I wrote about The Beat last month and was surprise to find out that Paul Collins (the band's singer and songwriter) was very much active in the music industry. He's already released three albums, with Ribbons of Gold just last April 22nd.
Part of my review also includes semi-heavy research on the band, and just searching around, I quickly realize what an icon Paul Collins have become over the years.
He started playing as drummer in a garage rock/power pop band called The Nerves, debuting with a self-titled EP in 1976. The lead song in the single, "Hanging On The Telephone" was their most famous song, being covered by such bands as Blondie and L7. Despite their success, the band broke up in 1977 and by then a new band called The Beat was formed with Collins as frontsman.
Since the name was already taken in Europe, the band was forced to change their name to Paul Collins' Beat. The band went on to release two albums on CBS Records, The Beat (1979) and The Kids Are The Same (1981), before being dropped by the label.
Although it looks like they continued on through a variety of record labels (noticeably on some UK labels), it seems the band ended in the late 80s.
Paul Collins resurfaced in 1992, with a self-titled release, then formed The Paul Collins Band the following year for From Town to Town, but it seems he's finally settled for Paul Collins Beat with the release of Ribbons of Gold.
If you are a fan of radio pop/rock song, this is the perfect album for you. Take for instance, the wonderfully crafted song "Hey DJ", with its catchy chorus (I say 'hey DJ' play that song for me, over and over), easy to follow beat, and it falls under three minutes. If the song sounds very 80s rock, that's because this is one of those lost Beat demo, probably re-tuned slightly for this album.
Another very 80s sounding song is "She Doesn't Want To Hang Around With You", a great power pop about breaking the news to some poor guy that his girlfriend doesn't want him anymore. This is in contrast to another great pop song, "Falling In Love With Her", which has a theme similar to The Beat's "Rock 'n Roll Girl" (spotting an attractive girl in a large group of people).
It sounds to me, that judging from the Beat and Nerves songs that I've heard, that Collins knows how to continuely write great songs. You can take any song on the album, from the Americana "Ribbon of Gold" to the love song "Without You" to the blatantly obvious "Big Pop Song" - and they will can play on the radio perfectly.
So, hey DJ, play that Paul Collins song for me.
Special Bonus: Below are some different covers of The Nerves' breakthrough hit, "Hanging On The Telephone".
Links: paulcollinsbeat.com myspace.com/paulcollinsbeat myspace.com/paulcollins myspace.com/thebeatt...
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