Born in London on January 15, 1951, he started playing guitar in his teens. An uncle manager fanned his interest in the music business. Developing into a singer/songwriter,Collins' uncle got him a deal with Decca Records where he released one album.

Around 1970, Collins' uncle got him an entry job at a recording studio then at a music publishing firm. Starting his own jingle-writing firm, Collins was mentored by jingle writer/producer Roger Greenaway (Coca Cola's I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing).

At industry seminar MIDEM, U.K. label Magnet Records hired Collins as their producer after hearing some of his masters. One of the first acts Collins produced for the label was Matchbox (Rockabilly Rebel). In 1985, Collins moved to the U.S. to produce Rush, who was then Queensryche after being introduced to the band by guitarist Gary Moore.

Some other hits produced by Collins include Philip Bailey and Phil Collins' number three R&B/number two pop hit Easy Lover, Bon Jovi's number four pop hit Always, the number eight R&B/number ten pop hi Pass the Dutchie by Musical Youth, Tracy Ullman's number eight pop hit They Don't Know, and Indigo Girls' Swamp Ophelia, Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid, and Blancmange's Don't Tell Me. ~ Ed Hogan, Rovi