Biography
Be-Bop Deluxe was an English progressive rock band who achieved critical acclaim and moderate commercial success during the mid to late 1970s. The band’s sound emerged as a mixture of glam rock, prog rock and straightforward rock and roll. Science fiction imagery was common in the lyrics, along with the more traditional themes of love and the human condition. Be-Bop Deluxe was founded in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, by singer, guitarist and principal songwriter Bill Nelson in 1972. The founding lineup consisted of Nelson, guitarist Ian Parkin, bassist and vocalist Robert Bryan, drummer Nicholas Chatterton-Dew, and keyboardist Richard Brown (who left in December of that year).They started off playing the West Yorkshire pub scene, with one regular venue being the Staging Post in Whinmoor, Leeds. They never played bebop music, but instead came out of the blues-based British rock scene of the late 1960s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be-Bop_Deluxe
Album & Cover
Drastic Plastic is the last album by art rock band Be-Bop Deluxe. Drastic Plastic was recorded in Chateau Saint Georges, Juan-les-Pins, in the south of France in the summer of 1977. Nelson recorded the album in Chateau Saint Georges, because he was inspired by the relation of the place with artist Jean Cocteau, who influenced him in the 1960s. The material is different from the previous albums, showing changes in the musical direction of the band. Their style, although it maintained some of the progressive and glam standards, was more synthpop and new wave oriented. The song “Islands of the Dead” is a song dedicated to Nelson’s father, Walter, who died in 1976.
The setting for this cover was an actual set built in the Hipgnosis studio by John Whitely. The set was kitchen with lots of plastic, shiny worktops and acrylic paint thrown in a drastic way, thus the title of the album. This was called controlled random and was used on the covers for Peter Frampton’s ” Something’s Happening” and Michael Rutherford’s “Smallcreeps Day“. A reference to their electronic aspect of the music is the photograph on the back cover showing the band member’s heads in television sets with some interference… Richard Manning describes the process, a three part Dye Transfer strip in, the main picture and the two yellow pieces. I softened the edges round the yellow with a Sable brush and Photo Dye to match the background colours. Then a few spots and clean up.
Cover Location: Hipgnosis Studio, London.
Who Did What: Artwork [Lettering] – Geoff Halpin. Set Designer [Uncredited] – John Whiteley. Photography: A. Powell/ S. Thorgerson
Label: Harvest SW-11750, Harvest SHSP 4091(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell
| Side One Electrical Language New Precision New Mysteries Surreal Estate Love In Flames |
Side Two Panic In The World Dangerous Stranger Superenigmatix Visions Of Endless Hopes Possession Islands Of The Dead |
Credits
Backing Vocals – Charles Tumahai (tracks: A1 to A3, B3)
Bass – Charles Tumahai (tracks: A1 to B3, B5, B6)
Drums – Simon Fox (2) (tracks: A5 to B3, B5, B6)
Electric Guitar – Bill Nelson
Engineer – John Leckie
Lead Vocals – Bill Nelson (tracks: A1 to B3, B5, B6)
Producer – Bill Nelson, John Leckie
Synthesizer [Mini-moog] – Andy Clark (tracks: A1; A3, A4, B1, B5)
Synthesizer [Poly-moog] – Andy Clark (tracks: A1 to B1, B5)
Technician [Tape Operator] – Haydn Bendall
Written-By – Bill Nelson
