The Beat (USA)
The Beat was founded by Paul Collins, the step-son of a civilian
father attached to the US military, who spent his pre-teens living
in Greece, Vietnam and Europe before returning to his native New
York.
He studied at the prestigious Julliard Music School and
eventually moved to San Francisco where he hooked up with songwriter
Jack Lee and bassist Peter Case to form The
Nerves in 1974.
The Nerves proved to be one of the pioneers of the burgeoning US
punk rock scene, releasing their own four song EP which included the
classic Hanging on a Telephone, later to become a hit for Blondie.
Moving to Los Angeles after The Nerves broke up, Collins met
bassist Steve Huff, drummer Mike Ruiz and Lead Guitarist Larry
Whitman and they named themselves The Beat in homage to The
Beatles.
By mid 1979, their friend Eddie Money
recommended them for management to legendary concert promoter Bill
Graham and The Beat toured with The Police,
The Jam and Joe
Jackson. They also made numerous TV appearances.
In the spring they recorded their debut self-titled album with
producer Bruce Botnick (who had produced The
Doors). The album featured Byrds-influenced
guitars and catchy choruses, and defined the skinny-tied power pop
which The Knack took to the charts.
Unfortunately, coming on the heels of the backlash accorded to
The Knack, and with radio still mostly resistant to the new
wave of bands, The Beat were never able to penetrate the Top 40
and the group sadly fell through the cracks between disco
and dinosaur rock.
In order to avoid confusion with the British
ska band also called The Beat, the band were known outside the
US as The Paul Collins Beat.
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