"Be Bop Deluxe are a four piece with a bass player who looks like Hendrix, a drummer whose solos are actually interesting, a keyboard player and a guitarist who threatens to be the next cult hero." An accurate description of this band, who over the last 12 months have gone from strength to strength to become one of Britain’s most respected rock bands.

On September 25th, Be Bop Deluxe commence an eight date selected tour of Britain, their first U.K. appearance since February, and on September 3rd, Harvest release Be Bop’s 4th album "Modern Music".

Be Bop Deluxe is centred around the band’s founder Bill Nelson. Bill has been placed by both the critics and admirers alongside the guitar greats, although he is reluctant to recognise this status. On the new album Bill’s guitar work is a good deal subtler than on the previous albums, making it far more melodic. Bill explains why," ‘Modern Music’ is a definition of ‘pop music’ in Be Bop Deluxe’s terms; the critics used to say that our work was too complicated, too intricate to appeal to a wide range of audiences. I’ve gone back to the kind of material I was writing in my solo days, but re-evaluating it in terms of 1976."

Bill Nelson was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire and still lives nearby, preferring the peace and tranquility of the country to the city life. His recording career began in 1972 in a Northern Studio where he recorded a solo album entitled "Northern Dream", released on his own label. Somehow the album fell into E.M.I’s hands, but by this time Bill had formed Be Bop Deluxe and when E.M.l. summoned him, it was with their tapes that he arrived. E.M.I. signed Be Bop and their first album "Axe Victim" was released.

However, Bill was having musician problems and after a tour with Cockney Rebel a change of personnel was called for. Bill recruited two members from the defunct Rebel who were still not satisfactory, but he did find drummer Simon Fox and after extensive auditions, New Zealand bass player Charlie Tumahai.

Be Bop’s second album "Futurama" was released May ‘75. Bill played all the keyboards on "Futurama" as they hadn’t been able to find anyone in time for recording and it was just after the release of the album that Andy Clarke joined, making Be Bop Deluxe complete.

During the early months of Be Bop’s career, they had gained many very loyal fans, who had grown to such a size that when "Sunburst Finish" was released in January of this year, it went straight into the Top Twenty and Be Bop enjoyed their first hit single with "Ships In The Night". Be Bop’s success was not limited to the U.K., they had become a cult band in the U.S. and when they toured the States for the first time, in March, the reception was quite overwhelming. "Sunburst Finish" entered the Top 50 of the U.S. charts and the tour was extended by a further three weeks.

Bill was greatly influenced by America in his writing of "Modern Music", which he did on their return to Britain. "I didn’t like America that much, for me it holds little glamour. The title track reflects exactly how I felt, everyone racing about, be it on foot, plane or car, there's an instrumental track, with American sound effects: cars, guns going off, an overall impression of speed."

"Modern Music" is without doubt Be Bop's finest album and will surprise many people and win them many new fans.  The album is released on the Harvest label on September 3rd and a single, "Kiss of Light", was released mid-August.

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