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')

Bill Nelson's Red Noise - Wonder Toys (1981)

I've been a fan of Bill Nelson for many, many years, with his 1971 'Northern Dream' album being one of the very first 'rare records' that I purchased from a dealer when I started to seriously collect vinyl. I followed him through Be-Bop Deluxe, and loved everything they did, from the out and out guitar rock of their first few albums, right through to the more electronic stuff from their later period, but for me his best ever band was Red Noise. They burst onto the scene in 1979 with the 'Revolt Into Style' single, followed quickly by the eponymous debut album, and bearing in mind that he'd already been a folkie and a hard rocker, this band slotted into the burgeoning new wave/indie scene like it was made for them. The album is still one of my all-time favourites, and although they only lasted for twelve months, they've left behind one of the great British new wave albums. It never occurred to me before that there might be unheard songs tucked away as I assumed that as they were only together for such a short time then everything they recorded was on the album, but it turns out I was wrong, and there are a few hidden tracks on the b-sides of their singles, as well as live recordings and demos of songs that never made it into the studio. 
Nelson has revealed that he had recorded a second Red Noise album immediately after 'Sound On Sound', but his record company wasn't impressed and so shelved it, but eventually Nelson's manager purchased some of the unreleased songs back from EMI so that Nelson could release them as a solo artist on his own label, Cocteau Records. One of these was 'Do You Dream in Colour', which received generous radio airplay, and both this and it's b-side featured all vocals and instruments performed by Nelson himself, apart from sax from his brother Ian. When Phonogram heard these songs they secured the remaining tracks for Cocteau to release a full album, entitled 'Quit Dreaming And Get on the Beam'.... but that's a whole other story, as you'll hear later. There was actually one track on 'Quit Dreaming...' which was credited to Red Noise, with 'Disposable' featuring the Bill Nelson/Rick Ford/Andy Clark/Steve Peer line-up, and so that's here as well. If you don't know the band, and this album appeals to you, then do get hold of 'Sound On Sound', as it's a superb record.

Track listing 

01 Revolt Into Style (single version 1979)
02 Out Of Touch (live b-side of 'Revolt Into Style')
03 Furniture Music (single version 1979)
04 Wonder Toys That Last Forever (b-side of 'Furniture Music')
05 Acquitted By Mirrors (b-side of 'Furniture Music')
06 Stay Young (live b-side of 'Revolt Into Style)
07 Substitute Flesh (1978 demo)
08 That Way For Years (1978 demo - previously unreleased) (slight drop-out patched)
09 Disposable (from 'Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam' - recorded 1979)
10 Waiting For The Night (1978 demo - previously unreleased)
11 Possession (live BBC recording of Be-Bop Deluxe song 1979)

Bill Nelson - Rooms With Brittle Views (1982)

As I mentioned in my Red Noise post, I'm a massive fan of Bill Nelson, and consider him to be a genius of modern music, with his music encompassing an extremely wide variety of genres, from folk to hard rock, new wave to electro-pop, ambient to heavy metal. This post covers his pop side, with a selection of songs recorded in 1980 and 1981, starting with 'Do You Dream In Colour', which was a left-over from songs recorded for a proposed second Red Noise album. Nelson's management obtained the tapes from Harvest/EMI after they turned down the Red Noise album, so that Nelson could release it as a solo single on his own Cocteau Records label, kick-starting another phase of his career. The success of the single encouraged his manager to purchase the remaining songs in order to release them as the superlative 'Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam' album, with further singles being released from it, in the form of the equally impressive 'Rooms With Brittle Views' and 'Living In My Limousine'. Each of these singles had two or three new songs on their flips, and all of them are great guitar-based electro-pop, with Nelson playing most of the instruments himself. This thirteen track album is made up of songs recorded over just a two year period, and with such a prolific output, you can see how he's managed to release over 100 albums since his 'Northern Dream' debut in 1971.    

Track listing

01 Rooms With Brittle Views (single 1980)

02 Dada Guitare (b-side of 'Rooms With Brittle Views')

03 Ideal Homes (b-side of 'Do You Dream In Colour' 1980)

04 Instantly Yours (b-side of 'Do You Dream In Colour' 1980)

05 Atom Man Loves Radium Girl (b-side of 'Do You Dream In Colour' 1980)

06 Birds Of Tin (b-side of 'Living In My Limousine' 1981)

07 Love In The Abstract (b-side of 'Living In My Limousine' 1981)

08 White Sound (b-side of 'Living In My Limousine' 12" 1981)

09 Be My Dynamo (b-side of 'Youth Of Nation On Fire' 1981)

10 All My Wives Were Iron (b-side of 'Youth Of Nation On Fire' 1981)

11 Turn To Fiction (b-side of 'Banal' 12" 1981)

12 Hers Is A Lush Situation (b-side of 'Banal' 12" 1981)

13 Mr. Magnetism Himself (b-side of 'Banal' 1981)

Be-Bop Deluxe - Blue As A Jewel (1978)

Bill Nelson is, in my opinion, a genius of modern music. In a career spanning over 40 years he's produced a staggering number of albums - over one hundred at the last count - covering all genres, from the folk of his 1973 debut 'Northern Dream', to the glam/hard rock of Be-Bop Deluxe, the New Wave stylings of Red Noise, electronic pop singles such as 'Do You Dream In Colour' and 'Rooms With Brittle Views', instrumental albums including 'Sounding The Ritual Echo' and 'Chimera', numerous ambient records, and even heavy guitar rock as recently as 2016 with 'Special Metal'. The sole Red Noise album 'Sound On Sound' is a classic and a personal favourite, but the four year period when he led Be-Bop Deluxe produced some of his most memorable work. Even that band went through changes as they progressed, starting out as a hard rock band, then adding a bit of glam to the proceedings before ending their stint fully immersed in electronics. Along the way they released a number of singles to promote their albums, but tried to treat the fans to exclusive b-sides along the way, so this collection is the best of those hard to find tracks, along with a couple of live versions of songs which never made it to album and a batch of rarities, to remind us just what a great band they were.

Track listing

01 Lights (b-side of 'Maid In Heaven' 1975)

02 Speed Of The Wind (originally only available on 'The Best Of And The Rest Of')

03 Piece Of Mine (Live 1977)

04 Shine (b-side of 'Kiss Of Light' 1976)

05 Japan (Single 1977)

06 Face In The Rain (originally only available on 'The Best Of And The Rest Of')

07 Mill Street Junction (Live 1977)

08 Blue As A Jewel (b-side of 'Panic In The World' 1978)

09 Blimps (originally only available on 'The Best Of And The Rest Of')

10 Lovers Are Mortal (originally only available on 'The Best Of And The Rest Of')