Background
His father, Walter, who was a saxophonist, taught him to play saxophone, which would later be Ian"s principal instrument.
His father, Walter, who was a saxophonist, taught him to play saxophone, which would later be Ian"s principal instrument.
He played mainly the saxophone. His first participation was on the Be-Bop Deluxe song "Ships in the Night" from the Sunburst Finish album (1976). When this band split up, Bill, alongside keyboardist Andy Clark, reunited with Ian on saxophone, and formed Red Noise, a synthpop band which lasted briefly and was a continuation of Be-Bop Deluxe.
In 1982, he joined Fiat Lux.
During his three years with the band they released a number of singles, but only had two minor United Kingdom hits, "Secrets" & "Blue Emotion" British Hit Singles & Albums. Fiat Lux gigged England and Europe until they broke up in 1985.
He also worked with Richard Jobson, Level 42, The Sound, Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones among others
He reappeared in the early 1990s as member of Bolt From The Blue, and from 2002 to 2006 was in Bill Nelson And The Lost Satellites and The 3D"son He was also a member of the line-up of a failed reformation of Be-Bop Deluxe in 1990.