hypersongs

The Nerves

The San Francisco and Los Angeles power pop trio of Jack Lee, Peter Case and Paul Collins, whose 1976 self-released EP opens with "Hanging on the Telephone", later a hit for Blondie.

Three songwriters

The Nerves were a trio: Jack Lee on guitar and vocals, Peter Case on bass and vocals, and Paul Collins on drums and vocals, who also handled bookings and promotion. All three wrote. They formed in San Francisco in 1974 (Wikipedia's infobox says 1975) and moved to Los Angeles on New Year's Day 1977. Lee was born in Alaska in 1952; Case came from Buffalo and Collins from New York City by way of New Jersey. Their only record in their lifetime was a self-titled four-song EP in 1976, funded by a $2,000 loan and made at Kelly Quan Recorders in North Beach, with Greg Shaw's Bomp! Records handling distribution. It contained "Hanging on the Telephone" and "Give Me Some Time" by Lee, "When You Find Out" by Case and "Working Too Hard" by Collins.

In 1977 they booked their own national tour of about 27,000 miles, sharing bills with Devo, Pere Ubu, DMZ and the Ramones, and playing the Masque in Los Angeles in 1977 and 1978. Collins recalls a four-night run at the Rat in Boston with DMZ that the Cars attended. A live recording from the Pirate's Cove in Cleveland on May 26, 1977 was later issued by Alive. Back in Los Angeles they recorded "One Way Ticket" and "Paper Dolls" as a next single, but creative differences ended the band in 1977 or 1978, depending on the source. Collins, asked about the label, said we're a rock 'n' roll band, power pop sounds wimpy.

Afterward

Case and Collins formed the Breakaways; by the end of 1978 Case had formed the Plimsouls and Collins the Beat. Compilations followed: a 1986 collection on Offence Records, That's Totally Pop (1992), a 25th anniversary EP in 2001 and One Way Ticket (Alive, November 25, 2008) with the EP, demos and seven live tracks from 1977. Case and Collins toured a tribute set of Nerves, Breakaways, Beat and Plimsouls songs in spring 2012 without Lee. Jack Lee died in June 2023 aged 71. Lee's "Come Back and Stay" was a UK number four for Paul Young in 1983. Third Man Records announced a Best Collection for October 23, 2026, about 66 minutes of studio, live and demo recordings with new liner notes by Case, remastered by Warren Defever.

Albums

Songs

  • Hanging on the Telephone The Nerves · 1976

    Jack Lee's song, the first track on the Nerves EP and a 1978 hit for Blondie.

Sources

  1. The Nerves, Wikipedia
  2. Third Man Records: The Nerves Best Collection, Third Man Records
  3. Revenge of the Nerves, Magnet (2008-11-07)
  4. Paul Collins interview, Arts Fuse