Search - Nerves :: One Way Ticket (Dig)

Essential Rock & Roll finally available on CD!

L. Hansen | 12/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow, I never thought this release would see the light of day. I discovered the Nerves by working backwards from the Plimsouls and the Beat, but for years their music was pretty much impossible to find. In fact, the only Nerves songs I had before I got this CD were "Hanging on the Telephone" and "When You Find Out" from the Rhino DIY American Power Pop compilation (which is itself out of print). I am trying to get across what a treasure trove of undiscovered gems this release is.



While I love power pop, I do not feel the label applies all that well to the Nerves, at least not in the way that it does to the Raspberries or the Rubinoos. This is straight up rock and roll. It's just three guys playing their instruments and singing, with a youthful energy, a sense of urgency, and an exuberance that makes the music timeless. The songs are fast and never get boring (most clock in at around two minutes). Did I mention the songs themselves are top notch and catchy as hell? I guarantee that you'll find yourself singing along and tapping your hands on the steering wheel, arm rest, or whatever is handy. The sound quality of the live recordings (8 out of the 20 tracks) on the disc isn't too good, but it is fortunate that we have the music at all. My top picks are of course "Hanging on the Telephone" (still better than Blondie's cover), "When You Find Out", "Paper Dolls", "One Way Ticket", and "Walking Out on Love."



In short, if you are a fan of fine songcraft, rough & ragged rock & roll, or good music in general, this CD is essential. It's not like you're going to find these songs anywhere else!"

They had the knack..... before the knack!

J. McDonald | 02/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Paul Collins, Jack Lee, and Peter Case formed the Nerves in 1975. If only they had managed to stay together until '79 or '80, they could have given the Knack and the Romantics a bit of friendly competition.



Unfortunately, the Nerves disbanded in 1978. Case and Collins briefly formed "The Breakaways", recorded the song "One Way Ticket", and then decided to call it quits once again. Collins went on to form "The Beat", Case went on to form "The Plimsouls", and Jack Lee went solo.



Even though all of the above mentioned groups have a very cool Power Pop legacy, one cannot help but wonder of the impact these three talented individuals could have had on the mainstream music scene, had they only held it together for a few more years!



Back in 1992, a label called "revenge" in France, released a CD called "That's Totally Pop", which featured every track by the Nerves, every track from Jack Lee's solo album, and the Plimsouls original EP. 29 tracks in all. A great compilation to be sure, but good luck finding it!



While this CD is a bit shorter on material than "That's Totally Pop", it's certainly worth buying! 34 years later, the Nerves FINALLY have a full CD all their own!



If you're a fan of The Knack, Romantics, Beatles, Kinks, and other such legendary rock and power pop groups, you really owe it to yourself to buy this CD! A lot of groups failed to "hit" because they didn't have the material. For the Nerves, it was simply a case of "the right thing, at the wrong time". Trust me, you'll LOVE this CD!



I'm amazed that this is finally available!

"

The headwaters of mid-70s power pop

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 02/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Nerves - Peter Case, Paul Collins and Jack Lee - issued only one 4-song EP during their three year tenure, but that 1976 7" flew brilliantly in the face of then-dominant arena rock as well as the back-to-basics punk paradigm trailing in the Ramones' wake. The Nerves mixed the pop melodics of the Beatles, Big Star, Raspberries and Rubinoos with the emerging DIY aesthetic to create music that had garage-rock intensity layered with the craft of AM-radio hooks. The EP served as a template for all three members' subsequent solo careers, and drew a rock `n' roll path that paralleled New Wave pop without surrendering to its badly aging musical affectations.



The EP was self-financed and thinly distributed, making it a collector's item even at the time of its mid-70s issue. Two of its tracks, Lee's "Hanging on the Telephone" and Case's "When You Find Out" turned up on Rhino's D.I.Y: Come Out and Play - American Power Pop I (1975-1978), and the previously unreleased "One Way Ticket" was included in the box set Children of Nuggets in 2005. The entire 4-song EP, along with the Plimsoul's Zero Hour, and Jack Lee's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 turned up on the 1992 grey-market French CD That's Totally Pop, but as Peter Case explains in this set's liner notes, this is the Nerve's first official full-length release. Included are the original four songs, two by Jack Lee, one by Case and one by Collins, augmented by a pair of tracks (Peter Case's "One Way Ticket" and Jack Lee's "Paper Dolls") that were meant to be the EP's follow-up on Greg Shaw's Bomp label.



Paul Collins' "Walking Out on Love," which he later re-recorded with The Beat, is heard here in a frantic post-Nerves/pre-Beat version by Collins, Case and a pick-up guitarist. Case's "Thing of the Past," written for the Nerves, is performed live by an early version of the Plimsouls, and Jack Lee's immediate post-Nerves sound is documented with the rockabilly-punk "It's Hot Outside." A rough demo of the Case-Collins "Many Roads to Follow" is sung to strummed acoustic guitars, combining the power of the British Invasion and Everly-styled harmonies. Demos of the group's live staples "Are You Famous?" and "Letter to G." show Jack Lee also had no shortage of fine material.



Also included are eight tracks recorded live on the group's 1977 cross-country tour. The sound is listenable bootleg quality, which is better for getting a sense of the Nerves' energy than a truly satisfying listening experience. No matter, the original EP is worth the CD's full price, and the post-EP and post-Nerves tracks are great bonuses. Case moved on to form the Plimsouls, recording the brilliant debut Zero Hour and two immediate follow-up LPs; Collins formed The Beat, carrying on the Nerves pop-rock sound with the group's eponymous debut; Lee unexpectedly found commercial success when Blondie covered the Nerves' "Hanging on the Telephone," and subsequently released a pair of albums in the 1980s. But it all started here - and all lovers of power pop should snap this up while it's available! [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]"