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Paul Collins (musician)

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Paul Collins
Performing in Pontevedra, Spain in 2008
Performing in Pontevedra, Spain in 2008
Background information
OriginNew York, New York, USA
GenresAlternative rock, rock, power pop, punk rock, alternative country, folk rock, Post-punk, Garage punk, indie rock, indie pop
Instrument(s)Vocals, Guitar, Drums
Years active1974–present
LabelsColumbia, MVS (France), Caroline Records, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Get Hip Records, Bomp! Records, Alive Records
Websitemyspace.com/paulcollins

Paul Collins (born 1954, New York City) is an American writer, author, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his work in the power pop groups The Nerves, The Breakaways and The Beat.[1]

Biography

Paul Collins has released several solo projects with his alternative country group The Paul Collins Band, who play Americana music inspired by country rock and folk rock. Collins also continues to tour with his The Beat, an ever changing lineup rock group which combines power pop with Alternative rock and punk rock.

Paul Collins began his career as the drummer (and sometime singer & songwriter) in an influential Los Angeles power pop trio The Nerves, alongside Jack Lee and future Plimsouls frontman Peter Case. The band are best remembered for "Hanging on the Telephone", a song later made famous by Blondie. Hanging On The Telephone was written by Jack Lee. Paul Collins opens many of his shows with this song, but like many Nerves' songs he did not write it.

After Jack Lee left the Nerves, Paul Collins and Peter Case continued practicing and recording with a variety of guitarists as the Breakaways; their best known song is "Walking out on Love", a song frequently performed by the Nerves in concert but never recorded by them. Tapes of their sessions surfaced in the late 2000s and were released on a compilation album in 2009.

Next, Paul Collins formed his own group as singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter for The Beat, sometimes called The Paul Collins Beat to avoid confusion with the British ska group also called The Beat (or The English Beat in the US).

The Beat also known as The English Beat, were sued by Sony/Columbia in 1979. The same year, Sony/Columbia released Paul Collins' self-titled debut in 1979. Unfortunately, the massive power pop hit Get The Knack proved to be more commercially successful.

Renamed the Paul Collins' Beat in the early 1980s, the band became icons in the genre of indie rock Paul Collins' Beat were in a constant state of touring and recording around the world. They appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and contributed a song to the Caddyshack soundtrack, alongside Journey, Bill Murray and Kenny Loggins. The band broke up in 1989, following the release of their sixth album, One Night. Paul Collins continues to perform to this day with ever changing versions of Paul Collins' Beat, in addition to his solo project, country-rock band called the Paul Collins Band.

Since the early 1980s, Collins has been living on and off in Spain, where he has a particularly strong following, and spends most of his time performing in Europe and Japan, although he still holds citizenship in the United States. In fact, his two former wives are from Spain. During this time, he produced a lot of Spanish pop bands, like La Granja, Los Limones and Los Protones. In 2007, Collins released his first solo album of the decade, Flying High. The music received strong reviews and is reminiscent of the catchy power pop of The Beat, particularly in the opening song, Rock and Roll Shoes. Additionally, Flying High showcases Paul Collins' alt-country, roots-rock and Americana styles, with the singles Will You Be A Woman and Afton Place, which were released worldwide as music videos.

During March 2008, Paul Collins released Ribbon Of Gold as the follow-up to 2007's critically acclaimed Flying High. This album contains several songs the band performs live in concert, including Falling In Love With Her, I Still Want You, Big Pop Song and She Doesn't Want To Hang Around With You. In 2009, Paul Collins released a fictional autobiography, entitled Mi madre, mi mentor y yo, in addition to writing a humour filled fictional autobiography 8 Million Stories: Pete The Fly. Copies of which seem nearly impossible to find.Paul Collins' Beat next release will be a split 7" with the Italian powerpop band Radio Days. The split will be released by the Italian label Surfin Ki Records in March 2010, followed by a full length album released by Alive Naturalsound in Fall 2010.

In 2012 Paul Collins recorded a version of "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" for a fund raising cd titled "Super Hits Of The Seventies" for radio station WFMU.[2]

Paul Collins & Peter Case Reunion Tribute To The Nerves

In 2012, longtime friends and musical partners, Paul Collins and Peter Case announced a reunion tour paying tribute to their bands The Nerves, The Breakaways, The Beat and The Plimsouls. The touring band lineup for the Collins and Case tour is augmented by members of The Paul Collins Beat, offering audiences with a full-band electric showcase. Additionally, the release of a future live CD and DVD is anticipated as a result of the tour.

The Beat Army

During 2005, Collins launched a new music program and partner-based booking agency that was recently re-named as The Beat Army (not affiliated with the KISS ARMY). Collins created a forum where fans, bands, clubs, venues, radio stations, music festivals, blogs and record stores can network. Groups have the opportunity to swap shows, while Collins cross-promotes his various musical projects and tours.

The interaction between Paul Collins' Beat and other bands has enabled him to book shows on several continents and establish a worldwide network of industry friends, fans, musicians and artists from the genres of rock, punk rock, power pop, new wave, Alternative rock, ska, garage rock, Hardcore punk, classic rock and roll, skate punk, emo, melodic hardcore, Grindcore, crust punk, grunge, skacore, heavy metal, Thrash metal, crossover thrash, metalcore, rapcore, post-hardcore and speed metal. alternative country, Americana music, country rock, folk rock, rock and roll and rockabilly.

The business model for The Beat Army is a simple process in which a band or artist agrees to book a club or festival gig for both themselves and Paul Collins' Beat, who agree to perform the show as a headlining act. Once Collins and his management approve the contract, the band serves as a booking agent and the venue is chosen based upon its style of music and the type of people the opening band attracts. The opening band provides equipment, transportation and publicity as well as housing for Paul Collins' Beat. Often the opening band is also Paul Collins' backing band. Money is distributed as Paul Collins sees fit.

With Collins' solo albums distinctly different from his rock material and heavily rooted in the genres of American roots music, he continues to maintain a diversified fanbase. The Beat Army has enabled Collins to book shows with bands and artists in genres such as singer-songwriter, alternative country, Americana music, country rock, folk rock, and rockabilly.

Discography

With The Nerves

  • Nerves (Nerves, 1976)
  • One Way Ticket (Bomp/Alive Records, 2009)
  • The Nerves Live at the Pirate's Cove (Bomp/Alive Records, 2010)

With the Breakaways

  • Walking out on Love (The Lost Sessions) (Bomp/Alive Records, 2009)

With The Beat

  • The Beat (CBS, 1979)
  • The Kids Are The Same (CBS, 1981)
  • To Beat Or Not To Beat (1983)
  • Long Time Gone (1985)
  • Live At Universal (Twins, 1986)
  • One Night (Sony, 1989)

Solo albums

  • Paul Collins (Sony DRO, 1992)
  • From Town To Town (Caroline Records, 1993)
  • Live in Spain (Not Lame, 1997)
  • Let's Go (2006)
  • Live In Concert (2012)

DVDs

  • Live In Concert (2012)

As The Paul Collins Beat

  • Flying High (Lucinda/Get Hip, 2007)
  • Live In Europe: Paul Collins' Beat In Concert (Wagon Wheel Records, 2008)
  • Ribbon Of Gold (Rock Indiana, 2008)
  • King Of Powerpop (Alive Naturalsound, 2010)
  • Soundstage Live (Wagon Wheel Records, 2010)

References

  1. ^ Deming, Mark. "Biography: Paul Collins". AMG. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  2. ^ Super Hits Of The 70's
  • Collins, Paul: Mi madre, mi mentor y yo, Gamuza Azul, Bilbao, Spain, 2006. ISBN 84-932124-4-X.

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