Keepin' the '80s alive
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Wanted dead or alive, the band members of Cincinnati band A Nervous Wreck don't need nothin' but a good time. In addition, they like to take walks on the wild side, go down to paradise city, etc. etc.
In case you can't tell -- or haven't been watching VH1's "I Love the 80s" -- this quartet longs for the spandex-shenanigan era of hair metal.
"From our perspective, we're just four guys who grew up in the '80s, we love the '80s and it's what we believe in, what we know and we just do basically what we want to do," said drummer Paul E. King, who admits onstage craziness can often lead to him putting a drum stick in a nostril. "We just want to have fun."
For King and his bandmates, that fun began in earnest four years ago when A Nervous Wreck began taking audiences on hair-sprayed walks down memory lane, back to a time when Bush (Sr.) was in office, Axl Rose had yet to implode Guns N' Roses and underground alternative bands were truly underground.
More than 300 shows later, the outfit has become a popular party band.
"We play for people who want to see a band, forget about life for two hours and have fun," King said. "It's like when I go to a show, I just want to drink a few beers, talk to my friends. I don't want to hear about the news, about what's going on overseas with the war right now. I don't want to hear that another kid got shot in a high school. I just want to have fun for two hours and I'll deal with that later."
From Motley Crue and L.A. Guns to Faster Pussycat, Skid Row and more, A Nervous Wreck plays all of the tunes associated with Ricki Rachtman's "Headbangers Ball." King said half the set is covers with the remaining original tracks falling stylistically in the same vein.
The outfit is currently readying the release of its debut effort, which includes fan favorite "Goodbye Girl."
"It's not necessarily a ballad but it's definitely a love song. It's about just losing a girl and what it means to you and things like that," King said. "So we're definitely a very guy band but we have our tearjerkers also for the ladies."
There's also the autobiographical "Cars, Scars and Topless Bars."
"It seems to be our big moneymaker song," King said. "It's the one everyone seems to be getting into. It's very tribal driven, very drum driven. It's a song that's close to our heart, about cars, scars. It's also about topless bars. It's about everything we do on a daily basis. Things we hold value in, if you will."
Living the dream is how King describes A Nervous Wreck, which over the past few years has opened for '80s peripheral acts L.A. Guns, The Bullet Boys and Firehouse. It's the latter band that pretty much blew King's mind.
"About a month ago, we opened up for Firehouse and it was literally a dream come true," King said. "So these guys I listened to on the radio and bought their CDs, here my band now is opening up for them and they're coming out and saying, 'Wow, you guys are really good.' I'm blown away that these guys, that are my heroes, are right there in front of me."
No matter how you cut it, an article about '80s hair metal isn't complete without mention of Kurt Cobain's grunge music, which seemingly created a long cold winter for King's idols. To this day, he doesn't understand the appeal of Pearl Jam, Nirvana and other alt rock acts.
"For me, I was kind of bummed (when grunge happened) because I was so into big hair bands at that time -- anything else just didn't seem important," King said. "I was like this music doesn't make sense to me, I don't hate my parents."
It's a decade-and-a-half later and '80s rock appears to be on the comeback. Not only does A Nervous Wreck attract eager crowds but turn on the radio and you'll hear plenty of similar-sounding acts.
"I think it's making a comeback and it's trying to rear it's ugly head," King said. "You have bands like Hinder and if you listen to them, they're reminiscent of all of these bands. Like Bowling for Soup, in my opinion, they're nothing more than an '80s band. They have that power pop, catchy tunes, balls-out '80s mentality. I can hear Bon Jovi and Motley Crue in some of their songs. So I think in given time, it could come back."
And who knows, A Nervous Wreck could play a part in its revival. In the meantime, King is looking forward to the band's upcoming Jan. 20 show at Cabana Jacks, 202 Columbus Ave, Sandusky.
"Just come out, have a good time," King said, "and enjoy some good music."
John Benson does not go to a topless bar every day. He does, however, drive a car every day, so he's got that in common with the band members. E-mail John at jbenson@funcoast.com.
