Tim Collins (manager)

Tim Collins is a businessman, manager, and mentor most noted for his work as the manager for American hard rock band Aerosmith from 1984-1996.

Just as the 1980s marked the return of Aerosmith -- "one of the most dramatic comebacks ever in rock"—they also underlined the rise to prominence of the band's personal manager, Tim Collins.

At the age of 14, Collins joined a band called Tax Free. Playing guitar in the band, Collins also took responsibility for booking gigs for the band and handling their finances. While playing in the band and going to school, Collins worked full-time at Anderson-Little as a clothing salesman and used the money he earned to buy the band a sound system and a truck. When Tax Free replaced Collins in 1970, they told Collins that "you make a better manager than a guitarist" and asked Collins if he would manage them.Before “Tax Free”, Tim had formed the band “Valley Decision”; with Tim on Guitar, John Voymus on keyboard, Kevin Wormsley on drums and Bill Walsh on bass guitar. All the members of the band attended St. Mary’s High School in Waltham, Massachusetts. Named after a Walt Whitman poem,”VD” even competed in a Battle of the Bands in Waltham, Massachusetts—at least, they did not come in last!

By this point, Collins graduated from Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts, where he majored in Organizational Behavior and Marketing.

As he continued to manage Tax Free, Collins opened Bands Unlimited Productions, which booked local talent in the Boston area that played all of the local colleges and night clubs. In 1977, he signed The Fools, a young rock band with a novel edge. They rose to high regional prominence very quickly. In order to gain the clout to develop them, he moved to New York City in 1978 to work for Castle Music Productions Inc., where he brought The Fools.

Collins worked for artist manager Peter Casperson, known for his work with some of the great folk-rock artists of the era including Jonathan Edwards, Martin Mull, Orphan, and Duke and the Drivers. While working at Castle Music,the company managed to get The Fools signed to EMI Records (the record company that also signed the Beatles).

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