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Rockers Rally to Help Cover Nerves/Plimsouls Leader Peter Case’s Medical Bills

Photo: McCaffrey/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Peter Case, the former frontman of the Nerves and the Plimsouls, needs some help. Case, 54, underwent emergency open-heart surgery on January 15th, and he is expected to make a full recovery. However, Case, like many musicians and 46 million other Americans, does not have medical insurance. The lengthy hospital stay and numerous other mounting costs have prompted his peers, fans, family and friends to leap into action. Case’s supporters have united and formed the Hidden Love Medical Relief fund, a trust established to help defray his medical costs. Arthur Shingler, one of the fund’s administrators, calls Case “a national treasure in terms of his leadership and the quality of his artwork.” On top of fundraising, they also hope to host a benefit concert the first weekend of May, sponsored by McCabe’s Guitar Shop, an iconic California music store and concert venue. Case co-founded the Nerves, an early West Coast punk/new wave band, with Paul Collins in 1976. Their biggest song, “Hanging on the Telephone,” was famously covered by Blondie in 1978. Case went on to form power-pop band the Plimsouls, whose single “A Million Miles Away” was prominently featured in the soundtrack of the 1983 film Valley Girl. Case reinvented himself as a singer-songwriter during the Eighties and has been releasing albums under his own name since. His most recent release, a 2007 album entitled Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Traditional Folk Album. Donations can be made online here or via mail. Make checks or money orders payable to the Hidden Love Medical Relief Fund at P.O. Box 122332, San Diego, California, 92112. Any amount is welcome, and anyone who donates over $35 will receive A Case for Case, a three-disc tribute collection featuring James McMurtry, John Prine, Chuck Prophet, Steve Wynn and others performing Case’s songs.

Published: 2009-03-04
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News