ALBUM NOTES:

Secret Club for Members Only is an album mixing vocal and instrumental pieces issued exclusively for Nelsonica ‘07 on the Discs of Ancient Odeon label.  Due to the previous convention CD selling out in 11 days, the decision was made to increase the print run of Secret Club to 1000 copies, although this was not declared in advance (maybe to protect interest in the convention).

In a genuine attempt to stem the practice of selling the Nelsonica CDs for extortionate prices, the decision was also taken to officially offer copies of Secret Club at 'Buy It Now' prices on eBay over the Nelsonica weekend.  This back-fired to a degree, and caused some criticism on the Dreamsville Forum, as it left fans unsure whether to trust the listing.  For whatever reason, this approach was never repeated.

As soon as Nelsonica was over, the remaining copies of Secret Club for Members Only were sold through SOS, and on 14 January 2011 an announcement was made that the album had completely sold out.


CURRENT AVAILABILITY:

Available for purchase as a digital download in the Dreamsville Store.

IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY:
Return to Jazz of Lights, Here Comes Mr Mercury, Arcadian Salon, Fantasmatron,
Modern Moods For Mighty Atoms, Clocks & Dials, Astral Motel, Whimsy


BILL'S THOUGHTS:

"I Remember Marvelman":  "Weird and Beard are very much tongue in cheek...those who have the requisite background and are as old as me may have a knowing chuckle at the entire song.  At least, that was my plan.  The song refers to an English comic book hero from the '50's, 'Marvelman', whose everyday persona was a youngster called Mickey Moran.  If Mickey shouted the word 'Kimota' a flash of power zapped down from the skies and transformed him into the mighty Marvelman.  If you reverse the word 'Kimota' and change the 'k' to 'c' it spells 'Atomic'. (And Mickey's surname only needs a one letter change to transform it into 'Moron'.  Don’t know if this is what the character's creator intended though!)

The "weird" and "beard" refer to '50's beatniks, as perceived by the popular media of the time.  The connection of that with Marvelman is an obscure but personally resonant one and I approached the song in a humorous, pop-art, nouveau-kitsch, bubble-pop spirit of surrealism style.  It's meant to raise a smile and the Dali-esque eyebrow of absurdity.  OK, so it's an art-student's song.
As someone once said, "the art school ball goes on forever".  And I'm just an old-school beardy-weirdy art student at heart!"
_____

Bill's Listening Suggestion of the Day:

"From my cabinet of musical erotica: "Men in Search of the Milky Bosom".  (And let's face it gentlemen, old habits die hard...)

This one comes from the Secret Club for Members Only album and takes a quiet, improvised, piano-led path over a mid-tempo trip-hoppy beat.

For those of you into compiling compatible tracks, this would sit nicely alongside some of the piano-based pieces on the Theatre of Falling Leaves album.  Music for a bedroom lit only by scented candles and shining eyes."

FAN THOUGHTS:

Peter:

"My god, Bill...you are simply amazing.  What it must be like to have that much unbelievably great music just flowing through your being...you are blessed, dude, blessed.

As are we who are lucky enough to be listening.  Pity the fools who are missing out on all this musical treasure."


Sue:

"I love the title track, it has a really different feel to it...dark, brooding and mysterious."


Pathdude:

“Jet Pack Jive”:  “is the highlight of the album (although it’s crammed full of goodness).”


emotionalhooligan:

"JET PACK JIVE":  "..............what a track.  Proper old school Nelson."


PhilK:

"I think of all Bill's albums I have this one has the near perfect mix of vocal and instrumental tracks.  Particular favourites for me are:
"Station Clock in Cloud of Steam" (my current favourite Bill track, an absolutely beautiful instrumental, perfect for chilling to).
"Symphony in Golden Stereo"
"Boyhood Shadows"
"The Futurian"
"All Hail the Happy Captain"
"Men in Search of the Milky Bosom"
"Hey, Bill Diddley!"

In fact I could list the whole album, what other artist has so much high quality material to be able to give an album of this brilliance away to his fans [at Nelsonica], amazing."


major snagg:

"This is high class collection of material...songs and melodic instrumentals.  This is a fabulous CD.  I've just been rediscovering the hidden jems on it.

"Symphony in Golden Stereo", "Ghost Show", etc.  These are just two that I like, and how different they are from each other.  The first is a lush optimistic 'ballad' (?) and the later, an exciting up tempo, 'Rocker'!  This is why I continue to be a 'fan' of Bill Nelson."


A Kinder Light:

"Symphony in Golden Stereo":  "is really hitting home...I don't know why I'm surprised after all of this time that you continue to exceed your own high standards, but I have to tell you that these last five years or so have been an absolutely stellar period for those of us that are enjoying it."


Merikan1:

"I think that this one is highly underrated.  A classic Nelsonica CD encompassing many styles and moods."


Kalamazoo Kid:

"Academically, I can get from "Heavenly Homes" to "Men in Search of the Milky Bosom," but 30 years have gone by between those songs and in our lives.  It's the fact that BN has happily discarded his past to pursue his present (and imagine a bunch of futures) that makes the story worth following.  I've certainly enjoyed BN's nostalgia for the past, but only because it has been refracted through steadily older and more restless perspectives - and communicated through dramatically different aesthetic approaches.

Change is the measure of life.  Stasis is the measure of death.  And Bill Nelson is alive and well at 60 - which puts him in a class nearly by himself, in any artistic genre at any time in history.  60 is the age of retirement, of coasting, of resting on dusty laurels, of reunion tours, and of being 35 years past your last startling piece of new work - or of being 35 years dead.  All hail BN, delighting and pissing people off into his seventh decade."


Timbaugh:

"My copy of Secret Club arrived yesterday...in the last week I obtained five of Bill's CDs and am yet to be disappointed...Sell your wife and buy the lot..."

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