Bill Nelson 1997 News

The following albums either by or featuring Bill Nelson were released or re-released in 1997:

February 17:
Be Bop Deluxe - Air Age Anthology (2 CD set, UK release) 

February 24:
Bill Nelson - Electricity Made Us Angels (single CD release from previous 4 CD boxed set, UK release) 
Bill Nelson - Buddha Head (single CD release from previous 4 CD boxed set, UK release) 

March 4: 
Bill Nelson - Confessions Of A Hyperdreamer (2 CD set, UK release) 

April 7: 
Bill Nelson - Crimsworth (UK re-release) 

April 14: 
Culturemix with Bill Nelson (UK re-release) 

April 28: 
Bill Nelson -  Deep Dream Decoder (single CD release from previous 4 CD boxed set, UK-only release) 

Mid-1997: 
Nautilus Pompilius - Yablotikay (production and music by Bill Nelson, released in Russian Federation) 

May or June: 
Be Bop Deluxe - Futurama
Be Bop Deluxe - Modern Music
Be Bop Deluxe - Drastic Plastic
(UK EMI re-releases) 

June 24: 
Bill Nelson - Confessions Of A Hyperdreamer (2 CD set, US release) 

Early October: 
Bill Nelson - Electricity Made Us Angels (single CD release from previous 4 CD boxed set, US release) 
Bill Nelson - Buddha Head (single CD release from previous 4 CD boxed set, US release) 

December: 
The Mick Ronson Memorial Concerts (featuring Bill Nelson on guitar on 5 songs, UK release)

January 7, 1997: 

Nelsonian Navigator USA started. Dave Middlebrough distributed the UK club's magazine in the United States.  This later folded and all distribution reverted back to the UK club by late 1998.

February 7, 1997: 

Be Bop Deluxe will have their Air Age Anthology 2CD set released on Monday February 17th, 1997.

February 11, 1997: 

Futurama, Modern Music, and Drastic Plastic will be re-released as part of EMI's Centenary Anniversary celebrations. EMI (UK) will re-release 100 albums from its archives and call them the "Replay 100". Be Bop Deluxe has been honoured with 3 re-releases out of these 100. The Replay 100 will be released in May-June 1997 in the UK.

<all will be out of print within a year>

February 16-18, 1997: 

Be Bop Deluxe - Air Age Anthology
Release Date: February 17th, 1997 
Cat No: CDEM 1602 
ICPN: 7243 854 730 29 
Digitally re-mastered 39 track mid price double CD detailing the history of one of '70s most interesting bands. 
Compiled and designed by Bill Nelson authority Kevin Cann 
Features tracks from all their hit albums and their hit singles. 
12 page colour booklet includes in-depth history rare photographs and memorabilia. 
Available from the Bill Nelson Record Store

Disc One - 73 mins 38 secs 
Axe Victim/Love With The Madman/Sister Seagull/Heavenly Homes/Ships In The Night/Twilight Capers (short studio out take as intro)/Kiss Of Light/Crying To The Sky/Sleep That Burns/Life In The Air Age (live)/Electrical Language/Panic In The World/Maid In Heaven/Between The Worlds/Blazing Apostles/Lovers Are Mortal/Down On Terminal Street/Darkness (L'Immoraliste)

Disc Two - 69 mins 20 secs 
Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape/Night Creatures/Music In Dreamland/Jean Cocteau/Beauty Secrets (short studio intro)/Life In The Air Age/Speed Of The Wind/Modern Music/Dancing In The Moonlight (All Alone)/Honeymoon On Mars/Lost In The Neon World/Dance Of The Uncle Sam Humanoids/Modern Music (reprise)/Fair Exchange (live)/Autosexual/New Mysteries/Surreal Estate/Islands Of The Dead/Visions Of Endless Hope/The Bird Charmers Destiny/The Gold At The End Of My Rainbow 

March 4, 1997: 

Yes, Confessions of a Hyperdreamer is out in England. 

Bill Nelson - Confessions of a Hyperdreamer (My Secret Studio, Volume 2)
A two-CD set featuring Weird Critters (POPU-001-CD) and Magnificent Dream People (POPU-002-CD) 
Released on Populuxe (a division of the Rosebud Recording Company)/Resurgence (UK) 
Limited edition of 2000 
Available from the Bill Nelson Record Store

Weird Critters:  Rain and Neon/Candyland/Birds and Blue Stuff/Radiated Robot Men/Coney Island/Weird Critters/Golden Satellites/The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters/Quarter Moon and Stars/Wonder Story/Cool Blue Heaven/Far Too Flip/Realm Rider/Angels In Arcadia

Magnificent Dream People: Sun at Six Windows/Bird Ornaments/My Favourite Atom/The Girl I Never Forgot/Circle The World In A Paper Canoe/Queer Weather/Astro Coaster/Brutal Tinkerbell/The Waltz at the End of the World/Secret Agents at Science Park/The Twentieth Century/Aura Hole/Radiant Nature Knows Not The Worker's Sorrow/Essoldo Stripshow

"One is totally instrumental and has a lot of 24-track recordings, including some solo piano pieces and some more elaborate works. The 'Weird Critters' album has a combination of vocal and instrumental pieces, all from my home studio. It's a very eclectic collection, but it's not like a four album box set where it's daunting and takes ages to absorb. I feel this album is a little more immediate. I've also made some colour collages for the artwork." - Bill Nelson, November 1996

The individual albums from the first My Secret Studio will be released on the following dates: 
February 24, 1997:  Electricity Made Us Angels
February 24, 1997:  Buddha Head
April 28, 1997:  Deep Dream Decoder
(note: Juke Box For Jet Boy was only originally planned for the boxed set) 

Two other Nelson albums will be re-released as well: 
April 7, 1997: Crimsworth
April 14, 1997: Culturemix with Bill Nelson

April 13, 1997: 

The fifth issue of the Nelsonian Navigator is out now and should be arriving in mailboxes shortly (at least in the UK, US subscribers may have to wait a week extra or thereabouts). There's old photos of Bill from his 1950's school days, an interview with Bill on upcoming projects, a question and answer session with Bill and also Ian Nelson, parts 10,11 &12 of 'Little Illuminations', and much more.

April 23, 1997: 

Confessions of A Hyperdreamer will actually be released in the United States. There had been some conflicting reports, but a representative at Caroline Records said the limited edition set will come out on May 27th. Confessions will have a retail list price of $21.99. 

The confusion occurred because Bill is no longer signed to Caroline or it's subsidiary, Gyroscope. However, his albums released on the UK label Resurgence will be distributed in the United States through Caroline. So, while Bill isn't "signed" to Caroline anymore he will be "distributed" through Caroline because of the deal with Resurgence.

April 24, 1997: 

Wondering what happened to the rest of Channel Light Vessel? Bill is apparently no longer with the UK label All Saints and that label's US distribution has changed from Caroline/Gyroscope to Thirsty Ear, a Warner Brothers affiliated label. 

A new sampler, entitled Glitters Is Gold, featuring unreleased tracks by Brian Eno, Harold Budd, Roger Eno, Jah Wobble, Kate St. John, and a band called Biosphere is now available. 

April 27, 1997: 

Confessions of a Hyperdreamer charts! Well, sort of..... 

CDNow publishes their weekly sales chart and Bill bows in at number 20 this past week! 

The amazing thing is that this was the import copy from the UK label Resurgence (as denoted by the asterisk).  Thanks very much for buying Bill Nelson online! 

01 - Depeche Mode : Ultra 
02 - Indigo Girls : Shaming Of The Sun 
03 - Chemical Brothers : Dig Your Own Hole 
04 - Son Volt : Straightaways 
05 - Depeche Mode : It's No Good 
06 - Jimi Hendrix Classics : First Rays Of The New Rising Sun 
07 - Erasure : Cowboy 
08 - Paul Mccartney : Young Boy (EP) + Tracks #1 
09 - Paul Mccartney : Young Boy (EP) + Tracks #2 
10 - Jerry Garcia Band : How Sweet It Is 
11 - Spice Girls : Spice 
12 - Jayhawks : Sound Of Lies 
13 - U2 : Pop 
14 - Savage Garden : Savage Garden 
15 - Ani Difranco : Living In Clip 
16 - Yo La Tengo : I Can Hear The Heart Beating A 
17 - Inxs : Elegantly Wasted 
18 - Atari Teenage Riot : Burn Berlin Burn 
19 - Wallflowers : Bringing Down The Horse 
20 - Bill Nelson : Confessions Of A Hyperdreamer* 

June 13, 1997: 

It looks like the release date for the US-distributed version of Confessions Of A Hyperdreamer has been pushed back to June 24th.

June 16-18, 1997: 

Bill was involved in the production and recording of an album by a Russian band called Nautilius Pompilius in late 1996.  This album has been released only in the Russian Federation and is titled "ñÂÌÏËÉÔÁÊ" (The title is "Jablokitay" for non-Russians ).  John Spence handled engineering.  Bill even directed a video for the song "Tender Vampire" at Carlton Towers, home of the Duke of Norfolk, in Yorkshire. 

Click here for album information and where to buy it. (picture of Bill, too) 

Click here to go to the Nautilius Pompilius web site (warning, it's all in Russian) 

July 17, 1997: 

Bill had to bow out of the Mick Ronson Memorial II Concert due to health reasons.  The August 9th concert will continue with Joe Elliott, Steve Harley, Glen Matlock, Mick Jones, The Spiders From Mars and Michael Chapman. For those who are interested, tickets cost 20 Pounds Sterling and are available directly from the Hull Arena box office: (01482) 325252.  Apparently there were a lot of fans who'd bought tickets especially to see him, so Bill is hoping to maybe be able to do some gigs around Christmas or at the beginning of the New Year.

July 23, 1997

The current and future releases planned for Bill's Populuxe label are listed below.  The rereleases will start with POPU0006CD, Red Noise's Sound On Sound. 

POPBOX1CD My Secret Studio 2 : Confessions Of A Hyperdreamer (Double CD) 
POPU001CD Weird Critters 
POPU002CD Magnificient Dream People 
POPU003CD Electricity Made Us Angels 
POPU004CD Buddha Head 
POPU005CD Deep Dream Decoder 
POPU006CD Sound On Sound 
POPU007CD Quit Dreaming & Get On The Beam 
POPU008CD The Love That Whirls 
POPU009CD Sounding The Ritual Echo 
POPU010CD Das Kabinett 
POPU011CD La Belle Et La Bête 
POPU012CD Flaming Desires & Other Passions 
POPU013CD Chimera 
POPU014CD Savage Gestures For Charm's Sake 
POPU015CD Two Fold Aspect Of Everything (Double CD) 
POPU016CD Summer Of God's Of Piano 
POPU017CD Chamber Of Dreams 
POPU018CD Pavilions Of The Heart & Soul 
POPU019CD Catalogues Of Obsessions 
POPU020CD Vistamix 
POPU021CD Living For The Spangled Moment 
POPU022CD Sex, Psyche Etc 
POPU023CD Iconography 
POPU024CD Map Of Dreams 
POPU025CD Chance Encounters In The Garden Of Lights (Double CD) 
POPU026CD Optimism 
POPU027CD Chimes & Rings 
POPU028CD Nudity 
POPU029CD Heartbreakland 
POPU030CD Details 
POPU031CD Duplex (Double CD) 
POPU032CD The Strangest Things - USA 
POPU033CD Simplex 
POPU034CD Luminous 

<note: this release schedule never occurred>

July 26, 1997

The documentary for which Bill Nelson composed the music subsequently released as 'Simplex' is called 'Henry Moore and Landscape', and it is available in the UK from Concorde Video and Film Co. Ltd (tel. +44 1473 726012) in PAL format at a price of £50.  The high price is because mostly academic institutions, museums, and libraries purchase such kinds of videos.  Thanks to Mark Fuller for this information. 

If anyone finds a NTSC copy of the video, much less it for sale outside the UK, please let me know at webmaster@billnelson.com

If you'd like to read more about the film at this time, click over to the Acquitted by Mirrors, Issue 15 interview with Bill. 

September 9-10, 1997

I received word from Voiceprint today that Bill's Populuxe re-releases (starting at POPU006) will begin in January 1998 and will proceed at the rate of about two per month. 

The ultra-rare Rime Of The Ancient Sampler: The Mellotron Album, in which Bill contributed the track "Mellotronix", is not going to be reissued on Voiceprint. It may possibly be reissued in the future on another label, but no plans are concrete at this time.

September 27, 1997

Blueprint looks like a new US subsidiary of the UK Voiceprint label (which contains Resurgence and Bill's label Populuxe). They will be releasing two individual albums from Bill's 1995 4CD boxed set My Secret Studio. The albums are Buddha Head and Electricity Made Us Angels.

October 24, 1997

The National Radio of Denmark, Channel 3, on their program P-3 LIVE! will be broadcasting a classic Be Bop Deluxe concert from 1976 on Wednesday, October 29 from 21:03-22:00 Denmark time. This show, which is 57 minutes in length, is from the archives of the BBC. 

Nelsonian Navigator 6 should be arriving to UK mailboxes soon (except a delay of a couple more weeks for US subscribers). Bill reflects on his childhood days in a Questions & Answer, talks of taking his son, Elliot, to a Foo Fighters concert, and ponders events of the past month (such as the death of Princess Diana).

December 8, 1997

Record Collector (UK)
December, Issue 220 
cover story by Mark Hodkinson 

It's massive!  A 9-page cover story on Bill Nelson and Be Bop Deluxe.  It clears up a lot things in "the history" and the discography, which will be reflected in the web site over the next few months.  A must for any Nelsonphile and necessary for any Bill Nelson or Be Bop Deluxe collector.  If you're in England it should be fairly easy to obtain, but I'm unsure of where this magazine could be bought in the United States or elsewhere in the world. 

Write them for information on how to purchase it: 

THE MAGAZINE EDITOR 
RECORD COLLECTOR 
43-45 ST. MARYS ROAD 
EALING 
LONDON 
W5 5RQ 
UK

December 11, 1997

Word comes from Voiceprint that a US release for Bill's first solo album, 1971's Northern Dream, is finally planned on their Blueprint label (distributed by Caroline) in April 1998. 

Voiceprint is coming out with a new web site.  It's not completely up yet, but check it out at http://www.voiceprint.co.uk 

Additional information on Voiceprint is as follows: 

Credit Card Hotline: (0)191 512 1109 (24 hrs - automated answering machine between 3:30pm and 9am GMT) 
Freephone UK: 0500 829262 
Freephone USA: 1 800 567 9185 
Freephone Germany: 0130 818502 
Fax Hotline: (0)191 512 1104 

USA ADDRESS: Resurgence, 61 East 8th Street, 189 Greenwich Village, NY 10003, USA 
UK ADDRESS: P O Box 50, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear  DH4 5YP

December 23, 1997

A new release features Bill Nelson on guitar.  It's the double CD set entitled The Mick Ronson Memorial Concert released on Citadel Records in England.  Bill is featured on 5 songs as part of the Spiders From Mars band from the original Memorial concert held in 1994.  For more information on this release, including how to buy it, click here. 

Thanks again to Robert Phan for bringing this to our attention.

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