Be-Bop Deluxe

10-19-07 Be-Bop Deluxe

The totality of my Be-Bop Deluxe collection from the time they were active is one 45, “Kiss of Light”. Catchy pop song, that was readily available as a 7” single. It’s not that I set out to be dismissive of them, but – let’s just say that in ’73 – ’76, my attention was focused elsewhere. Perhaps I read an article in NME / Sounds et al – saying that Bill Nelson was a new (70’s) “guitar hero”. After the “guitar heroes” I’d already gotten over (such as Jimi Hendrix), I wasn’t shopping around for another one…just yet.

In 2007, let’s just say that my interest in BBD stems from a general interest in British 70’s pop music (before punk). I recently found a collection CD “Postcards From The Future” that features both sides of their debut (rare and obscure) 45. Oh, boy! Maybe this is some more ‘faux glam rock’! Nice Bill Nelson liner notes, I might add.

There seems to be a lot of stuff on the cusp of British 70’s glam rock – regular rock bands that veer towards the glam – Roxy Music, Be-Bop Deluxe, Queen etc. Do these bands really belong being classed with Slade, The Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Gary Glitter et al? BBD would seem to be every bit as ‘guitar-heavy’ as The Sweet – but – subject matter? Performance? Something actually keeps BBD out of the British 70’s glam rock arena, for me anyway.

I eventually met Charlie Tumahai, the bassist of BBD. When I met him, it was many years after BBD, and he had returned to New Zealand and joined the Kiwi reggae group Herbs. Several of my good friends are very into BBD.

I think I found that I preferred thinking of Bill Nelson as a ‘new wave’ kind of guy – hence my fandom of the Bill Nelson’s Red Noise “Sound on Sound” album. In the 80’s, I got the first few Bill Nelson solo records – notably “Quit Dreaming & Get On The Beam” – I was also amused by his collaborations with members of Yellow Magic Orchestra. I always found it odd that Bill Nelson made so many (instrumental?) solo albums in the 80’s that all seemed to have nearly paragraph-long titles and covers that were nearly identical. How could you possibly keep track of all of them?

This ’04 collection BBD CD that I got will likely suffice for my digital BBD collection. I think I have one each of their original LP’s and a couple of singles. I’ll have to spend more time investigating the LP’s – so see if any of them hang together particularly well. I used to collect the Harvest label from England – so it’s a bit surprising that it’s taken me until now to ‘try’ BBD. I let the Harvest label guide me towards Wire – who it would’ve taken me a while to hear, otherwise.

So, fans – what are the Bill Nelson solo albums that I should go after? My favorite single is “Banal”.