Be-Bop Deluxe

Be-Bop Deluxe were founded in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, by singer, guitarist and principal songwriter Bill Nelson in 1972.{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=203}} The founding line-up consisted of Nelson, guitarist Ian Parkin, bassist and vocalist Robert Bryan, drummer Nicholas Chatterton-Dew, and keyboardist Richard Brown (who left in December of that year).{{cite web |url=http://www.billnelson.com/usarchives/interview/record97.htm |title=Record Collector (UK) article by Mark Hodkinson |access-date=2014-04-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820003111/http://www.billnelson.com/usarchives/interview/record97.htm |archive-date=20 August 2014 |df=dmy }} They started off playing the West Yorkshire pub scene, with one regular venue being the Staging Post in Whinmoor, Leeds. They never played bebop music, but instead came out of the blues-based British rock scene of the late 1960s. At first they were compared to the more successful David Bowie, but Nelson never tried to copy Bowie, and appears to have disliked comparisons or being pigeon-holed.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

After signing to EMI's Harvest Records subsidiary, the initial line-up of the band only lasted for one album, 1974's Axe Victim, and a short tour. Shortly after this, Nelson dissolved the band and reformed with a new line-up with bassist Paul Jeffreys, keyboardist Milton Reame-James (both formerly of Cockney Rebel) and drummer Simon Fox, the latter introduced by Reame-James to Nelson.Nelson, Bill diary of a hyperdreamer (2004) Pp. 78-9 Bill Nelson's collected diaries from between 1999 and 2003, previously published on his official website Pomona {{ISBN|1-904590-06-3}} Jeffreys and Reame-James soon departed the band, and New Zealand-born bassist-vocalist Charlie Tumahai (formerly of Australian bands Mississippi and Healing Force) joined in late 1974. This line-up recorded 1975's Futurama album (produced by Roy Thomas Baker, the then producer for Queen) and was then supplemented by keyboardist Andrew Clark for the subsequent tour, after which Clark joined the band. This final line-up remained constant until the band's dissolution in 1978. Jeffreys died in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

Stylistically, the songs took elements from progressive rock, glam rock (the band had flirted with make-up in the early days) and hard guitar rock. "Ships in the Night", taken from the band's third album Sunburst Finish, was their most successful single in both the UK and the US. The single features an alto saxophone solo by Ian Nelson.{{cite web|url=http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=135677|title=Be Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish, review by Easy Livin|website=Progarchives.com|access-date=28 October 2018}}

The album was notably the first to be produced by EMI employee John Leckie, who had hitherto worked for the company as a recording engineer, in which capacity he had served on Axe Victim,{{cite web|title=John Leckie Q & A, Exclusive to Skids Fans Website|url=http://www.the-skids.com/apps/blog/entries/show/42874481-bill-leckie-q-a-exclusie-to-skids-fans-website|website=The-skids.com|access-date=12 May 2015|year=2014}} which he also in effect produced. It was clearly a happy relationship: Leckie would go on to produce all the subsequent Be-Bop Deluxe and Bill Nelson's Red Noise albums for Harvest, including the proposed Red Noise album Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam that Harvest refused to release. Nelson shared producing credits with Leckie from Drastic Plastic onward.

The first three Be-Bop Deluxe albums are all, in one way or another, named after guitars. "Axe" is slang for a guitar, "Futurama" is a particular make of guitar,https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/hofnerfs/futurama/fut.html while "Sunburst Finish" refers to a style of finishing for the instrument.

The title track of the fourth album, Modern Music, was a ten-minute suite of songs inspired by the experience of the band's touring the US. This was followed by the 1977 live album, Live! In The Air Age, recorded on the subsequent UK tour promoting Modern Music although no songs from that studio album appeared on the live one, apart from a tantalizing snippet of the audience singing along to "Down On Terminal Street".{{Cite journal |last=Dick |first=Charlie |date=5 March 1991 |title=Live in the Air Age Review (reissue) |journal=Q Magazine |volume=55 |pages=84}} That recording – now featuring the song in its entirety – and a number of other live Modern Music tracks finally surfaced on 2011's five-CD set Futurist Manifesto.

1978's Drastic Plastic, recorded at Juan-Les-Pins in the South of FranceNelson, Bill Eight Millimetre Memories: Be-Bop Deluxe In The South Of France in Bill Nelson and the Lost Satellites/The Be Bop Deluxe And Beyond Tour 2004 (2004) official tour programme with influences of punk, new wave and David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, was a substantial stylistic change from the progressive/guitar rock of the early Be-Bop Deluxe. Eager to embrace the changing musical landscape, Nelson dissolved Be-Bop Deluxe.

The band appeared three times on BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test, performing a total of six songs and once on Top of the Pops, with their 1976 single, "Ships In The Night." For the band's Sight & Sound concert in 1978 the setlist was made up entirely of tracks from the Drastic Plastic album.{{cite web|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/be-bop-deluxe-at-the-bbc-1974-1978|title=Be Bop Deluxe At The BBC 1974-1978 - Record Collector Magazine|website=Recordcollectormag.com|access-date=2 May 2019}}

Immediately thereafter, Nelson formed a new band, Bill Nelson's Red Noise, retaining Andy Clark on keyboards, and adding his brother Ian on saxophone, in which capacity the latter had previously contributed to "Ships in the Night". An album followed. Nelson has subsequently released numerous albums and singles under his own name, frequently playing all instruments himself.

Nelson planned a four-guitarist, two-drummer band in the 1990s with his brother, but it never materialised; in 1992, Nelson released his own demos for this band as Blue Moons And Laughing Guitars on Virgin. In 1995, former Be-Bop Deluxe members Ian Parkin and Charlie Tumahai both died. In 2004, Sound on Sound magazine, whose website hosts Nelson's online shop{{cite web|title=Sound on Sound Bill Nelson Shop|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/shop/Dept.php?DeptID=17|access-date=30 April 2015|year=2003}} and is named after Red Noise's Sound-on-Sound album{{cite web|last=Humberstone|first=Nigel|title=Bill Nelson: Guitar Boy In Wonderland|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/oct95/billnelson.html|access-date=30 April 2015|year=1995}}{{cite web|title=BILL NELSON: Be-Bop Deluxe And Beyond Tour|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/news?NewsID=7087|website=Soundcloud.com|access-date=30 April 2015|year=2004}} put up the money for Nelson to take his seven-piece band Bill Nelson and the Lost Satellites, originally formed to play the 2002 Nelsonica convention,Nelson, Bill diary of a hyperdreamer (2004) Pp. 425-31 Bill Nelson's collected diaries from between 1999 and 2003, previously published on his official website Pomona {{ISBN|1-904590-06-3}} on tour around the UK as The Be Bop Deluxe And Beyond Tour. The drummer for the tour was Nick Dew who, under the name Nicholas Chatterton-Dew, had played with Be-Bop Deluxe in the early days.Bill Nelson and the Lost Satellites/The Be Bop Deluxe And Beyond Tour 2004 (2004) official tour programme, centre spread showing band line-up The sax player was Ian Nelson, who died two years later in 2006.

Nelson subsequently put together the seven-piece Bill Nelson and the Gentlemen Rocketeers, which included Dave Sturt (bass) and Theo Travis (assorted woodwind, brass), and, once again, Nick Dew on drums, to play songs with vocals from the extensive Be-Bop Deluxe/Bill Nelson back catalogue at his annual Nelsonica event in Yorkshire. In March 2011, the band played live to cameras at Metropolis Studios, London. Initially released on DVD, the resultant video and audio recording has subsequently been reissued on other formats including CD and LP. However, having signed away his rights to these recordings, Nelson has made no money on any of the Metropolis Studios releases.

In 2011, EMI upgraded the Be-Bop Deluxe catalogue remastered by Peter Mew featuring all of the band's original albums. EMI and Bill Nelson chose to include all of the band's albums, single edits and B-sides as part of this release with the exception of the pre-Axe Victim, independently released Smile single "Teenage Archangel" / "Jets At Dawn", as part of this set. Although Nelson did not supervise the release, he gave final approval on the remasters and agreed to provide a disc of rarities to help sell the set, if EMI paid him royalties on the release. The two Smile tracks can be found on the compilation Postcards From the Future... Introducing Be-Bop Deluxe (2004) and Nelson's 40-year career retrospective, eight CD set, The Practice Of Everyday Life (2011).

Despite Be-Bop Deluxe's commercial success, Bill Nelson stated that he had never received royalties for the earlier CD release of his back catalog on EMINelson, Bill diary of a hyperdreamer (2004) pp. 486-93 Bill Nelson's collected diaries from between 1999 and 2003, previously published on his official website Pomona {{ISBN|1-904590-06-3}} until the 2011 CD reissue/remaster of his back catalogue.{{cite web|url=http://www.jagshouse.com/music/billnelson.html|title=Bill Nelson and the EMI Ripoff|website=Jgshouse.com|access-date=2 May 2019}}

Between 2018 and 2022, Cherry Red Records' subsidiary Esoteric Recordings, who had been rolling out re-releases of Nelson's back catalogue for many of his releases between 1981 and 2002 with the 8-CD compilation The Practice of Everyday Life which covered 40 years of recordings, including the Be-Bop Deluxe period, released expanded, multiple CD versions of the Be-Bop Deluxe albums and the Bill Nelson's Red Noise album, having acquired the rights from EMI.

In the fall of 2024, it was reported in forums on drumforum.com https://www.drumforum.org/threads/simon-fox-r-i-p-drummer-for-be-bop-deluxe.221301/ and billnelson.com https://www.billnelson.com/forum/william-s-world/simon-fox that Simon Fox had died in mid-September of that year at the age of 75.

Be-Bop Deluxe were initially a glam rock band{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/bebopdeluxe-axevictim-2495848878.html |title=BE-BOP DELUXE: AXE VICTIM [REISSUE] |last=Felt |first=Hunter |date=April 24, 2005 |publisher=PopMatters |access-date=2022-04-23}}{{cite web |url=https://louderthanwar.com/be-bop-deluxe-axe-victim-reissue-album-review/ |title=Be-Bop Deluxe: Axe Victim – reissue album review |last=Clarke |first=Paul |date=July 7, 2020|publisher=Louder Than War |access-date=2022-04-23}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/be-bop-deluxe-mn0000127337/biography |title=Artist Biography |last=Ruhlmann |first=William |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=2022-04-23}} that incorporated elements of progressive rock, blues and folk rock into their musical style.{{cite web |url=https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/be-bop-deluxes-axe-victim-box-set-is-lavish-and-charmingly-overblown |title=Be-Bop Deluxe's Axe Victim box set is lavish and charmingly overblown |last=Dalton |first=Stephen |date=July 17, 2020 |publisher=Louder |access-date=2022-04-23}} After the band received unfavourable comparisons to the music of David Bowie, leader Bill Nelson initiated a shift in the band's style to emphasise a more experimental sound. This new sound has been classified as art rock,{{cite web |url=https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/be-bop-deluxe-sunburst-finish-album-of-the-week-club-review |title=Bop Deluxe: Sunburst Finish - Album Of The Week Club Review |author=Staff |date=November 26, 2018 |publisher=Classic Rock |access-date=2022-04-23}}{{cite web |url=https://musicrepublicmagazine.com/2021/03/be-bop-deluxe-drastic-plastic-expanded-2-cd-edition-esoteric-recordings-out-now/ |title=Be Bop Deluxe: Drastic Plastic – expanded 2-CD edition (Esoteric Recordings) Out now|last=Weston |first=Christopher |date=14 March 2021|publisher=Music Republic Magazine |access-date=2022-04-23}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/be-bop-deluxe/bill-nelson-looks-back-at-the-making-of-be-bop-del/ |title=Bill Nelson Looks Back At The Making of Be-Bop Deluxe's Sunburst Finish |last=Ham |first=Robert |date=April 11, 2019 |publisher=Paste Magazine |access-date=2022-04-23}} heavy metal, progressive rock,{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/bebopdeluxe-postcards2004-2495848972.html|title=BE-BOP DELUXE: FUTURAMA [REISSUE] / POSTCARDS FROM THE FUTURE…INTRODUCING BE-BOP DELUXE [REISSUE] |author=Staff |date=December 6, 2004 |publisher=PopMatters |access-date=2022-04-23}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/futurama-mw0000139512 |title=Futurama Review by Bruce |last=Eder |first=Bruce |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=2022-04-23}} pop rock{{cite web |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/be-bop-deluxe-sunburst-finish-review-guitar-driven-pop-rock-with-a-sci-fi-concept-1.3731773 |title=Be Bop Deluxe: Sunburst Finish review – Guitar-driven pop/rock with a sci-fi concept |last=Clayton-Lea |first=Tony |date=December 28, 2018 |publisher=The Irish Times |access-date=2022-04-23}} and progressive pop.{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/bebopdeluxe-sunset-2495848738.html |title=BE-BOP DELUXE: SUNBURST FINISH [REISSUE] |last=Felt |first=Hunter |date=April 28, 2005 |publisher=PopMatters |access-date=2022-04-23}} With their final album, Drastic Plastic, Be-Bop Deluxe again expanded their style to include influences new wave music. Science fiction imagery was common in the lyrics, along with the more traditional themes of love and the human condition.

• Bill Nelson – lead guitar, lead vocals, keyboards (1972–1978)
• Robert Bryan – bass, backing and lead vocals (1972–1974)
• Nicholas Chatterton-Dew – drums, backing vocals, percussion (1972–1974)
• Ian Parkin – rhythm and acoustic guitars (1972–1974; died 1995)
• Richard Brown – keyboards (1972)
• Simon Fox – drums, percussion (1974–1978; died 2024)
• Paul Jeffreys – bass (1974; died 1988)
• Milton Reame-James – keyboards (1974)
• Charlie Tumahai – bass, backing vocals (1974–1978; died 1995)
• Andrew Clark – keyboards (1975–1978)

{{#tag:timeline|

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;Line-ups

• Axe Victim (1974)
• Futurama (1975)
• Sunburst Finish (1976)
• Modern Music (1976)
• Drastic Plastic (1978)

• Live! In the Air Age (1977)
• Radioland (1994)
• Tremulous Antenna (2002)

• "Teenage Archangel" / "Jets at Dawn" (1973) Smile
• "Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus" / "Third Floor Heaven" (1974) Harvest
• "Between the Worlds" / "Lights" (1975) recalled after only one day of sale Harvest
• "Maid in Heaven" / "Lights" (1975) Harvest
• "Ships in the Night" / "Crying to the Sky" (1976) – UK No. 23{{cite book

| first= David

| last= Roberts

| year= 2006

| title= British Hit Singles & Albums

| edition= 19th

| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited

| location= London

| isbn= 1-904994-10-5

| page= 45}} Harvest

• "Kiss of Light" / "Shine" (1976) Harvest
• "Japan" / "Futurist Manifesto" (1977) Harvest
• "Panic in the World" / "Blue as a Jewel" (1978) Harvest
• "Electrical Language" / "Surreal Estate" (1978) Harvest

• Picture House (2010) [Bill Nelson] Nelsonica convention DVD includes Be-Bop Deluxe in the South of France, Nelson's video diary shot during the Drastic Plastic sessions Visuluxe
• Be-Bop Deluxe at the BBC 1974–78 (2013) 3-CD + DVD box set of previously unreleased material + material from Tramcar to Tomorrow (most tracks) and Tremulous Antenna (all tracks) + televised performances EMI
• Classic Rock Magazine Legends Bill Nelson and the Gentlemen Rocketeers filmed live at Metropolis Studios (2011) [Bill Nelson and the Gentlemen Rocketeers] performance of songs from Be-Bop Deluxe/Bill Nelson's back catalogue ITV Studios Home Entertainment

• The Best of and the Rest of Be-Bop Deluxe (1978) 2-LP set; second disc material previously unreleased on LP - Drastic Plastic outtakes plus single A- and B-sides Harvest
• Singles A's & B's (1981) Harvest Heritage
• Bop to the Red Noise (1986) (mixture of Be-Bop Deluxe, and Bill Nelson's Red Noise material) Dojo
• The Best of Be-Bop Deluxe: Raiding the Divine Archive (1990) Harvest
• Air Age Anthology: The Very Best of Be-Bop Deluxe (1997) 2-CD set EMI
• The Very Best of Be-Bop Deluxe (1998) EMI-Capitol Special Markets
• Tramcar to Tomorrow{{cite web|title=Bill Nelson answers 'studio' album to the question, is Tramcar To Tomorrow a 'live' or a 'studio' album?|url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/2232616550/10152945391326551/?comment_id=10152945733896551¬if_t=group_comment|website=Facebook.com|access-date=16 May 2015|year=2015}} (1998) John Peel BBC Radio 1 Sessions 1974-8 Hux
• Electrotype: The Holyground Recordings 1968–1972 (2001) Bill Nelson previously unreleased pre-Axe Victim Bill Nelson, and Be-Bop Deluxe recordings Holyground
• Postcards from the Future... Introducing Be-Bop Deluxe (2004) EMI
• Futurist Manifesto (2011) 5-CD set, 1st four discs are the five Be-Bop Deluxe studio albums plus the singles; fifth disc is previously unreleased material from demos and Live! In the Air Age recordings Harvest
• The Practice of Everyday Life (2011) [Bill Nelson] 8-CD set, 40-year career retrospective mixture of Be-Bop Deluxe, Bill Nelson's Red Noise, and Bill Nelson solo material Esoteric Recordings
• Original Albums Series (2014) 5-CD set, five discs are the five Be-Bop Deluxe studio albums, tracks as originally released on LP Warner/Parlophone

• Hot Valves: "Maid in Heaven", "Bring Back the Spark" / "Blazing Apostles", "Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus" EP (1976) UK No. 36 Harvest
• Permanent Flame (The Beginners Guide to Bill Nelson) (1983) [Bill Nelson] 5-disc set of previously released Be-Bop Deluxe, Bill Nelson's Red Noise, and Bill Nelson solo material Cocteau

• Reeves, Paul Sutton Music in Dreamland Bill Nelson & Be-Bop Deluxe (2008) Helter Skelter publishing {{ISBN|978-1-900924-04-7}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130112003525/http://www.billnelson.com/usarchives/bebopdeluxe/discography.htm Discography at the Bill Nelson Permanent Flame site]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061114224635/http://www.bobbyshred.com/bebopdeluxe.html BobbyShred's Be-Bop Deluxe Page]
• {{discogs artist|artist=Be Bop Deluxe|name=Be-Bop Deluxe}}
• {{youtube|ByWhONF4DiY|Be-Bop Deluxe - Ships in the Night}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:English art rock groups

Category:English glam rock groups

Category:Harvest Records artists

Category:Musical groups established in 1972

Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1978

Category:Musical groups from Wakefield