The Nerves - One Way Ticket

So, I was in a retro music mood today, and found a song that just got into my head.  You know how that works – sometimes a tune gets in there, and you keep humming it.  Not in an annoying way – I really like this song.  But it’s one I hadn’t heard before.  It’s by a band called “The Nerves.”  They were a three-piece from Los Angeles, and they put out an EP (anyone younger than 30 probably doesn’t even know what an EP is!) and that was it.  But, they were influential beyond the band’s existence.  It was made up of Paul Collins, Jack Lee, and Peter Case.  Paul Collins went on to form “The Beat” (later renamed “The Paul Collins Beat” to avoid lawsuits and confusion with the ska band “The Beat” from England).  Jack Lee wrote “Hanging On The Telephone” which was covered by Blondie on their Parallel Lines album, and became a hit for them.  Pete Case formed The Plimsouls, one of my very favorite bands from my high school days.

Anyway, there’s a song on a newly released Nerves album called “One Way Ticket” that I played, and really enjoyed.  It’s a low-fi affair – just a mono recording made for a demo tape, and is only vocals and a guitar.  You can hear all three of them singing.  Anyway, it’s called “Many Roads To Follow.”  I’m linking to the MP3 file on this server, so just click on the link, or the little “Play” icon to the left of the link, then share and enjoy…

Joe Griego