Left to Right: L-R Jack Lee, Paul Collins, Peter Case Photo Credit: Paul Collins Archives / Download Hi-Res Image “We were making a big, loud, exciting racket, doing our own songs. It sounded strange and familiar all at once, and we were high on it.” – PETER CASE, THE NERVES
"The Nerves’ legacy lives on, and Best Collection offers an aural explanation of why such a short-lived group was so influential." – FLOOD
“So why are we still thinking about The Nerves nearly half a century later? Because of the remarkable economy and durability of their music: taut pop songs with punk energy — nervy, if you will — ’60s melodic instincts, ringing guitars, and scarcely a note out of place… Guitarist Jack Lee, bassist Peter Case, and drummer Paul Collins — all three sang—each brought a distinctive songwriting voice, and the band’s influence far exceeded its brief existence, most visibly when Blondie transformed Lee’s ‘Hangin’ on the Telephone’ into a hit. The Nerves seized that fleeting moment when power pop, punk and new wave converged and made it sound timeless.” – SPIN
Third Man Records is proud to announce today’s release of The Nerves – Best Collection, the definitive anthology from groundbreaking power pop pioneers The Nerves. Released in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Los Angeles-based trio’s self-titled 1976 EP and only official release of their all-too-brief brief lifespan, the long-overdue compilation is available digitally as well as CD and 2xLP standard Black and limited-edition Red Marble vinyl, both physical releases with exclusive new liner notes by Peter Case. STREAM/PURCHASE THE NERVES – BEST COLLECTION The Nerves – Best Collection gathers 66 glorious minutes of studio, live, and demo recordings, compiled in close association with surviving members Paul Collins and Peter Case along with the late Jack Lee’s daughter Cynthia. Unlike previous anthologies that often relied on secondary copies or rips from vinyl and CDs, Third Man located The Nerves’ original source recordings, now newly mastered or remastered by Warren Defever at Third Man Mastering in Detroit, especially for this release. As a result, The Nerves – Best Collection features the definitive versions of these tracks as they were originally intended, many of which have not been heard since the day they were recorded. Highlights include Lee’s “Hanging on the Telephone” (made famous, of course, by Blondie on their breakthrough third album, Parallel Lines), Case’s chiming classic “When You Find Out” (later reimagined by Case with The Plimsouls and covered by such artists as Graham Coxon and Peter Bjorn and John), and Collins’ “Working Too Hard,” the latter two featured on an electrifying archival live performance premiering today in its entirety via YouTube. WATCH THE NERVES FULL-LENGTH ARCHIVAL LIVE PERFORMANCE LISTEN TO “WHEN YOU FIND OUT” WATCH “WHEN YOU FIND OUT” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO LISTEN TO “HANGING ON THE TELEPHONE” Formed in San Francisco by the late Jack Lee (guitar), Peter Case (bass), and Paul Collins (drums) in 1974 and later based in Los Angeles, The Nerves proved – for but a brief, shining moment – to be one of the most exhilarating and influential bands in the annals of power pop, bridging proto-punk energy and jangly melodies with a fierce DIY spirit. Boasting three incredibly gifted songwriters, the band made rock ‘n’ roll history with their eponymous 1976 EP, released on Greg Shaw’s iconic Bomp! Records label and featuring four now-classic tracks including “Hanging on the Telephone,” which soon lit up radios around the world after the president of the West Coast chapter of the Blondie Fan Club, The Gun Club’s Jeffrey Lee Pierce, handed a dubbed cassette copy of the EP over to Debbie Harry and Chris Stein back in 1978. Without any record company support, The Nerves took the bull by the horns and booked their own national tour – unheard of in those days – and traveled across America playing shows with such peers as Devo, Pere Ubu, DMZ, and the Ramones. 27,000 miles later, the band returned to L.A. and recorded what would’ve been their next single, “One Way Ticket” and “Paper Dolls,” but alas, that old demon, creative differences, interceded and The Nerves called it a day before the punk and new wave explosion that might’ve made them household names. Case and Collins carried on as The Breakaways, recording a number of songs originally intended for The Nerves and included on The Nerves – Best Collection before themselves imploding. All three founding members of The Nerves went on to lead their own singular careers, Lee as a songwriter and solo artist, Case both with The Plimsouls and his own acclaimed solo body of work, and Collins as frontman of The Beat and The Paul Collins Beat. Now, five decades after leaving their fleeting but everlasting mark, The Nerves – Best Collection does long overdue justice to a landmark canon of truly terrific rock ‘n’ roll songs, finally remastered and united on Third Man’s definitive edition. # # # THE NERVES THE NERVES – BEST COLLECTION (Third Man Records) | 
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