Cherry Red Records are the present curators/distributors for the Be-Bop Deluxe back catalogue, which compromises of 5 studio albums and 1 live release. The band had a relatively short life-span, with a recording career only covering across a 5 year period, and by the Autumn of 1978, band-founder, leader and major songwriter, Bill Nelson, announced that Be-Bop Deluxe were now finished. However during that period of time, the band achieved a passionate loyal following in the UK, and from 76′ – 78′ they regularly toured North America as well. Now after half a century since the band’s first release, Cherry Red Records have chosen to reissue the albums once again, but this time spread across 2 different 3-CD boxed sets. The first one covers their very first 3 studio albums, and there’s a second one that includes the live album, as well as the band’s final 2 studio albums. And it’s the first one that I’m reviewing here, which includes Axe Victim (1974), Futurama (1975), and the stunning Sunburst Finish (1976).
Bill Nelson started off as a solo artiste recording his first batch of self-penned material in a friend’s home studio in Wakefield, and then releasing the album Northern Dream on the local Holyground label in 1971, with a limited initial pressing of only 300 copies. One of these was sent to Radio One DJ John Peel, who was so impressed that he played the entire album on his show, and through his championing of Northern Dream, Bill gained the interest of EMI Records. The record company’s initial plan was to rerecord the entire album in a proper studio and give it a big release, whereas just a couple of weeks prior to them eventually contacting Bill, he had just formed what would be the prototype version of Be-Bop Deluxe, a very different project entirely. EMI decided to give him time to grow with his live band and to develop material, which after a period of around a year they eventually signed him to their label. By the time Bill got his deal, he had already written a lot of newer material, yet EMI pushed for the songs he had been touring with for the past year and through which he had built up a good fan-base in the Yorkshire region. That these would be the best songs to record for his first album with the label.
And so in early 1974, Be-Bop Deluxe recorded 10 tracks, and it was released on Harvest Records (a division of EMI) in the June of that year, with the title of Axe Victim. The songs were written during the peak of glam rock, and as a former art student, the image for the band that Bill Nelson chose, definitely veered towards that Roxy Music art-rock look. However, musically it was very guitar-driven, and had much more in common with the Bowie/Ronson sound of that time. Even with the first single from the album, Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus, its title had a blatant tongue-in-cheek tip-of-the-hat to Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. This would be an association that Bill would struggle to distance himself from in those early years, and even though his vocal delivery and lead guitar playing were very different to Bowie and Ronson respectively, there are undoubtedly echoes & traits of their influence subliminally seeping into the essence of what the band were doing. On occasion there are noticeable Ziggy vibes to this album.
The band at that time was a 4-piece with 2 guitarists, sometimes with an acoustic rhythm guitar strongly included in the mix, yet there was always space made for Bill Nelsons distinctive lead guitar playing. The melody lines he chose are very much him through & through, and even on this debut album you can hear licks and guitar lines that would become his own unique style for the next 5 years to come. Axe Victim feels very British, with little in the way of US influences on the music. Stand-out moments on this album are the title track Axe Victim, the aforementioned Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus, and Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape, which for the last couple of minutes of the song features a gorgeous melodic guitar solo from Bill Nelson, which hints at things to come. It may not be among the band’s finest albums, as at times it does seem to be struggling to find its identity. Yet it is a very good debut release, showing lots of promise, and a perfect introduction to the excellent song-writing talents of Bill Nelson.
Within a relatively short time touring the album, as the support act to Cockney Rebel, Bill realised that the suggestion from EMI to get better musicians in was actually good advice. He then dissolved the first line-up of the band, secured the services of both the bassist and keyboardist from Cockney Rebel, who in turn suggested using drummer Simon Fox. This mark II version of the band only played a handful of dates, and during that period Bill felt that it never truly gelled, yet enjoyed working with Simon Fox. New Zealander Charlie Tumahai was auditioned and drafted in to play bass in late 1974, and the band went on to do further UK dates as a trio. With Bill Nelson also playing keyboards as well as all the guitar parts, this line-up went into the studio during the early Spring of 1975 to record the 2nd Be-Bop Deluxe album, which was titled Futurama. Most of the song material had already been written, which was a something that would continue through-out the band’s career, with always having the next album pretty much set out while still promoting their last release. This time around the band went to Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, and at EMI’s suggestion, using Roy Thomas Baker as producer, who had just come off the back of having incredible success with Queen. Also very important to this album, was implementing Pat Moran as the recording engineer, which is a big part of why the recordings still sound so fabulous today.
Futurama is a superb follow-up album, which displays a large improvement all-round, from musicianship, to song-writing, and overall recording & production. This is what most people consider to be the first proper Be-Bop Deluxe album, as it is way more typical of the musical path that the band would follow across their next 2 successive albums, and feels far more consistent with both content and quality. The first side of the vinyl album in particular (first 5 tracks), are a proper tour-de-force, which they would replicate that format again with their next album release as well. Included on side one are such gems as the magnificent Sister Seagull, and Soundtrack, which is probably the most proggy number that the band ever undertook. But the absolute shining star is undoubtedly Maid In Heaven, which is the most perfect pop-rock song squeezed into less than 2 and a half minutes, that you will ever hear. How this never became a big hit single for the band absolutely baffles me. The other 4 tracks on side 2 are all still of a very high standard, and on this CD release they have added a b-side of a single, Lights, which comes from the same era. With an album cover by George Hardie, famous for his work with Hipgnosis, this is the album that started to make real headway for the band in the UK.
To take Futurama out on tour and do the music justice in a live setting, auditions were held for a keyboardist, and from that Andy Clark was discovered, who instantly fell in so well with the chemistry of the band, as had Charlie Tumahai before him. At last you had the classic 4-piece line up of Be-Bop Deluxe which would remain until the end of the band’s run. And it’s this line-up that entered the studio in the Autumn of 1975, mere months after the release of Futurama, to start work on their next album, which turned out to probably be their landmark achievement, got them a position just outside the UK top 20 single charts, and started to break them over in the US, which resulted in a US tour to promote this record too. Sunburst Finish is such a damn fine album, and actually was my own first introduction to Be-Bop Deluxe, courtesy of my older brother’s record collection. If Futurama was a very decent 8 out of 10, then this one is at least a 9.5. The sound of the band was solidified further with the addition of John Leckie on production duties. He was a former recording engineer for EMI, originally working as a tape operator for Abbey Road studios for the likes of George Harrison, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, to name but a few, and had even worked as an engineer on the band’s Axe Victim album. Yet Sunburst Finish turned out to be his very first production role. In case you’re not aware of who John Leckie is, he later went on to produce huge albums for Radiohead, Muse and The Stone Roses. His involvement with Sunburst Finish, along with Bill Nelson’s song-writing, which was on fire during this era, ended up creating one of the greatest British rock albums of the mid 70’s.
Bill Nelson wanted to have more control over the production side of things, after feeling that the 2 previous albums had not truly captured his sonic ambitions, and he was also becoming very capable at creating home demo recordings. So a compromise was found by bringing in John Leckie, and Bill was given a co-production role. The song-writing too seemed to go to another level, as during this period Bill was becoming a real master of his craft, and the material featured on Sunburst Finish goes to prove that. Then the icing on cake is that the band had really gelled, both as a live act and in the studio, making them a truly formidable musically tight unit. Out of the 10 tracks featured, only Like An Old Blues feels in any way lacking, as it’s a fairly generic rock & roller of a tune. Yet the other 9 songs are amongst Be-Bop Deluxe’s finest output. Side 1 of the vinyl album in particular is about as near perfect as you can get, with tracks 2 through to 4 flowing into each other, in a Dark Side of the Moon fashion, and then being book-ended with 2 absolutely scorching rock numbers. Stand-out moments for me are Fair Exchange, Sleep That Burns, and Blazing Apostles. These represent the band at their peak as a rock act. However that takes nothing away from amazing songs like Life in the Air-Age, Heavenly Homes, or Crying to the Sky, with its beautifully emotive closing guitar solo. This album cemented the fact that Bill Nelson was becoming a guitar hero, and of course Sunburst Finish gave the band its first pop chart entry with Ships In The Night, which opened them up to a much bigger audience.
The 3 albums featured in this boxed set mark the path of a band in its infancy, to then becoming such an exceptional group within a relatively short period of time. To put things into context, Futurama, Sunburst Finish, and their 4th album Modern Music, were all released within a 15 month period. Quite astounding by today’s standard. Such was the creativity of the band that was being encouraged, pushed and financed by the record label, which is a trait that has disappeared over time for a vast sector of the record industry. Major fans of Be-Bop Deluxe will likely have all the albums, and perhaps have already purchased the full expanded/remastered 2-disc versions of the band’s first 3 albums, that have also been issued by Cherry Red Records in recent years. But for anyone that may not have heard the albums in a long while, or are even brand new to the band, then this is a superb collection for you to get your teeth into. Be-Bop Deluxe are one of those high quality bands that should have achieved great success, yet apart from a semi-successful single, and a loyal UK fan-base that would religiously go to see them perform live, they never quite hit the heights that they should have. In hindsight I think it was mainly down to marketing, as they were definitely an act that was hard to pigeon-hole. At times a little progressive, sometimes quite pop-orientated, and could also play kick-ass rock music along with the best of them. Maybe their inability to be genre-labelled was also their stumbling block. Regardless of that, everything they did oozed quality, and these 3 albums from the first half of their career showcase a legacy that they can be extremely proud of.
TRACK LISTING
Disc 1: Axe Victim
01. Axe Victim (5:14)
02. Love is Swift Arrows (4:12)
03. Jet Silver & the Dolls of Venus (4:10)
04. Third Floor Heaven (2:27)
05. Night Creatures (3:34)
06. Rocket Cathedrals (3:00)
07. Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape (3:23)
08. Jets at Dawn (7:19)
09. No Trains to Heaven (6:39)
10. Darkness (L’Immoraliste) (3:22)
Time – 43:20
Disc 2: Futurama (38:15)
01. Stage Whispers (3:05)
02. Love With the Madman (3:12)
03. Maid in Heaven (2:26)
04. Sister Seagull (3:36)
05. Sound Track (6:15)
06. Music in Dreamland (4:44)
07. Jean Cocteau (2:53)
08. Between the Worlds (3:17)
09. Swan Song (6:03)
~ Bonus track:
10. Lights (B-side of Music In Dreamland single) (2:44)
Time – 38:15
Disc 3: Sunburst Finish
01. Fair Exchange (4:49)
02. Heavenly Homes (3:36)
03. Ships in the Night (4:03)
04. Crying to the Sky (3:57)
05. Sleep That Burns (5:16)
06. Beauty Secrets (2:47)
07. Life in the Air Age (3:59)
08. Like an Old Blues (3:27)
09. Crystal Gazing (3:24)
10. Blazing Apostles (4:29)
Time – 39:47
MUSICIANS
Bill Nelson – Lead Vocals (except CD1: 6), Electric, Acoustic & 12-String Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion, Harmonica, Tubular Bells
Ian Parkin – Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars, Organ (CD1: 6)
Robert Bryan – Bass, Lead Vocals (CD1: 6)
Nicholas Chatterton-Dew – Drums, Backing Vocals
Jenny Haan – Backing Vocals (CD1: 4)
Andrew Powell – Orchestral Arrangement (CD1: 10), (CD3: 8 & 9)
Charlie Tumahai – Bass, Backing Vocals, Percussion (CD2 & CD3)
Simon Fox – Drums, Percussion (CD2 & CD3)
Andy Evans – Bass (CD2: 7)
The Grimethorpe Colliery Band – Brass Band (CD2: 6)
Andy Clark – All Keyboards, Percussion (CD:3)
Ian Nelson – Alto Saxophone (CD3: 3)
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Cherry Red Records | Esoteric Recordings
Country of Origin: UK
Date of Release: 25th July 2025
LINKS
Be-Bop Deluxe – Facebook | Info at Cherry Red Records
Bill Nelson – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | X
