Here we are in present time! I have just finished my newest record King of Power Pop and it will be released August 24th on Bomp/Alive Records. This record is a unique record for me as it was written over a very short space of time.
When I started my last record, Ribbon of Gold in 2007 I had about 4 months from start to finish and it was the first time in my career that I had a deadline for a record. Usually I would make a record when I had the songs, so there was never too much stress about the material. But Flying High, my comeback record so to speak, released in 2004, had been out for awhile and we had worked all over Europe and the States and my manager; Juancho told me if we didn’t have a new record we would have to stop touring.
By this point I was back making my living with music after a 10 year absence so the last thing I wanted to do was hang up my guitar again! We had met Chips Kiesby famed producer of Hellacopters and The Nomads at the Road to Ruins Festival in Rome and I walked up to him and asked him if he would like to produce my next record and he said yes! A few months later we were in his studio in Gutenberg, Sweden recording.
Time flies when you’re having fun, they say and pretty soon it was time to make a new record. On our last tour of the West Coast we played LA and our good friend Patrick from Alive Records came to the show. He was bringing me copies of The Nerves 'Live' which he had just released for me to sell at the show.
Alive had released The Nerves 'One Way Ticket' compilation and then The Nerves 'Live' and soon after that they released The Breakaways, the band that Peter Case and I had before we each went our separate ways with The Plimsouls and The Beat.
Patrick dug the show and when I told him we were getting ready to make a new record he said, well you should talk to Jim Diamond he would be great for you guys, he knows how to make great records fast! You need to make a record with someone like him he will capture your sound. Well one thing led to another and before you know it we were on our way to Detroit Motor City to make a record with none other then Mr. Jim Diamond himself.
I had pushed back the start time twice because I was worried that I didn’t have enough good songs, then in a moment of inspiration I sat down with my buddy Eric Blakely and we knocked out 11 songs one weekend and I knew I was ready to go….you will be able to hear the results on August 24th!
I was happy because I went back into my song book and took songs from almost every period of my writing, there are songs from The Nerves period, The Beat period and then there are songs written after The Beat in New York and then brand new songs, so it really connects the dots for me as a writer and musician.
“We could not tune our guitars; no one thought we’d go very far, but I got Friday on my mind!” —From “Kings of Power Pop”
Paul Collins - Helen (Mp3)
The Paul Collins Beat - Kings of Power Pop (Mp3)
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