Edwyn Collins

• Genre: Brit Pop/Brit Rock

About

Edwyn Collins' first taste of musical success came with the formation of Orange Juice, one of the most beloved indie bands to come from Glasgow's neo-pop scene of the late '70s. Although Orange Juice found some mainstream acceptance, ("Rip It Up" made the U.K. charts in 1983) the band was frustrated by what they perceived was their lack of success and called it quits in1984. It would take two years before Collins--who had a reputation for being, at best, a temperamental perfectionist--would get signed. Fellow Scot Alan McGee signed Collins to Elevation, a Creation subsidiary, but after two singles Elevation folded and Collins was dropped. Such was the pattern for most of Collins' career, recording an album and then being dropped. On his third solo effort, 1994's Gorgeous George, Collins hit pay dirt with the funky, swirling single, "A Girl Like You." A massive hit across Europe and the United States, "A Girl Like You" returned Edwyn Collins to the charts – a place he hadn't visited in over a decade. Three years would pass before 1997's I'm Not Following You would be released, which was "quickly" followed by 2002's Doctor Syntax, neither of which gleaned a single quite as successful as "A Girl Like You."

- Linda Ryan