Paul Collins' Beat

The Beat (also known as Paul Collins' Beat) was a power pop band that formed in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1977. The band has been led through several incarnations by singer-songwriter and guitarist Paul Collins, the self-proclaimed 'King of Power Pop'. Fusing the energy of punk with pop hooks, he's had a large underground following, with the Beat's 1979 self-titled album in particular reviving critical praise. The roots of the Beat lie in The Nerves, a seminal power pop combo featuring Paul Collins (born 1956, New York City), Peter Case (the future frontman of The Plimsouls), and Jack Lee. Collins played the drums; all three members composed and sang. Collins contributed several songs to the band such as "Walking Out On Love," "Let Me Into Your Life", and "Working Too Hard". The tracks were included in the group's only release, a 1976 self-titled four-song EP distributed by the independent label 'Bomp! Records'. The Nerves are most famous for Lee's "Hanging on the Telephone", later popularized by Blondie on their breakthrough album 'Parallel Lines'. After the Nerves' sad demise, Collins and Case formed a group called "The Breakaways". which went through several guitarists until Case and Collins both moved to guitar and recruited Mike Ruiz (drums) and Steven Huff (bass and backing vocals). Case left the group after a few months of rehearsals to pursue a solo career which led to the eventual formation of The Plimsouls, finding commercial success. Collins, Huff, and Ruiz officially became "The Beat" when pressed for a group name prior to an interview to promote the release of the Breakaways' recording of "Walking Out On Love" (credited as Paul Collins) on Bomp's album Waves Vol. 1. The L.A. power pop scene was beginning to garner national attention and with the help of Collins' friend from The Nerves days in San Francisco, Eddie Money and his Producer Bruce Botnick, Collins was able to ink a deal with Columbia/CBS and Bill Graham Management. CBS released their self-titled debut in October 1979. All 12 songs were Collins originals; Peter Case, Steven Huff and Eddie Money had one co-writing credit each, all on different songs. Continuing in The Nerves' vein, the album consisted of harmony-laden, driving guitar pop songs, including a re-recorded version of "Working Too Hard". The album was critically acclaimed and is today remembered as a classic of the power pop genre (see this 4.5-star review in Allmusic). The group appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, (March 8, 1980), The Merv Griffin Show and that same year contributed a song to the soundtrack LP of the popular comedy movie Caddyshack. Despite promotion, respectable airplay on commercial and College radio, diligent touring alongside such popular artists as Ian Gomm, The Jam and a tour of Europe, The Beat found little commercial success. The band's second CBS LP, The Kids Are The Same was released two years later in 1982 with drummer Ruiz now replaced by Dennis Conway, who played for both Elton John and Alice Cooper. The group was now billed worldwide as "Paul Collins' Beat". The British ska group of the same name were first to establish themselves as "The Beat" in Europe, prompting a voluntary decision for the U.S. group to be billed as "Paul Collins' Beat" in Europe. In the U.S., Collins' "The Beat" was first to release an album in turn forcing the British group to use the name "The English Beat" in the U.S., albeit only after the British group was threatened with a lawsuit by Columbia, Collins' record label. Not as critically successful as its predecessor, The Kids Are The Same was also a commercial flop. A two year lag between releases, a name change and this "sophomore slump" resulted in the group being dropped from CBS-Columbia. Undaunted, the group self-financed the production of 3 videos featuring songs from the LP now abandoned by their former label. One of these videos "On The Highway", which had been modestly promoted to AOR radio by CBS, was put on medium rotation for several months on the then fledgling MTV network. With an overhauled New York City line-up (Conway and Whitman were replaced by Patti Smith drummer Jay Dee Daugherty and Television/Tom Verlaine guitarist Jimmy Ripp), the group reclaimed the name "The Beat" and released the 5 song 12" Mini-Album To Beat or Not To Beat in 1983 on the independent Jem/Passport label in the U.S.. One song from the album, "Dance, Dance", was made into a music video in 1984 and received limited exposure on MTV. To Beat or Not To Beat, with an additional song, was released in Europe where the group relocated (and would remain for the next several years) to promote the release and tour. In 1985 another 6 song 12" Mini-Album "Longtime Gone" was produced by former Motorhead drummer Lucas Fox and recorded in London with UK musicians, being released only in Europe. A live album recorded in Madrid, Spain with Spanish members titled Live At The Universal followed in 1986. Collins relocated to San Francisco, releasing the album One Night, with yet another incarnation of an all American Beat, this time credited as "Paul Collins + The Beat", through Sony in 1989 (again only in Europe). One Night was their first album to feature acoustic instruments such as mandolin and acoustic guitar. This was their final studio album before disbanding. Collins would go on to record several solo albums before later re-forming a new version of The Beat. Collins embarked on a solo career in the 1990s, releasing "Paul Collins" in 1992, featuring numerous guest appearances by S.F. Bay Area notables. Collins then returned to his "hometown" of New York City. Focusing his songwriting on Country, Folk and Americana he formed "The Paul Collins Band" which produced the 1993 release "From Town To Town". Collins continues to tour, while retaining a cult following; he is particularly popular in Spain. The Paul Collins' Beat music videos "On The Highway" and "Dance, Dance" are occasionally aired on the VH1 Classic and MTV2 television networks. In 2006 Collins resurrected "Paul Collins' Beat" with the help of bassist Juancho Bummer and a slightly younger Spanish lineup and recorded a live album entitled Live In Europe, released as a free MP3 CD album download on their official website followed by a CD of all new original material, "Flying High", recorded in Madrid, Spain. That was followed in March 2008 with Ribbon Of Gold. 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. Paul Collins' Beat latest release is a split 7" with the Italian powerpop band Radio Days (band), released by the italian label Surfin Ki Records. In 2009, Bill Graham catalog released Live At Berkely Theatre with Eddie Money through Wolfgang's Vault. In addition to touring and recording with Paul Collins' Beat bassist Juancho Bummer is currently working on new material with his group Thunderboss, featuring lead guitarist Ross "The Boss" Friedman and drummer J.P. Patterson of notable rock groups The Dictators and Manowar. Today, Collins continues to tour and record new material, playing dates in the Japan, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, USA (most recently SXSW in Austin, Texas), and throughout Europe in France, Germany, England, Norway, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Italy, Sweden and Germany. Read more on Last.fm. 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