小简介
八零年代出道至今,Edwyn Collins可算是沙场老将,来自苏格兰爱丁堡,早在1976年就自组合唱团-Nu-Sonics,这也是三年后引领新Glasgow流行风潮的名团Orange Juice的前身。1984年Orange Juice的同名专辑因为成绩不尽人意而宣告解散,原本以为会随即展开单飞生涯的他,首张个人专辑《Hope and Despair》却拖到五年后才问世,不过在独立榜中的优异成绩,似乎唤起了乐坛的目光,1994年第三张专辑《Gorgeous George》出现了让他名扬四海的超级单曲“A Girl Like You”奠立了个人演唱生涯的稳固地位。
2002年Edwyn Collins带来了第五张个人专辑《Doctor Syntax》这也是他蕴酿三年多的最新力作,专辑名称取自十九世纪着名的嘲讽小说《The Tour of Doctor Syntax》,一同合作的是过去的老搭档Sebastian Lewsley,而Edwyn Collins依旧是一人独力完成所有乐器的演奏(除有二曲的鼓由Paul Cook跨刀打击),专辑共收录11首曲子,创作主轴似乎是信手拈来,从生活周遭中取材,光从歌名就可略窥一二,“The Beatles”、 “Johnny Teardrop”...一路听下来彷佛就像他用歌声来诉说发自平凡事物的灵感,没有太多刻意安排的气氛营造,倒是像极了老友重逢开怀畅谈过去的种种,有一种熟悉的亲切感。
另外值得一提的是Edwyn Collins那充满磁性的低沉嗓音,比以前还更具吸引力,不信的话请先试试“20 Years Too Late”这首歌,一点都不夸张,听似平淡的歌曲中,不经意地流露许多对生活点滴的细心观察体验,真好!
Best known for his tenure fronting the Scottish pop revivalists Orange Juice as well as his international solo hit A Girl Like You, singer Edwyn Collins was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1959. In 1976, he formed the Nu-Sonics, which resurfaced three years later as Orange Juice; the leading proponent of the Glasgow neo-pop scene, the band earned a devoted cult following but little commercial success, and by the early 1980s Collins was the only remaining founding member. After a self-titled 1984 release failed to chart, Orange Juice disbanded, and Collins was freed from his contract with the groups label, Polydor.
A solo career seemed imminent, but the singer struggled; dogged by a reputation as a stubborn, difficult perfectionist unmoved by prevailing commercial attitudes, Collins found no one willing to offer him a contract, and only after a pair of sold-out London performances did Creations Alan McGee sign him to the labels Elevation subsidiary in 1986. The singles Dont Shilly Shally (produced by Cocteau Twin Robin Guthrie) and My Beloved Girl followed, but both failed to chart; in 1987, Elevation folded, and after Collins and McGee had a falling out, the singer was again left without a contract.
Some months later, Collins accepted the opportunity to record at a small German studio run by a group of devoted Orange Juice fans; cut with the aid of producer Dennis Bovell as well as Aztec Camera frontman Roddy Frame, the resulting LP Hope and Despair — a brooding, ambitious collection spotlighting Collins smooth, soulful baritone — was eventually picked up by the Demon label, and issued in 1989. The album proved quite successful on the independent charts, and soon Collins returned to the studio to record 1990s spartan Hellbent on Compromise; when the LP failed to repeat its predecessors good fortune, Demon dropped him from their ranks, and another long sabbatical followed.
After spending much of the decades first half in the producers seat, overseeing sessions from artists including longtime pal Paul Quinn, the Rockingbirds, A House and the Frank & Walters, Collins finally earned another shot as a performer: after signing with the tiny U.K. indie Setanta, he recorded 1994s Gorgeous George, a scathing, shimmering set of retro-pop highlighted by the single A Girl Like You. Slowly, the song became a massive hit throughout Europe as well as the U.S. and returned Collins to the charts for the first time since the 1983 Orange Juice smash Rip It Up, finally establishing the long-standing cult hero as something of a household name.