Customer Reviews

Postcards From the Future: Introducing Be Bop Delu

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So said Bill Nelson in the song "Stage Whispers." Unfortunately, not that many people got to hear that guitar in America. Bill Nelson and Be Bop Deluxe were a hot item in their native England, but never quite figured out how to crack the American market. It might have been the band's artiness, or their bizarre futuristic fixations, or the fact that they sounded like David Bowie with a louder guitar. (Imagine if Bowie could play guitar like Mick Ronson, and then stayed in the Ziggy persona for a few more albums.) With great records burdened with titles like "Futurama" or "Modern Music," BBD often seemed victims of their own pretensions.

Too bad for us Americans. Bill Nelson is an extraordinary guitarist, and his leads on the songs "Fair Exchange," "Axe Victim" and "Life In The Air Age" put most of the seventies art rockers of the period to shame. They were not quite art rock and not quite glam, but at their best, Be Bop Deluxe tightrope walked the twin genres like few others save Roxy Music. "Post Cards From The Future" is an apt title for a band that seemed to be incapable of sounding of the moment when they were new.

Oddly enough, the main drawback to "Postcards" is that some of the songs sound dated in an arty sort of way. (The Bowie comparison sneaks in just a little too often.) What you do gain from listening to Be Bop Deluxe some 30 years on ("Axe Victim" first appeared in 1974) is just how much young bands of the eighties, like Ultravox or Duran Duran, were influenced by their copies of "Modern Music" or "Drastic Plastic." Since those CDs and the rest of the Be Bop Deluxe library remain in expensive import only editions, dropping yourself "Postcards From The Future" is a solid message for lovers of glam and English art rock pre-MTV generation.

I'd heard the track "Sound Track" (off their album Futurama) on one of the free CDs that comes along with Mojo magazines. I rather liked the track, as it seemed like a good mix of prog and proto-punk glam. Going off on the hunch that the rest of their material would be similar, I decided to purchase the compilation.

Listening to it, I came upon two conclusions. First, the guitarist is bloody great. Effortlessly, he can shred and rock with the purest sort of rough-edge glee. Fantastic. The rest of the band, however, has a tempo problem. They're so darn slow! Here you've got a top-notch guitarist that can rip it up, and yet the rhythm section lags! Oh, how frustrating that is!

Overall, however, some tracks manage to get it right. Many others, however, are caught between the paradox of virtuosity and lethargy. Oh, and the keyboard player adds some good proggyness to the equation. If I had a time machine, I'd go back to the mid-70s, tell Be Bop Deluxe to turn up the tempo and I swear that would make them the gods to punks and proggers alike.

During the 1970's, Bill Nelson established himself as one of the most exciting guitarists of the period. Unfortunately, very few people were listening--especially in the United States--and that's too bad. Be-Bop Deluxe recorded five studio albums and one live album before calling it quits in 1979. POSTCARDS FROM THE FUTURE does a nice job of cherry-picking highlights from those albums and gives listeners an opportunity to experience one of the era's unsung guitar slingers. [Note: 1997's 2-disc AIR AGE ANTHOLOGY (which duplicates much of POSTCARDS) is still in print and does an even better job of covering this band's career.] HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Classic 70's British Rock. The stop and go patterns of the songs sound a bit choppy by todays standards and seem a bit dated. But the groups enthusiasm and Bill Nelson's guitar playing make this really fun to listen to.

Just mix together Bowie, Roxy Music, Mott the Hoople, and maybe early Queen, and add a wide variety of great guitar sounds from Nelson and this is what you get.

Piano keys don't please me, their so dark and it's so easy to deceive them...I went to go see Be Bop Deluxe in LA back in the 70's. They were playing warm-up band to Blue Oyster Cult (I left B4 BOC came on LOL) . Too bad America didn't get it. The Best!

Be Bop Deluxe managed to fuse glam, prog and a half variety of other genres into its own unique sound. With guitarist/singer/songwriter Bill Nelson at the helm Be Bop Deluxe recorded five studio albums well represented here and one live album. Although missing some key stand alone singles this is also the only place to get the Smile single "Teenage Archangel" and an early version of "Jets at Dawn" (which was the b-side of the single). It's missing from all the other albums on CD including the "Futurist Manifesto" boxed set that collects all the other albums and singles except for these two.

Remastered in 2004 for this collection (there's no remastering credit and one of the flaws of this set is the fact that it doesn't credit any of the members of Be Bop Deluxe whether it be the version that Nelson assembled for the first album or members he assembled for albums 2-6) is quite good--with nice dynamic range and the songs don't sound quite as flat and "congested" (with the overuse of noise reduction)that marred all the other releases.

Nelson provides interesting sleeve notes about his journey as an artist but virtually nothing about the band's personnel changes, etc. The disc features 2 tracks from "Ax Victim", 4 from "Futurama", 3 each from "Sunburst Finish", "Modern Music", "Drastic Plastic" and 1 track from "Live in the Air Age" (curiously) closing with "Teenage Archangel" and "Jets at Dawn" (the earlist tracks recorded by the band).

This set will be essentail for hardcore fans because of the two tracks here that aren't anywhere else on CD so if you can get inexpensively you may want to try and pick it up plus it's a nice compilation.

Recommended.

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey I am often asked to write or speak about 60's and 70's rock recordings.

Although Be-Bop Deluxe never had the American following they had in the U.K. (A real shame) they did perform in the 3-5 thousand seat venues. The audience was often fixated on Bill Nelson. Any moment could be a great one as he handled the guitar with the greatest of expertise.

Be-Bop sounded terrific on album as well as in the live setting. They are often called everything from "Glam" to "Art-Rock" but they really were unique in what the songs would say.

This particular representation of their work is superlative because you can get the rare and forgotten single Teenage Archangel/Jets At Dawn (Not the LP version). That 45 on Smile Records is not only their rarest collectable it is one of the finest singles from the time period.

The tunes picked for the release are a proper introduction to the band. During the amazing days of American progressive Rock radio tracks 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16 could be heard often.

If you are first getting into Be Bop, please focus on these tracks initially. Once you get comfortable with their sound and direction you can best enjoy exploring the others.

Before the group disbanded they had 5 studio recordings and one live effort. Since then there have been some nice live archival releases to enjoy. Most folks will purchase the second, third, and forth releases in no specific order: "Futurama", "Sunburst Finish", and "Modern Music." They then go back to the first record "Axe Victim", and finish the studio collection with the final effort "Drastic Plastic." Along the way "Live In The Air Age" will find its way into the collection.

This is one band that had too short a history and never gave us the reunion we craved.

That is why the CD will either bring back great memories or create new ones for you.

Enjoy the music and be well,

Craig Fenton

Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

Bill Nelson fronted this band in the mid-seventies. I grabbed up Futurama on the review from Circus magazine. I was not dissapointed, soaring guitar work, witty lyrics, and complex

arrangements. Saw the band on their Sunburst Finish tour,warming up for Golden Earing-they were very good.

Axe Victim, Maid in Heaven, Sister Seagull, Life in the Air Age, Ships in the Night, Fair Exchange, Modern Music, Kiss of Light, were all great songs. Bill Nelson is a very underated rock guitarist and a decent singer. Their music compares to Bowie, Roxy Music, and the dynamics/arrangements that Queen did. Be Bop Deluxe didn't have the harmonies of Queen, however.

They were a Bill Nelson showcase. Great music for its' time, songs with intelligent lyrics, wit, shifting melodies, rapid fire guitar licks, Nelson was a Blazing Apostle on guitar. They are worth a listen.