Rediscovering 1980s Music: Bill Nelson’s Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam Box Set reviewed

7 11 2024

Bill Nelson’s Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam receives a lavish box-set treatment from Cherry Red in December 2024. The album was originally going to be a Red Noise record, and a follow-up to their Sound on Sound release, but EMI passed on the album and it was finally released by Mercury Records in May 1981.

Bill Nelson Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam coverart

This new 3CD / 1 blu-ray set features a newly remastered version of the original album mix plus new 2024 stereo & 5.1 Surround Sound mixes by Stephen W Tayler and includes all the surviving recording sessions from 1979, a previously unreleased radio session from March 1981, a BBC John Peel session from June 1981 and a collection of rare single tracks from the era. Also included is the rare promotional film of Do You Dream in Colour.

Disc one is a 2024 remaster. If you know and love the original album, this will bring back memories of Bill Nelson’s highest charting release.

The fun really starts with discs 2 to 4 in this box-set. The second disc collects single tracks and a collection of sessions, all remastered. Ideal Homes, Instantly Yours and Atom Man Loves Radium Girl are from the 1980 Do You Dream in Colour EP and are a delightful throwback to the Red Noise sound.

Dada Guitare is a 1980 release. Nelson was so productive during this era that many gems like this exist outside of the main album track listing. Dada Guitare is a wonderful piece of sparse electronica, topped with trademark Nelson guitar lines.

Turn to Fiction, Hers Is A Lush Situation, and Mr. Magnetism Himself were released on the Banal 12″ single in 1981, with the extended mix of Banal also included on disc two. All rarely heard tracks, they are a welcome peek into the late 70s / early 80s music scene.

Youth of Nation on Fire is a catchy single and the other tracks from the 12” are also included here. Be My Dynamo is a fast paced experimental song and Rooms With Brittle Views is a twisted piece of new wave pop, recorded on 8 track. All My Wives Were Iron is a dystopian tale with an interesting arrangement, delicious chorused guitar and a shorter than short song length.

Birds of Tin and Love in the Abstract are from the Living in My Limousine 12″ single, and showcase the glitchy, more experimental side of Nelson’s work from this era.

The radio session tracks are interesting for historic purposes but sound like they were maybe sourced from cassette, so they stand out a little from the other tracks. Although there is a slight drop in quality, I’m still glad that the sessions have been included. The highlight of the sessions for me is the Red Noise Sound On Sound song, the mighty Stay Young. And keep in touch! Skids vocalist Richard Jobson guests on the final radio session track Jazz.

My favourite part of the collection is disc three, with new 2024 stereo remixes by Stephen W Tayler. All tracks were mixed from the original master tapes by Tayler at Chimera Arts, Real World, Box, Wiltshire between December 2023 and March 2024.

The new mixes are crystal clear and so much more powerful for it. Banal jumps out of the speakers, and the drums on Living in My Limousine cut through with more clarity.

The key track Do You Dream In Colour still holds its charm but again, packs more punch, especially the wonderful Bowie like end section, when the Solina synth arrives. It depends how you remember the album, but I am finding that I play these new Stephen W Tayler 2024 stereo mixes more than the original mix.

The sleevenotes state that Red Noise make a guest appearance on Disposable, in the form of Steve Peer (Drums), Rick ‘Pinky’ Ford (Fretless Bass) and Andy Clark (Keyboards). They also appear on a couple of the single tracks.

Youth of Nation on Fire and the albums title track (and what a gem of a track it is) particularly shine in these new 2024 stereo mixes. The bonus track The World And His Wife (released on an EP in 1983 along with the Red Noise sounding Dancing Music) is a welcome addition, and is a very commercial, memorable slice of alternative pop.

The 5.1 Blur-Ray was not provided for review, so I cannot comment on how the album transfers to surround sound, but I am looking forward to receiving my physical copy of the box-set to experience the album in this format.

The sleevenotes from Mark Powell offer a welcome insight into the albums creation, and the booklet includes press articles, shots of some of the single covers (which inspired me to rummage through my vinyl crates to find my Do You Dream in Colour 7″ to play), plus master tape photos and studio shots provided by producer John Leckie and album lyrics.

It was a pleasure revisiting and re-appraising this wonderful album from 1981. Quit dreaming and dive back in time to the early 80s, using this box-set as your soundtrack. You may never want to return.

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TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE

QUIT DREAMING & GET ON THE BEAM THE ORIGINAL STEREO MIX

Banal
Living in My Limousine
Vertical Games
Disposable
False Alarms
Decline and Fall
White Sound
Life Runs Out Like Sand
A Kind of Loving
Do You Dream in Colour
U.H.F.
Youth of Nation on Fire
Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam

DISC TWO

SINGLES & RADIO SESSIONS 1980 – 1981

Ideal Homes (original single mix)
Instantly Yours (original single mix)
Atom Man Loves Radium Girl
Dada Guitare
Banal (extended mix)
Turn to Fiction
Hers is a Lush Situation
Mr. Magnetism Himself
Youth of Nation on Fire (extended mix)
Be My Dynamo
Rooms With Brittle Views
All My Wives Were Iron
Living in My Limousine (remix)
Birds of Tin
Love in the Abstract
Konny Buys a Kodak (radio session 1981)
After Life (radio session 1981)
Boom Year Ahead (radio session 1981)
Art of Vision (radio session 1981)
Rooms With Brittle Views (radio session 1981)
Stay Young (radio session 1981)
Sleep Cycle (radio session 1981)
Jazz (radio session 1981)