The Beat (American Band) - Transition Years

Transition Years

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; 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, including Jim Barber on Guitar (whose Credits include The Rolling Stones, Ruby Turner and Mick Jagger solo album), 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.