I’m headed out for a mini-vacation so I’ll leave you with a double shot from one of my favorite bands – the criminally overlooked Be Bop Deluxe.  Bill Nelson deserves a place in the pantheon of great songwriters and guitarists of the age, but for some reason neither he nor his ’70s project achieved the wild success they deserved.

First up is a performance from the TV show Pop Quiz.  It’s “Ships in the Night”, as infectious a piece of power pop as you’re likely to hear.  The album that spawned it, 1976’s Sunburst Finish, is nothing short of awesome.

The second number is “Maid in Heaven”, from the 1975 release Futurama.  You can hear how much more glam the band was at this point in their career.  A lot of BBD sounds like vintage David Bowie, which is always welcome.