For those people whose personal music memories go back to the early 70s, they might remember a band called Be-Bop Deluxe, whose lead singer and guitarist was Bill Nelson. Dont know? Dont remember? Not to worry, I have no memories of him and didnt know about him either till about a month back, when my husband rediscovered Bill Nelson via his website. And then of course there was nothing to do about it but attend the official Bill Nelson fan convention ("Nelsonica 05") in Hull, Yorkshire - which happens to be his hometown.
The musical extravaganza (not!) took place at the pub that he played at the very first time - The Duke of Cumberland pub. I have to say that the hour-long interview and the old 70s videos played thereafter left me cold - in the sense that there wasnt much to interest me.
I did perk up when they played some music from his new to-be-released album - The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill.
That sounded way better than his 70s-style head-banging music (aka noise) and I'm looking forward to listening to the entire album when it comes out. And Mr Nelson can consider his fan base to have increased by a quantity of one.
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Since, technically, Bill Nelson was on the scene first, he can be considered Hull's most famous attraction. Hull's second-most important draw is the breath-takingly huge suspension bridge, the Humber Bridge that spans the Humber Estuary.
It's a really imposing sight and seems to stretch for miles across the estuary - although I dont suppose it would be more than a mile long. The Humber (river/estuary) at that point is pretty darn wide as well, and I would have loved to go on the ferry that chugged its way to and fro. I'm sure it would take a good 15 minutes to cross from one side of the Humber to the other on the ferry.
And finally, here's me with the Humber Bridge in the background.
