KajaFax About Nick Beggs Pt2

The KajaFax about Nick Beggs – Part Two
by theraggedtiger

Continuing from Sunday’s part one feature on the ‘Beggion’, here is the second installment in our overview of Nick’s career to date.

In 1994, Nick’s time with Phonogram records came to an unexpected end.  Due to huge changes in the top echelons of the company, the whole A&R department suddenly found themselves redundant, and by March of that year, Nick was no longer a Phonogram employee. 

When asked some years later about his time with the label, Nick said:

          “…I loved it and was hot on the tail of acts like Oasis, Skunk Anansie, Connor Reeves and others besides…”

Exciting times indeed.

Not one to be idle, he continued touring with his band ‘Iona’, and also recorded an album with Warren Cuccurullo, guitarist with Duran Duran.

https://kajafax.co.uk/2011/04/13/nick-beggs-with-warren-cuccurullo-thanks-2-frank/

In 1995 he was invited to join ‘Alphaville’ as musical director, and worked with the band at their Berlin studio for a number of months.  In a move usually found in an episode of the TV travel show ‘Wish You Were Here’, he then flew to Malibu following an invite by American star Belinda Carlisle to play bass on her album ‘A Woman and a Man’.

He spent several weeks in Malibu making the record with producer David Tickle.  Session playing for Belinda turned into a lengthy tour commitment, and Nick spent most of 1996 on tour.

He then had a chance meeting with Howard Jones:

“I was returning from a month of recording with Belinda Carlisle in Malibu when I met Howard and his manager on the plane home. I’d known them since 1979 but we had never worked together before. I think Howard was just ready to try the band thing and I happened to be in the right place at the right time”

The remainder of 1996 saw Nick continue to play various sessions on bass guitar and Chapman Stick for artists as varied as Tina Turner, Michael Bolton, and D-Ream.

It was then during a promotional trip to Japan, that he was approached by the Senior Vice President of A&R at Epic U.S. to produce and write for a new Japanese artist known as ‘CoZi’.

He arranged, co-wrote and produced a mini album for her titled ‘Naked Sun’, which featured high on domestic Japanese radio and received excellent Reviews.

He also worked with a new Irish band called ‘Celtus’, co-ordinating song ideas and helping with direction.  He continued to write, arrange and produce a further nine tracks for ‘CoZi’, the results of those sessions becoming CoZi’s next album, released via Polygram Records, Japan. 

The latter part of 1997 saw Nick continue his educational activities, writing and presenting a part of the music business curriculum for The Guitar Institute and Bass Tech (London), and also taking time to lecture at various music technology Colleges.

The end of the nineties saw Nick touring with The Human League, Howard Jones, Culture Club, Kim Wilde, and John Paul Jones welcoming the new millennium by returning to his solo career, recording the Chapman Stick album ‘Stick Insect’ and performing a series of live shows throughout the year 2000.

Spending the next couple of years on tour with John Paul Jones, Right Said Fred, and as a part of the ‘Here and Now’ tour line-up, Nick was to remain very busy.  And then VH-1 knocked on his door.

To be continued…

Pt1:
https://kajafax.co.uk/2011/04/24/kajafax-about-nick-beggs-pt1/

2011 KajaFax