Nick Beggs

2015-06-15T17:12:59Z

12.203.180.244: Just fixing the formatting on the link to "Hand. Cannot. Erase."

{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2011}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| [[File:Nick Beggs bassist.jpg|thumb|Nick Beggs, Berlin, 14 November 2008]]
| name = Nick Beggs
| image_size = 
| image = Nick Beggs bassist.jpg
| background = non_performing_personnel
| birth_name =
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1961|12|15}}
| death_date =
| origin = [[Winslow, Buckinghamshire|Winslow]], Buckinghamshire, England
| instrument = [[Bass guitar|Bass]], [[Chapman Stick]]
| genre = [[Progressive rock]], [[art rock]], [[hard rock]], [[Celtic rock]], [[New wave music|new wave]], [[pop rock]], [[synthpop]]
| occupation = [[Sound engineer]], songwriter, musician
| years_active = 1978–present
| label =
| associated_acts = Art Nouveau, [[Ellis, Beggs, & Howard]], [[Steven Wilson]], [[Steve Hackett]], [[Iona (band)|Iona]], [[Kajagoogoo]], [[Rockets (band)|Rockets]], [[The Pineapple Thief]]
| website =
| notable_instruments = [[Chapman Stick]]
}}

'''Nick Beggs''' (born Nicholas Leighton Beggs, 15 December 1961,<ref name="Larkin">Larkin, Colin (1997) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music'', Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0159-7, p. 270-271</ref> [[Winslow, Buckinghamshire|Winslow]], Buckinghamshire) is an English musician, noted for playing the bass guitar and the [[Chapman Stick]]; he is a member of [[Kajagoogoo]] and formerly [[Iona (band)|Iona]] and [[Ellis, Beggs, & Howard]].

==Personal life==
His parents were Herby and Joan Beggs, and he has a younger sister, Jacqueline. Nick's father left when he was young but came back into his life at a later age. In November 1979, Beggs' mother died of cancer, leaving him to care for his sister, who was then 15. He took a job as a [[Waste collector|dustman]] upon leaving school.

Nick's daughter Lula was born 29 May 1991, and his first marriage ended in 1994 with Eleni Gagoushi. He had another daughter, Willow Beggs, in 2002 by his girlfriend Ann Staniford, whom he married in 2003. He is now also stepfather to Ann's children Olivia, Jake and Callum Keenan. Nick currently lives in [[Leighton Buzzard]], Bedfordshire.

==Career==
Beggs' first band Johnny and the Martians (formed when he was 10) consisted of two friends on trumpet and acoustic guitar and Beggs on drums. He went to Linslade Secondary School.
After attending art school, in 1978 Beggs formed the band Art Nouveau, with [[Steve Askew]], Stuart Croxford Neale and [[Jez Strode]]. Chris Hamill ([[Limahl]]) joined the band in 1981 and at Beggs' suggestion it was renamed [[Kajagoogoo]]. The release of the first single, "[[Too Shy]]", in January 1983 saw the band on a promotional tour as the [[gramophone record|record]] reached [[chart-topper|number 1]] in the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="Larkin" />

After firing lead singer Limahl and, following a split with Strode, the three remaining band members reformed as 'Kaja'.<ref name="Larkin" />

Between 1985 and 1987, Beggs concentrated on writing with various other songwriters and finally formed [[Ellis, Beggs, & Howard]] in March 1987.<ref name="ET">Burnett, Bryan (1998) "[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jupAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oaYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6463,1895725&dq=nick-beggs&hl=en Nick's Knack for Finding Success]", ''[[Evening Times]]'', 7 December 1988, p. 17, retrieved 2 July 2011</ref> Ellis, Beggs and Howard split in 1989, and in 1990 Beggs joined the progressive [[folk music|folk]] band, [[Iona (band)|Iona]].<ref name="Larkin" /> He [[sound recording and reproduction|recorded]] two albums with them, ''The Book of Kells'' and ''Beyond These Shores''.

He continued working with various artists and bands including [[Alphaville (band)|Alphaville]], [[Belinda Carlisle]], [[Emma Bunton]] (on her album [[Life in Mono]]) and [[Led Zeppelin]]'s former bass player, [[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]].<ref name="Christman">Christman, Ed (1999) "[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mggEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12&dq=%22nick+beggs%22&hl=en&ei=W-MOTvLiDIGt8QPOpI23BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22nick%20beggs%22&f=false Zeppelin's Jones Makes Solo Return]", ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', 14 August 1999, p. 12, 15, retrieved 2 July 2011</ref> In 1996, Beggs met [[Howard Jones (musician)|Howard Jones]] on a flight from the United States and a friendship was established. Jones invited Beggs to tour as part of his band. Beggs has also worked with bands and artists such as [[ABC (band)|ABC]], [[Alphaville (band)|Alphaville]], [[Belinda Carlisle]], Celtus, [[China Crisis]], [[Cliff Richard]], [[Cozi]], [[Curiosity Killed The Cat]], [[D Ream|D:Ream]], [[Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]], [[Gary Numan]], [[Go West (band)|Go West]], [[Howard Jones (musician)|Howard Jones]], Iona, [[Keke]], [[Kim Wilde]], [[Maddy Prior]], [[Mark Shaw (singer)|Mark Shaw]], [[Michael Bolton]], [[Midge Ure]], [[Nena]], [[Nick Heyward]], [[Nik Kershaw]], [[Polysics]], [[Rick Wakeman]], [[Rick Waller]], [[Right Said Fred]], [[Naked Eyes]], [[Seal (musician)|Seal]], Stefano Ianne, [[Steve Hackett]], [[Steve Howe (musician)|Steve Howe]], [[T'Pau (band)|T'Pau]], [[Terl Bryant]], [[Then Jerico]], There She Was, [[Tina Turner]], [[Tom McRae]], [[Tony Hadley]], [[Toyah Willcox]], [[Troy Donockley]] and [[Warren Cuccurullo]].

Beggs went on to work as an A&R manager for [[Phonogram Records]], became a contributor to various guitar publications, and is now a staff writer for ''Bass Guitar'' magazine. He is also a Patron of London based guitar and bass school, [[Guitar-X]].

He has [[sound recording and reproduction|recorded]] and released two solo albums: ''Stick Insect'' (2002) and ''The Maverick Helmsman'' (2004).

Beggs and Askew have been heavily involved with a new duo called Industrial Salt, who have been successful in Japan. They have also written material for Claudia Mills, a finalist on the [[BBC TV]] talent show, ''[[Let Me Entertain You (2006 TV series)|Let Me Entertain You]]''.

A reformed Kajagoogoo with Beggs, Askew and Croxford Neale toured in 2004. Since then Limahl and Strode have both rejoined and the band has toured extensively over Europe in 2008 and 2009.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8049363.stm Kajagoogoo announce British tour]", [[BBC]], 14 May 2009, retrieved 2 July 2011</ref>

In February 2013, Beggs project, [[Lifesigns (band)|Lifesigns]], with [[John Young (musician)|John Young]] and Frosty Beedle, was released.

As of 2013, Beggs is a member of [[Steven Wilson]]'s touring band,<ref>"[http://starsdie.com/wp/steven-wilson-grace-for-drowning-2011-official-dates/ Steven Wilson ‘Grace for Drowning’ 2011 Official Dates!]", 8 July 2011, retrieved 22 September 2011</ref> having also played in Wilson's albums, ''[[Grace For Drowning]]'' and ''[[The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)|The Raven That Refused to Sing]]''.

In September 2014 Beggs played on [[Steven Wilson]]'s latest solo album ''[[Hand._Cannot._Erase.|Hand. Cannot. Erase.]]'' which was released in February 2015; he will join his touring band on a world tour from March till June. He also became a member of the band [[Fish On Friday]] from Belgium, who released an album named Godspeed at the end of 2014. He also contributed to [[John Mitchell (musician)|John Mitchell]]'s solo project [[Lonely Robot]] which is going to be released in February 2015.

==Instruments==
Beggs' primary [[musical instrument|instruments]] are [[Chapman Stick]] and bass guitar.<ref name="Christman" /> His bass guitars include a Spector Coda 5 String, a Spector Euro 4 LX, Tanglewood acoustic bass and a [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] Jazz [[fretless]], a prototype [[Ashbory bass]], a five-string Wal bass (modified by Beggs to include a midi pick-up enabling him to trigger synths), an Aria SB, a Kramer, a Music Man Stingray, and a Rickenbacker 4003 FG. He has also significantly modified a [[Chapman Stick]] to a fully [[midi]]-capable instrument triggering [[midi]] from both [[Bass (music)|bass]] and [[melody]] strings. He has named this the "Virtual Stick". He uses a TC Electronic RH450 bass amp with RS210 and RS212 cabinets and Rotosound strings. On tour with Steve Hackett Beggs also showed that he is a fine guitar player if the need arises.

==Discography==
===Ellis, Beggs and Howard===
====Singles====
* "Big Bubbles No Troubles" – [[RCA]] PB 42089 – June 88 – # 59 UK
* "Bad Times" – RCA PB 42041 – August 88
* "Where Did Tomorrow Go?" – RCA PB42317 – November 1988
* "Big Bubbles No Troubles" [[remix]] – RCA PB 42089 – February 89 – # 41 UK
* "Big Bubbles No Troubles" remix – RCA PB 42788 – April 1989

====Albums====
*''Homelands'' – RCA – 1988
*''The Lost Years Volume One'' – available from Nick Beggs website
*''The Lost Years Volume Two'' – again, available from Nick Beggs website as of February 2010

===Lifesigns===
*''Lifesigns'' – Esoteric Antenna – 2013

===Solo===
====Albums====
*''Stick Insect'', 2002 CD Stick Enterprises
*''The Maverick Helmsman'', 2004 CD Stick Enterprises

===With other artists===
'''With [[Steve Hackett]]'''
*''[[Out of the Tunnel's Mouth]]'', 2009
*''[[Beyond the Shrouded Horizon]]'', 2011
*''[[Live Rails]]'', 2011
*''[[Genesis Revisited II]]'', 2012
'''With [[Steven Wilson]]'''
*''[[Grace For Drowning]]'', 2011
*''[[Catalog / Preserve / Amass]]'' (live), 2012
*''[[Get All You Deserve]]'' (live), 2012
*''[[The Raven that Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)|The Raven that Refused to Sing]]'', 2013
*''[[Drive Home]]'', 2013
*''[[Hand._Cannot._Erase.]]'', 2015
'''With [[Lonely Robot]] (i.e. [[John Mitchell (musician)|John Mitchell]])'''
*''[[Please Come Home]]'', 2015

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.nickbeggs.co.uk/ Nick Beggs Official Website]
* [http://www.kajagoogoo.com/ KajaGooGoo Official Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/nickbeggs Official MySpace]
* [http://kajafax.co.uk/ KajaFax – The KajaGooGoo Fan Community]
* [http://www.facebook.com/Signslife Facebook page for Lifesigns ]
* [http://www.innerviews.org/inner/beggs.html In-depth 2015 interview on Innerviews ]

{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME =Beggs, Nick
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = British musician
| DATE OF BIRTH =15 December 1961
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beggs, Nick}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Winslow, Buckinghamshire]]
[[Category:English bass guitarists]]
[[Category:English New Wave musicians]]
[[Category:Chapman Stick players]]

Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Nick Beggs