Paul Collins (musician) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Paul Collins is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist

Multi-instrumentalist

A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...

. He is best known for his work in the power pop

Power pop

Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...

groups The Nerves

The Nerves

The Nerves were a mid-'70s American power pop trio based in Los Angeles, featuring guitarist Jack Lee, bassist Peter Case, and drummer Paul Collins. All three members composed songs and sang. They managed an international tour in the U.S. and Canada, including dates with The Ramones, and...

, The Breakaways and The Beat

The Beat (US)

The Beat , were an American rock and power pop group from Los Angeles, California that formed in the late 1970s. The Beat resurfaced in the 1990s and continues to tour and record new material as Paul Collins' Beat...

Biography

Paul Collins has released several solo projects with his alternative country

Alternative country

Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...

group The Paul Collins Band, who play Americana music inspired by country rock

Country rock

Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...

and folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

. Collins also continues to tour with his The Beat

The Beat (US)

, an ever changing lineup rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

group which combines power pop

Power pop

with Alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

and punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

.

Paul Collins began his career as the drummer (and sometime singer & songwriter) in an influential Los Angeles power pop

Power pop

trio The Nerves

The Nerves

, alongside Jack Lee and future Plimsouls

The Plimsouls

The Plimsouls are an American rock band formed in Paramount, California in 1978.-Formation:Formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Peter Case , the Plimsouls began as a trio in 1978 which included Case, bassist Dave Pahoa and drummer Louie Ramírez...

frontman Peter Case

Peter Case

Peter Case is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, who has had a wide-ranging career ranging from new wave music to folk rock to solo acoustic performance.-Early career:...

. The band are best remembered for "Hanging on the Telephone

Hanging on the Telephone

"Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee and first performed by Lee's short-lived US West Coast power pop trio The Nerves, who placed it as the lead-off track on their 1976 EP, the band's only release. New Wave band Blondie popularised the song when it was released as the second...

", a song later made famous by Blondie

Blondie (band)

Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...

. Hanging On The Telephone was written by Jack Lee. Paul Collins opens many of his shows with this song but 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

The Beat (US)

, sometimes called The Paul Collins Beat to avoid confusion with the British ska group also called The Beat

The Beat (band)

The Beat are a 2 Tone ska revival band founded in England in 1978. Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics....

(or The English Beat in the US).

The Beat

The Beat (band)

also known as The English Beat, were sued by Sony/Columbia in 1979. The same year, Sony/Columbia released Paul Collins' self-titled 1979 debut is regarded as a classic of the genre, receiving very strong reviews. Unfortunately, the massive power pop

Power pop

hit Get The Knack
Get the Knack
Get Knack is the debut album by The Knack, released in June 1979. The album was the fasting-selling debut album on Capitol Records since Meet the Beatles in 1964. It went platinum in just two months and spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart...

may have overshadowed the album, and it failed to generate much in sales.

Renamed the Paul Collins' Beat in the early 1980s, the band became icons in the genre of indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

Paul Collins' Beat were in a constant state of touring and recording around the world. They appeared on Dick Clark

Dick Clark (entertainer)

Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark is an American businessman; game-show host; and radio and television personality. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions, which he has sold part of in recent years...

's American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...

and contributed a song to the Caddyshack
Caddyshack
Caddyshack is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis, and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, and Bill Murray...

soundtrack, alongside Journey

Journey (band)

Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...

, Bill Murray

Bill Murray

William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...

and Kenny Loggins

Kenny Loggins

During the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...

. 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

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, where he has a particularly strong following, and spends most of his time performing in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, 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

Power pop

of The Beat

The Beat (US)

, 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.

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

Rock music

, punk rock

Punk rock

, power pop

Power pop

, new wave, Alternative rock

Alternative rock

, ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

, garage rock

Garage rock

Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...

, Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

, classic rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

, skate punk

Skate punk

Skate punk is a sub genre of punk rock, originally a derivative of the West Coast hardcore punk scene, that is named after its popularity among skateboarders and association with skateboarding culture. Skate punk most commonly describes the sound of melodic hardcore bands from the 1990s with an...

, emo

Emo

Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...

, melodic hardcore

Melodic hardcore

Melodic hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on vocal melody. The genre is commonly defined with fast hardcore drum beats, complex guitar riffs and melodic singing with occasional screaming and shouting.-History:...

, Grindcore

Grindcore

Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....

, crust punk

Crust punk

Crust punk is a form of music influenced by anarcho-punk, hardcore punk and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the mid-1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills...

, grunge

Grunge

Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

, skacore

Ska punk

Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...

, heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

, Thrash metal

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

, crossover thrash

Crossover thrash

__FORCETOC__Crossover thrash, often abbreviated to crossover, is a form of thrash metal that contains more hardcore punk elements than standard thrash. The genre lies on a continuum between heavy metal and punk rock...

, metalcore

Metalcore

Metalcore is a subgenre of heavy metal combining various elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two genres. The term took on its current meaning in the mid-1990s, describing bands such as Earth Crisis, Deadguy and Integrity...

, rapcore

Rapcore

Rapcore is a subgenre of rap rock fusing vocal and sometimes instrumental elements of hip hop with punk rock .-History:...

, post-hardcore

Post-hardcore

Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...

and speed metal

Speed metal

Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....

. alternative country

Alternative country

Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...

, Americana music, country rock

Country rock

, folk rock

Folk rock

, rock and roll

Rock and roll

and rockabilly

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

.

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

Alternative country

Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...

, Americana music, country rock

Country rock

, folk rock

Folk rock

, and rockabilly

Rockabilly

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 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)

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)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.