Bill Nelson - When The Birds Return (1982)

You'd think that after releasing the brilliant 'Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam' album and its attendant singles that Bill Nelson would deserve a break, but for a workaholic like him that wasn't going to happen, and so throughout the rest of 1982 he carried on putting out song after song on a variety of labels, including Mercury, Passport and PVC Records. There were more singles, each with new tracks on the flip, a mopping up EP with two exclusive songs added, and he even found time to release a fan-club single, containing more unreleased songs. While doing this he also released music by other artists through his Cocteau Records imprint, notably by A Flock of Seagulls, The Revox Cadets, Richard Jobson, Q (16), Fiat Lux, and Yukihiro Takahashi. In 1983 he was hired by Gary Numan to produce his 'Warriors' album, but the two musicians failed to maintain a working relationship, and ultimately Nelson chose not to be credited for his production role on the album. Bad luck dogged him throughout the 80's, with his deal with Portrait Records going sour, leaving just the 'Getting The Holy Ghost Across' album on the label, although further tracks from that album's sessions did turn up on the UK mini-LP 'Living For The Spangled Moment'. In the late 80's Nelson signed to Enigma Records, who then went out of business, even though they had just re-released his entire Cocteau Records catalogue, but things did pick up as the 90's wore on, and he concentrated on releasing his acclaimed instrumental and ambient music, working with Roger Eno among others. For now, though, here is a second post of his pop songs that never made the albums, all of them coming from what must have been one of his most productive years ever - 1982.

Track listing

01 The Passion (b-side of 'Flaming Desire' 1982)
02 The Burning Question (b-side of 'Flaming Desire' 1982)
03 Haunting In My Head (b-side of 'Eros Arriving' 1982)
04 Flesh (b-side of 'Flaming Desire And Other Passions' EP 1982)
05 He And Sleep Were Brothers (b-side of 'Flaming Desire And Other Passions' EP 1982)
06 Sleepcycle (from the 'Sleepcycle' fan club single 1982) 
07 Konny Buys A Kodak (from the 'Sleepcycle' fan club single 1982)
08 When The Birds Return (from the 'Sleepcycle' fan club single 1982)
09 The Beat That Can't Go Wrong Today (from the 'Sleepcycle' fan club single 1982)
10 Touch And Glow (single 1982)
11 Love Without Fear (b-side of 'Touch And Glow')