Bill Nelson

:(This page covers Bill Nelson's career outside Be Bop Deluxe, including with Bill Nelson's Red Noise.)
Bill Nelson (born William Nelson, 18 December 1948, Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England) is an English singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, painter, video artist, writer and experimental musician. He rose to prominence as the chief songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of the rock group Be-Bop Deluxe, which he formed in the 1970s. Nelson has been described as "one of the most underrated guitarists of the seventies art rock movement".Pete Prown; HP Newquist (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 86. ISBN 978-0793540426. In 2015, he was recognised with the Visionary award at the Progressive Music Awards. He currently lives in York. (Read more at Wikipedia.)
== Links to Peel ==
:“I was thinking about the contribution that Bill Nelson has made, largely unheralded, to our culture... And all of the stuff that he's done has been well worthwhile.” (John Peel, 02 February 1981)
thumb|right|335 px
Bill Nelson was a fixture on Peel's shows through the 70s and beyond, with the DJ enthusiastically championing the musician's independently released debut solo album in 1971, work as leader of art-rock band Be Bop Deluxe, post-punk output with Bill Nelson's Red Noise and subsequent shift toward a prolific solo career in electronic music. As producer or musician, Nelson also worked with Peel session artists including A Flock Of Seagulls, Cabaret Voltaire, John Cooper Clarke, Gary Numan, Original Mirrors and Skids. Nelson was among those who attended the DJ's wedding in 1974.
Nelson himself was more than happy to acknowledge the vital role Peel played in his early life in music. In 2014, he wrote on his website forum:
“John used to call me at home sometimes for a little chat. Truth is, I was always somewhat nervous around him, (that's 'nervous approaching awe-struck.') He played such an important role in my listening life in the 1960s and I never got over the fact that he took my music under his broadcasting wing. His enthusiastic endorsement of my 'Northern Dream' album brought me to the attention of EMI records and led to the first Be Bop Deluxe album.
“I was out on the 2004 'Be Bop Deluxe And Beyond' 30th anniversary tour when he passed away. Such a shock and I was deeply upset. I'd bumped into him, for the first time in many, many years, only two weeks before his passing, at the BBC HQ in London ... He told me he was still at the same address and that I should contact him...
“When he died, I couldn't face going to the funeral/memorial thing. I knew there would be so many celebrity musicians there and I felt that I wouldn't have been able to hold my emotions in check. But I've never forgotten John and never will. A very important and gifted man with a heart of gold." 
In February 1983, Bill Nelson was a studio guest and played some records
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*None
== Sessions ==
Two sessions, first credited to "Bill Nelson's Red Noise". #2 available on The Practice Of Everyday Life: Celebrating 40 Years Of Recordings, 8xCD, 2011, Cocteau Discs. Also six sessions with Be Bop Deluxe.
thumb|right|335 px
1. Recorded: 1979-02-17. First broadcast: 1979-02-23 (Friday Rock Show). Repeated: 29 March 1979.
*Furniture Music / Stay Young / Out Of Touch / Don't Touch Me I'm Electric
2. Recorded: 1981-06-02. First broadcast: 15 June 1981. Repeated: 02 July 1981, 31 August 1981.
* Rooms With Brittle Views / Stay Young / Sleep Cycle / Jazz
== Other Shows Played ==
;1971
*Peel is known to have played multiple tracks from Nelson's debut solo LP, 'Northern Dream' (see video interview above), but full details are currently unavailable due to a lack of show tracklistings from the year of release. Peel also played an earlier group release featuring Nelson, also recorded at Wakefield's Holyground studio (see International Times: Other Mentions listing below).
;1972
*25 April 1972: Photograph (A Beginning) (LP – Northern Dream) Smile
*26 May 1972: Northern Dreamer (1957) (LP - Northern Dream) Smile
;1979
*30 January 1979: Furniture Music (7") Harvest HAR 5176 (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*05 February 1979: Furniture Music (7") Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*06 February 1979: Don't Touch Me I'm Electric / For Young Moderns / Stop Go Stop (LP-Sound On Sound) Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*14 February 1979: Out Of Touch / A Better Home In The Phantom Zone / Substitute Flesh (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*21 February 1979: Acquitted By Mirrors (single b/w Furniture Music) Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*07 March 1979: Don't Touch Me (LP-Sound On Sound) Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*14 March 1979: Radar In My Heart (LP - Sound On Sound) Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*15 March 1979: Out Of Touch (LP - Sound On Sound) Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*27 March 1979: Revolt Into Style (LP - Sound On Sound) Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*16 April 1979: Stop / Go / Stop (LP - Sound On Sound) Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
;1980
*21 May 1980: Do You Dream In Colour? (7”) Cocteau COQ 1
*22 May 1980: Ideal Homes (7" - You Dream In Colour?) Cocteau
*22 May 1980: Instantly Yours (7" - You Dream In Colour?) Cocteau
*22 May 1980: Atom Man Loves Radium Girl (7” – Do You Dream In Colour?) Cocteau
*28 May 1980: Atom Man Loves Radium Girl (7” – Do You Dream In Colour?) Cocteau
*03 June 1980: Do You Dream In Colour? ? (7”) Cocteau COQ 1 (John's playing of a new single by Bill Nelson prompts him to dig out Be Bop Deluxe's first single from 1973. He admits having had two copies and lending one to an unknown party at Radio 1 and never getting it back.)
*10 June 1980: Ideal Homes (7" EP - Do You Dream In Colour?) Cocteau
*14 June 1980 (BFBS): Do You Dream In Colour? (7”) Cocteau COQ 1
*17 June 1980: Do You Dream In Colour? (7”) Cocteau COQ 1
*23 June 1980: Do You Dream In Colour? (7”) Cocteau COQ 1
*08 July 1980: Do You Dream In Colour? (7”) Cocteau COQ 1
;1981
*02 February 1981: Art / Empire / Industry (album - Sound On Sound) Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)- Interview with Bill Nelson- Room With Brittle Views (7") Les Disques Du Crépuscule ‎TWI 013
*05 February 1981: Room With Brittle Views (7") Les Disques Du Crépuscule ‎TWI 013
*08 February 1981_(BFBS): Room With Brittle Views (7") Les Disques Du Crépuscule ‎TWI 013
*17 February 1981: A Better Home In The Phantom Zone (album - Sound On Sound) Harvest (Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
*14 April 1981: Turn To Fiction (12" - Banal) Mercury
*21 April 1981: Hers Is A Lush Situation (12" - Banal) Mercury WILL 12
*23 April 1981 (BFBS): Hers Is A Lush Situation (12" - Banal) Mercury WILL 12
*28 April 1981: A Kind Of Loving (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055
*29 April 1981: False Alarms (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055
*11 May 1981: U.H.F. (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055
*13 May 1981: Living In My Limousine (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055
*18 May 1981: Life Runs Out Like Sand (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055
*19 May 1981: Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055
*21 May 1981: U.H.F. (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055 (Peel trails upcoming Walters Weekly on the coming Saturday, featuring chat with Bill Nelson)
*25 May 1981: Decline And Fall (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055
*28 May 1981: Youth Of Nation On Fire (7") Mercury
*28 May 1981 (BFBS): Living In My Limousine (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055
*01 June 1981: (Bill Nelson is playing at Heaven in London this evening, but Peel doesn't think he'll go because of the cold he's got.)
*07 June 1981 (BFBS): Youth Of Nation On Fire (7") Mercury WILL 22
*09 June 1981 (John Walters): Life Runs Out Like Sand (album - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam) Mercury 6359 055
*09 July 1981 (BBC World Service): Youth Of Nation On Fire (7") Mercury WILL 22
*16 August 1981 (BFBS): Banal (7") Mercury WILL 1
*07 September 1981: White Sounds (12" - Living In My Limousine (Remix) / White Sounds) Mercury
*14 September 1981: Living In My Limousine (7") Mercury (single from Bill Nelson follows A Flock Of Seagulls, which he produced.)
*20 December 1981 (BFBS): The Attempted Murder Of Jane (LP – Das Kabinett (The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari)) Cocteau
;1982
*06 January 1982: Jane Discovers Cesare (LP – Das Kabinett (The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari)) Cocteau
*25 April 1982 (BFBS): Eros Arriving (12" promo) Mercury WILL 412
*29 April 1982: Eros Arriving (7") Mercury WILL 4
*10 May 1982: Eros Arriving (7") Mercury WILL 4
*22 July 1982: Flaming Desire (LP - The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart)) Phonopram
*29 July 1982 (BBC World Service): Empire Of The Senses (album - The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart) / La Belle Et La Bete (Beauty And The Beast)) Mercury
*John Peel 1982 edited 2: Flaming Desire (album - The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart)) Phonogram
*02 December 1982: King Of The Cowboys (7" EP) Cocteau COQ 11
*05 December 1982 (BFBS): King Of The Cowboys (7" EP) Cocteau COQ 11
*06 December 1982: Shadowland (7" - King Of The Cowboys) Cocteau
;1983
*22 February 1983: unknown (Peel mentions the following night (23 February 1983) that Bill Nelson had apparently turned up at the studio and one of his records was played on this show)
*22 May 1983 (BFBS): The Real Adventure (mini-album - Chimera) Mercury MER B 19
*06 June 1983 (BBC World Service): The Real Adventure (mini-album - Chimera) Mercury MER B 19
;1984
*11 September 1984: Acceleration (7") Cocteau COQ 15
*17 September 1984 (BBC World Service): Acceleration (7") Cocteau COQ 15
;1986
*01 April 1986: Wildest Dreams (12") Portrait
*07 April 1986 (BBC World Service): Wildest Dreams (7") Portrait
;1998
*24 September 1998: Magic Radio (CD - Atom Shop) Discipline Global
== See Also ==
*Be Bop Deluxe
*Dale Griffin: Peel Sessions produced
*A Flock Of Seagulls: Peel became aware of the band after seeing them play live "in a pub north of Leeds" while visiting Nelson, who produced their debut single on his Cocteau label.
*International Times: Other Mentions: IT 131, 1972-06-01, p.25 "Holyground". Article by Simon Frith on group who recorded album in home studio in Wakefield and released it with no music business support.They had to rely on low key hustling: Yorkshire's alternative paper, Styng, ran ads for them free; John Peel and Pete Drummond both gave the record some air time; Radios Leeds and Blackburn used it as local colour; a Styng write-up was reproduced in Ink.
*Gigography 1981 
*Sounds
== References ==
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Official site
*Cherry Red TV interview, 2011 (YouTube)
Category:Artists