sonoluxe label. With seven songs in the can, Nelson revealed plans for the album (which was then untitled) on the Dreamsville forum in March 2015. By early April the album had a working title of Bright Magic , and was completed in May. The album title was changed to Electric Atlas in August, and was released on 16 November 2015. After just five days of being on sale Electric Atlas was taken off sale with the remaining copies sold through email enquiries. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "It's been a while since I've released a vocal album so I think that needs to be addressed. I have one vocal album in the queue, as mentioned elsewhere in these threads. Its title is Bright Magic , but I've kind of gone off that as an album title. So, I've now decided to re-title it Electric Atlas . It contains the same songs and even has a track titled "Bright Magic" so there's really no change other than the album title itself. "One of the reasons for that change is that Bright Magic suggests similar artwork to that used on Swoons and Levitations, i e: some sort of magical/conjuring image. I don't really feel I want to repeat that, so the title Electric Atlas sends things off in a different visual direction. I'm not sure quite what direction yet but we'll see what turns up." _____ "The meaning of the title of the album, in case anyone is wondering, is a two-fold thing: An atlas, as in a book of maps, which we can use to chart the world and our path through it whilst we inhabit this mortal coil, but brought into a contemporary context with the 'electric', (ie: digital), connotation suggesting something more akin to a sat-nav unit. And 'Atlas', as in the mythological giant, holding the world on his shoulders, as we all must do whilst incarnate, ie: Man as the creature who must carry the weight of the world by the electrical virtue of global communication and shared information." _____ "Well, I know very little about music in the 'traditional' sense, (if there is such a thing). I have no understanding of music theory, am unable to read or write music down, have given up of ever understanding much about it in an academic sense. So, does that put me in the 'non-musician' category I wonder? Well, I guess I'm on the side of non-musicians when it comes down to it. "I believe there is such a thing as 'the talented listener', people who can hear good music and appreciate it fully without having a formal background in music at all. Music is, ultimately, in the soul, not on paper nor in the head...it comes from deep in the heart and travels to other hearts without the need for explanation or mediation. It just is. And those of us capable of recognising this can appreciate and enjoy our music without ever needing to make a single sound of our own." FAN THOUGHTS: Mayor of Dreamsville: "I was sitting in my little home studio, headphones in position, deeply engrossed in Electric Atlas , when my little boy Zac trots in (he's 2 at the end of this month), he saw me with the headphones on and was dying to have a go, so I sat him down and let him listen to the track that was playing ("Mind is a Harbour From Which Dreams Set Sail"). After listening and smiling away for a while, he removed the headphones, looked at me and said, "Nice!" So, there you have it, Electric Atlas has had its first official review and it is NICE. On a personal note - this CD is an absolute gem, right up my street and highly recommended!" Peter: "From the get-go, this one just grabs you and shakes you. It is a well-named album, as it is like a tour through the Bill Nelson world. From snarling rockers, to dreamy soundscapes, Bill's in good form on this one (as always!). "Mind is a Harbour From Which Dreams Set Sail" stands out for me...along with "Drift of Narcissus", though there are a bunch of gems here. Superb, Bill!" Tourist in Wonderland: "Always great to hear a vocal album from Bill and to be honest, I think he strikes a very good balance between instrumental and vocal output, in the fact that there are obviously more instrumental only recordings released, which is fine...but, when a vocal offering does eventually surface, it's a real treat and met with rare anticipation and excitement...it's all good stuff! "Seriously, I think Electric Atlas is right up there with Bill's best recordings...Stereo Star Maps , Alchemical Adventures , Gleaming , Golden Melodies , Return to Jazz of Lights , Theatre of Falling Leaves , to name a few...Yes, I think Electric Atlas can easily sit at the same table as this exalted company!..." fricker: "Wow! Great album Bill, lovely to hear you singing. Full of lots of surprises is this album and I am loving it. Well done especially with your health probs of late, to listen you would never know. Thanks." Dar: "If I had to pick a favorite thing, it would be the uncanny ability to keep pouring out the well-articulated melodies. Guitar tone would be a close second. Along with impeccable groovesmanship, well, we're most of the way to nearly-guaranteed sonic bliss." TheMikeN: "There's no one theme or approach: some songs just rock while others are edgy and rhythmic but with guitar that finds so much room to move and explore that there is time for jazz to glow brightly from the disc. The moods, styles and genres flow in and out of each other because Bill has placed himself in easy reach and total control of all of them. Let's face it, if you are going to record and release new music for 45 years, what you're going to gain is the ability to be completely at ease within any rhythmic, melodic and lyrical structure that feels good at the time you invent it." alec: Bill Nelson Album of the Year?: "I'm tempted to say Electric Atlas at this point because all the luxurious feelings I get listening to "Tonight Picasso Dreams", and for Bill satisfying my Nelson/Foxx collaboration fantasy with the first track, "Atoms and Electrons." Quinault: "It certainly does live up to the glowing comments. I waited in anticipation, not knowing what to expect, and yet when it finally came - it exceeded my expectations! And my Bill music meter is set pretty high!" Merikan1: "Electric Atlas is simply fantastic. It has all of the elements that I love in your music. It's all there in one package... It would be a great introduction to your recent music." Albums Menu Future Past

Mazda Kaleidoscope Bill Nelson album - 7 September 2008 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) All The World Flies Kites Tonight 02) Blue Skies Listen, The Unstruck Bell 03) The Nebulous Adventures Of Newton Kyme 04) Lamps Are Lit In The Land Of Tomorrow 05) Yes And Always And Forever 06) Evening Illuminator 07) Mazda Kaleidoscope 08) The Trace We Left When All Was Gone ALBUM NOTES: Mazda Kaleidoscope is an instrumental album issued on the Sonoluxe label in a single print run of 1000 copies. The album was recorded as the third and final part of a trilogy of complementary releases, the associated albums being Silvertone Fountains and Illuminated at Dusk . Although its roots can be traced back to October 2007 in the form of an earlier unrealized project with both audio and visual content called The Evening Illuminator , Mazda Kaleidoscope began to take shape in February 2008 just as Nelson had completed work on the associated albums. At this stage the album was called Starlight Cascade and was tentatively planned as a DVD album, with the emphasis on minimalist, abstract pieces, rather than the guitar based instrumentals that dominates both Silvertone Fountains and Illuminated at Dusk . One track slated for inclusion was the long form video piece, "The Enlightenment Engine" (initially intended for inclusion on The Evening Illuminator album) but this would ultimately fall by the wayside and turn up eventually on the Picture House DVD. By March 2008 Nelson had abandoned the idea of Starlight Cascade being a DVD and had renamed the album Mazda Kaleidoscope featuring 8 tracks, including an instrumental version of the The Dreamsville Poetry Experiment called "Blue Skies Listen, the Unstruck Bell" which Nelson had slightly reworked with added keyboards and guitar work. The completed album was released in September 2008, a week later than planned due to a back log occurring at the pressing plant. Mazda Kaleidoscope sold out in August 2019. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Theatre of Falling Leaves , Non-Stop Mystery Action , Illuminated At Dusk , Silvertone Fountains , Luxury Wonder Moments , Gleaming Without Lights , Dreamland to Starboard , And We Fell Into A Dream BILL'S THOUGHTS: "It's definitely one for those of you who like to drift and dream. The album is meant to create a kind of tonal colour-field, a forever morphing atmosphere that envelops the listener and changes the surrounding environment." _____ "Mazda enters a deeper, darker space and features MUCH longer tracks. It utilises a more abstract, painterly approach, concerning itself with texture and colour as much as thematic or melodic development. It's the least 'rock' flavoured album of the trilogy albums [Silvertone Fountains , Illuminated at Dusk , and Mazda Kaleidoscope ], certainly the least 'gung-ho' of the three. It's all atmosphere and mystery, a fog filled with gleaming stars. Which is why I'm so fond of it! The trilogy is meant to be heard as a whole, in sequence...each album is just one third of the total idea. Until you've heard all three in the correct sequence, you'll only get part of the epic picture it paints. However, this is only the way I intended it. YOU don't HAVE to hear it as I've suggested above at all. Nevertheless, I thought it might be of interest for you to have this insight into the way I hoped the music might work across the three albums. For me, it's one epic movie in sound." _____ "The album is a strange fusion of styles, not just from track to track in linear fashion, but within each individual piece. The music is constantly shifting focus, one minute here, another there, overlapping textures, multi-dimensional, nebulous, quite formless at times, strongly architectural at others. Enigmas in sound to some extent...a haunted house of an album? "This music is perhaps suited to listeners who enjoy connecting the dots, uncovering metaphors, links and ironies. It's most peculiar stuff, but still very attractive to the ear, I hope!" _____ "Yes, Ahura Mazda was indeed the inspiration for the title, but also the Mazda lightbulb company, (which took its name from the Zoroastrian deity). "The concept of light, both literal and spiritual, external and internal, runs like an incandescent thread throughout a great deal of my work. "As I'm sure many of you already know, 'Illumination', actual and symbolic, from the string of lights on a Christmas tree, the lamps and lanterns of a seaside pier, a coastal lighthouse, the Golden Mile of Illuminations on Blackpool's promenade, through to the social and cultural Enlightenment of European history, the spiritual/occult enlightenment of Rosicrucianism and other obscure esoteric schools, the hidden, quasi-masonic musings of the Illuminati, etc, etc, have all been reflected, at one time or another, in my music. (And sometimes in my private activities.)" FAN THOUGHTS: jetboy: "What an album of surprises! "All The World Flies Kites Tonight" is the opening track which starts from where Illuminated finished off...beautiful melodic guitars set in golden ambience...then it's all change from there on. There's loads of piano flourishes that drift in and out of the mix, whooshes, whizzes and warbles that start, stop then catherine wheel away into the void...There's spectral Orchestras playing on a twilit coastal hill, then they are transported to some old flickering cathode museum. There's phantom steam trains taking you through some midnight moonlit town, there's disintegrating particles quickly reassembling and dancing on some old time piano keys, there's sonic ghosts looking for a home to haunt, there's static cascading, there's e-bow making the sound of Haloes, there's lamplit jazz fluctuating and weaving back and forth...so on and so on. A word of warning: Don't play this album too much. You may not want to return from this aural bliss. 10/10." Holer: " Mazda Kaleidoscope sounds like...Like I'm tuning in an alien radio station from outerspace and having it set my brain on fire (in a GOOD way!). This is way more than the next guitar album I was expecting. This is downright EPIC! You just keep on surprising and delighting, Bill!" "It's hard to describe, but I would almost say this is a kind of deconstruction of Bill's sound. I don't know if that's the right word but the way all the sounds and instrumentation work, it's both familiar and wholly new sounding at the same time. I really think this is the next 'big push into new frontiers' album after Sailor Bill in the ever evolving sonic adventure of Mr. Nelson." Robbot: "So I'm sitting in this 50's retro-futuristic train, or in the passenger seat of a transparent aeroplane (not unlike Wonder Woman's). At one point early on, flying close enough to the grounds of some palatial pond/garden to see metallic swans (Birds of Tin?) luxuriating. Misty fog, glints of setting sun...pleasing static, whirrs, clicks. Could be a mad scientist working on the terrace of his stately manse. Catch a performance of the excellent on-board jazz combo...drift off into semi-dream state. Land at some exotic tropical island...dinner jacket, martini please. Everything is in slow motion...the sky looks rendered in pastels. "These are my initial impressions...and I'm only 2/3s thru. Great! Exciting...cinematic." soteloscope: " Mazda Kaleidoscope gives me weird feelings. The weirdness is excellent in my opinion! In addition, it's a beautiful, contemplative album that covers the whole spectrum of emotion for me." mitchellmichael: "This is great stuff! It just transports you away from it all and holds you in a "Dreamstate" of mind. A very calming affect with so much going on. It seems like Bill has it down to a science now...but with each release he is still pushing the limits. Each release is a further extension of the next, with glimpses of past music inter-twined along the way. I'm 3 songs in and somehow it hits the spot instantaneously, for me anyways. The instrumental trilogy of '08 is now complete, and a huge success, IMHO." Peter: "Calming, a deep pool of cool water, reflecting stars and passing silver clouds. Compositions (not songs) of subtlety and nuance, tender guitar and soothing melodies. Another good one, Bill. Thank you." ladesco: "I thoroughly enjoy becoming enveloped by these lyrical guitar blankets to sojourn the night...gentle and breezy, and so mindfully easy... Thank you Mr. Nelson!" Seany: "I have lived with this album now for a good few days and have played it on my home stereo, in the car, outside in the garden, at night when i was going to sleep, for friends and family and I have to say that every time I play it that it never fails to envelope me in a wonderful world of dream-like mystery...For me the dreamiest of dreams from Dreamsville this year. "Look - I'm not Rolling Stone Magazine, but if I were, I'd give it five big gold stars. As they say in the classics, 'Highly Recommended'. "But enough of my somnambulistic meanderings, it's dream time..." james warner: "Just finished playing the album for the first time. Stand outs for me at this early stage are "Lamps Are Lit in the World of Tomorrow"...and "Evening Illuminator", which sounds like it was made for a night cruise through the lights of the big city." BenTucker: "I love it. "The Nebulous Adventures of Newton Kyme" stood out for me on first listening - a beautiful track. I think the album's going to be one of my favourites, like Neptune’s Galaxy ." VGhost: "All the World Flies Kites Tonight": "is a great opener - the introduction is a wash of keyboards, reversed guitar and hauntingly beautiful melodic guitar lines, which gives way to an upbeat section as the sequenced drums come in before it ends as it begins. For some reason it reminded me of my childhood trips to London on a steam train in the late 1950's - the intro waiting on the platform and the expectation of the journey beginning whilst the section with the drums has a distinct train style rhythm to my cloth ears at least. "Other standout tracks include the ambient jazz of "Evening Illuminator", and the title track with its sampled vinyl record pops. This album requires you to make time to sit down and listen to it, not use it as a backdrop to your daily commute to work or workout at the gym. I'm really enjoying it." Paul Andrews: "This is, in my opinion, a superb composition right the way through. Although an unreconstructed Be Bop Deluxe fan, I find myself drawn inexorably towards Bill's more adventurous and esoteric recordings. I really like the instrumental albums and this one could well be the soundtrack to a movie never filmed. I'd love to try and synch it up to one of those old 50's films which tried to predict the future, jet cars, domestic robots etc... ...whatever, it's certainly bloody good!" 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 Bonus tracks 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

Dazzlebox Bill Nelson double album - 30 April 2021 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this double CD Purchase this download DISC ONE TRACKS: 01) Antique Gods 02) Show Home 03) Art Deco Dance 04) Sleepless City 05) In A Streamlined World 06) Reverse Engineering 07) We Run Before The Wind 08) My Amigo 09) Covered In Chrome 10) Our Friends In The Stars 11) The Road To Elsewhere 12) The Clockwork Light Machine 13) Otherworld 14) A Cottage On The Moon 15) Unearthlings DISC TWO TRACKS: 01) Squeaky Toytown 02) Radio Rialto 03) North Yorkshire Moors Rain (For Harold Budd) 04) Blue Spin 05) Venetian Submarines 06) Tweetime 07) Green Tiger In The Gold 08) Selectatone 09) Tremola 10) Experimental Erotica (Scene One) 11) In The Realms Of The Unreal 12) Billy's Blues 13) Footsteps In Rain 14) Spy Vs Spy 15) Experimental Erotica (Scene Two) ALBUM NOTES: Dazzlebox is a double album of instrumental pieces issued on the Sonoluxe label in a limited edition of 1000 copies. The album was recorded throughout 2020 and during January and February 2021. The 30 tracks included on Dazzlebox represent a fraction of the material assembled during the above period. Dazzlebox represents the second Bill Nelson album to be released since the composer moved to his recently established Cubase recording set-up assembled in 2019 and which he began utilising from January 2020. Plans for the album were first announced on the Dreamsville forum on 16 December 2020 when Nelson provided a list of 22 tracks recorded with this album in mind. However, the proposed track listing, revealed on 25 February 2021, included just 16 of the original tracks considered for Dazzlebox alongside 13 new titles included since that initial forum post. For a brief time, Nelson considered delaying the release of Dazzlebox in favour of Phantom Fuzzbox , an album completed back in 2014 which remains unreleased. Within days though, he reverted back to his initial plan to release Dazzlebox as his first album of 2021. However, Nelson was concerned that the material might prove too much to absorb as a double album. Consequently, he revealed an intention to reduce Dazzlebox down to a single album, the unused material being allocated to a separate album called In Tick Tock Land . In spite of these conflicting plans, on 23 February 2021 Nelson confirmed that, in line with his initial intentions, Dazzlebox would indeed be a double album. As the deadline for the mastering session approached Nelson made a couple of late changes bringing the number of featured tracks to 30. Dazzlebox was mastered at Fairview Studios by John Spence on 19 March 2021with artwork created by Martin Bostock working with images selected and manipulated by Nelson. With the UK still dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic any sort of public event to launch Dazzlebox was understandably out of the question and consequently the album received no such fanfare. Pre-orders for the Dazzlebox were announced by Burning Shed on 25 March 2021 with it being released on 30 April 2021. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: This CD is available to purchase in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Dazzlebox is the second release of recordings made using my relatively new Cubase recording software. It is an instrumental double album with a variety of stylistic twists and turns. The tracks sometimes use 'distressed' drum and percussion sounds, electronic effects and keyboards but always layered with a rainbow of electric guitars. "The thirty tracks presented here provide a rich, sometimes complex listening experience. It will require a patient and attentive ear to fully appreciate, but I hope you will take the time to unlock the music's charms and find much to enjoy." Albums Menu Future Past

Auditoria Bill Nelson 3-CD album set - 01 December 2018 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download CD1 - These Stars Are Fire 01) What Furnace Is Thy Brain? 02) My Dreamy Life 03) The Latest Delay 04) Icing On The Cake 05) Summer Comes In Colour 06) Raindrops 07) Weatherproof 08) These Stars Are Fire 09) Auraville 10) A Song Of Heart And Mind 11) Bugging Me 12) Contrary Wise 13) Let Me Dream You From Afar 14) Wide Awake/Half Asleep 15) All Hail The Dreamer (Miss Futurama Smiles) CD2 - Mysterium 01) Beyond Yonder 02) When Midnight Falls 03) Forevertron 04) Holy Of Holies (Waiting For The Night) 05) Mysterious Mysterium 06) Orson's Ghost 07) Back Of Beyond 08) Who's That Floating Above The Trees? 09) Mystere 10) Astra 11) Luna Rosa 12) Ghosts Of Ancient Orchestras 13) Only One Blue Moon 14) A Long Time Ago 15) Alone In A Lunar Light CD3 - Plus U ltra 01) Dali's Dream Of Venus 02) March Of The Metaphysicians 03) The Science Of Extraordinary Things 04) In The Neighbourhood Of Normal (My Style Of Writing) 05) Aqua Celeste 06) There Is A Moment 07) Whirlaway 08) From Another Place 09) The Eye Of Heaven Shines 10) In The Land Of Far Beyond 11) Super-Hyper Hocus Locus 12) Waiting For The Midnight Flyer 13) Plectricity 14) Rockers Of The Rosy Cross 15) An Ordinary Man 16) The Last Transmission ALBUM NOTES: Auditoria is a triple album of vocal pieces and instrumental tracks issued on the Sonoluxe label in a limited edition of 500 copies. The Auditoria album was recorded between February and August 2018, and was especially created to tie in with Nelson's 70th birthday event, Plectronica – Bill Nelson at 70, staged at Leeds University Clothworker's Hall on 1 December 2018. The album began life as a single album initially given the title Stylus , but was barely a month into production when it grew into a double album with a revised title These Stars Are Fire . Never one to let his plans remain fixed for too long, Nelson continued recording more material for the album and expanded his plans a second time, resulting in These Stars Are Fire becoming his first triple album (of entirely new material). With over 40 tracks completed for the project Nelson was forced into replacing his trusty drum machine, an Akai MPC 2500, that had served him so well over the past decade or so. As a replacement unit, Nelson invested in a new Akai model, an MPC X. By August, Nelson had accumulated an astonishing 55 new recordings for the project, at which point he was settling on the final track listing and considering how the 3 CD set should be packaged. Not only had the album been expanded into a triple, Nelson also assigned a new title to the work, Auditoria . However, each album within the package would be given individual titles. Disc 1 of the set retained These Stars Are Fire as its title, with disc 2 named Mysterium . Nelson had several alternate titles for disc 3, with his initial choices being either State of Play or This Way or That . Soon both titles were abandoned in favour of Secret Knowledge , only for that title to be replaced with Plus Ultra . The album was mastered by John Spence at Fairview between 29 August and 31 August 2018, although not without a nerve-wrecking incident that threatened to derail the entire mastering session. The frustrating tale involves a jammed DAT tape, a malfunctioning back up disc, and in general - gremlins! For a detailed account of these unexpected hurdles see Nelson's journal entry here . With the album successfully mastered, Nelson then turned his attention to the artwork. Initially he had intended that the album would be housed in a triple fold out digi-pack. But concerns over the costs of that design caused him to re-think, settling instead for 3 individual jewel cases to house each album, all contained within a card slip case. Assembly of the sleeve design fell to Martin Bostock working from images that Nelson had selected in early September 2018. Among the material listed for possible inclusion on Auditoria, but omitted from the final track listing, are a number of currently unused pieces, namely: "The Clock that Tells the Time", "Drifting Through Your Dreams", "The Woman of Tomorrow", "The Driving Force", "Through These Windows Wonder Comes", "Billy's Blues", "My Shadow Cast By Midnight Moon", and "Everycat". It remains to be seen what Nelson does with this surplus material. Auditoria was initially made available exclusively to attendees of the Plectronica – A Celebration of Bill Nelson at 70 birthday event held on 1 December 2018. All copies sold that evening had been signed in advance by Nelson. The remaining 325 copies went on sale through SOS on 3 December 2018 and sold out in less than 24 hours. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Dynamos & Tremolos , Drive This Comet , The Unrealist , That Old Mysterioso , Songs For Ghosts , New Northern Dream , Kid Flip , Special Metal , Perfect Monsters , The Dreamshire Chronicles BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Feeling very positive about everything on the sessions so far, though I've yet to call a halt and sort through all the finished material to choose the album's final running order. I'm really enjoying the process though and feel completely at one with my guitars which, in their various guises, are providing me with lots of inspiration. The album will cover a lot of the musical territory I've traversed over the years. There's rock, pop-rock, left-field jazz, ambient, experimental, a touch of acoustic, some synth based stuff and plenty of vocals and instrumentals. I intend to mix it all up and not divide the three discs into separate generic categories...a surprise on every track for every listener." _____ "Many of the vocal pieces have surreal, 'stream of consciousness' lyrics that contain their own illogical kind of logic. An example: "The driving force is in the fuse/Eddie sings the 'Summertime Blues'/The square of the hypotenuse is not my style..." And so on... " _____ "The track I remixed [today] is titled "The Science of Extraordinary Things". It's a vocal piece in an almost '70s country waltz style but mutates into a jazzy coda which then mutates again into a kind of abstract sonic assault. A track that, on one level, is quite straight but, on another level, utterly bizarre. Don't know whether to love it or hate it. Emi, it seems, loves it for some reason. Says it reminds her of Be Bop Deluxe. (She hasn't heard the chaotic racket on the end though!)" _____ "It's not a perfectly honed, tightly arranged album. It has many rough edges and spontaneously improvised components, but it is, nevertheless, an interesting amalgam of many facets of my music, a kind of cornucopia of styles...maybe something for everyone?" _____ "It's a very rich feast though...I would recommend that listeners don't attempt to take the entire three discs in in one listening session. Just enjoy one disc at a time, allowing it to sink in. It's one of those albums that will grow with repeated listenings, some of it is easy, some of it challenging, but all of it will be satisfying, over time. " FAN THOUGHTS: Skyrocket : "Loving it! Some very beautiful stuff on all 3! Been listening to it a lot! Fave of the whole set at the moment is CD2, track2, 'When Midnight Falls'...Just beautiful! Too short!" Axe Victim: "Bill never fails to amaze me, and always produces quality albums. Auditoria has been on constantly since I was fortunately able to get a copy at Nelsonica. Beautiful sounds, layers & textures. I have recently had some bad news and this album has been a huge help to me when I've been in the deepest and darkest of places and because of this I will treasure this piece of work/art/music. Thank you Bill." Palladium: " 'Immersive' seems an overused term these days, but I think it applies to Auditoria . Also, after noticing the varied styles, it now seems a very cohesive trilogy to me. I think the packaging helps in that (I was lucky enough to get the physical album) and certainly colours the way I experience the music - in a subtle way at least. I've been listening to it a lot; it really does create a whole universe you want to spend time in to recharge the batteries of poetic sensibility, as it were (and to get away from the more depressing and tedious aspects of everyday living!)." Mr. Curt: "Any amount of Mr. Nelson never seems enough. Single, EP, album, multi-album, MEGA-ALBUM - he's a prolific whiz that will never stop. Bravo, sir!" Albums Menu Future Past

Chimera Bill Nelson mini-album - 6 May 1983 Albums Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) The Real Adventure 02) Acceleration 03) Everyday Feels Like Another New Drug 04) Tender Is The Night 05) Glow World 06) Another Day, Another Ray Of Hope ALBUM NOTES: Chimera is a vocal mini-album initially released on vinyl and cassette. It was originally to be called Sextet , but Nelson changed his plans when Ultravox issued their 'Quartet'’ album in late 1982, preferring a title that had no immediate associations. There was no lyric bag with the album, which presumably helped keep the retail price pegged at a give-away £2.99, but the lyrics were included in an issue of the fan club magazine Acquitted By Mirrors and on the initial UK CD release (Cocteau, 1987). Although there were no commercial singles issued off Chimera at the time of its release, a promotional 7" single coupling two of its tracks, "Acceleration" and "Tender is the Night", was pressed and distributed to radio stations. "Acceleration" was eventually released in remixed form as a single in 1984. PAST RELEASES: In 1987, Chimera was issued on CD (Cocteau) coupled with the Savage Gestures For Charms Sake mini-album as a 2-for-1 pressing. In the US the material was treated differently – see Vistamix (1984). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: In 2005, Mercury reissued Chimera as a remastered CD, producing the definitive edition of the album. The package is well presented with sleeve notes and photographs, and contains the original version of the album as released in 1983, together with four bonus tracks taken from singles issued contemporaneously with the album. Extra songs on the 2005 CD: 07) Hard Facts from the Fiction Department (from fan club ep of the same name, then the Acceleration single). 08) Acceleration (long version from 12" single). 09) Acceleration (dub version from 12" single). 10) Acceleration (short version from 12" single). The 2005 version of Chimera was re-issued in November 2021 on the Music On CD label and is available in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Yuki [Takahashi of Yellow Magic Orchestra] simply sent me a selection of different beats, and I wrote the music to lay on top of them and overdubbed my parts to create the song. Nothing was worked out before." _____ "Another Day, Another Ray of Hope": "is one of those rare songs that I can still listen to without cringing. It's the one track that really endears Chimera to me. In fact, it's on my, 'proud of' list. I think it hasn't dated as much as some music from that era, for some reason, despite the '80's style instrumentation. Probably because it is completely without irony and is direct from the heart." "Can't recall if "Another Day, Another Ray of Hope" was ever considered as a potential single or not. To be honest, I wasn't really involved too much with commercial thoughts back then and even less so now. In fact, I'm probably the worst person anyone could consult regarding popular tastes, especially as getting a 'hit' has always been more to do with calling in favours and manipulating the media than the quality of the music itself. (Oh, the tales I could tell, kiddies!). Pop? It's an illusion, clever marketing strategies, cunning psychology, snake charming and sleight of hand. The 'general' public have long been puppets on the end of corporate strings, (though they rarely notice the deliberate yanking on their hearts, minds and wallets)." FAN THOUGHTS: Ed: "6 tracks, but enough ideas for a triple album. More invention than many a career that has ended up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame/Shame. Commercially neglected? Probably. Criminally un-promoted by its owners - to the extent that Tony Mitchell (journalist in Sounds newspaper) hijacked the singles review pages to lambast Mercury for not putting out a single from it. It's a mysterious melting pot of melody, rhythm, and powerful imagery. Greater than the sum of its parts. And what parts! The contributions - most famously from Yukihiro Takahashi and Mick Karn help to define the feel of the album." Wasp In Aspic: "It was a Saturday in the summer of '83 and I bumped into a friend in town who was carrying a copy of Chimera which he had just bought. I had never heard of Bill Nelson. In the evening we went to a disco and then went to his girlfriend's place and he put Chimera on. Although I didn't completely 'get it' it sounded very interesting so I went out and bought it myself. I was soon marveling at this fantastic and - in my experience - uniquely artistic music. And so began this continuing love affair." james warner: "Love this mini album to bits! Chunky, brash drum machine riffs and synth arrangements great guitar and a liberal sprinkling of E-bow and marimba..."Glow World" is probably my favourite track with Mick Karn's glorious bass, Yuki Takahashi's manic percussion and those great bursts of guitar from Bill in the bridges between verses." wonder toy: "Acceleration": "I just want to know if the lyrics were written before or after the purchase of the Porsche." Radium Girl: "The Real Adventure': "is one of Bill's finest and most arousing vocal efforts ever in my opinion! It makes my head spin so deliciously!" amok: "I was listening to "Another Day, Another Ray of Hope" in the car and I have to say it it one one my favourite pieces of Bill's work. I find the piece very uplifting: the tempo the range of instruments and yet the lyrics are somewhat sad: the passing of time but with the eternal optimism of the title." Peter: "Another Day, Another Ray of Hope": "which I wish was an hour long -- the ebow on this song is sublime, and that repeating series of descending synth notes just hooks me in like I can't explain." Chimera Man: "Every time I play "Another Day, Another Ray of Hope" (which is quite often) I find intensely "uplifting" and mood changing in a positive fashion. 29 years on and I think it (and the Chimera album generally) has stood the test of time brilliantly." "Give "Tender is the Night" a spin if you want to hear Bill playing a superb bass-line. So good I thought it was Mick Karn first time I heard it." wildanddizzy: "Another Day, Another Ray of Hope": "When the drum solo kicks in, there is some great energy happening, with Bill's guitar all over the place...the build up and crescendo on this track is beautifully orchestrated. If I were a castaway on a desert island...with me and poor Crusoe sharing the same fate, I would clearly want this one with me... I have played this track more times than most to introduce someone to BN. That and "October Man"." Mick Winsford: "If pushed to take just one recorded example of Bill's music to the end of the world I would still choose Chimera ." novemberman: "I had forgotten what a masterpiece it is. Nearly 30 years old and still as fresh as the day I bought it in 1983, and it's probably the album that made me think, Umm this Nelson bloke is worth taking note of!! So thanks Bill for giving me 30 years of musical pleasure, and after my dip into the past I look forward to what the future may bring. To copy the lyrics from a track on Chimera ...Every New Bill Nelson Album Is Like Another New Drug, Still Can't Get Enough!!" Albums Menu Future Past

Telecommunication single - 1981 A Flock of Seagulls Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer on the A-side. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Mick Ronson Memorial Concert live album - 1997 Various Artists Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Guitar on the seven songs attributed to the Spiders From Mars: "Width Of A Circle", Ziggy Stardust", "Angel No. 9", "Don't Look Down", "Moonage Daydream", "White Light/White Heat" and "Suffragette City". Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Simplex album - November 1990 Bill Nelson Albums Menu Future Past Currently unavailable TRACKS: 01) Awakening 02) Almost Unchanging 03) Bittersweet 04) Ringing True 05) Celestial East 06) Some Distant Time 07) The Profaned Sanctuary Of The Human Heart 08) Forms In Open Spaces 09) Raindrum 10) Female Form 11) Archetypes 12) Solid Spaces 13) Abstracted 14) Heptarchia 15) Climbing 16) Waiting For Rain 17) Aqua Magica 18) Summer Shower 19) Hammertheme 20) The Cloud Of Unknowing 21) Bending A Knee At The Altar Of Sacrifice 22) A Parting Of The Ways 23) Bronze 24) To Jan From The Shining Stars 25) Arrangement Of Roses 26) Likewise Is Said Elsewhere 27) Child Of The Dream 28) The Enclosed Garden 29) The Christmas Gift 30) Heros De Lumiere 31) Your Morning Blessing ALBUM NOTES: Simplex is an instrumental album initially issued on Cocteau Records by Nelson's then manager Mark Rye, without the artist's permission. This period of Nelson's career was mired in managerial misdemeanours, which was not helped by the unstable relationship that existed between the artist and Mark Rye at the time. Nelson also had the distraction of a failing marriage to contend with. Nelson had previously mentioned the Simplex album within the pages of Acquitted by Mirrors as a future project, and it had even been assigned a US catalogue number as part of the Enigma series of reissues (released just ahead of that record label's collapse). One track from the album even appeared on the US Enigma compilation The Strangest Things : A Collection of Recordings 1979-89, but the full album release never came to fruition. Simplex 's first appearance occurred in late 1990 when Mark Rye apparently took it upon himself to press up approximately 1000 copies of the CD, and offered a copy to each of the 295 members of The Cocteau Club in lieu of issue 16 of Acquitted By Mirrors . The magazine and Club EPs had appeared with decreasing regularity since 1986. Surplus copies of the CD were eventually released to UK high street record shops, most likely resulting from further business dealings centering around Mark Rye's activities. Nelson has stated on a number of occasions that none of this activity was done with his knowledge or approval. PAST RELEASES: Simplex was finally given an official release in 2000 (with redesigned artwork) when issued on the Toneswoon label. Sadly, even this release of 500 copies appears to have not directed the due royalties to the artist. The album was deleted in this form sometime around 2004. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Simplex was then reissued in 2012 in a third sleeve design as part of the Esoteric/Cocteau Discs series of releases. Although this album is out of print as a physical CD, it is available as a digital download via major online retailers. IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Chameleon , Map of Dreams , Altar Pieces , Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights , Crimsworth , Optimism , Iconography , Mazda Kaleidoscope , Non Stop Mystery Action , Signals From Realms of Light BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Simplex contains only a fraction of the music I made for the film ['Henry Moore and Landscape']. Simplex isn't meant to be a soundtrack album as such, the vast majority of the music on the album was created quite separately from the film's soundtrack and has no real connection with the documentary. However, the recordings were made in a similar frame of mind and could be said to be in the same short-form, minimalist style." _____ " 'Short form' or 'miniature pieces' can be very beautiful, simply because of their brevity and directness...kind of musical 'haikus'. (A Haiku is a very short Japanese zen poem). I made an entire album of these musical haikus once...it's called Simplex and contains lots of tracks but each one is relatively brief. For those of you who don't know this album, it's well worth checking out. One of my own favourite projects from the past." _____ "Part of their charm is that they were recorded using very basic, (and by today's standards, primitive), technology. The Trial By Intimacy box set and Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights are particular favourites of mine from that period and point towards my more recent keyboard based adventures. Simplex is another favourite of mine from that time. Like all forms of artistic self-expression, music grows and develops along with the artist's personal development. Those albums paved the way for many of my more recent recordings, albums such as Theatre of Falling Leaves , Gleaming Without Lights , Mazda Kaleidoscope and Non Stop Mystery Action . (To give just a few examples). The Signals From Realms of Light album, (to be released later this year), also has its roots in that sort of thing. So, the core attitudes and concepts behind those early instrumental albums is still influencing my work but expressing itself in increasingly sophisticated ways and using a richer pallette of tonal colours." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review by Dmitry M. Epstein FAN THOUGHTS: alec: "What a top-flite collection!! Whether you're locked into specific era(s) of Bill or if you're like me and you hear Bill's oeuvre as one great era, Simplex is essential! It revives the weary and leaves room for deep dreaming and contemplation. It is like pure water for a parched throat. Two thumbs up." ianthomas37: "What a wonderful album, this has gatecrashed my top five." Debtworker: "Simplex is a really beautiful CD, full of ambient sounds that are in the same vein as Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights - a must have for any serious fan of Bill. You will not regret buying Simplex , it's one of my favourite CDs." paul.smith: "In my opinion Simplex is one of those albums which proves the point that sometimes 'less is more' - an album which conjures up great atmospheres and 'landscapes of the mind' as they say - love it." felixt1: "Absolutely brilliant! Bill, your more ambient works like this are for me, pretty much as good as it gets. Genius." Palladium: "Simplex is off-the-scale sublime in my opinion. An essential album." Alan Cawthorne: "How Bill got some of those sounds from his keyboards at the time is beyond me. Some sound manipulation. It just goes on and on and on. No fillers whatso...Masterpieces." BenTucker: " 'Awakening' (first track) would get my vote for most evocative piece of music under 2 minutes long ever recorded. Other remarkable pieces: 'Archetypes', 'Summer Shower' (and many others - the album is full of them)." swampboy: "This is an album that needs to be heard on a good stereo system or headphones. It contains many details and nuances that might go un-noticed if you were to try to listen to it in your car (I tried) or on a mediocre system. This album made me feel like I was wandering through a different place with each piece. I got distinct impressions of large spaces like caverns and cathedrals, rolling hills and outdoors imagery, and many other images, that are strangely, all in black and white. I wish I could see the images that Bill attached these pieces to, as to see his original intention. I'm glad that I took the chance and got this album. It evokes feelings and imagery that seem to change with each listen. I think that I am going to enjoy this album for a long time to come." Albums Menu Future Past

Mixed Up Kid Bill Nelson album - 3 December 2021 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this CD Purchase this download TRACKS 01) Aeroplane Mind 02) The Autumn Balloonist 03) A Pond For The Moon 04) Channel Surfing 05) Flowers And Stars 06) Saturn's Groove 07) She Sees Me Sleeping 08) Switchback 09) Maybe It's My Eyes 10) The Enchanted Cathedral 11) She's Got Flower Power 12) Nowhere In Particular 13) Mixed Up Kid 14) Far Beyond The West Of Me 15) This Information Arrives From Dreams 16) Wild And Serene 17) Moon Over Echo Lake 18) A Touch Of Body And Soul 19) Longing For Light ALBUM NOTES: Mixed Up Kid is an album comprising a mixture of song based and instrumental material issued on the Sonoluxe label as a limited edition of 1000 copies. The material was recorded between August and October 2021 immediately on completion of My Private Cosmos . Mixed Up Kid is the fourth Bill Nelson album to be released since he moved to his Cubase recording set-up assembled in 2019. Plans for the album were first announced on the Dreamsville website in a forum post on 8 September 2021 in which Nelson referred to it as a "mystery album" available for download before the appearance of My Private Cosmos . On 27 September 2021 Nelson announced in a further forum post that he had recorded and mixed 12 tracks for the album, now titled Mixed Up Kid , but that he was still deciding on the track listing. However, anyone assuming that the album was finalised were informed to the contrary on 8 October 2021 when Nelson confirmed that a further 3 songs had been completed with another song being worked on. On 23 October 2021 Nelson revealed further developments in this project, the most notable being that it would appear as physical CD release rather than as a download. Nelson also confirmed that he had completed 19 songs for the album but intended that only 18 of these would make the final cut (assuming there was enough space on single CD to fit them all on). In fact, Nelson had mis-numbered his final running order meaning that 19 songs were indeed destined to feature on it. Mixed Up Kid was mastered at Fairview Studios by John Spence on 1 November 2021 with the artwork, prepared by Martin Bostock as usual, already underway. Pre-orders for Mixed Up Kid were announced by Burning Shed on 11 November 2021 with it appearing on 3 December. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "You could think of this album as a kind of 'prequel' or even a sequel to My Private Cosmos (though I'm hoping to release it prior to that massive six disc set.) The Mixed Up Kid title comes partly from the fact that the album is a mix of styles with instrumental and vocal tracks covering a range of genres, from meditative, introspect to jazz funk, pop and rock. It's an interesting listen..." _____ "I headed over to Fairview Studio today to transfer all the tracks to the studio's's computer in readiness for the mastering process under the watchful ear of my buddy John Spence...Listened back to the tracks on Fairview's big monitor speakers which reveal a lot of detail that isn't always available on my home studio system. But, thankfully, the tracks sound pretty good." _____ "I chose the title of this album simply because it is, when all's said and done, an eclectic mix of tracks without adherence to any one particular genre. In that sense it certainly is a 'mixed up' album! On another level, the title harks back to my 1950's childhood when the term 'mixed up kid' was often applied to any child who didn't quite fit the behaviour patterns expected of children back then. I've never thought of myself as a 'mixed up kid', (though others may have done), but my tastes in music are wide and eclectic and I suppose, in that respect, they could be categorised as somewhat mixed up. I've always enjoyed fusing different genres together and I try not to lock music into tightly defined categories. Most of my work has taken that approach and this album is no different. These days, in music at least, there's no need to show your passport at the frontier. So, sit back, listen and enjoy the kaleidoscopic Mixed Up Kid !" Albums Menu Future Past

360° Album album - 1996 Gillcover & the monkey Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer and keyboard Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Vistamix Bill Nelson retrospective collection - October 1984 Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: A1) The Real Adventure (from Chimera) A2) Flaming Desire (from The Love That Whirls) A3) Acceleration (from Chimera) A4) Empire Of The Senses (from The Love That Whirls) A5) Everyday Feels Like Another New Drug (from Chimera) B1) Do You Dream In Colour? (from Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) B2) A Kind Of Loving (from Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam ) B3) Tender Is The Night (from Chimera) B4) Glow World (from Chimera) B5) Another Day, Another Ray Of Hope (from Chimera) NOTES: Vistamix is an expanded edition of the Chimera mini-album, issued in the US on Portrait Records. The six tracks from Chimera were accompanied by 2 songs each from the previous two albums (Quit Dreaming and Get On the Beam and The Love That Whirls ). This would cause later US reissues of both albums to have their track listing amended to avoid having the same material on more than one release. See separate entries for details. PAST RELEASES: Vistamix was later released on CD twice in the US (1989 and 91). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Out of print in this form, all the material was included on the 2005 Mercury remasters (some of which are also out of print in physical form). Digital downloads are available through major online retailers. Collections Menu Future Past

Charade single - 1979 Skids Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer and Keyboards Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Masquerade single - 1979 Skids Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Co-Producer and Keyboards Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

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Trial By Intimacy (The Book Of Splendours) album box set - 25 January 1985 Bill Nelson Albums Menu Future Past The Summer Of God's Piano: 01) Antennae Two 02) Transmission (N.B.C. 97293) 03) The Sleep Of Hollywood 04) The Celestial Bridegroom 05) Under The Red Arch 06) Orient Pearl 07) Sacrament 08) Falling Blossoms 09) The Difficulty Of Being 10) Zanoni 11) The Chinese Nightingale 12) Tantra 13) Soon September (Another Enchantment) 14) Rural Shires 15) Perfidio Incanto 16) The Lost Years 17) The Charm Of Transit 18) Night Thoughts (Twilight Radio) 19) Wysteria 20) Swing 21) Snowfall 22) Realm Of Dusk 23) Over Ocean Purchase this download Chamber Of Dreams: 01) The Blazing Memory Of Innuendo 02) Into The Luminous Future 03) A Dip In The Swimming Pool Reactor 04) Tomorrowland (The Threshold Of 1947) 05) Listening To Lizards 06) Endless Torsion 07) My Sublime Perversion 08) Eros In Autumn 09) Sleeplessness 10) The Latest Skyline 11) Train Of Thought 12) Parks And Fountains, Clouds And Trees 13) The Golden Bough 14) Forever Orpheus 15) In Arcadia 16) Sentimental 17) Autumn Fires 18) Wild Blue Yonder Pavilions Of The Heart And Soul: 01) Gift Of The August Tide 02) Loving Tongues 03) Blue Nude 04) In The Realm Of Bells 05) Your Nebulous Smile 06) The Glance Of A Glittering Stranger 07) Another Kiss For Your Slender Neck 08) The Warmth Of Women's Eyes 09) Seduction (Ritual With Roses) 10) Dreamed Embraces 11) Herself With Her Shadow 12) The Exquisite Corpse 13) Ardent Hands 14) Her Laughing Torso 15) Migrating Angels 16) Les Amoureux 17) Meshes Of The Afternoon 18) Mountains Of The Heart 19) Willow Silk 20) Tender Encounters (States Of Grace) 21) Melancholia 22) The Eternal Female Purchase this download Purchase this download A Catalogue Of Obsessions: 01) Sex Party Six 02) Wider Windows For The Walls Of The World 03) Time In Tokyo 04) Happily Addicted To You 05) Snakes With Wings 06) The Boy Pilots Of Bangkok 07) Erotikon 08) Birds In Two Hemispheres 09) Windmills In A World Without Wind 10) Love's First Kiss 11) Initiation Of The Heart's Desire 12) Edge Of Tears 13) Test Of Affection 14) Words Across Tables 15) A Promise Of Perfume 16) This Dangerous Age 17) The Glass Breakfast 18) Talk Technique 19) The Last Summer For Dancing 20) View From A Balcony Purchase this download ALBUM NOTES: Trial By Intimacy was initially issued as a 4 LP boxed set, limited to 5000 copies, containing four previously unreleased instrumental albums, a set of 8 postcards, and a book of Nelson's photography entitled, The Arcane Eye . The 4 LP set was originally to be called Sensoria , and was to have included Sounding the Ritual Echo rather than The Summer of God's Piano . But as the album was nearing completion, Nelson switched the 1981 album for a brand new collection, reissuing Sounding the Ritual Echo separately later in 1985, but in artwork that complemented the 4 albums housed in Trial By Intimacy . All copies of the vinyl box featured an unfortunate typo in the subtitle (The Book Splendours). PAST RELEASES: After the box had sold out, albums 1) and 2) were re-issued separately on vinyl (Cocteau 1986). Although some discographies list 3) and 4) as having separate vinyl releases (1989), (it was reportedly announced in the press), this seems to have not happened. CD versions of all 4 albums did appear around that time both in the UK (Cocteau) and in the US (Enigma). Any vinyl copies of albums 3) and 4) seen for sale as separate items have almost certainly been liberated from the 1985 box set! Trial By Intimacy was remastered and reissued on CD in 2012 as a miniature version of the original box set. For this release Esoteric did a particularly fine job in packaging the reissue in a compact version of the original box that housed the vinyl release. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: All four albums from this box set are available individually for purchase as digital downloads here in the Dreamsville Store . SAMPLES: "Sleeplessness": "features the voice of Sir Compton MacKenzie, advertising Horlicks in the early days of British commercial television." - Bill BILL'S THOUGHTS: "I have often found a painter's sketchbook and his finished work to be of equal interest. Despite their apparent lack of sophistication, sketches invariably posses a simplicity and freshness encapsulating all the essential qualities of an idea. It is with this promise in mind that I release Trial By Intimacy , a musical sketchbook of instrumental moods captured during many private moments over the last few years. "Although recorded on 'low-tech' domestic equipment, these eighty-three pieces of music are not to be confused with 'demo-tapes' but as a continuation of the process begun in 1979-1980 with my Sounding the Ritual Echo album. The set is presented unpolished and complete with all its technical deformities for which I offer no apology. Despite or perhaps because of this, these previously unreleased pieces have become very dear to my heart. "Intuition, spontaneity and the high disregard for error correction were the only rules adhered to during the recording process (Laziness sometimes possessing its own virtue). Each piece of music was dealt with as an infant deals with building-blocks and instinct was always given precedence over reason. "A great deal of time has been spent editing the material into the four albums contained here although there are as yet another forty or so pieces not represented. I acknowledge the difficulties presented to the listener by such a large volume of music and can only suggest that listening should not be rushed in any way. Time and patience will, I hope unveil the innocent charm of what for me has been both a labour of love and a personal exorcism." - Bill Nelson, Oct '84. [from the liner notes] _____ "These were all recorded on very simple equipment, (which is all I had at the time), hence the 'home hobbyist' sound. They were created over a few months, rather than years, if my memory serves me. As always, the titles play an important role in how I intend the music to be heard. They set up a context, an anticipation and an imaginary or real environment for the music to unfold in. My favourites of the set are probably The Summer of God's Piano and Pavilions of the Heart and Soul . What listeners may not realise is that some of the pieces on those two albums were composed to reflect my initial (and deeply emotional), entanglement with Emiko, a long time, (nine years or more), before we were finally able to hook up together as man and wife. Our fleeting but deeply felt love affair in the early '80's inspired a great deal of music, much of which served to encode our relationship in metaphor and mystery. Because of the relationship's covert nature, instrumentals were often more appropriate than lyrics, (which may have been too revealing). But "Les Amoureux" is a particular example of that inspiration, though there are many others. In fact, I sent Emi copies of the recordings to Tokyo, on cassette, some time prior to them being released in the box set. So there's a great deal of longing, melancholy and romance embodied in those two particular 'favourite' albums." _____ "It was an interesting period of my life and I devoted a lot of time to collecting and reading books on occult philosophy, magical practices, mystical secret societies, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Martinism, Gnosticism, The Golden Dawn and obscure branches of esoteric Freemasonry. I have retained most of these books, some of them quite rare. "I also became involved in a Rosicrucian Chapter in Leeds in which I eventually served for one year as Master of the Chapter. I was initiated into a French Freemasonic Lodge in London and into a French Martinist Order, (which also had a UK branch in London). I brought almost as much energy and passion to these pursuits as I did to my music and the 'journey' I undertook helped shape some of the music I made at that time...particularly Sounding the Ritual Echo , Trial by Intimacy and Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights . "I was involved with such things in a practical sense throughout the 1980's although I'd begun researching these subjects back in the early 70's." _____ "I was originally planning to call the 4 album set 'Sensoria'...but, before I got to the artwork and manufacturing stage, Sheffield's 'Cabaret Voltaire' came out with something bearing the same title...so I switched it to Trial By Intimacy (The Book of Splendours)." FAN THOUGHTS: twilight_radio: "The Trial By Intimacy recordings were singularly responsible for my BN obsession..." "I got a hold of the Trial By Intimacy box set and was blown away by the Bill's massive wealth of creativity - not only in the music he individually conceived, played, and recorded, but also by the collages and drawings that accompanied the vinyls." Parsongs: "Trial By Intimacy was and is WAY ahead of the curve. These CDs are often on my player, and they are enjoyed and treasured like the jewels that they are." "I loved the charming simplicity of the Cocteau years, the way Bill would start with a blank slate and build up songs one sound and idea at a time. For a lot of synthesists, when keyboards became polyphonic, they lost some of the simple creativity of creating a piece one mono track (with a monophonic synth) at a time." Waspy: "I got hooked on Bill's early instrumental work. It had (and still has!) a very idiosyncratic charm. I'll always have a soft spot for it. In spite of being generated by electronic instruments, it has so much warmth. Very..."painterly" I suppose one could say. I think there is a lot of playfulness and humour too in the use of vocal samples, and even just in the track titles. Some pieces are so evocative in the mental images they conjure; I'd always dream up little video clips in my head while listening. Luddite that I am, I still prefer the old analogue sounds..." BobK: "Trial By Intimacy was a defining moment in my musical listening career. "At the time I was in awe that an individual could produce 4CD's worth of such interesting and gorgeous instrumentals in such a variety of styles. Whilst an admirer of others who ploughed a similar furrow, this was way ahead of them. I still think this collection is one of the most impressive achievements in BN's career." "This has always been one of my favourite collections. Certainly one of BN's 'Essential Purchases'. The music, the box, the cards, the song titles...everything is so damn perfect!" stormboy: "Bill's early electronic albums? I love 'em. I mean, really, really love 'em. Summer of God's Piano , Pavilions of the Heart and Soul , La Belle et La Bete , Chance Encounters , all that period. I think Bill was massively underrated as a synth player/pioneer. It's been said before that he was one of the musicians that paved the way for modern artists such as Aphex Twin, Fourtet, Boards of Canada, the Ghost Box Artists, etc." tommaso: "Actually, this box set was largely responsible for me becoming a fan of Bill's music way back in the 80's; it was the first of his solo instrumental work I heard after getting to know of him via David Sylvian's 'Gone to Earth'. I was absolutely struck by the variety, sheer inventiveness and poetry of the music, which sounded like nothing else (and actually, nothing else in Bill's later work sounded like Trial ). The visual part of it is also absolutely beautiful, the 'art direction' and the various references in the titles and on the covers subsequently led me to discover artists like Cocteau or Man Ray, for which I will be eternally grateful... "So I guess, a lot of personal memory in my admiration, but it's a fabulous set of recordings...Well, probably it's just nostalgia (or conservatism), but it's Bill's music from the 80's that appeals most to me, although I love Satellite Songs and Sailor Bill ..." Kalamazoo Kid: "This set of four albums was huge for me when it came out. Vast, varied, packaged beautifully (the box, the black, the bonus items), crammed with evocative song titles, and unlike anything I had heard before. I judge Trial to be the high water mark for the instrumental approach that began with Ritual Echo and ended with Map of Dreams ." felixt1: "An absolutely fantastic collection of predominantly electronic music, I am really impressed and somewhat blown away by how much Bill's music continues to delight and surprise me... "Overall, Pavilions of the Heart and Soul is so far, the stand-out set from the collection for me - "Gift of the August Tide" being my latest obsession. "But as a complete set Trial By Intimacy (The Book of Splendours) is an absolutely essential work, not only in terms of sheer musical enjoyment, but in terms of further understanding how Bill has progressed as a musician, composer and producer. You can hear even on this technologically limited recording, hints of the rich, layered music that we enjoy from Sonoluxe nowadays but even more importantly, I think this collection beautifully demonstrates the sheer depth of Bill's compositional skills and his sheer talent as a musician (bearing in mind that his guitar playing hardly registers throughout). And all with no formal training. Astounding!" Boat to Forever: "What I really like about the instrumental albums of that period - Ritual Echo , Trial By Intimacy , Chance Encounters - is the strange, ethereal and completely unique sound of those records. A kind of other worldly quality that is only enhanced by the low-fi and basic production of the albums." thunk: "I still have never heard (or seen) anything quite as unique as Trial By Intimacy ... "I spotted it in my local record emporium, this deep intriguing 'box', hiding in-between various other vinyl offerings, yet simply drawing my attention through its presence - the artwork very dark & grainy, against-the-grain of the other 'shouty' record covers. I had to delve further to peruse the contents of this strange & enchanting package...The sprawling list of tracks with the most evocative titles suggested a further mystique within. Just out of reach as out of pocket I had some saving to do!! Would it still be there when I returned? To my joy I cobbled my coins together within days and returned to the store to see it ready & waiting. "To me, this was an uncovering of a potential treasure-trove of Nelsonic magic! And to this day it remains so...locked in that 'wonder-moment' of its time, refreshing memories of when & where the music made its impact on life's twists & turns...It's obviously made a big impact on many other Nelsonians too!" "Its undeniable charm lies in the stark & beautifully simplistic keyboard touches, the unfussy synthetic rhythms, intriguing voice cut-ups, and a much-appreciated 'understated' approach to guitar-work...And all wrapped-up in sensuous artwork like no other." tom fritz: "I flipped when i found the original vinyl box. Still love it today & always seem to come back to it. Many of my friends have enjoyed it, as well. Another example of how Bill takes something on a small level & elevates it. Old vintage equipment, a little creativity & a man in a musical sand box. "Boys with toys", as it were. Now 30 years on we're celebrating this effort again...& again. Keep smiling your Buddha smile. Cheers" wonder toy: "Would listen to that music for hours and hours. I like the drum machine programing from that period, nice and primitive in technology and technique and the warm analogue synthie bits. Those sounds, combined with the tape loop parts and 'found object' approach to sound recording, really opened my eyes as a youngster. Instantly, a whole lot of music became obsolete to me." "It will change your life. You will stand back in awe. For real. One of the most amazing musical achievements ever released to the public." Scooter59: "As both a collection of music and a piece of art, Trial By Intimacy has always been an important part of my library. I am so happy to see what an outstanding job Esoteric have done with the reissue, even down to the postcards." chriz1976: "The little box set replicates the original vinyl version and includes the book and postcards. It is simply a lovely item to hold. "However, the music contained in the box outperforms the packaging. The instrumentals BN were producing at the time were lo-fi. Regardless of the technology you can hear BN's musical thoughts clearly and expressively. "I am eagerly awaiting the release of the previous instrumental albums to the box set: Ritual Echo ; La Belle and Das Kabinett ." JMH: "Allow me to mention that listening to Pavilions ...is the aural equivalent of taking a bite out of the proverbial "Fruit of the Tree..." Once you hear this album you will stand in wonder on how you got along in life without it. (Hmm, was that a bit too much praise??...No, I do not think so). Do not hesitate to acquire this set." mark smith: "This brilliant box set in vinyl was my first purchase of Mr Nelson and is still one of the few things I would put in my treasure chest (if I had one). Even owning the CD versions already will not stop me from purchasing them again all over again so hearing them being made available in remastered form has made my day. Do yourselves a favor and check these stunning sketches from the master!" BenTucker: "[The reissue] looks superb. I'm envious of those who'll be having the experience of hearing it the first time. The music is unique and accessible - it conveys mystery & wonder, often extremely haunting and moving. The recording set-up may have been minimalist, but the effect on the listener is anything but." Albums Menu Future Past