Be-Bop Deluxe were an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band who achieved critical acclaim and moderate commercial success during the mid to late 1970s.

History

Be-Bop Deluxe

Be-Bop Deluxe were founded in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England, by singer, guitarist and principal songwriter

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician, attorney, and former astronaut who served from 2001 to 2019 as a United States Senate, United States senator from Florida and from 2021 to 2025 as the Administrator ...

in 1972. 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). They started off playing the West Yorkshire pub scene, with one regular venue being the Staging Post in

Whinmoor Whinmoor is a residential area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is 5 miles (8 km) to the north-east of the city centre and adjacent to Swarcliffe and Seacroft in the LS14 Leeds postcode area. Historically, the area was wi ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. They never played

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

music, but instead came out of the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

-based

British rock British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the develop ...

scene of the late 1960s. At first they were compared to the more successful

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, but Nelson never tried to copy Bowie, and appears to have disliked comparisons or being pigeon-holed. After signing to

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

subsidiary, the initial line-up of the band only lasted for one album, 1974's ''

Axe Victim ''Axe Victim'' is the debut album by English rock band Be-Bop Deluxe, released in June 1974. Musical style The music of ''Axe Victim'' incorporated elements of progressive rock, blues and folk rock. Overall, the album's sound has been classif ...

'', and a short tour. Shortly after this, Nelson dissolved the band and reformed with a new line-up with bassist

Paul Jeffreys Paul Avron Jeffreys (13 February 1952 – 21 December 1988) was an English rock musician. He played bass guitar in Cockney Rebel between 1972 and 1974, working on the group's first two albums, and later worked with a number of British bands, in ...

, keyboardist Milton Reame-James (both formerly of

Cockney Rebel Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel were an English rock band who formed in the early 1970s in London. Their music covered a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years, they have had five albums on the UK Albums Chart and twelve s ...

), and drummer

Simon Fox Simon Andrew David Fox (12 July 1949 – 12 September 2024) was an English rock drummer, who played in different rock bands during the 1970s and the 1980s, most notably the progressive rock group Be-Bop Deluxe. His earliest band was Hackensa ...

, 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 Jeffreys and Reame-James soon departed the band, and New Zealand-born bassist-vocalist

Charlie Tumahai Charles Turu Tumahai (14 January 1949 – 21 December 1995) was a New Zealand singer, bass player and songwriter who was a member of several noted rock groups in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. He is best known internationally as the bass ...

(formerly of Australian bands

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and Healing Force) joined in late 1974. This line-up recorded 1975's ''Futurama'' album (produced by

Roy Thomas Baker Roy Thomas Baker (10 November 1946 – 12 April 2025) was an English record producer, songwriter and arranger who produced rock and pop songs. Life and career Baker was born in Hampstead, London on 10 November 1946. He began his career at De ...

, the then-producer for

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

) 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 Pan Am Flight 103 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 "Clipper Maid of th ...

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 The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

solo by Ian Nelson. The album was notably the first to be produced by EMI employee

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...

, who had hitherto worked for the company as a recording engineer, in which capacity he had served on ''Axe Victim'', 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 Bill Nelson's Red Noise, or more simply Red Noise, was Bill Nelson's umbrella term for what effectively became a British new wave band formed by himself (lead vocals, guitar), his brother Ian (saxophone), Andy Clark (keyboards) and Rick Ford ...

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 ''Drastic Plastic'' is the fifth and final album by English rock band released in February 1978. Recording and content ''Drastic Plastic'' was recorded in in the south of France in the summer of 1977. Nelson recorded the album in because h ...

'' 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, 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". 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 ''

'', 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 Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, new wave, and David Bowie's

Berlin Trilogy The Berlin Trilogy consists of three studio albums by English musician David Bowie: '' Low'', '' "Heroes"'' (both 1977) and '' Lodger'' (1979). Bowie recorded the albums in collaboration with English musician Brian Eno and American producer T ...

, 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 the BBC's ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music series broadcast by the BBC. It was devised by producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough, and aired on BBC2 from ...

'', performing a total of six songs, and once on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', 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.

After Be-Bop Deluxe

Immediately thereafter, Nelson formed a new band,

, retaining Andy Clark on keyboards, and adding his brother

Ian Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, which is derived from the Hebrew given name ( Yohanan, ') and corresponds to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. This name is a po ...

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 & Laughing Guitars'' on

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

. In 1995, former Be-Bop Deluxe members Ian Parkin and Charlie Tumahai both died. In 2004, ''

Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is a monthly music technology magazine. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals. Due to its technical focus, it is predominantly ...

'' magazine, whose website hosts Nelson's online shop and is named after Red Noise's ''

Sound-on-Sound ''Sound-on-Sound'' is the sole album by English new wave band Bill Nelson's Red Noise, released in February 1979 by record label Harvest. Band leader Bill Nelson formed the group after the disbandment of Be-Bop Deluxe in 1978. The record was rec ...

'' album, 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, 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 Dave Sturt (born August 14th 1960, Middlesbrough, England) is an English bassist and record producer. Musical career Sturt began playing bass guitar and recording at the age of 17. In 1982 he moved to London and soon broke into the session sce ...

(bass) and

Theo Travis Theo Travis (born 7 July 1964) is a British saxophonist, flautist and composer. He is a member of Soft Machine which he joined in 2006 while the group was still using the "Legacy" suffix and was a member of Gong from 1999 to 2010. Biography Tra ...

(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 with remasters by Peter Mew. 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". 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 EMI until the 2011 CD reissue/remaster of his back catalogue. Between 2018 and 2022,

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

' subsidiary

Esoteric Recordings Esoteric Recordings is a UK independent record label specialising in 1970s progressive rock, folk, psychedelic, and jazz-rock reissues as part of Cherry Red Records. Its releases include both catalogue reissues and new works from artists who ...

, 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 and billnelson.com that Simon Fox had died in mid-September of that year at the age of 75.

Musical style

Be-Bop Deluxe were initially a

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

band that incorporated elements of

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

, and

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

into their musical style. After the band received unfavourable comparisons to the music of

, leader

initiated a shift in the band's style to emphasise a more experimental sound. This new sound has been classified as

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

, heavy metal, progressive rock,

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

, and

progressive pop Progressive pop is pop music that attempts to break with the genre's standard formula, or an offshoot of the progressive rock genre that was commonly heard on AM radio in the 1970s and 1980s. It was originally termed for the early progressive ...

. With their final album, ''Drastic Plastic'', Be-Bop Deluxe again expanded their style to include influences

new wave music New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...

Science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

imagery was common in the lyrics, along with the more traditional themes of love and the human condition.

Members

– 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, organ (1972–1974; died 1995) * Richard Brown – keyboards (1972) *

– drums, percussion (1974–1978; died 2024) *

– bass (1974; died 1988) * Milton Reame-James – keyboards (1974) *

– bass, backing vocals (1974–1978; died 1995) * Andrew Clark – keyboards (1975–1978)

Timeline

;Line-ups

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1974) * ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'' (1975) * '' Sunburst Finish'' (1976) * '' Modern Music'' (1976) * ''

'' (1978)

Live albums

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

Singles

* "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 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

DVDs

*''Picture House'' (2010) ill NelsonNelsonica 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) ill Nelson and the Gentlemen Rocketeersperformance of songs from Be-Bop Deluxe/Bill Nelson's back catalogue ITV Studios Home Entertainment

Compilation albums

* ''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'' (1998)

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

BBC Radio 1 Sessions 1974-8 Hux * ''Electrotype: The Holyground Recordings 1968–1972'' (2001)

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) ill Nelson8-CD set, 40-year career retrospective mixture of Be-Bop Deluxe, Bill Nelson's Red Noise, and Bill Nelson solo material

* ''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

Compilation singles

* ''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) ill Nelson5-disc set of previously released Be-Bop Deluxe, Bill Nelson's Red Noise, and Bill Nelson solo material Cocteau

Bibliography

*Reeves, Paul Sutton ''Music in Dreamland Bill Nelson & Be-Bop Deluxe'' (2008) Helter Skelter publishing

References

External links

Discography at the Bill Nelson Permanent Flame site
* * {{Authority control English art rock groups English glam rock groups Harvest Records artists Musical groups established in 1972 Musical groups disestablished in 1978 Musical groups from Wakefield