Beat, The - 1979 - The Beat (US)

Beat, The - 1979 - The Beat (US)
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The Beat, sometimes referred to as The Paul Collins Beat or Paul Collins' Beat, were an American 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.

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 one song, "Working Too Hard", to the group's only release, a 1976 self-titled four-song EP distributed by independent Bomp! Records. The Nerves are most famous for Lee's "Hanging on the Telephone". Though it went unnoticed when it was originally released, Blondie turned the song into a UK top 5 single off their breakthrough album Parallel Lines. After The Nerves' demise, Collins and Case formed The Breakaways with guitarist Pat Stengl. The Breakaways swiftly dissolved as well and Case and Collins (both now on guitar) recruited Steve Huff (bass & backing vocals) and Mike Ruiz (drums) into what would later become The Beat. Case left the then unnamed group after a few months of rehearsals to pursue a solo career (although recent accounts more than hint at a darker reason) which led to the eventual formation of The Plimsouls. Collins now took lead vocals on all of the songs and with the addition of Larry Whitman (lead guitar & backing vocals) resurfaced with The Beat.

The LA 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; Steven Huff, Peter Case, 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 on March 8, 1980 and that same year contributed a song to the soundtrack LP of the massively popular movie Caddyshack. Despite this promotion, diligent touring alongside such popular artists as Ian Gomm and The Jam and a tour of Europe, The Beat found little commercial success. The British ska group of the same name were first to establish themselves as "The Beat" in Europe forcing Collins' "Beat" to be referred to as "Paul Collins' Beat" there. The Collins' "Beat" was first to release their album in their home territory in turn forcing the British group to use the name "The English Beat" in the U.S.
A misguided change of Producer, a personnel change and the proverbial "sophomore slump" resulted in their second CBS LP, The Kids Are The Same, to be released two years later in 1982. To confuse matters even more it was decided to bill the group as "Paul Collins' Beat" worldwide. Not as critically successful as its predecessor, it was also a commercial flop. After being dropped from CBS the group self-financed the production of 3 videos featuring songs from the LP now abandoned by the 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 much to the chagrin of their former label. The MTV exposure kept the group working to the point of burnout. With an overhauled New York City line-up (Ruiz and Whitman left and were replaced by Jay Dee Daugherty and 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 recorded in London with UK musicians and released only in Europe. An energetic live album recorded in Madrid, Spain with Spanish members titled Live At The Universal followed in 1986. After returning to the U.S. in 1988 and settling in San Francisco the album One Night, with yet another incarnation of an all American Beat, this time credited as "Paul Collins + The Beat", was released by Sony in 1989 (again only in Europe). This was their final studio album. Due to numerous personnel changes and a lack of interest in the group stateside, the band threw in the towel, calling it quits altogether. 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 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 music videos "On The Highway" and "Dance, Dance" are occasionally aired on the VH1 Classic and MTV2 television networks. In 2006 Collins resurrected "Paul Collin's Beat" with a young 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. 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. Paul Collins' Beat next release will be a split 7" with the italian powerpop band Radio Days. The split will be released by the italan label Surfin ki Records in march 2009. Today, Collins continues to tour and record new material, playing dates in the USA (most recently SXSW in Austin, Texas), France, Germany, UK, Sweden, Italy and Spain.

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