Mike Collins began his music recording career in 1981 as a songwriter-producer at EMI Records and Chappell Music publishers where he achieved early chart success with leading Brit-Funk band Light of the World. “Ride The Love Train” by Light of the World, co-produced and co-written by Collins, sold 40,000 copies and reached No. 40 in the UK charts in November 1981.
In 1983, in partnership with keyboard-player Keith O’Connell, Mike produced an instrumental track called “Rude Movements” by Sun Palace. Licensed to Passion records, this initially sold around 10,000 copies on vinyl and was released in several countries around the world. The record became a staple for David Mancuso at his Loft Parties and a major influence for DJs such as Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles and Kenny Dope, cementing its reputation as an early dance music classic.
Decades of production, programming and session work put Mike in the studio with Cameo, Shannon, The Style Council and The Chimes, with legendary producers George Martin, Gus Dudgeon and Richard Burgess, and working on film soundtracks with composers Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Arnold – to name but a few!
More recently, Mike has collaborated on a huge variety of recording projects – with jazz guitarist Jim Mullen, with soul artists David ‘DaPaul’ Philips and Vivienne McKone, with Nigerian Afrobeat/Jazz composer Funsho Ogundipe, and with Senegalese Griot musician Issa Mbaye, releasing many of these tracks on his own ‘Rude Note’ record label.
Over the past year, Mike has taken time out to rescue and remaster the best of his 80’s recordings, including the iconic SunPalace sessions, rediscovering many long-forgotten songs and instrumentals along the way. Rumours of previously unheard material have been causing quite a stir among record collectors and music fans, so BBE’s reissue of ‘Rude Movements’ could not be more timely.
Mike Collins continued to compose, produce and engineer from his London studio until his passing in 2018.