Bill Nelson, whose real name is William Nelson, is an English singer-songwriter best known for having been the frontman of the group 'Be-Bop Deluxe', a group which will experience its heyday in the mid-1970s. But he is also the brother of Ian Nelson, the same who took part in the Fiat Lux group in the 1980s.
The artist's career really started from 1971 when he released his first album "Northern dream", an album with the most modest success but which will allow him all the same to be noticed by the famous radio host John Peel. A providential meeting that will open the doors to the major record companies in Nelson and his group Be-Bop Deluxe. Group which will sign with EMI's Harvest Records and leave for an adventure which will see the realization of 5 albums and which will last until the end of the 1970s.
The Be-Bop Deluxe adventure ended, we find him in 1979 in a new formation called Bill Nelson's Red noise, a group with which he will record in all and for a single album named "Sound-On-Sound".
The real solo career began in 1980 when he released his first single “Do you dream in color ?", a single with obvious success in the Charts and which will launch the artist in the best possible way as an artist in his own right.
In the years that will follow, the artist will release an impressive number of albums and singles and will also compose for others. Despite this, he will never reach the top places of the Charts but still remains to this day one of the most gifted musicians of his generation.
To discover or rediscover.
Discography (among others ...) :
Teenage archangel (Be-Bop Deluxe) 1973
Jet Silver and the dolls of Venus (Be-Bop Deluxe) 1974
Between the worlds (Be-Bop Deluxe) 1975
Ships in the night (Be-Bop Deluxe) 1976
Kiss of a light (Be-Bop Deluxe) 1976
Japan (Be-Bop Deluxe) 1977
Panic in the world (Be-Bop Deluxe) 1978
Electrical language (Be-Bop Deluxe) 1978
Furniture music (Bill Nelson's Red noise) 1979
Revolt into style (Bill Nelson's Red noise) 1979
Do you dream in colour 1980
Youth of nation on fire 1981
Living in my Limousine 1981
Banal 1981
Eros arriving 1982
Flaming desire 1982
Sleepcycle 1982
Tender is the night 1983
Acceleration 1984
Wildest dreams 1986
Life in your hands 1989
The dead we wake with upstairs drum 1992
Contemplation 2007
I hear electricity 2008
Clips :
1973 ... the beginnings of several. Trendy sound and style but no immediate take-off. They will therefore have to work again and again ...
1974 ... it doesn't take off any more than that and yet they are far from being ridiculous. But the competition is so bloated that it is difficult to find a place in the sun at the start of the 1970s ...
1975 ... anyway, this lack of success at the highest level does not hold back the group. And on the other hand, in music, anything can happen at any time ...
1976 ... and precisely, it was enough to believe ! The group finally obtains the semblance of recognition after which he has been chasing since its beginnings. All good little guys !
1976 ... the rest will not really know the same level of success but the essential is done so everything that comes behind will be a bonus as they say ...
1977 ... a track with obvious good humor and which allows the group to go into a mini delirium of which he is the only one to know the origin ...
1978 ... the last year of the group's existence. The group will not remain as the best known of all but does not have to be ashamed of its discography, far from it ...
1978 ... a last title which shows that the group had everything he needed to continue the adventure. Unfortunately, fate will have decided otherwise ...
1979 ... change of partners and arrival in the Bill Nelson's Red Noise adventure. An adventure that will only last the time of an album but it's always better than nothing as they say ...
1979 ... a title that spins at the speed of light, not sure that this is what the general public expects in priority. Copy to review ...
1980 ... this time, the adventure for several is over, welcome to the solo adventure. He delivers here quite simply what will remain as his most emblematic title on the personal side. HU-GE !
1981 ... of course, the rest will not have the same level of success as before but holds up, it is clear. A good job, quite simply ...
1981 ... a sound and a style that perfectly matches the latest trends. And yet, it won't earn him more than that ...
1981 ... we still come close to the experimental at certain times. Hence a lack of major success, this explains that ...
1982 ... this does not prevent him from continuing his adventure in his own way and outside any purely commercial dictate. Rightly or wrongly, that's something else ...
1982 ... but that's also the 80s, total freedom to produce and especially to create. Which unfortunately no longer exists today ...
1982 ... it also happens to him in history without words. And in this area, the least we can say is that his inspiration works wonderfully ...
1983 ... a good job once again. An atypical artist, of course, but with certain talent. Isn't that the main thing ?
1984 ... a mid-decade that saw him inspired to the highest point. Less fantasy, more rigor, in short, back on track !
1986 ... an inspiration which does not weaken from an Iota and which allows him to produce titles of more than certain quality. We want more !
1989 ... and still that omnipresent originality typical of many English bands of the time. Ah if all the decades could have been like this since ...
1992 ... where the art of going from one extreme to another. A transition to the 90s which is done in high-voltage mode. Not sure this is the right method to continue to exist at the highest level ...
2007 ... a crossing of the complicated 90s which will see him gradually disappear from the radar. Here he is back in the 2000s and the least we can say is that he has not lost any of his talent, it is clear ...
2008 ... it is clear that he is more figurative than anything else now faced with competition from young people who are on average 20 years younger. But as they say, talent has no age, it ...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Be Bop Deluxe Discography :
Bill Nelson Discography :