THE NERVES - NOTRE DEMO (1981)
The (irish) Nerves hailed from the Derrybeg estate in Newry and were formed by The McCaul’s brothers who had initially played together as a three piece New Wave band called The Mash. By March of 1980 they had been joined by bassist Colin Murphy which gave birth to The Nerves original line up of Pat McCaul (lead guitar, vocals), Tommy McCaul (rhythm guitar, vocals), John McCaul (drums) and Colin ‘Dutch’ Murphy (bass).
Colin Murphy duly left the band and he was replaced on bass by Connor Sweeney. This new line-up went into Setanta Studios and recorded a demo tape, which they then took to Belfast and left a copy in the Good Vibrations record shop with Terri Hooley. The tape was left in a pile with countless others and forgotten about for a while. However, when Terri and his DJ friend Davy Simms eventually got round to playing it, they were very impressed. A few days later the group phoned up to ask if they'd heard the tape, and were told yes and did they want it back. When the band went to collect the tape they got a surprise when they were asked if they would like to record an album! Terri and Davy then went down to Newry one Friday night to catch the band live and to arrange a date for them to go into the studio. The demo received considerable airplay from Dave Fanning at RTE Radio and Davy Simms at Downtown.
The Nerves went back to Setanta Studios in Dundalk in late 1980 and recorded 12 tracks for the album that they titled “Notre Demo”. The album was recorded and mixed in 46 hours at a cost of £400. The album was subsequently released on Good Vibrations Records, only the labels second album, as a limited pressing in fifteen hundred and retailed at the knock down price of £2.99. Their song ‘Back Street Mafia’ was also included on the 'Battle Of The Bands' compilation LP released by RCA in that same year. A fifteen date Irish tour was scheduled for early 1981 and the album finally came out, carrying with it high expectations that The Nerves might well equal the success of the Undertones. Although the album was well received the band were unable to match the success of other Good Vibrations signings. Source
Colin Murphy duly left the band and he was replaced on bass by Connor Sweeney. This new line-up went into Setanta Studios and recorded a demo tape, which they then took to Belfast and left a copy in the Good Vibrations record shop with Terri Hooley. The tape was left in a pile with countless others and forgotten about for a while. However, when Terri and his DJ friend Davy Simms eventually got round to playing it, they were very impressed. A few days later the group phoned up to ask if they'd heard the tape, and were told yes and did they want it back. When the band went to collect the tape they got a surprise when they were asked if they would like to record an album! Terri and Davy then went down to Newry one Friday night to catch the band live and to arrange a date for them to go into the studio. The demo received considerable airplay from Dave Fanning at RTE Radio and Davy Simms at Downtown.
The Nerves went back to Setanta Studios in Dundalk in late 1980 and recorded 12 tracks for the album that they titled “Notre Demo”. The album was recorded and mixed in 46 hours at a cost of £400. The album was subsequently released on Good Vibrations Records, only the labels second album, as a limited pressing in fifteen hundred and retailed at the knock down price of £2.99. Their song ‘Back Street Mafia’ was also included on the 'Battle Of The Bands' compilation LP released by RCA in that same year. A fifteen date Irish tour was scheduled for early 1981 and the album finally came out, carrying with it high expectations that The Nerves might well equal the success of the Undertones. Although the album was well received the band were unable to match the success of other Good Vibrations signings. Source
lossy: ZS (103mb)
lossless: NK(301mb)
Songs
Suit And Tie / Put It Around / Final Blow / Better Half / Answer Clearly / Touch And Go / Passport Photograph / P.O. Box 98 / Big Talk / Dickie Bow (Don't Make Me Wear) / Sunshine Paradise / Doin' It