Album Review: Be Bop Deluxe / Futurama...............Eric, wherever you are, I thank you!.....

"Top-heavy with massed guitars and melodic ideas pursued on a whim and just as quickly abandoned, it nevertheless contained two of the most perfect pop singles to never make the charts- "Main in Heaven" and "Sister Seagull"

Peter Buckley in "Rough Guide to Rock"

For many reasons I had discovered by the beginning of the 10th grade that high school was not going to be all that it was cracked up to be. I'm guessing that's how it was for everyone to varying degrees. I had moved to a new city from where I was born and raised at the end of 8th grade, and I never acclimated to my new environment, and in hindsight I've realized it was mostly my own fault! 9th grade was the roughest school year I had ever had, and 10th grade was shaping up to be just as miserable.

So in the fall of 1975 I was once again sitting in German 1 class during first period as I had gotten a failing grade in the same class my freshman year and had to take it over again. I had done well in Spanish in junior high, and had figured maybe German would be just as easy. Boy, was I in for a big surprise! I was a loner, and pretty much kept to myself. Next to me in class sat a kid I had never seen before named Eric. He didn't talk much, but he spent a lot of time drawing on a  his peechee folder One day I noticed he had drawn a large Kiss logo. That caught my attention! 

At the time Kiss weren't a nationally known act (their "Kiss Alive" LP that put them on the map was released in September of 1975), and very few people in Southern California knew who they were, let alone owned any of their LPs. At the time I think I knew a little more musically than a lot of kids my age. At some point I struck up a conversation with Eric, and I asked him if he was into music. Come to find out, he was, in a big way. We ended up chatting a bit at lunch about music, and I found he was much further along on the musical curve than I was. Some of the bands he mentioned I had never heard of, and from what he was telling me they were mostly new, and from the U.K. He would bring music magazines to class, and instead of studying German I was reading up on the latest musical happenings.

One day Eric asked if I would like to buy some records from him as he didn't want them anymore. I said sure, but could I listen to them before I bought them. He said "no", that they were all good bands, and besides they were only 50 cents a piece. So he brought a stack of vinyl to school, and I began to sift through them. For some reason when I hit the cover of Be Bop Deluxe's "Futurama" album I thought the art deco inspired cover was cool, and I flipped it over and saw this:

Back cover of Futurama

Now I can't tell you today why I was intrigued by a photo of some poor guy in a harlequin suit who was being restrained by two other gentleman, but at the time I thought it was interesting enough to give Eric the 50 cents for it. Also in the stack were albums by other U.K. bands like Steve Harley and the Cockney Rebels,Roxy Music, Slade, The Sparks, and others (I wasn't to hear any of these bands till later).  On the bus ride home I just stared at the cover, front and back. It just seemed so odd, and I wondered what sort of music could be on the grooves of that vinyl! The bus arrived in our tract, and I scurried home, ran up to my room, and threw the record on my turntable. What came out got my attention immediately.

At the time I first heard "Futurama" I didn't have the "musical vocabulary" to explain Be Bop Deluxe's sound, which in hindsight added to the beauty of the initial listening experience. I just know it was a wondrous thing I had discovered, this Be Bop Deluxe! Now that I do have the "musical vocabulary" I can describe what I was hearing, and maybe why it appealed to me so much.

Be Bop Deluxe was the vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Bill Nelson's musical vehicle. The bands first album was "Axe Victim", which at the time was only available as import in the US. After the release of the album Nelson dumped the entire band and started over. He hired Charlie Tumahai (bass) and Simon Fox (drums) prior to recording "Futurama". On a side note during the recording of "Futurama" Nelson hired keyboardist Andy Clark, but he didn't play during the sessions for the album. This quintet would remain together for the rest of Be Bop Deluxe's all too short existence.

Nelson was strongly influenced by the art and film work of Frenchman Jean Cocteau, and art in general. I believe Nelson enjoyed the whole process of making music, as well as working on the packaging artwork. His lyrics didn't seem to always tell stories, but they did paint pictures in conjunction with the music. His lyrics, at least to me, seemed to follow this pattern for the bands entire lifespan. However, when he did tell stories they made excellent pop songs (that sadly flew under the radar of the general listening public)

Simon Fox, Charlie Tumahai and Bill Nelson

Review:

The album was produced by Roy Thomas Baker who is known mostly for his work producing the first  five Queen albums. Already having heard a fair bit of Queen before ever hearing Be Bop Deluxe I think Baker's production work on "Futurama" must have struck a familiar chord with me. His style was to make the music sound "big", multi layered and elegant. Also the guitars are very prominent on this record (a la Brian May) of Queen, and I was very keen on lots of guitar playing (or overplaying depending on your point of view!) at 15. 

For the first few months after I picked up "Futurama" I don't think I even flipped the album over to side two more than once or twice. Side one was just so good! It wasn't too hard, it wasn't too soft and it had lots of lead guitar pouring out of the speakers. Also, as the quote at the top of the page espouses, side one had a perfect pair of pop tunes tracking back to back in "Maid in Heaven" and "Sister Seagull". 

The album's first tune was "Stage Whispers" and it opens with a multi-tracked guitar solo  that pans left to right and melts into an uptempo rocker. As the  singing begins one notices  that Bill Nelson had a very pronounced "Britishness" to his voice, not so much a distinct accent, maybe just in the delivery. I find the same thing in Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull's voice as well.  The song moves through several shifts in style from a heavy riff to a bolero feel which then morphs into a funky instrumental break. The song then ends in a ska like bit that underlays a solo that takes us to the end of the song. Nelson crammed a lot of musical ideas into this one song, and it manages to all fit together somehow.

The intro to the ballad "Love with the Madman" hints at Elton John's "Rocket Man" with piano being the lead instrument, and the guitar providing melodic embellishments. As the song progresses the guitar takes over in the mix, as yet again Nelson's guitar noodling are heard throughout the song.The production on this track also gives the tune a bit of a Queen feel, and the lyrics hint at something David Bowie might have done. The third track of side one is just over 2 minutes of pop perfection in "Main in Heaven". This song, and others scattered through out the bands catalog of tunes, show that Nelson could right fabulous pop songs when he wanted to. I think the reality was he didn't really care to. "Maid in Heaven" opens with a nice instrumental section that leads into the vocal section of the song that is built around a few power chords and an arpeggiated descending bit. The song is relatively free of Nelson's usual leads guitar embellishments until the guitar solo that serves as the outro to the song. A brilliant little pop masterpiece; short, upbeat,well written and played. A true gem.

A live version of "Maid in Heaven" from 1976

"Sister Seagull" is the second of the back to back pop gems on side one. A slow ballad that tells a story in word and music. A bit of a contemplative lament is the best way I could describe the song. The part of the song that really caught my attention the first few times I listened to it was the guitar solo. It builds from a section that is played backward, as the notes surge and die suddenly, as opposed to a normally recorded part where the notes decay the longer they sustain. Nelson's guitar tone then shifts to a heavily distorted, phase shifted (a phaser modulates the sound to give it a "sweeping" effect)  solo that is one his most memorable. Many years later I read a interview with Nelson in which he was critiquing Robin Trower's guitar playing. I found it ironic in that several of the solos on this album, including on this particular song, at least in their "sound", are very close to what Trower was doing. I think Nelson was complaining more about Trower's style (rather pedestrian blues rock and a blatant Hendrix ripoff in Nelson's eyes) than his actual tone. After the solo we are given one more repetition of the verse, and then we are given one of the coolest guitar effects ever! The outro "solo" of the song is Nelson mimicking seagull cries on his guitar. Under his lead playing are subtly recorded guitar chords, and as a whole the sound does remind one of being by the seaside. This is probably the best one-two punch of tunes the Be Bop Deluxe ever recorded.

Bill Nelson playing his trademark Gibson ES-345

The final cut on side one of the LP is "Sound Track". To put it simply I've always viewed it as a song built around a series of guitar solos! The lyrics seem to be about birds, or planes...............or something. I'd never even read them till I wrote this review. It never mattered, I was too busy listening to the guitar work! With that we finish side one of the LP.  

 Side two opens in fine fashion with as "Music in Dreamland"marches in to a martial drum beat and then takes on the character of a bit of a dance hall tune. As the song progresses if not for Nelson's distinctive voice it could almost be mistaken for a song from Queen's "Sheer Heart Attack" album. The song features what sounds like a marching band with bass drums, tuba,etc. as we get close to the midway point of the song. As the song nears the end we are given a heavily effected guitar solo played in with a middle eastern style. This, like every other song, features a heavy dose of Nelson's guitar noodling.

"Music in Dreamland" is followed by the light, jazzy "Jean Cocteau". Through out his career Nelson would frequently mention Cocteau as an influence, and when the band recorded their "Drastic Plastic" LP they would do so at Chateau Saint George, Juan-le-Pins France due to it's association with Cocteau. This is by far the mellowest tune on the LP. Next the frenetic "Between the World"charges out of the speakers at a rapid pace  The song was released as a single, and to this day I have no idea why, with two songs on the first side of the LP that are much better candidates than this song. There are some nice "la la la" sing along moments in the chorus that scream  "single!", but to me this was a album track and no more. No guitar solos on this song, but Nelson's usual guitar embellishments underpin the song. The lyrics are a bit nonsensical, artsy word play la Bowie. Probably my least favorite song on the LP, but still pretty good.The album closes out with the fittingly titled "Swan Song". This is a mid tempo song with a fair bit of piano being used. I think Roy Thomas Baker pulled out all the stops on this tune as far as production tricks go. Stop-start sections, stylistic changes from soft to abrasive, backwards guitar, gongs and more; Baker threw in everything but the kitchen sink. The song itself has a bit of a Elton John circa "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" feel to it. And there we have it, a bit of a forgotten and underrated masterpiece from a terribly underrated band.

Parting Thoughts:

Be Bop Deluxe went on to make several more LPs before Nelson, disappointed by the bands lack of commercial success,threw in the towel and went solo. Being rather well read on the bands goings on, I have to suspect they were not well served by their management. Their touring partners seemed somewhat hit and miss, as some gigs  were played with similar sounding bands, while at other times they were coupled with no frill rockers such as Ted Nugent and Rory Gallagher. I also think Nelson was restless to move on to another form of art/music, and Be Bop Deluxe was a casualty of his artistic restlessness. Subsequently Be Bop Deluxe became a footnote in rock and roll history. Bill Nelson continued to make recordings, in many different styles, and still records new music to this day. 

I suppose if I had to lump Be Bop Deluxe in with a group of similar bands I would include David Bowie, Queen, 10cc, City Boy, ELO and Crack the Sky; and maybe "Sirens" era Roxy Music! Well produced, hard edged pop with guitar work that is a bit adventurous.To this day this is, and will remain one of my favorite albums. I think some of the love for it is pure nostalgia. Listening to the record and finding joy in it during what was not one of my happier times certainly has something to do with it. Be Bop Deluxe is one of my most treasured "musical friends". "Futurama" is like a favorite sweater, in the musical sense. I can throw it on, and it is always comfortable, and it fits just right. I know it like the back of my hand, but I never tire of listening to it. I only have a handful of albums I can say that about. I'm guessing I will be reviewing those too some day!

Eric moved away between 10th and 11th grade, but I really do owe him a debt of gratitude. He turned me on to some great music, and really broadened my musical palette, and sold me an album for 50 cents that really brought a lot of joy to a moody teenager. So as I said in the title of this post, Eric, wherever you are I thank you!

If you like this album you might also enjoy:

Queen: Sheer Heart Attack

David Bowie: Alladin Sane

Be Bop Deluxe: Modern Music