Biography
Edwyn Collins, the vocalist, composer, guitarist and record producer chiefly identified with his leadership of the Scottish pop-revival band Orange Juice and with worldwide success via the solo recording “A Girl Like You,” entered the world in Edinburgh in 1959. During childhood he immersed himself in contemporary pop sounds while mastering the guitar. In 1976 he assembled the Nu-Sonics alongside guitarist James Kirk, bassist David McClymont and drummer Steven Daly, setting out to fuse the Byrds, the Velvet Underground and Chic with punk’s drive, though not its venomous stance. When the quartet adopted the name Orange Juice in 1979, Collins and his associate Alan Horne launched the Postcard imprint to issue the group’s first single. “Falling and Laughing,” produced for under 100 pounds, appeared in 1980 amid widespread critical praise; follow-up releases such as “Blueboy,” “Simply Thrilled Honey” and “Poor Old Soul” reinforced the band’s status as a significant emerging force. Work commenced on a debut album, yet Orange Juice departed Postcard mid-session to join Polydor. The major label underwrote completion of You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever, which reached shops in 1982. Also issued that year, the band’s follow-up Rip It Up proved more expansive, shifting from the buoyant Motown homage “I Can’t Help Myself” to the vigorous pop of the title track, which climbed to the U.K. singles-chart Top Ten. A further album, the self-titled 1984 set, appeared, but repeated personnel shifts and modest sales prompted the group’s dissolution.
A solo path seemed the logical progression, yet Collins encountered difficulty securing label support. Only after two sold-out London concerts did Creation’s Alan McGee place him on the Elevation subsidiary in 1986. Singles “Don’t Shilly Shally” and “My Beloved Girl” emerged, but the imprint folded quickly; when McGee declined to move Collins to Creation proper, the artist again found himself without a deal.
Several months afterward Collins accepted an invitation to record at a modest German facility operated by committed Orange Juice admirers. Assisted by longtime associates Dennis Bovell and Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame, he completed the brooding, ambitious Hope and Despair, which spotlighted his smooth, soulful baritone. Demon eventually acquired and released the album in 1989. Strong independent-chart performance encouraged a swift return to the studio for 1990’s Hellbent on Compromise; when that collection failed to match its predecessor’s reception, Demon ended the relationship, ushering in another extended hiatus.
Throughout the early nineties Collins concentrated on production, guiding sessions for longtime friend Paul Quinn, the Rockingbirds, A House and the Frank and Walters. A new performing opportunity arose when he joined the U.K. indie Setanta, which issued Gorgeous George in 1994—a biting, luminous collection of retro-pop anchored by the single “A Girl Like You.” The track gradually became a major European and American success, returning Collins to the charts for the first time since Orange Juice’s 1983 smash “Rip It Up” and elevating the veteran cult figure to household-name status. Earnings from “A Girl Like You” enabled him to construct West Heath Studio in West Hampstead with engineer Seb Lewsley. The pair welcomed numerous artists there, among them Robert Forster, the Cribs and the Proclaimers, while Collins also tracked his own material. The first such effort, 1997’s I’m Not Following, included the single “Magic Piper (of Love),” which reached the U.K. singles-chart Top 40 and appeared on the soundtrack to Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Core musicians drummer Paul Cook of Sex Pistols renown, bassist Clare Kenny and keyboardist Sean Read joined him, together with guest vocalist Mark E. Smith on one selection.
Collins again devoted several years chiefly to production, working with Vic Godard, Astrid, Terrorvision and Space. When he next stepped forward as a performer he recorded Doctor Syntax, released in 2002 and constructed around samples assembled by Seb Lewsley with nearly every instrument performed by Collins himself. Thereafter he resumed production duties, capturing albums by Little Barrie, HAL and Dave Couse at West Heath between 2002 and 2005. He simultaneously began an acoustic, introspective solo project, but two catastrophic cerebral hemorrhages interrupted the sessions, depriving him of the ability to walk, use his right arm or recall words. His determined temperament and the steadfast encouragement of his wife and manager Grace Maxwell sustained his recovery as he relearned walking, speech and finally singing. After a brief, unsuccessful attempt to mix the unfinished album, Collins paused work for an extended period, during which he took up drawing and rapidly mastered depictions of birds and woodland creatures. Eventually he and Lewsley returned to West Heath—then occupied by Collins’ friend Bernard Butler during the guitarist’s own convalescence—and completed the record that became Home Again. Heavenly Recordings issued the introspective, soulfully crooned album in September 2007.
Collins returned with Losing Sleep in 2010, his first post-illness collection of new songs. Guest contributions from members of the Cribs, the Drums, Franz Ferdinand and Little Barrie underscored the extent of his rehabilitation. As strength continued to return, he and former Rough Trade A&R executive James Endeacott established the Analogue Enhanced Digital label to issue further Collins recordings, new signings and material by old associates such as Roddy Frame. He maintained a steady live schedule, releasing the 2013 album Understated on AED. That set featured the core lineup of multi-instrumentalists Carwyn Ellis and Sean Read, Rails guitarist James Walbourne and longtime drummer Paul Cook. Simultaneously he and Maxwell collaborated with filmmakers James Hall and Edward Lovelace on the documentary The Possibilities Are Endless—titled after a phrase Collins repeatedly uttered while hospitalized—which premiered in 2014 alongside a soundtrack album of archival tracks and newly recorded instrumentals.
Around this period Collins and Maxwell relocated from London and West Heath to the Scottish Highlands, constructing a new studio overlooking the Moray Firth. The facility hosted sessions for Hooton Tennis Club, Tracyanne & Danny, Spinning Coin and numerous others. Collins himself recorded there, again assisted by Ellis and Read, resulting in the third post-stroke album Badbea, issued by AED in March 2019 and promoted with subsequent live dates.
A solo path seemed the logical progression, yet Collins encountered difficulty securing label support. Only after two sold-out London concerts did Creation’s Alan McGee place him on the Elevation subsidiary in 1986. Singles “Don’t Shilly Shally” and “My Beloved Girl” emerged, but the imprint folded quickly; when McGee declined to move Collins to Creation proper, the artist again found himself without a deal.
Several months afterward Collins accepted an invitation to record at a modest German facility operated by committed Orange Juice admirers. Assisted by longtime associates Dennis Bovell and Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame, he completed the brooding, ambitious Hope and Despair, which spotlighted his smooth, soulful baritone. Demon eventually acquired and released the album in 1989. Strong independent-chart performance encouraged a swift return to the studio for 1990’s Hellbent on Compromise; when that collection failed to match its predecessor’s reception, Demon ended the relationship, ushering in another extended hiatus.
Throughout the early nineties Collins concentrated on production, guiding sessions for longtime friend Paul Quinn, the Rockingbirds, A House and the Frank and Walters. A new performing opportunity arose when he joined the U.K. indie Setanta, which issued Gorgeous George in 1994—a biting, luminous collection of retro-pop anchored by the single “A Girl Like You.” The track gradually became a major European and American success, returning Collins to the charts for the first time since Orange Juice’s 1983 smash “Rip It Up” and elevating the veteran cult figure to household-name status. Earnings from “A Girl Like You” enabled him to construct West Heath Studio in West Hampstead with engineer Seb Lewsley. The pair welcomed numerous artists there, among them Robert Forster, the Cribs and the Proclaimers, while Collins also tracked his own material. The first such effort, 1997’s I’m Not Following, included the single “Magic Piper (of Love),” which reached the U.K. singles-chart Top 40 and appeared on the soundtrack to Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Core musicians drummer Paul Cook of Sex Pistols renown, bassist Clare Kenny and keyboardist Sean Read joined him, together with guest vocalist Mark E. Smith on one selection.
Collins again devoted several years chiefly to production, working with Vic Godard, Astrid, Terrorvision and Space. When he next stepped forward as a performer he recorded Doctor Syntax, released in 2002 and constructed around samples assembled by Seb Lewsley with nearly every instrument performed by Collins himself. Thereafter he resumed production duties, capturing albums by Little Barrie, HAL and Dave Couse at West Heath between 2002 and 2005. He simultaneously began an acoustic, introspective solo project, but two catastrophic cerebral hemorrhages interrupted the sessions, depriving him of the ability to walk, use his right arm or recall words. His determined temperament and the steadfast encouragement of his wife and manager Grace Maxwell sustained his recovery as he relearned walking, speech and finally singing. After a brief, unsuccessful attempt to mix the unfinished album, Collins paused work for an extended period, during which he took up drawing and rapidly mastered depictions of birds and woodland creatures. Eventually he and Lewsley returned to West Heath—then occupied by Collins’ friend Bernard Butler during the guitarist’s own convalescence—and completed the record that became Home Again. Heavenly Recordings issued the introspective, soulfully crooned album in September 2007.
Collins returned with Losing Sleep in 2010, his first post-illness collection of new songs. Guest contributions from members of the Cribs, the Drums, Franz Ferdinand and Little Barrie underscored the extent of his rehabilitation. As strength continued to return, he and former Rough Trade A&R executive James Endeacott established the Analogue Enhanced Digital label to issue further Collins recordings, new signings and material by old associates such as Roddy Frame. He maintained a steady live schedule, releasing the 2013 album Understated on AED. That set featured the core lineup of multi-instrumentalists Carwyn Ellis and Sean Read, Rails guitarist James Walbourne and longtime drummer Paul Cook. Simultaneously he and Maxwell collaborated with filmmakers James Hall and Edward Lovelace on the documentary The Possibilities Are Endless—titled after a phrase Collins repeatedly uttered while hospitalized—which premiered in 2014 alongside a soundtrack album of archival tracks and newly recorded instrumentals.
Around this period Collins and Maxwell relocated from London and West Heath to the Scottish Highlands, constructing a new studio overlooking the Moray Firth. The facility hosted sessions for Hooton Tennis Club, Tracyanne & Danny, Spinning Coin and numerous others. Collins himself recorded there, again assisted by Ellis and Read, resulting in the third post-stroke album Badbea, issued by AED in March 2019 and promoted with subsequent live dates.
Albums
Sometimes Always Never (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2019
It's All About You / Sometimes Always Never
2019
Badbea
2019
Losing Sleep
2010
Doctor Syntax
2002
I'm Not Following You
1997
Pale Blue Eyes
1984
Singles
