#the nervebreakers

THE NERVEBREAKERS - Face Up to Reality.MP4

The Nervebreakers, notorious mid/late-`70s Dallas punk band, opening for The Sex Pistols at The Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas, Texas on January 10th, 1978.

A wild rock ’n’ roll performance in a legendary gig, where their guitarist actually slammed his guitar with a dead fish that had been thrown on stage, as documented by Curtis Smith.

“...He landed the band the opening spot for the Ramones first Texas show and , when it was learned that the largely unknown English punk band The Sex Pistols were to include a Dallas show in their six city, whirlwind U.S. tour, Clarke [Blacker] simply called through the red tape to the tour promoters and offered up the Nervebreakers as the perfect opening act.The promoters, not knowing much about either band agreed and the show was set.

When the Nervebreakers arrived at the Longhorn Ballroom, the Pistols were already there along with a small road crew, body guards and a local news crew. Though the Dallas punk scene was only about 100 to 200 strong in toto, they were an enthusiastic bunch and wouldn't miss this.

Sid Vicious and I had a minor altercation over Sid's desire to for my spiked wristband which I offered to trade for Sid's dog collar. Sid said "No , I stole this off a dog.....can't get much lower than that , eh? Stealin' from a dog?" To which I replied "Well was it pregnant? That would be REALLY low..." Sid indicated that he would like to have me kick his skinny British butt by throwing several mock punches in my face while saying "Come on...Come on..." I was about to eagerly oblige when Bob ,whispered to me something to the effect of " It's probably not a good idea to kick the crap out of the lead act before you play." Cooler heads prevailed and the Nervebreakers mounted the stage. During the set, one of the Dot Vaeth Group, another of the great DFW area punk bands threw a freshly thawed fish onto the stage, which I slammed into my guitar for a while before successfully attempting to bite it in half. Photos were taken. The Nervebreakers did a rousing set, ending with Stooges classic" I Wanna Be Your Dog". After that, the other band played for a while. Although the official attendance for the show estimated to be about 250 , subsequent, vividly detailed personal accounts from people claiming to have been there suggest that there must have been at least 5,000 , most of which were under the age of 16 at the time..”

Barry Kooda, The Nervebreakers’ guitarist.

The Nervebreakers on an Interstate Concert Hall record player

My Girlfriend Is a Rock · The Nervebreakers

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