Jack Lee, part of the influential Los Angeles band The Nerves in the 1970s and later a hit songwriter, died May 26 in Santa Monica, Calif. at age 71. He died after a long battle with colon cancer.
Lee is best remembered for his song “Hanging on the Telephone,” which Blondie covered from The Nerves version. Lee also wrote Paul Young’s “Come Back And Stay.”
Lee was one of three singer-songwriters in the Nerves. The band started in San Francisco, then moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to ride the power pop trend of that moment. Lee, the guitarist, was joined by Peter Case on bass and Paul Collins on drums. Case went on to form The Plimsouls, while Collins was the founder of The Beat.
The group had just one self-titled EP released in 1976 on Bomp! After the Nerves breakup, Lee had two solo recordings.
A memorial is planned at the Echoplex nightclub in Echo Park,...
Lee is best remembered for his song “Hanging on the Telephone,” which Blondie covered from The Nerves version. Lee also wrote Paul Young’s “Come Back And Stay.”
Lee was one of three singer-songwriters in the Nerves. The band started in San Francisco, then moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to ride the power pop trend of that moment. Lee, the guitarist, was joined by Peter Case on bass and Paul Collins on drums. Case went on to form The Plimsouls, while Collins was the founder of The Beat.
The group had just one self-titled EP released in 1976 on Bomp! After the Nerves breakup, Lee had two solo recordings.
A memorial is planned at the Echoplex nightclub in Echo Park,...
- 6/8/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Jack Lee, the singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer with the 1970s West Coast band The Nerves who wrote the power pop trio’s “Hanging on the Telephone,” famously covered by Debbie Harry and Blondie, has died. He was 71.
Lee died May 26 in Santa Monica after a three-year battle with colon cancer, his family announced. “He never gave up on his music, to the very end,” they wrote in a statement. “His guitar, right by his side. He lived his songs. One by one they told the story of his life. Some dreams die. His never will.”
In 1976, The Nerves — Lee on guitar, Peter Case on bass and Paul Collins on drums — secured a $2,000 loan to record a four-song, self-titled, self-released EP in San Francisco that featured two Lee compositions, “Give Me Some Time” and “Hanging on the Telephone.”
After the band split in ’78, writer Jeffrey Lee Pierce — then-president of the...
Lee died May 26 in Santa Monica after a three-year battle with colon cancer, his family announced. “He never gave up on his music, to the very end,” they wrote in a statement. “His guitar, right by his side. He lived his songs. One by one they told the story of his life. Some dreams die. His never will.”
In 1976, The Nerves — Lee on guitar, Peter Case on bass and Paul Collins on drums — secured a $2,000 loan to record a four-song, self-titled, self-released EP in San Francisco that featured two Lee compositions, “Give Me Some Time” and “Hanging on the Telephone.”
After the band split in ’78, writer Jeffrey Lee Pierce — then-president of the...
- 6/7/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oft-remembered for soundtracking “Valley Girl” with the classic cut “A Million Miles Away,” singer-songwriter Peter Case has a worldwide following, but veteran followers of the Los Angeles music scene may have spent the last 40 years or so trying to solve a puzzle about him. The riddle: When Case was a master of Beatlesque power-pop in his role as frontman of the Plimsouls, one of the great L.A. bands of the early ‘80s, was that the real him? Or is he an ageless acoustic-folkie who accidentally got swept up in rock’s new wave on the way to the hootenanny? Because, even with decades of hindsight, fans may still have a problem reconciling these two primary identities as being the same guy.
This is where documentaries like “Peter Case: A Million Miles Away” become valuable, taking on performers who’ve gone through reinventions without attraction elaborate media attention. In Case’s case,...
This is where documentaries like “Peter Case: A Million Miles Away” become valuable, taking on performers who’ve gone through reinventions without attraction elaborate media attention. In Case’s case,...
- 5/29/2023
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
One of California’s leading film festivals returns with a full slate of live screenings, industry panels and starry tributes, offering movie lovers a ray of sunshine in the gloom of Covid. The Santa Barbara Intl. Film Festival (Sbiff) unspools March 2-12, for its 37th year via an in-person program. Although the fest adapted in 2021 to Covid health safety protocols and hosted drive-in screenings and virtual Q&a sessions, “This year will be closer to way things used to be,” promises executive director Roger Durling, who’s marking 20 years as the prestige West Coast fest’s executive director.
In all, the 200-film festival will host 95 U.S. premieres (62 features and 33 shorts) and 48 world premieres, including 21 feature films. “Being back in person, being at the festival, congregating and sharing opinions, it’s something we desperately missed,” says Durling of the Sbiff’s reawakening.
Festgoers will notice a major change to the...
In all, the 200-film festival will host 95 U.S. premieres (62 features and 33 shorts) and 48 world premieres, including 21 feature films. “Being back in person, being at the festival, congregating and sharing opinions, it’s something we desperately missed,” says Durling of the Sbiff’s reawakening.
Festgoers will notice a major change to the...
- 3/2/2022
- by Kathy A. McDonald
- Variety Film + TV
The Santa Barbara Film Festival on Thursday revealed the lineup for its 37th edition, which is set to run March 2-12 in-person in its customary spot in the heat of Oscar season.
The festival will kick off with The Phantom of the Open, the Sony Pictures Classics comedy directed by Craig Roberts and starring Mark Rylance in the true story of Maurice Fitcroft, who entered the 1976 British Open despite never having played a round of golf before. Sally Hawkins and Rhys Ifans also star in the BBC Films pic.
The documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over is the closing-night film, with Warwick set to be in attendance.
Overall, the festival in the beach city just north of Los Angeles will present 48 world premieres and 95 U.S. premieres from 54 countries, with a lineup that features films from directors Neil Labute, Ramin Bahrani, François Ozon, Eva Husson and more.
Also...
The festival will kick off with The Phantom of the Open, the Sony Pictures Classics comedy directed by Craig Roberts and starring Mark Rylance in the true story of Maurice Fitcroft, who entered the 1976 British Open despite never having played a round of golf before. Sally Hawkins and Rhys Ifans also star in the BBC Films pic.
The documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over is the closing-night film, with Warwick set to be in attendance.
Overall, the festival in the beach city just north of Los Angeles will present 48 world premieres and 95 U.S. premieres from 54 countries, with a lineup that features films from directors Neil Labute, Ramin Bahrani, François Ozon, Eva Husson and more.
Also...
- 2/10/2022
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King have said time and time again that their story was, at its heart, about “the education of Alicia Florrick.”
RelatedThe Good Wife EPs Reveal Alternate Alicia-Jason Ending, Insist Final Scene Was ‘Supposed to be Unsettling’
In the wake of the sometimes brilliant series’ disappointing finale, here’s hoping the Kings learned something, too: It’s perilous to write toward a specific visual endgame without laying the groundwork to support it.
Consider this passage from the Kings’ open letter to fans, posted on CBS.com on Monday morning, that explained their show...
RelatedThe Good Wife EPs Reveal Alternate Alicia-Jason Ending, Insist Final Scene Was ‘Supposed to be Unsettling’
In the wake of the sometimes brilliant series’ disappointing finale, here’s hoping the Kings learned something, too: It’s perilous to write toward a specific visual endgame without laying the groundwork to support it.
Consider this passage from the Kings’ open letter to fans, posted on CBS.com on Monday morning, that explained their show...
- 5/9/2016
- TVLine.com
Watch folk rock singer-songwriter Peter Case belt out his new song, "I Dig What You're Puttin' Down," from a performance at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica.
Peter is hitting the road for his first American tour in two years! Check out petercase.com for tour dates.
Peter is hitting the road for his first American tour in two years! Check out petercase.com for tour dates.
- 8/20/2010
- Extra
This time last year, things were looking rather grim for Peter Case. The then-54-year-old had undergone open heart surgery and, since he didn’t have health insurance, was left with some pretty hefty hospital bills. But fellow musician friends and others stepped in to help the singer pay off his debt, and he’s since recorded Wig!, his latest full-length, due out June 29 via Yep Roc Records....
- 4/7/2010
- Pastemagazine.com
Marvin Etzioni Singer/songmaster and producer Marvin Etzioni was born in Brooklyn, the son of a carpenter. Upon relocating to Los Angeles as a child, Marvin fell in love with a mandolin given to him by his grandfather, then the Beatles, vintage country, and rock 'n' roll 45s cast their spell. Post high school, he founded The Model, championed by Springsteen producer Chuck Plotkin. Following some finger-bleeding, Etzioni became a driving force in the '80s alt-country punk phenom Lone Justice. After the band toured with U2 and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Etzioni went solo. Production credits include Toad The Wet Sprocket, Counting Crows, and Peter Case. Collaborations include Bob Dylan, Ron Wood, T-Bone Burnett, Keith Richards, Jimmy Smith, Jon Brion, and The Dixie Chicks. Etzioni's new 20-track collection includes duets with luminaries Steve Earle, Maria McKee, The...
- 8/28/2009
- by Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin
- Huffington Post
Singer-songwriter-producer Peter Case has a wealth of good friends. The rocker was sideswiped by astronomical medical bills after emergency heart bypass surgery. His friends got word that the musician was without medical insurance, and rallied to put on a benefit to raise funds to offset his expenses. Held at McCabe's in Santa Monica, California, the master of ceremonies T-Bone Burnett, invited comic Eric Idle, singer Katie Melua and folk rock legend Richard Thompson among other surprise guests to the stage on Sunday night . It was the final night in a series of three sold-out shows benefiting Case. Burnett's Sunday night revue also featured Joe Henry, Sam Phillips, Syd Straw, Bob Neuwirth, Carla Olson, Geoff Muldaur, and Case's former...
- 5/6/2009
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Dave Alvin, T-Bone Burnett, Bill Morrissey, Stan Ridgway and other surprise guests are gathering for three nights--May 1,2, & 3--at Santa Monica's McCabe's Guitar Shop to assist their friend and fellow musician Peter Case. Case, one of 1976's musical groundbreakers with the Nerves, was the leader of the Plimsouls and a three-time Grammy-nominated solo artist and producer. The weekend of music is to benefit the costs of Case's unexpected double bypass surgery, performed in Santa Monica in January. Emergency open-heart surgery was not on Case's itinerary this winter: he had just begun a session of his popular songwriting class at McCabe's and was preparing to celebrate his 25th Anniversary of solo performing at the intimate venue before...
- 4/7/2009
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
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