BILL+BE BOP IN 'PROG' MAGAZINE.

Bill Nelson · **Joined:** Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:40 pm **Posts:** 14185

Don't know if this has been flagged up elsewhere but there's a nice 4-page feature on 'Sunburst Finish' in the latest 'Prog' magazine. Contains a major error though: It states that at the 'Plectronica' event in December I did a solo set and one with an orchestra. :shock:

\That would have been lovely if it had been true but, sadly, there was no orchestra, only 'Orchestra Futura' which, as you all know, is a trio, (though on this occasion a quartet due to the addition of my good friend |Harold Budd.) :wink:

wadcorp · **Posted:** Thu Feb 07, 2019 5:36 pm

Now wouldn't a performance with a full orchestra be a real treat?

Lyle Lovett performed with the Kansas City Symphony in January, the first time he'd ever worked with an orchestra. He really enjoyed it, though he was very nervous the entire time.

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BFD · **Posted:** Thu Feb 07, 2019 6:36 pm

For a band that closed up shop 40 years ago, Be Bop Deluxe does alright! Just shows real quality never goes out of style!

Bill Nelson · **Joined:** Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:40 pm **Posts:** 14185

BFD wrote:

For a band that closed up shop 40 years ago, Be Bop Deluxe does alright! Just shows real quality never goes out of style!

And that's what astonishes me. Be Bop Deluxe came in for a fair amount of stick from critics back in the day. We were labelled as 'too arty' or 'pretentious' or whatever. Probably because we didn't fit into the narrow categories that applied to bands at that time. We were not exactly 'pop'. nor 'rock,' nor 'progressive', we ploughed our own idiosyncratic furrow. The songs were outside of the expected forms in some way, fusing different genres together in what, I thought, was an interesting fashion. But make no mistake, we came up against a certain amount of resistance from the old guard journalists who favoured more denim clad, hard rockers. It was a struggle sometimes.

However, I've left all that behind me now, (after all, it was over 40 years ago.) But I'm amazed that people still see it as relevant, especially the new found journalistic appreciation of it. Did it really take so long for the critical penny to drop? And what does that say for the music I'm making now? Will it finally receive attention in another 40 odd years, way after I'm gone and unable to enjoy it?

All any artist can do is simply do what he feels he must do, to create and damn the torpedoes. What posterity thinks of it is not under his control. What will be, will be... :wink:

wadcorp · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2019 12:34 am

Bill Nelson wrote:

And what does that say for the music I'm making now? Will it finally receive attention in another 40 odd years, way after I'm gone and unable to enjoy it?

"There is a price to pay for doing things too early – people ignore it until the time is right."

–– John Foxx, musician & artist (1947- )
But some of us know the time is right, right now!

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Tourist in Wonderland · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2019 2:30 am

But that's the whole point. Be Bop Deluxe weren't about 'the latest trend' or style..they were their own trend and created their own style, which is certainly a much more dangerous and unpredictable route for a band to take, but ultimately much more exciting and artistically rewarding...some people got it, some people didn't, c'est la vie and all that....some people embraced the progressive metamorphosis of Be Bop Deluxe, and beyond, way beyond, and continue to be inspired by Bill Nelson to this very day, while others, seemingly, got stuck in a 1970's loop...it's just the way it is, with no real rhyme or reason.

I just wished the diehard 'Be Bop only' fans, would give Bill's solo work 'a go', especially albums from the last decade or so...I'm pretty confident they would find a lot to like, if they were just willing to take the plunge...It seems to me some are affraid to even try, as if somehow it threatens the pedestal that they have placed BBD on. Don't get me wrong, I love Be Bop Deluxe as much as anyone and was lucky to see them play live several times..great days, superb music and wonderful memories...but that's just part of the picture, the picture back then..there's a whole rich 40 year tappestry of Bill's music to explore after this..So, any Be Bop fans that have yet to take the plunge into BN solo territory, please give it a go and I pretty much guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised..all you need to do is open your heart, and mind.. :wink:

RMD · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2019 6:08 pm

Ultimately BeBop Deluxe are a significant part of British music history and were fronted by a guitarist whose playing was inventive and combined so many different influences. Thus the lasting appeal

peterc62 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:02 pm

I have been listening to Bill's work with Be Bop Deluxe since 1975 (when I was 13) and I have a large number of his more recent instrumental albums. As much as I enjoy listening to the newer stuff they can never replace the feeling of your heart leaping when as a teenager you first hear the music you know is going to stay with you for life. Bill as we know experienced this with the likes of Duane Eddy. My son with Radiohead. I had that moment when I first heard Futurama.

Its pure nostalgia I know but its a real emotional connection to music which cannot be relegated to just something I listened to in my youth. I owned a lot of records by artists I never go back to now because they seem so much of their time and I have moved on. I never feel like that with my Be Bop Deluxe recordings.

Yes its music from a very short period in Bill's career and understand as an artist why he finds it odd its given so much emphasis at times. For me he captured lightening in a bottle. Bring on the new music but I will always return to mid 70s England for a fix now and again.

When I leave this place I have asked for "Islands of the Dead" to be played at my funeral (hopefully decades in the future!) I want people to know how much this music meant to me.

Bill Nelson · **Joined:** Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:40 pm **Posts:** 14185

peterc62 wrote:

I have been listening to Bill's work with Be Bop Deluxe since 1975 (when I was 13) and I have a large number of his more recent instrumental albums. As much as I enjoy listening to the newer stuff they can never replace the feeling of your heart leaping when as a teenager you first hear the music you know is going to stay with you for life. Bill as we know experienced this with the likes of Duane Eddy. My son with Radiohead. I had that moment when I first heard Futurama.

Its pure nostalgia I know but its a real emotional connection to music which cannot be relegated to just something I listened to in my youth. I owned a lot of records by artists I never go back to now because they seem so much of their time and I have moved on. I never feel like that with my Be Bop Deluxe recordings.

Yes its music from a very short period in Bill's career and understand as an artist why he finds it odd its given so much emphasis at times. For me he captured lightening in a bottle. Bring on the new music but I will always return to mid 70s England for a fix now and again.

When I leave this place I have asked for "Islands of the Dead" to be played at my funeral (hopefully decades in the future!) I want people to know how much this music meant to me.

I understand that, and there's nothing wrong with a little bit of nostalgia. The music that thrilled us as teenagers will obviously warm our hearts as we grow older and yearn for those moments of discovery we experienced 'way back then.' I occasionally listen to music from my early days as a young boy and teenager, but only rarely.

I do recognise it's a nostalgic fantasy that I'm entering into whenever I do travel back in musical time, but I still feel more connected to the future than the past, and not just as an artist, but as a listener too. (Because what annoys me most about much so-called 'modern' music is that it simply recycles the past.)

Of course, the past has its place, as a reference, as history, as important formative individual experience, and so on...but I don't ache for the old days, nor really regret their passing. There's nothing we can do to bring them back, those days simply don't exist anymore, they're gone forever. Smoke and mirrors, imperfect memories, dreams of lost youth.

The future is a blank page, just waiting for a new paragraph to be written. That's where I want to be, and even at 70 years old, I'm trying to make music that sits outside of the times, to ignore all the rules and expectations that tie creativity down, refusing all the boxes that the industry and fans want to place artists in, but nevertheless, make a good music that connects with people in a way that rings bells and lifts hearts and spirits. :wink:

peterc62 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:14 pm

Thanks for that Bill.

I forgot to mention that I have also included "The Raindrop Collector" from "And We Fell Into a Dream" as incidental music for my funeral. (Its OK I am not planning on going anywhere just yet

) One of my all time favourite pieces. I realise by your standards this is only a slightly less ancient recording given that you have released about 100 albums since then :wink:

Thank you for the music. Keep up the good work. Who knows what treasures await us?

www.billnelson.com

BILL+BE BOP IN 'PROG' MAGAZINE.

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