Person · Male
Bill Nelson
English experimental musician
- From
- Wakefield, United Kingdom
- Since
- 1948–present
- Rating
- ★ 4.5
- Releases
- 186
- art pop
- electronic
- new wave
- art rock
- minimal synth
- new romantic
- rock
- ambient
About
William Nelson (born 18 December 1948) is an English singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, painter, video artist, writer and experimental musician. He rose to prominence as the chief songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of the rock group Be-Bop Deluxe, which he formed in 1972. Nelson has been described as "one of the most underrated guitarists of the seventies art rock movement". In 2015, he was recognised with the Visionary award at the Progressive Music Awards.
Member of
-
Be Bop Deluxe guitar, lead vocals
-
Bill Nelson and The Gentlemen Rocketeers guitar, lead vocals
Discography
Albums
-
Northern Dream Apple Music
-
Das Kabinet (The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari)
-
Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam
-
Sounding the Ritual Echo (Atmospheres for Dreaming)
-
The Love That Whirls (Diary of a Thinking Heart) Apple Music
-
Chimera Apple Music
-
The Summer of God’s Piano
-
Chamber of Dreams (Music From the Invisible Exibition)
-
Trial by Intimacy (The Book of Splendours)
-
Getting the Holy Ghost Across
-
On a Blue Wing
-
Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights
-
Ecclesia Gnostica (Music for the Interior Church)
-
Nudity
-
Das Kabinet (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari) / La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast)
-
Details
-
Pavillions of the Heart and Soul
-
Heartbreakland
-
Chimes and Rings
-
A Catalogue of Obsessions
-
Chamber of Dreams (Music From the Invisibility Exhibition)
-
Demonstrations of Affection
-
Altar Pieces
-
Luminous
-
Blue Moons and Laughing Guitars Apple Music
-
Culturemix With Bill Nelson
-
Practically Wired…or How I Became Guitar Boy
-
Crimsworth (Flowers, Stones, Fountains and Flames)
-
After the Satellite Sings Apple Music
-
Magnificent Dream People
-
Buddha Head
-
Deep Dream Decoder
-
Electricity Made Us Angels
-
Weird Critters
-
Whistling While the World Turns
-
Noise Candy: A Creamy Centre in Every Bite!
-
Luxury Lodge
-
Plaything
-
The Romance of Sustain, Volume 1: Painting With Guitars
-
Astral Motel
-
Whimsy
-
Satellite Songs
-
Custom Deluxe
-
Wah‐Wah Galaxy
-
Dreamland to Starboard
-
The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill
-
Orpheus In Ultraland
-
Rosewood, Volume 2
-
Rosewood: Ornaments and Graces for Acoustic Guitar, Volume One
-
Return to Jazz of Lights
-
Neptune’s Galaxy: The Sailor Bill Companion
-
Arcadian Salon
-
Secret Club for Members Only
-
Gleaming Without Lights
-
And We Fell Into a Dream
-
Illuminated at Dusk
-
Golden Melodies of Tomorrow
-
Silvertone Fountains
-
Mazda Kaleidoscope
-
Clocks & Dials
EPs
-
King of the Cowboys
-
Sleepcycle
-
Hope for the Heartbeat (remix)
-
A Half Nelson
-
The World and His Wife
-
Savage Gestures for Charms Sake
-
Dancing on a Knife’s Edge
-
Giants of the Perpetual Wurlitzer
-
Acceleration
-
Living for the Spangled Moment
-
The Cote D’Azure EP
-
Life in Your Hands
-
Three White Roses & A Budd
Singles
-
The Lockdown Song (It’s All Downhill From Here)
-
Variation on the Theme of a White Christmas
-
The Rumbler
-
Snow Is Falling
-
Starland
-
Think and You’ll Miss It / Beat Street
-
Silent Night
-
Frost-O-Matic
-
I Hear Electricity
-
Contemplation 2007
-
Selected Cuts From After a Satellite Sings
-
The Dead We Wake With Upstairs Drums
-
Secret Ceremony (Theme From Brond)
-
Because of You
-
Wildest Dreams
-
Contemplation
-
Hard Facts From the Fiction Department
-
Eros Arriving
-
Flaming Desire
-
Touch and Glow
-
Flaming Desire / Hope for the Heartbeat
-
Rooms With Brittle Views
-
Banal
-
Youth of Nation on Fire
-
Living in My Limousine
-
Do You Dream in Colour?
Compilations
-
Transcorder: The Aquitted by Mirrors Recordings
-
Dreamy Screens: Soundtracks From the Echo Observatory
-
The Dreamer’s Companion, Volume 2: In This I Reveal My Secret Identity
-
The Dreamer’s Companion, Volume 3: Songs of the Bel-Air Rocketman
-
The Dreamer’s Companion, Volume 1: How I Got My Secret Powers
-
The Practice of Everyday Life Apple Music
-
Electrotype (The Holyground Recordings 1968–1972)
-
Atom Shop
-
What Now, What Next?
-
Confessions of a Hyperdreamer: My Secret Studio, Volume II
-
“Magpie” Box Set
-
My Secret Studio, Volume 1
-
Das Kabinet / La Belle Et La Bete
-
The Strangest Things: A Collection of Recordings 1979–1989
-
Duplex: The Best of Bill Nelson
-
Chameleon
-
The Two‐Fold Aspect of Everything
-
Chimera / Savage Gestures for Charm’s Sake
-
Vistamix Apple Music
-
Permanent Flame (The Beginners Guide to Bill Nelson)
-
Flaming Desire and Other Passions
-
Acquitted by Mirrors
Links
Official
Concerts
Married
Sibling
Also known as
Bill Nelson's Red Noise · Cabasa El Dubova
Tags
- synthpop
- synth pop
Identifiers
- MusicBrainz
- 8d463dee-ffae-4028-a3af-ec8ccb595906
- ISNI
- 0000000055434667
- IPI
- 00087639525
- IPI
- 00088774415
Data from MusicBrainz, saved 7 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.