What were the different lineups of Be Bop Deluxe?
Bill originally formed Be Bop in 1972 with Richard Brown on keyboards, Ian Parkin on rhythm guitar, Rob Bryan on bass guitar, and Nicholas Chatterton-Dew on drums. Brown, originally in Gentle Revolution, left the band after fourteen concerts at the request of his wife before any recordings were made. Originally the band was called Flagship, which was changed to Be Bop Deluxe after a few initial concerts. After the first album, 1974’s “Axe Victim”, Bill split the band up at the request of the record company, EMI. Paul Jeffreys (bass) and Milton Reame-James (keyboards) from Steve Harley’s band Cockney Rebel joined up briefly for some live dates. Milton brought drummer Simon Fox (previously in the band Hackensack) to Bill’s attention, who joined the band. Bill thought the addition of Jeffreys and Reame-James wasn’t working out and asked them to leave the band. Jeffreys later died in December 1988 in the Lockerbie, Scotland terrorist air disaster. Bill and Simon auditioned new bass players
