Be-Bop Deluxe: Great Band – lousy timing.

Be-Bop Deluxe in concert this afternoon – From Calderon Hall in New York on December 6, 1976 and recorded by WLIR-FM in New York.

Had they been signed only two years earlier they would have enjoyed association with the likes of Roxy Music and post-Ziggy Stardust David Bowie (despite not wanting to be pigeon-holed, audiences kind of preferred it that way). Admittedly, the band changed personnel and musical course by the time they reached EMI. But by the time they were signed to Harvest (a label initially established to promote the arcane and offbeat), musical tastes were, at least temporarily, derailed by Punk – remember, EMI gave. us The Sex Pistols, so the future was looking in that direction. The list of bands that EMI signed during that time and dropped is pretty impressive (how many of you out there remember Digalongomacs “A Raincoat”?), and future release schedules included the likes of X-Ray Spex, The Adverts and The Saints. It was changing, and unless you already had your audience well in hand (i.e. Queen), it was going to be hard sell promoting a band some thought were “yesterdays news”.

The tent that Mainstream Pop Music lives under is not as large as one would imagine, certainly it wasn’t by the time the 70s came around. Be-Bop Deluxe came under that misconception. Coupled with the fact that founder Bill Nelson saw the writing on the wall and was eager to dive into Experimental and New Wave, Be-Bop Deluxe carried too much of a stigma to lose, so by 1978 Be-Bop Deluxe was dissolved and Bill Nelson went solo, eventually morphing into Bill Nelson’s Red Noise to turn out some well-received and moderately successful albums.

But for now, it’s 1976 and it’s Be-Bop Deluxe and a set that gave a pretty good idea what they were all about and why Founder/Writer/Guitarist Bill Nelson was regarded as highly underrated and a voice that needed to be heard.

And that’s history – enjoy lunch.

Caveat: the tape has some problems – lots of drop-out and channels fading in and out – but considering the fact that’s almost 50 years old and seen better days is something many of us can relate to. So there’s that. Enjoy anyway.