Raft Podcast March 2006 Oh Yes Believe it and Weep!
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Raft Podcast Febuary 2006 Jesse Mac, Kooks, Comps, Glory and Rat on the Raft!
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Raft Podcast January 2006 Interviews with Coxon, concretes, great comps, music and chat!
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December's Raft Podcast Hit the radio!
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Kate Bush King Of The Mountain
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Glastonbury 2005 Documentary
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The-Raft.com 1995-2005!
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Minnie Riperton Young Willing and Able
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Minnie Riperton Lovin' You
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UB40 Swing Low 03
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Postcards From The Future....
Introducing Be Bop Deluxe EMI Out 20 September “This guitar does not lie” - Bill Nelson 1975 Brandishing his trademark Gibson ES345 and influenced by greats such as Duane Eddy, Hank Marvin and Jimi Hendrix, Bill Nelson in Be Bop Deluxe proved himself one of the most technically accomplished British guitarists of the 70s; not to mention a distinctive songwriter with a fondness for futurism and Jean Cocteau. Commemorating the 30th anniversary of his major label debut with Axe Victim, this collection draws from all of the six (five studio, one live in concert) albums Be Bop Deluxe recorded for EMI’s Harvest subsidiary between 1974 and 1978. Bill’s axe-work - a ringing harmonic here, a wah wah stutter there, gurgling, choking, strafing - is always inventive and although this is the period for which he is primarily known, it constitutes but a fraction of his total output.
In various guises he has recorded over 40 albums since Be Bop disbanded. Interest in Bill remains high because his work has an intriguing charisma. It occupies a world where childhood is perpetual, where the whimsical bumps elbows with the profound, and the influence of his home county Yorkshire (he was born and bred in Wakefield) is keenly felt. Nelson is also something of renaissance man, having composed for film and television scores, directed videos, run labels and produced/collaborated with artists as diverse as A Flock Of Seagulls and Harold Budd. After playing what he calls “psychedelic blues music” in various ad hoc bands during the 60s, his career began in earnest early the next decade with the solo LP Northern Dream. Financed by the owner of a Wakefield record shop, it was originally limited to 250 copies.
One of them found its way to John Peel who began playing it regularly on Radio One, prompting executives from Harvest to seek Bill out. Their intention was for him to revisit Northern Dream with better recording equipment but, having just formed the first line-up of Be Bop Deluxe, Bill had other ideas. A single, Teenage Archangel b/w Jets at Dawn was recorded before the Harvest deal was signed and sold at concerts. Both tracks are present here and though the production is rougher than on the records that followed, they are typically accomplished efforts. Jets at Dawn, with its idealistic lyrics and cascading solos, is particularly uplifting. Axe Victim appeared in summer 1974, a patchy but lovable piece of work showcasing Bill’s fluid style, jazz-tinged chops and thin but confident tenor vocals. Somewhat reminiscent of Bowie’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide, the standout Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape has a truly epic feel. There was a change of line-up for Futurama, on which Bill’s vision was given full rein by the kitchen sink approach of Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker. Heavy with layered guitars and melodic ideas pursued on a whim and quickly abandoned, it featured two of the best singles never to hit the charts: Maid In Heaven and Sister Seagull. Be Bop toured with Cockney Rebel and as headliners, finally notching a hit single with the ambitious Ships In The Night from the Sunburst Finish LP, which led to their only appearance on Top Of The Pops.
Sunburst Finish was the group’s first official release across the pond and marked the beginning of two busy years crisscrossing the USA. The next long player, Modern Music, dealt with Bill’s disillusionment with that experience while reflecting on his science fiction fixation. The title track, a dreamy pop concoction that takes in every established guitar style and a few new ones besides, is particularly impressive. A break from their punishing schedule was plugged by the concert album Live! In the Air Age before Drastic Plastic completed the band’s natural life span. Recorded in the south of France in the Rolling Stone’s mobile studio, Bill’s guitar plays second fiddle, as it were, to synthesisers as he tried to assimilate electronics into his work and explored his affection for Japan. Tunes like Islands Of The Dead hint at the musical experiments to come as Bill now struck out on a ruggedly independent path, releasing albums which seldom had mass market appeal. Many are semi-ambient works, produced in splendid isolation at his Echo Observatory studio in Selby and released through his fan club, on his own Cocteau label, or through other small labels in limited runs.
STOP PRESS Beginning in just under two weeks and for the first time in 20 years, Nelson will be touring with a full band - Bill Nelson and the Lost Satellites. Entitled Be Bop Deluxe and Beyond, the show will feature three decades of music and a thirty minute film by Bill assembled from archive home-cine footage originally captured during the recording of 'Drastic Plastic'. See billnelson.co.uk for full details
Protection - we do a lot of it these days. Sun cream for our skin, sunglasses for our eyes, condoms for you know where - but do you remember to protect your hearing?
Click to find all the information you need to look after your hearing now so you can enjoy music for years to come
The Raft has discovered The CarbonNeutral Company
They help business, government and individuals to tackle their contribution to climate change. In addition to forestry projects, their work includes carbon emissions reduction, renewable energy and biomass schemes, as well as carbon management and risk consulting
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