Biography

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  <embed src="HTMLobj-108/enough_is_enough_web_loop_1.mp3" autostart="true" loop="true" hidden="true">  </div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Blackadder ITC" ><B> Andy Collins</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Blackadder ITC" > </FONT>    |   <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Blackadder ITC" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Blackadder ITC" > <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Andy Collins"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div> Biography   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Songs"><U>Songs</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Calender"><U>Calender</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact"><U>Contact</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U>Related Links</U></A></div> <div> <I>Biography</I></div> <div> <I>Born in Surrey Andy shared a tiny rural village with a windmill and the likes of Dame Judy Dench. He then moved to the coast of East Sussex. Listening to his father's record collection he was inspired by bands such as the Beatles, the Police, Queen and the Jam. Requesting a guitar for his 10th birthday he began immediately to write and record his own compositions. Turbulent school love life provided a wealth of emotional material.</I></div> <div> <I>At 15 years his first gig at Brighton university with his band Mojo Filter, consisted almost entirely of original material.</I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="06b55010.jpg" border=0 width="341" height="257" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="High Tower Text" ><I>Later the ropes were learnt and the boards were trod and all other nautical similes were sailed, in a band called Tonic. During this time the legendary Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant became one of his biggest fans often coming to gigs and even rehearsals, Peter's interest led him to finance a wardrobe and press package for the band as well as introducing Andy to ex Moody Blues and Wings star Denny Laine, Peter's suggestion that Andy and Denny start a band performing Andy's material, Denny's material and Wings songs led to some memorable rehearsals and gigs, until Sir Macca forbid Denny to perform his songs.</I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>His next  band "The Gift" gave rise to some of Andy's most prolific writing, the band amassed a massive following and claimed the prestigious 1st prize at the South England battle of the bands, beating all 500 entries by a clear margin, this led to management from Bedrock management who also handled Sting's cargo and  production. Andy's formidable guitaring and writing skills found him recording for an American band in Sting's Home studio and before long rubbing shoulders with some of the celeb. worlds finest, backstage in New York.</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>Two more brief bands Phobia and Omniverse produced some outstanding material. When asked to review Andy's song "Change the world" the well respected producer Phil Brown (Jimmy Hendrix Led. Zep. etc) wrote "I cannot fault it".</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>With Andy now as creative as ever, plus access to his extensive back catalog, he is now branching solo, both as a performer and as a writer offering songs for other artists.</I></div> <div> <I> </I></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>