Bill Nelson
b. William Nelson, 18 December 1948, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Although noted chiefly for his innovative guitar work with Be-Bop Deluxe, his solo releases actually form more than four-fifths of his total output. SMILE was a dreamy, acoustic debut after he had played throughout his home county with pre-progressive rock outfits like the Teenagers, Global Village and Gentle Revolution. He fronted Be-Bop Deluxe for most of the '70s before responding to punk and techno-rock forces by assembling Bill Nelson's Red Noise. SOUND-ON-SOUND, released in 1979, was an agitated but confused debut from Red Noise and afterwards Nelson returned to solo work. The single Do You Dream In Colour? provided his highest UK solo chart placing at number 52. It was released on his own label, Cocteau Records. Following a short-lived deal with Mercury Records he continued to release introspective, chiefly home-recorded albums. He was in demand as a producer and worked on sessions with many new-wave bands including the Skids and A Flock Of Seagulls. Surprisingly, after the demise of Be-Bop Deluxe he showed little inclination to use the guitar and preferred to experiment with keyboards and sampled sounds, composing thematic pieces which have been used in films and plays. He recorded backing music for the Yorkshire Actors Company's version of both DAS KABINETT and LA BELLE ET LA BETTE, issued later as albums. Many of his releases throughout the '80s were of a whimsical, self-indulgent nature and missed the input of other musicians. Numerous albums were issued via his fan club and the quality was rarely matched by the prolificacy, which twice ran to four-album boxed sets, TRIAL BY INTIMACY and DEMONSTRATIONS OF AFFECTION. In 1991 he moved markedly towards a stronger and more defined melodic style with LUMINOUS on Manchester's independent label, Imaginary, and also spoke of returning to his first love, the guitar.