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Rumours

Gavin is in despair

The Web is a wonderful world, with decillions of facts at our fingertips. Sadly, a lot of them are nonsense, and some of the best-known resources are the least reliable. There are many references to Lewis on many websites, but not all are to be believed - we've come across a few that range from specious to just silly! On this page we attempt to set the record straight on some of the more obvious misinformation that seems to be in circulation, either on the internet or in other media:


Lewis was a drummer with The Mojos.

The Mojos could have been a one-man band, as Lewis has been described on various websites (and even in magazine articles back in the day) as their drummer, singer and lead guitarist. But despite starting his music career as a drummer, Lew later switched to bass, and this is the instrument he played while with The Mojos.

Session musicians played on The Mojos' recordings.

This is implied on answers.com and allmusic.com in their duplicated biography of The Mojos. After Lewis and Aynsley Dunbar joined the group some recordings were made, but theses sites comment, "in all probability Stu James was the only one present", implying the rest of the band weren't involved in the recordings. This is incorrect - it has been confirmed by Stu James that session musicians were never used, and that all of the group members played on the recordings. The bass we hear is genuinely Lewis.

He is in prison for fighting with two Americans in London's Battersea Park. One guy died and he got twelve years. That was in 2003.

That could explain why he's not been seen in anything since 2002, couldn't it! But it's complete nonsense that someone posted in blurtit.com, a Q&A forum, in response to a question about what Lew is doing now.

At one point Collins was homeless and living in a converted ambulance on the streets of London and he had hit the bottle.

From a post on the britmovie.co.uk forum. Someone's been getting a bit mixed up here - Lewis did have a converted ambulance early in his career, which he used when on the road as a young stage actor in Rep. But it wasn't his sole residence, and he sold it during his time in The Professionals. He has never been homeless, and although he used to have a reputation for enjoying a drink, he never "hit the bottle" in the down-and-out way implied here.

Lewis and Klaus Voormann both played on "She" with The Eyes

A rumour perpetrated by the sleevenotes of a CD, entitled Unearthed Merseybeat. In the notes it is stated that both men play on this song, which is the only surviving recording by The Eyes, however this is not the case. Both Lew and Klaus played with The Eyes but at different times. Both were bass players and when Lewis left the group in October 1964, Klaus was his replacement. "She" was recorded in 1965, and Klaus Voormann has confirmed to me that he played bass on the song and not Lew.

Bodie is exasperated

Phil Collins's brother

This rumour came from a website that doesn't seem to exist any more, about the less successful siblings of famous people. Listed amongst the likes of Terry Major-Ball, Eric Roberts and Arthur White, was one Lewis Collins, actor and alleged brother of superstar Phil Collins. They're not related at all, of course, but those singing, acting, drumming Collinses are so easy to confuse aren't they?

 


His dad owned a gun shop in South London, so had grown up with firearms

Posted in one of the many James Bond forums. Again, someone has got a bit confused. It was Lewis's former co-star Martin Shaw whose grandfather was a London gunsmith. Lewis's father had been a shipwright, pianist, and car dealer in Birkenhead, as well as roadieing for a couple of Merseybeat groups and managing Badfinger. Lewis did grow up with firearms though - see chapter one of the Biography section.

Lewis was in Casualty / Holby City

A widely-held belief that crops up on the web and in real life. Despite many claiming to have seen him in a hospital drama, he hasn't actually been in one. In 2002 he appeared as Dr. Peter Allen, a specialist in stem cell research, in an episode of The Bill. Many of his scenes took place in a hospital, or in his lab where he wore a white coat, which may have caused the misapprehension amongst viewers (who obviously watch all three shows!).