Manifesto for the Future

Bill Nelson is one of my favorite musicians. I have a randomly recurring series called Playing the Bills where I feature music by Bills Burroughs, Laswell, & Nelson.

When Playing the Bills in January 2021, I shared Be Bop Deluxe - Live at the Riviera Theater from Chicago 1976. 

 

At that time, I sez:
     "I have never really posted up Be Bop Deluxe but someday plan to get around to their five disc collection Futurist Manifesto - The Harvest Years 1974-1978."  

That time is now...

 

Be Bop Deluxe - Futurist Manifesto: The Harvest Years 1974-1978 box set, 

Harvest 6463082 , 2011.
all decryption codes in comments

CD1 -
Axe Victim -    
Axe Victim    
Love is Swift Arrows
Jet Silver & the Dolls of Venus    
Third Floor Heaven
Night Creatures    
Rocket Cathedrals
Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape    
Jets at Dawn    
No Trains to Heaven
Darkness (l'Immoraliste)

Futurama -    
Stage Whispers    
Love with the Madman    
Maid in Heaven    
Sister Seagull    
Sound Track    
Music in Dreamland
Jean Cocteau
Between the Worlds    
Swan Song

CD2 -
Futurama bonus tracks -    
Between the Worlds (original single version)    
Maid In Heaven (live)    

Sunburst Finish -    
Fair Exchange    
Heavenly Homes    
Ships in the Night
Crying to the Sky    
Sleep that Burns    
Beauty Secrets    
Life in the Air Age
Like an Old Blues
Crystal Gazing
Blazing Apostles
        
Sunburst Finish bonus tracks -    
Shine    
Speed of the Wind    
Blue as a Jewel
Ships in the Night (single edit)

 

 

CD3 -
Modern Music     -
Orphans of Babylon
Twilight Capers    
Kiss of Light    
The Bird Charmers Destiny    
The Gold at the End of My Rainbow    
Bring Back the Spark    
Modern Music    
Dancing in the Moonlight (All Alone)    
Honeymoon on Mars    
Lost in the Neon World    
Dance of the Uncle Sam Humanoids
Modern Music (reprise)
Forbidden Lovers    
Down on Terminal Street    
Make the Music Magic
    
Modern Music bonus tracks -
Futurist Manifesto
Quest for the Harvest of the Stars
Autosexual    
Japan

 

 

CD4 -
Drastic Plastic -
Electrical Language    
New Precision    
New Mysteries    
Surreal Estate    
Love in Flames    
Panic in the World    
Dangerous Stranger    
Superenigmatix    
Visions of Endless Hopes    
Possession    
Islands of the Dead    
        
Drastic Plastic bonus tracks -    
Blimps    
Lovers are Mortal    
Lights    
Electrical Language (single edit)    
Love in Flames (single edit)    
Panic in the World (single edit)

 

 

CD5 -
Previously Unreleased -
The Saxophonist (demo)    
Visions of Endless Hopes (demo)    
Blue as a Jewel (demo)    
Speed of the Wind (demo)
Possession (rough mix)    
Maid in Heaven (Top of The Pops backing track)    
The Modern Music Suite (live)
Forbidden Lovers (live)    
Down on Terminal Street (live)    
Swan Song (live)
Heavenly Homes (Flashman remix)

Enjoy,
NØ

Until All Our Lights Combine

Long time since I played the Bills redux...since when aeoplanes were dragonflies.

Earlier today I posted up Channel Light Vessel's 1994 release Automatic. This is a project that included Bill Nelson along with Roger Eno, Kate St. John, Laraaji, & others. I realized I had previously posted it elsewhere on this here mess so I removed it & am going to remedy that omission right now.

 

 

I have never really posted up Be Bop Deluxe but someday plan to get around to their five disc opus Futurist Manifesto - The Harvest Years 1974-1978. For now I'm posting up a live show from Chicago in 1976 covering the Sunburst Finish era material. However, that being said...non-Sunburst "Bill's Blues" will fix whatever ails you.

Be Bop Deluxe - Live at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, 1976.
all decryption codes in comments

Fair Exchange
Stage Whisper
Life in the Air Age
Sister Seagull
Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape
Maid in Heaven
Ships in the Night
Bill's Blues
Blazing Apostles

Bill Nelson - guitar & vocals; Andy Clark - keyboards; Charlie Tumahai - bass & vocals; & Simon Fox - drums.

 

I posted Getting the Holy Ghost Across elsewhere. This is a set of remixes of  "Because of You" from that album. (I tacked on the original album track for your listening pleasure.)

Bill Nelson - Because of You remixes, Portrait RAS 2568, 1986.

Side 1 -
Because of You (Popstand remix)

Side 2 -
Because of You (Nailed to the Dub version)
Because of You (Dubbed to the Drums version)

bonus: Because of You (original album version)

 

Now here's a taste of 21st Century Bill.

2008 saw Nelson caught up in a flurry of composition. By July he had completed sixty four tracks which he split up between this release & Clocks & Dials. These are the more vocal-oriented tracks. This is some of the very finest music from one of my all time favorite guitarists/songcrafters. Believe me when I say that's quite a statement about someone with William Nelson's body of work. This is so very, purely...dare I say it..Bowiesque. I can't really say enough about this. Just give it a listen. You will not be disappointed.

Bill Nelson - Golden Memories of Tomorrow, Sonoluxe CD012, 2008.

Welcome to Electic City
Once I Had a Time Machine
Summer Hums in the Bee-Loud Glade
Frosty Lawns (Snowballs & Oranges)
God Glows Green in Small Town Park
My Empty Bowl is Full of Sky
When Aeroplanes Were Dragonflies
Night is the Engine of My Imagination
The Old Nebulosity Waltz
Help Us Magic Robot
Time’s Quick-Spun Globe
Fountains are Singing in Cities of Light
The Emperor of the Evening
I Saw Galaxies
Until All Our Lights Combine
Heaven is a Haunted Realm
Golden Melodies of Tomorrow
Golden Coda (Farewell to Electric City)

Fare thee well.

Enjoy,
NØ