Nervous Wreck

Album: Songs for Swinging Lovers (1977)
Charted: 39
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Songfacts®:

  • This was cult New Wave band Radio Stars only Top 40 hit. It peaked at #39 on the UK chart in February 1978 after shifting over 50,000 copies. At the time, it was British independent label Chiswick Records best-selling single to date. Not bad for a song that transmogrified the word "Electroencephalograph" into a catchy chorus refrain.
  • Radio Stars performed this on Top of the Pops in January 1978. Presenter, Dave Lee Travis, mistakenly introduced the band as Paul McCartney and Wings on the first take, prompting them to break out into a raucous version of "Mull of Kintyre."
  • The B-side to this single, "Horrible Breath," was written by Marc Bolan in the mid-'60s for an American TV commercial. Bolan later covered it with his first band, John's Children, who were fronted by Radio Stars singer, Andy Ellison.
  • "Nervous Wreck" features on Radio Stars' debut album, Songs for Swinging Lovers - a cheeky reference to Frank Sinatra's 1956 album, Songs for Swingin' Lovers!

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