In 1975, a band called the Nerves was formed as a true power trio: Jack Lee, Peter Case and Paul Collins were talented musicians as well as dynamite songwriters. They came up with an EP and a handful of singles that included a minor hit, “One Way Ticket”.
The lead song on their EP, “Hanging on the Telephone” was gloriously covered by Blondie on their breakthrough album Parallel Lines. Rumor has it that someone put the Nerves EP on while the band was on their way to a gig, and the rest is history. “Heart of Glass” might have been their #1 hit song, but as the follow-up, “Hanging on the Telephone” reached #5 in the UK and ensured that Blondie would remain a force in rock music well into the 1980’s – in fact, they are still touring and recording good albums to this day.
It wasn’t until 2008 that a proper retrospective album for the Nerves came out, called One Way Ticket – on the Bomp-affiliated Alive Records label – that includes their recorded output as well as some additional related tracks, plus seven nice live tracks from a 1977 show.
The Nerves broke up due to the usual musical differences – not surprising considering that each member of the band was fighting to get their songs recorded – and the Breakaways immediately formed. Basically it was just the duo of Peter Case and Paul Collins plus whatever guitar player or two that they could scrounge up to join the session; there were three different line-ups in the group in their short history. Their sound is sparer than that of the Nerves, but no less energetic for all that. One of their earliest tracks is also one of the best: “Walking out on Love” was part of the Nerves’ live show but had never been recorded by that band. Case and Collins worked through most of 1978 getting as many songs on tape as possible, along with a handful in the recording studio.
By the end of 1978, these two had also gone their separate ways, with Peter Case forming the Plimsouls and Paul Collins starting the Beat (later Paul Collins’ Beat).
(May 2014)
