BE-BOP DELUXE
FULL DISCOGRAPHY DEEP DIVE
INTRO:
There is nothing I love more than new musical discoveries. When those discoveries fall into a genre niche that I am fond of and/or provide even the slightest insight of A-to-B musical history DNA - all the better. With the ringing in of a new year, it felt like the timing was right to explore a band I’d bet isn’t well known to many of you. They certainly weren’t to me.
In fact, the ‘70s English band Be-Bop Deluxe wasn't even a blip on my musical radar. And I mean this deeply. Even after closely examining the five studio albums released by this fringe act - with them walking a fairly thin wire of early glam, elements of prog, & early new wave energy - I was confident that I had never stumbled across any of their music (or the few singles that they had minor success with). It was only after digging into their history that I learned of a number of connections (Bowie worship, significant forays into dramatic art rock, & foundational new wave vibes) that made it even more surprising that they had so completely escaped my attention.
I’ll start by giving credit where credit is due. This band came to my attention through my buddy Manuel - part of my dedicated listening group.
This isn’t to say there aren’t a few ups & downs in this listening journey (spoiler alert: there are!), but the fact remains - this was a true discovery and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Grab some headphones and follow along for this short FULL DISCOGRAPHY DEEP DIVE of Be-Bop Deluxe.
Axe Victim
Personnel: Bill Nelson (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Ian Parkin (guitar, organ), Robert Bryan (bass, vocals), Nicholas Chatterton-Dew (drums)
Produced by: Ian McLintock
Recorded at: Air & CBS Studios (London)
Released: June 1974
Sometimes you just have to ask yourself - what’s the point?
After listening to this album a few times and then reading about the making of it, I discovered that Bill Nelson (Be-Bop Deluxe’s founder/songwriter/vocalist/guitarist) had a problem with people comparing the band’s sound to Bowie? Are you fucking kidding me? I literally don’t think they could have done a single thing - other than actually release an album of Bowie covers - to more completely draw attention to similarities. It’s a spot-on (& strikingly faithful) copy.
Now, I am the first to concede that a certain ‘connected’ sound from a range of artists can come from a particular wave of influences & geographical proximity, but that rationalization only stretches so far. In this case - considering Bowie had already released the groundbreaking albums Hunky Dory & Ziggy Stardust (‘71 & ‘72, respectively) and Roxy Music had released three albums by the end of ‘73 - I’m afraid the math just doesn’t add up.
I will mention some positives below as I certainly don’t think Nelson & Co. are talentless hacks, but there are certain lines that I just have trouble crossing to fully embrace such obvious lifts of influence. One quick example would be Big Star’s ‘72 debut. TONS of Stones & Bowie & CSN&Y & Velvet Underground influences - but not once am I ever close to being overwhelmed by how distinct those particular colors are used on the canvas.
Nelson seems to go out of his way to make the similarities boldly obvious. Now, there are LOTS of reasons to do this - namely selling records! We know historically this has been a thing from Sinatra to Elvis to The Beatles to boy bands. Sometimes the greedy & lazy & uninspired out there would just rather try to cash-in on a trend than forge ahead with their ‘own’ sound - and the truth is, I I’d rather hear a faithful Bowie worshiper than a faithful Backstreet Boys idolizer, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the former will get all my love.
And lest you think I’m making these statements as a sort of sweeping, broad-stroke comparison - allow me to be specific. Nelson’s vocal phrasing so accurately lifts from Bowie’s own (extremely well-established by 1974) that it rings as more of an impersonation than coincidental sound-alike. Hell, Nelson’s delivery of the verses in “Night Creatures” is truly such a facsimile of Bowie on the Hunky Dory mid-tempo track “Quicksand” that it almost plays out as a parody. Likewise, the chord changes & song structures are so in-pocket w Bowie’s own that if I took the time to fully dissect I’m sure I could line-up dozens of specific examples of direct ‘borrowing’. One that really struck a chord was the mid-tempo “Jet Silver” which is so close to Bowie’s penned “All The Young Dudes” (‘72) that it made me shake my head a bit.
Another tell-tale is the way the band uses an acoustic guitar to drive the rhythm of some of the up-tempo songs, saving the electric guitar work for leads & power chords - a huge Bowie arrangement device. Lastly, the production seems to be an exact lift from the Bowie playbook. The Bowie device of double-tracking vocals w a slight touch of flange & reverb, the overall drum sound, the acoustic guitar tone, & the general sheen are all employed sincerely & respectfully, but ultimately belie a sound that is unoriginal and redundant. I actually dug REALLY deep to see if I could find any actual evidence - shared studio spaces, engineers or tech team - but NO, it seems to have been BBD’s intention to simply replicate.
And the one time the band slightly swayed from full-on Bowie worship, “Rocket Cathedrals”, they only revealed a very average pub-rock sound in the vein of established British acts of the era like Status Quo and Slade. (**Apple’s ‘Deluxe 2020 remaster offers a few unreleased tracks that fit this same approach)
In the end, what I’ll lean on is the fact that Nelson was pretty staunch in declaring any similarities were unintentional. But it is impossible for me to unhear the distinct parallels.
In the plus column, Nelson and the band are fine players. More than that, actually. Nelson’s guitar is just fantastic and definitely the peak of the collection throughout. However, I’d still stick w Mick Ronson’s work over Nelson’s (at least, on this album). No doubt about it, the dude can definitely play - and sing (as Bowie-ish as it is, he clearly has winning chops). As far as songwriting, he could have done much worse than this collection. Sure, everything kind of sounds like a Ziggy Stardust cutting-room floor b-sides, but they have solid structure & defined presence.
And the best news, from what I’ve read is that Nelson (probably fully aware that simply emulating Bowie would only get him so far) will ditch the entire band following this album and will strike out (hopefully) in pursuing a sound he can call his own a bit more.
Final note - though I’d never be such a judgy bastard that I’d take points away for something as superficial as a band name, I REALLY don’t care for the band’s name. Just seems stupid and ill-fitting - especially after giving the album a bunch of listens.
CONCLUSION: Judging these kinds of albums are always a little tricky. Hunky Dory & Ziggy Stardust are two all-time favorite albums - so how can I slag a collection that seems to be doing all it can to reproduce that very sound? Easy enough. In the end, I can make a historical note in my music-history loving brain and say ‘despite the spot-on emulation, there is simply no reason for me to return to this album as I can’t get anything that I have already found - in FAR superior form - in those Bowie albums’. So, despite more than competent musical & songwriting skills, this wanna-be album gets a Thumbs Down and a Grade of a low C (albeit, the most positive Thumbs Down & low C that I can possibly offer).
Futurama
Personnel: Bill Nelson (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Charlie Tumahai (bass, vocals), Simon Fox (drums)
Produced by: Roy Thomas Baker
Recorded at: Rockfield Studios (Wales), Abbey Road (London)
Released: July 1975
Right out of the gate Nelson’s decision to intentionally shake things up by forming a new version of the band and working with a different producer (Roy Thomas Baker) is rewarded with an immediate impression that he wanted to sweep away the Bowie fairy dust that saturated the first album.
What I appreciated, and picked up immediately in the arrangement of the opening track, “Stage Whispers”, was the playful way this group of musicians explored new musical ideas - the funky shake of the break-downs in this track is a great example. They kept up this same spirit of expansion throughout and it made a significant impact on my overall impression.
There were also some non-overtly nods and touches to a few prog touches which, in each case (moments of “Stage Whispers” & “Sound Track” - and BIGTIME in closer “Swan Song”) seemed well-used and added to more of a defined ‘original’ sound.
Something else that I picked up on several numbers (“Love With The Madman”, “Sister Seagull”, and, especially, “Between The Worlds”) are elements that would have sounded right at home in a musical theater setting - ala Jesus Christ Superstar (‘70), Godspell (‘71), or Rocky Horror Picture Show (‘73). This makes sense chronologically, as those musicals were born out of the same generational place - with Bowie clearly being one of the suns these other planets orbited. This would be a case of BBD slightly fitting into things coming full circle as probably the finest pure rock/pop extension of all of this is Meat Loaf & Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell (‘77). Thanks to my parent’s full-force indoctrination campaign of exposing me to original cast recordings when I was a kid, I find myself very attuned to when these elements land as a great addition to particular rock and pop settings. In this case, I find them to be the highpoints of the entire album.
And though I realize that this might be more of a stretch to fully connect, am I the only one that was reminded more than a few times of the musical epic-reaching structures of early Springsteen? I don’t have any factual evidence pointing to this, but as Springsteen’s first two albums came out in ‘73, it’s totally feasible that there could be some cross-pollination going on here. Of course, this comparison isn’t built on the same sort of apples-to-apples issues I had with the band’s gleam of Bowie on the first album, but there are definitely more than a few times that this feeling struck me - piano phrasing throughout, particular moments of vocal delivery, the loose & confident stride of “Music In Dreamland”, jumps to competing sections within single numbers. I like everything employed, but more than anything, it made me want to go back and revisit those first few Springsteen albums.
As far as the side-by-side Bowie comparisons - look, Nelson’s voice carries a similarity to Bowie’s that I just can’t unhear, but at least when it is featured in songs and musical settings that don’t seem to be quite so Bowie-devoted, it doesn’t overwhelm with comparisons. And goddamn, Nelson’s guitar work is really quite strong and stood-out to me much more than it did on their debut.
Though BBD is obviously Nelson's bus, you have to give BIG credit to Roy Thomas Baker (who looks strikingly in his Wikipedia profile as if he served as sole inspiration for Michael McKean's David St Hubbins - HAHA!!) as producer for injecting the proceedings with the same sense of drama and swinging-for-the-fences magic he had worked on with Queen's Night At The Opera - the project he had just finished working on before beginning the Futurama sessions. Just another example of how partnering with a capable and good-fit producer at the right time can move an average band (or in this case, a band neck-deep in other-artist idolatry) a few solid notches up the ladder.
CONCLUSION: This collection isn’t a full-on barn-buster, but I found it to be a fun listen and infinitely more engaging than the debut. I was especially impressed with the wider variety of elements added to the blender and felt that expansion of sounds & textures completely served this collection in being a major step in the right direction for Nelson. It certainly upgrades my impression of Nelson and his musical focuses and earns a Thumbs Up and a Grade of a very high C+. The only real rationalization I can give for not giving this a higher grade is that I’m afraid I still feel forced to do TONS of comparing Nelson to others that have come before and, in the end - though I enjoyed the listens I gave this album - I just don’t know that I see myself returning often (or ever) to this collection. In the end, so much of the successful elements at work throughout just simply work better in the hands of other artists. That is, artists that I DO return to quite regularly.
Personnel: Bill Nelson (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Andy Clark (keyboards), Charlie Tumahai (bass, vocals), Simon Fox (drums)
Produced by: John Leckie
Recorded at: Abbey Road Studios (London)
Released: February 1976
OK - so I need to tackle one thing before I even try to approach my specific review of this album.
I feel compelled to highlight by singing some heavy-duty praises to the sizable role that expert production in the hands of John Leckie contributed to the success of the album. Talk about right-time, right-place magic! Nelson & crew won the fucking lottery with snagging Leckie’s first ‘producer’ gig. As his resume shows, Leckie certainly hit the ground running from the studio experience he garnered by being involved on groundbreaking recordings with solo Beatles’ projects & Pink Floyd. And it’s no surprise that after starting his producing run with such an auspicious work with Be-Bop Deluxe, that the would go on to add to his resume the enviable line-up of albums by the likes of XTC, The Fall, Let’s Active, Radiohead, Muse, Starsailor, & My Morning Jacket, among others.
So - on to the album itself.
I really liked just about everything on this album. Sunburst Finish is a true treasure. Theatrical Rock of the highest order - simply overflowing with charms.
“Fair Exchange” delivers a perfect intro as to what the listener should expect. Its 4:48 is a complete bag of tricks and immediately made me feel like I was being set-up for a rock musical. Pretty much every track has some surprise tucked away (many of which reminded me, in good ways, of the playful streak Paul McCartney delivered with Wings on tracks like “Band On The Run” and “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”). And though there isn’t a traditional storyline libretto, there is (very definitely) a solid sense of connection that makes the 12-tracks feel completely cohesive.
In addition to the opener, “Ships In The Night”, “Sleep That Burns”, & “Blazing Apostles” delivered some high-octane goodness. Of the mid-tempo numbers, “Crystal Grazing” stood out to me - all Moody Blues hangover and slow King Crimson majesty. But I mean it when I say there wasn’t a single track that I didn’t like. In fact, it would have felt like a crime to skip any of them.
You would not be wrong to call this the band’s deepest foray into prog - but to me, this is something more. I found it to be a natural (and completely successful) extension of the dramatic rock tendencies they began playing with on Futurama. I’ll go one step further. Had I discovered this album around the same time I came across Bat Out Of Hell (thus attaching the same personal nostalgia connection I have to that album), I might even consider them to be very comparable peers. They certainly seem born from the same spirit. And with continued listens - which this album will definitely get because of its many strengths - who knows, it may come to earn a place in my mind equal to that other great collection.
I am not back-tracking on the many musical influences that have peppered BBD’s first two albums as those still remain (and a few new ones pop up, like the Freddie Mercury-ish delivery that creeps into some of Nelson’s phrasing), but building off the momentum created with Producer Thomas Roy Baker, BBD & Leckie have really forged some very exciting and varied approaches. The strength of the songs - the craft in the building of their structures and the masterful arrangements - is the thing that most elevates the collection.
Making Andy Clark a bandmate was another stroke of good luck. His keyboard work throughout provides some of the most inspired musical moments and really did add an exciting new component to the band’s overall sound. He’s a tremendous player.
The extra good news is that Leckie will stay in the Producer chair for the rest of this discography run. Hopefully that will bring continued strong output. On Sunburst Finish I thought he did a fantastic job of using tons of studio tools to augment the songs without ever feeling like it was all too much. What was strikingly apparent is that he & Nelson left nothing off the table. All cards were revealed and it shows in all the best ways. The fact that they recorded this album at Abbey Road certainly had to add to the increased mojo!
CONCLUSION: BBD have certainly hit their stride with this collection. It plays out like top-rate dramatic rock and has really made a very positive impact on me. Easy Thumbs Up and a Grade of a solid A.
Modern Music
Personnel: Bill Nelson (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Andy Clark (keyboards), Charlie Tumahai (bass, vocals), Simon Fox (drums)
Produced by: John Leckie & Bill Nelson
Recorded at: Abbey Road Studios (London)
Released: September 1976
I’m not going to belabor my generally ‘lukewarm’ feelings about this collection as these guys (with Sunburst Finish alone) have already won me over.
In a nutshell - and this can actually be perceived as a somewhat positive comment - I found this album to be the first of theirs that sounded like they were trying to maintain a version of their own sound - which, any way you cut it, is better than the ‘heavy lifting’ I have accused them of earlier.
I found several of the songs to definitely rise above the fray (“Modern Music” & “Down On Terminal Street” were both extremely solid), but overall I just wasn’t nearly as pulled into the experience as I was on Sunburst Finish. I will admit that coming off the unexpected high of that album, I had concerns approaching this listening experience, as many bands fail to follow-up their strongest album with equal highs.
Look, I find Bat Out Of Hell’s follow-up, Dead Ringer, to be pretty bland and it comes down to the exact same issue I have here - despite Meat being in fine voice and the band sounding more than competent - the songs just aren’t as strong and definitely don’t carry the same charms & character. This is also one of those cases when I have to remind myself that I am closely inspecting/experiencing these albums within a MUCH shorter period of time than the 7 months that divided them in real-time.
I was intrigued to see that six of the nine tracks on Side Two were 2-minutes or less and was hoping I might get a Side Two Abbey Road suite of song snippets creatively combined, but that didn’t really come to pass. I mean, the tracks were fine (perhaps some of the band’s best overall musicianship) and it flowed well enough, but they didn’t ultimately take full advantage of bringing any major fireworks.
I will say, in approaching from a ‘judging-a-book-by-the-cover’ standpoint (and considering the birth-of-punk era this album was released in) I really liked the look the guys cultivated with their new wave suits, but that style isn’t at all reflected in the fairly predictable music.
CONCLUSION: On paper, this album works well enough as a late-’70s rock collection, but it only hits a functional place with me - and definitely comes up short in continuing the high mark set by Sunburst Finish. I’ll give it a marginal Thumbs Up and not quite as enthusiastic Grade of C+ that I gave Futurama.
Drastic Plastic
Personnel: Bill Nelson (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Andy Clark (keyboards), Charlie Tumahai (bass, vocals), Simon Fox (drums)
Produced by: John Leckie & Bill Nelson
Recorded at: Chateau St George (France)
Released: February 1978
What a really interesting final twist in this curious and uncharted music exploration.
By reading other FULL DISCOGRAPHY DEEP DIVES of mine, you may be aware of my obsession with timelines - I just can’t help myself. So let me get those thoughts out of the way first. In this case, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that some immediate associations I had with the first few listens were completely debunked.
On my very first pass, I thought - Holy fuck, “New Percision” & “New Mysteries” are pure Talking Heads!! But the math doesn’t add up. Talking Heads released their debut in late ‘77, months after Drastic Plastic was recorded. One of those mysterious examples of pure coincidence in similar sounds coming from unassociated bands/artists of the same era - seemingly pulling from the same swirling cauldron of influences.
Likewise, all of the ‘usual suspects’ that would mark (beyond The Velvet Underground & Kraftwerk) the foundation of New Wave (especially synth-driven new wave) - Blondie (who did release their debut in ‘76), Tubeway Army/Gary Numan, OMD, Ultravox, DEVO - all just don’t really line-up as anything but ‘perfect storm’ contemporaries.
Sure, by the summer of ‘77, punk was in absolute full swing in the UK and both Sex Pistols and The Clash had already recorded their debut albums and when listening to this album, it was impossible to not hear the injection of that ‘youthful angst/energy’ (more on that later). The fact remains, Bill Nelson, following the momentary side-shuffle of Modern Music, is back at forging ahead in an area of music that confidently proves he had some very forward-leaning ideas & chops.
Though I don’t at all hear a TON of copy-cat moments (certainly nowhere near the level of Bowie-worship that we experienced on Axe Victim), really the only indication of ‘influence’ I can garner is Bowie’s Station To Station released Jan ‘76. While not strictly a New Wave album, it has been heralded (deservedly so) as a key link the the DNA that connects Krautrock and New Wave - and as we know Nelson was enamored of Bowie (to put it mildly), it’s logical to assume Station To Station would have definitely been on his radar.
Now - regarding punk energy. Hang with me a sec. While you might not be able to instantly recall a side scene from the Alex Cox bio-pic Sid & Nancy, hear me out. As the Pistols are on their ill-fated tour of America, a member of the press approaches Johnny and shares his new ‘punky’ song idea. It’s classic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Rd9_DmpNo
In ‘76, Bill Nelson was 30 - almost a full generation older than the members of Pistols and Clash - and I have to admit, though my general opinion of Drastic Plastic is generally positive, more than once I did think/pick-up-on moments that felt a bit forced in it’s delivery and a tad ‘square’. That is, definitely in ‘punky’ territory over actual full-on PUNK realm. “Love In Flames” & “Possession” definitely seem the most fragrant offenders. Likewise, there are moments throughout that feel a bit forced or unintentionally silly. However, as the album generally comes across as pretty earnest, it's hard to lob too many grenades.
In addition to the 2 tracks that so vividly recalled (sounded similar to) Talking Heads, I also found the opener, “Electrical Language” to be a great track.
What I will definitely say is that this album sounds like what I thought Modern Music might sound like based on the band’s look on the cover of that one - HAHA!! And it really does, as the last BBD album, set-up perfectly for the BIG step Nelson will make with his Red Noise Sound On Sound ‘solo’ album (give it a listen - very worthwhile and a definite step-up from Drastic Plastic) - not to mention his Producer/hired-gun status he comfortably moved into taking on a role with some absolutely classic New Wave synth music artists like Flock of Seagulls, Gary Numan & David Sylvian (Japan).
CONCLUSION: Sure, there are some uneven moments - and not everything fires on full-cylinders - but I found this collection to have enough charms to earn a solid Thumbs Up and a Grade of a strong C+ (Nelson’s Sound On Sound would get a Grade of a confident B).
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