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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZCASE, Peter(b Peter David Case, 5 April '54, Buffalo NY) US singer/songwriter, guitarist. Worked as a street-singer; invited by Jack Lee to join the San Francisco- based band Nerves '76 on bass and harmony vocals, their 'Hanging On The Telephone' later covered for a hit by Blondie. They broke up early '78. Next band the Plimsouls began in a country & western bar called The Place in El Monte '79; debut Zero Hour on Beat Records that year led to signing with Planet Records but they soon left; single 'A Million Miles Away' on Shakey City proved an airplay hit and sold well around LA; on the strength of it they went to Geffen but momentum had been lost. Everywhere At Once on Geffen was later described by Case as their peak. The French New Rose label subsequently issued a live album One Night In America '88 recorded in May '81; featured lineup of Case (guitars, vocals), Eddie Munoz (guitar), David Pahoa (bass, vocals) and Lou Ramirez (drums). Case left the Plimsouls in late '83 and they split up, reuniting for an '84 tour of Texas in the hope of paying off some of the band's debts. Case played with Mike Wilhelm and concentrated on his songwriting; first solo performance took place in Feb. '84 at McCabe's in Santa Monica. He collaborated with Willie Dixon on 'Just Like Smoke' and contributed 'Who's Gonna Break The Ice' to film Wild Life. His debut Peter Case, produced by T-Bone Burnett and Mitchell Froom, contained a series of finely crafted, graphic vignettes such as 'Small Town Spree', 'Walk In The Woods', 'More Than Curious' and 'Echo Wars'. His then-wife's solo album on which he guested, Victoria Williams's Happy Come Home '87 on Geffen (US)/Blanco Negra (UK), touched similar bases. Case worked as a producer, his second solo album not emerging until The Man With The Blue Post-Modern Neo-Traditionalist Guitar (or Blue Guitar '89 for short, the words picked out in blue on the sleeve). He guested on Burnett's The Talking Animals on CBS '87 and Bob Neuwirth's Back To The Front on Gold Castle '88. Six Pack Of Love on Geffen '92 was not promoted by the label, which then dropped him. Sings Like Hell '94 on Travelling Light was followed by Torn Again '95 on Vanguard. |