The creative drive of Be Bop Deluxe’s avant-garde guitar hero cannot be stopped. Nelson releases multiple albums a year and still prizes his ’60s Gibson ES-345 – although he wanted a Gretsch at first,
Saturday, April 22nd is Record Store Day, a day devoted to the celebration of the culture of independent record stores. The new book 'Atlanta Record Stores: An Oral History' shares stories of the influence these stores have had over the past half-century.
Live! In the Air Age, Be Bop Deluxe (15CD + DVD, Esoteric)
‘The lights go dim, I’m losing hold,’ sings Bill Nelson in the title track of this monster live reissue which includes not only the original LP remastered but a John Peel session by the band, recordings of all seven gigs in their spring tour 1977 and a DVD of a contemporaneous TV recording.
If Be Bop Deluxe are remembered at all it is probably for later albums such as
Modern Music and
Drastic Plastic that got to grip with some futuristic rock elements, along with three songs featured on this set: the two sing-along riff monsters ‘Ships in the Night’ and ‘Maid in Heaven’, along with ‘Sister Seagull’ which followed the latter on the
Reissue CDs Weekly: Be-Bop Deluxe - Drastic Plastic | reviews, news & interviews Reissue CDs Weekly: Be-Bop Deluxe - Drastic Plastic
Reissue CDs Weekly: Be-Bop Deluxe - Drastic Plastic
Box-set edition of Bill Nelson and Co’s final album reveals the inevitability of the band’s demise
by Kieron TylerSunday, 14 March 2021
Bill Nelson knew February 1978’s
Drastic Plastic was the last Be-Bop Deluxe album. In his essay for the book coming with the new “deluxe expanded” box-set reissue, he writes “that, as far as I was concerned, was that, the final Be-Bop Deluxe studio album, an era ended and a new one was about to begin. As the songs developed, I felt that the album might provide a kind of bridge to what might happen further along the road.