SINGLES THE NERVES Hanging on the telephone / When you find out / Give me some time / Working too hard ep 1976 Nerves wavThe Nerves : Peter Case : bass & vocals / Jack Lee : guitar & vocals / Paul Collins : drums & vocals .
Produced by the Nerves.
The Nerves were a mid-'70s power pop trio based in Los Angeles, California, featuring guitarist Jack Lee, bassist Peter Case, and drummer Paul Collins. All three members composed songs and sang. They managed a national tour, including a few dates with the Ramones, but they lasted just a short time and self-released only one self-titled four-song EP in 1976, featuring the songs "Hanging on the Telephone" (Lee), "When You Find Out" (Case), "Give Me Some Time" (Lee), and "Working Too Hard" (Collins). The EP was distributed by independent Bomp! Records. Despite their limited lifespan and discography, The Nerves remain notable for many reasons. They were the founding vanguard of the LA pop scene that eventually produced The Knack and The Plimsouls. After The Nerves' break-up, Case and Collins formed The Breakaways with Pat Stengl, a group that would have an even shorter lifespan than The Nerves. Thereafter, however, Case and Collins went on to front more famous groups, The Plimsouls and The Beat, respectively. But perhaps the most notable legacy of the group is the song "Hanging on the Telephone": popular group Blondie later covered the song on their smash album "Parallel Lines" and turned it into a UK top 5 hit, and thanks to Blondie's success, the song has become something of a standard, later re-done by groups as diverse as L7, Def Leppard, Cat Power. While it is likely some of these artists are unaware of the original Nerves version, others were also from Los Angeles and what was, at the time, its terribly small underground music scene and would most certainly be able to reference the original. Blondie included a second Jack Lee composition on "Parallel Lines", "Will Anything Happen?" Lee also wrote "Come Back and Stay" , a hit for Paul Young. Despite all Jack Lee (arguably the most talented songwriter of the three) had the shortest career and eventually dropped out of sight after two solo records : "Jack Lee's Greatest Hits Vol. 1" , in 1981 and "Jack Lee" (on the french label Lolita records) in 1986 .
"Hanging on the Telephone" and "When You Find Out" were later released on a 1993 Rhino Records power-pop compilation, "DIY: Come Out and Play - American Power Pop I (1975-1978)", which the All Music Guide gave the full five stars . The Nerves also had the honor of appearing on the album's cover. More recently, Rhino included an "unreleased" ( not really because the song was also on the Offence records lp "The Nerves -J. Lee, P. Collins, P. Case") Nerves track on the 2005 compilation "Children of Nuggets" . Today, Paul Collins performs songs from both the Nerves and the Beat in his band Paul Collins' Beat, and continues to tour and record new material ( "Flying high" on Lucinda/Get Hip/MVS records in 2006 & "Ribbon of Gold" on Rock Indiana/Get Hip records in 2008 ) . Peter Case went on to form the Plimsouls, who recorded after a fabulous mini lp , two good records and a transcendent pop song, "A Million Miles Away." After breaking up in 1984, Peter Case recorded many albums ( "Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John" on Yep Roc records in 2007) as a roots rock solo act . In 1996, the Plimsouls reunited for a few shows and some recording sessions, resulting in a little-heard reunion album called "Kool Trash" which featured an appearance by Blondie drummer Clem Burke. The Plimsouls have continued to reunite occasionally since that time.Peter Case, Paul Collins and Jack Lee are re-releasing The Nerves on vinyl and compact disc through Alive Records in the fall of 2008.
Thanks to Fabien !
