San Jose-area '60s band that did its best to sound like British mods, particularly the Who. In 1967, they functioned briefly as the backing group for Ray Columbus, a British Invasion-type star from New Zealand (see entry for Ray Columbus the Invaders) who moved to California in an attempt to crack the U.S. market as a solo act. That didn't happen, but he cut some material with the Art Collection in a fair mod-rock vein, including the single "Kick Me." The Art Collection recorded some unreleased songs on their own and by 1968 had evolved into Powder (see separate entry), which carried their Who fixations to more accomplished extremes. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi