The Nerves

Formed in San Francisco, California in 1974, The Nerves was an extremely influential power pop trio comprised of Jack Lee (guitar, vocals), Peter Case (bass, vocals), and Paul Collins (drums, vocals). All three members of the trio wrote and sang their own songs and while it was initially difficult to book live shows, they began to build an audience. The three members built up a repertoire of original songs and booked studio time to put these songs on tape. At the dawn of the punk and new wave movements, The Nerves released their self-titled debut EP in 1976. Featuring two songs by Jack Lee (“Hanging on the Telephone” and “Give Me Some Time”), and one from each of the other members (Peter Case’s “When You Find Out” and Paul Collins’ “Working Too Hard”). The EP, which became a sought-after classic independent release, brought them critical success and helped to usher in the power pop movement that would briefly become a popular genre with the release of The Knack’s debut album in 1979. The Nerves split up in 1978 before they were able to achieve any commercial success. However, their EP made it into the hands of new wave group Blondie, who covered The Nerves’ “Hanging on the Telephone,” became a hit. Each of the band members pursued their own careers with Peter Case fronting The Plimsouls and Paul Collins fronting The Beat (later known as Paul Collins’ Beat). Jack Lee released his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 album in 1981, which was comprised of various recordings going back to his days in The Nerves. One of the songs on the album was “Come Back and Stay,” which was later covered by Paul Young, who scored an international hit with the song in 1983. After the power pop and new wave scenes died out in the mid-to-late 1980s, Peter Case pursued a career as a folk and blues singer-songwriter and Paul Collins continued releasing power pop influenced albums. Jack Lee released a rock-oriented self-titled album in 1985 before stepping away from the music business. The Nerves became an influential band, and several compilations were released that featured all four songs from their only EP release. In 2008, Alive / Bomp Records released One Way Ticket, which included the four EP tracks, two additional studio recordings, live tracks, and more. Jack Lee died from colon cancer on May 26, 2023, at the age of 71.

Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.