The Beat

Description

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.<p>The roots of The Beat lie in The Nerves, a seminal power pop combo featuring Paul Collins, 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 Pat Stengl. The Breakaways swiftly dissolved as well, and Collins...