In my high school days, when staying up on Saturday nights, or whenever, to catch the half-hour syndicated, pre-cable music television show Rockworld was a highlight of my week, I’d look forward to catching some exciting New Wave artist I’d been reading about in Trouser Press, Creem, and any other off-the-beaten path rock mag I could get my hands on. One night I saw the video for The Beat‘s “Different Kind of Girl.” They may have already been known in the US as “Paul Collins’ Beat,” to avoid confusion with the ska band, but it felt cool to refer to them as “The Beat” too. I immediately found this song really catchy and classic. The video, if memory serves, was done on a classic white background. One of the guys, maybe the drummer, wore a horizontal striped shirt. I used to think they were cool. The band members all had modified moptops, which, I’ll explain to younger folks who may be rolling their eyes as they read this, was pretty cool in the late-’70s. I wish I could find that video. I’ve remembered it and the song fondly over the last 30+ years, but today I realized that I never bothered to follow up on anything by Paul Collins and The Beat. I don’t know why, but I think I had a sense that hearing even one more song by this band might ruin the unexpectedly simple joy I got from “Different Kind of Girl.”
At the time, I easily could have bought the album including that song. Today I could go on YouTube and watch a half dozen videos by Collins from that period. There’s probably a site where I could download that album, be it legally or not. I know he’s thought highly of among fans of New Wave and Power Pop music, styles of music I’ve got plenty of familiarity with. I used to own the first two albums by 20/20, but I’ve never heard another song by The Beat – Paul Collins’ The Beat, that is. I don’t know why. For that matter I’ve never heard a song by Nick Gilder other than “Hot Child in the City,” and that’s another great single from my youth!
Is there a song you love by an artist you’ve never bothered to further investigate?
