Bill Nelson - Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam (1981)

EU Import.
On Nelson's website, he refers to this 2005 Mercury remastered CD as the "definitive edition of the album."

"The music on this album was written during the latter part of 1978 and recorded at intervals between February and June of 1979. That it is only now publicly available I find ironic. Nevertheless, I am pleased that these tracks, which constitute approximately two thirds of the total material recorded for the album, have finally been acquitted... by mirrors if not by justice."

--Bill Nelson March 1981

I would say it's cutting edge stuff for '81, but the fact that it was written two years prior makes it all the more impressive. New wave-ish, experimental, edgy, power pop rock, synth-guitar, proto-post-punk. At first I thought it was like Bowie, then Devo, then Gary Numan, then Bruce Woolley & The Camera Club, then back to Devo, then back to Numan, then I got a headache and gave up trying to compare, which is ultimately an exercise in futility, no?

Around late 1982/early '83, I first discovered Bill Nelson through his 1982 album, The Love That Whirls (Diary of a Thinking Heart) which included the tracks Empire Of The Senses and Flaming Desire, neither of which were like anything I'd ever heard before. I then noticed Nelson's name listed as producer on a couple of Flock Of Seagull tunes. In any case, seeing this CD - Nelson's most successful solo album in the UK - gave me the opportunity to pick up some of Nelson's other work from that era. I've never listened to his earlier work with Be-Bop Deluxe (even though I consider that to be a top-shelf band name). This wouldn't be my preference for everyday listening, but if I'm in the right mood, it definitely scratches an itch. Nelson remains quite prolific, releasing up to 4 or 5 new albums a year.

Press of the time:

• Smash Hits: "guitar-based powerglide rock and unfussy disco-tinged rhythm"
• Record Mirror (★★★½): "The coldness of Nelson's music means that it takes a great deal of time to get familiar with it."

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Not released in US (peak on the UK chart: #7)

Tracks: I think the best track is White Sound. Also good are Living In My Limousine, Youth Of Nation On Fire, and Do You Dream In Colour (Nelson's highest charting solo single in the UK). I'm not much for Vertical Games.

Bonus tracks: 7 of 'em, all b-sides, mostly from the Living In My Limousine 12" and the double 7-inch release for Youth Of Nation On Fire. Curiously, nothing from the Sound The Ritual Echo (Atmospheres For Dreaming) album mentioned in the above ad.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Around the time this album was released in 1981, I was recruited to run the spotlight at various events at my school, i.e., variety/talent shows, spring recitals, elementary school presentations, and the drill team's annual spring dance show. This normally involved two of us climbing up tall ladders to the "attic" high above the auditorium floor and running the spot. I usually handled the awkward movement of the spot while the other sucker would change the color of the lighting and focus the beam. I wasn't much of an actor but enjoyed the theater life, so why not? It kept me out of the house. Even though the school I attended was replaced by a new high school built almost 20 years ago, that old school auditorium building still stands (it's gotta be 70-80 years old as of this writing and was already a dump when I attended) and those ladders are probably still there; I pray no one has to use them. But that really doesn't have much to do with this album other than coincidental timing (and maybe "get on the beam"??), so never mind. As you were.

Main entrance to my high school in the early 1980's.
The auditorium mentioned is the structure on the left.