The Paul Collins Beat and The English Beat do share a history. At one time both acts called themselves “The Beat,” but after some legal wrangling Dave Wakeling’s group became The English Beat in the U.S. while Collins tacked his name onto his band’s name.

The bands will be touring together on a short run starting in North Carolina. What’s more, Collins submitted his own tour announcement to Pollstar. Rather than try to summarize his message, we thought it would be better to post Collins’ own words about the upcoming tour.

From Paul Collins:

Once upon a time long, long ago, there were two groups of fellows who loved to play music.

One group of gents resided over in Birmingham, England, and they were grooving to a sound that was capturing the bodies and souls of all their mates.

Unbeknownst to them far away across the ocean in a town called Los Angeles another group of fellows were also grooving to a sound all their own. It was very different but it too was capturing the bodies and souls of the kids in their neighborhood.

Well as chance would have it, both of these lads hit on the same name for their groups at precisely the same time! Not to worry because even though both of these groups were new and fresh they were tapping to a different BEAT!

Ladies and Gentlemen! It is with great pleasure that we announce the first ever tour of two of the ground breaking bands from the musical revolution of the late ’70s and early ’80s – The English Beat with The Paul Collins Beat!

Yes the Two Beats will now Beat as One … get out your dancing shoes and get ready to party! See you on the dance floor!

Oct. 11 – Asheville, N.C, The Orange Peel
Oct. 12 – Falls Church, Va., The State Theatre
Oct. 13 – Natick, Mass., Center for Arts in Natick
Oct. 14 – Philadelphia, Pa., World Cafe Live
Oct. 16 – New York City, N.Y., B.B. King Blues Club
Oct. 18 – Niagara Falls, N.Y., Rapids Theatre
Oct. 19 – Toronto, Ontario, Phoenix Concert Theatre
Oct. 20 – Detroit, Mich., Hard Rock Café
Oct. 23 – Evanston, Ill., SPACE
Oct. 24 – Pittsburgh, Pa., Hard Rock Café
Oct. 26 – Milwaukee, Wis., Turner Hall Ballroom
Oct. 27 – Minneapolis, Minn., Mill City Nights

Click here for The English Beat’s U.S. website and here for online home belonging to the Paul Collins Beat.