“I don’t go in with an idea of what guitar I want to use. One will call out to me, saying, ‘OK, it’s my turn.’ It leads to something that comes explicitly from that instrument”: Art rock icon Bill Nelson has 80 guitars, but he ditched amps a long time ago

Bill Nelson.

With his group Be Bop Deluxe, Wakefield, UK-born guitarist Bill Nelson merged the worlds of glam, art, and experimental rock, creating a six-string concoction all set to boil over.

For the uninitiated, guitar-forward albums like Axe Victim (1974), Futurama (1975), Sunburst Finish (1976), Modern Music (1976) and Drastic Plastic (1978) represent some of the tastiest yet off-kilter shred heroics of the ‘70s. And if Nelson had stopped there, the cult following he’d gained through those records would have carried his legacy for a lifetime.