The Nuns were a mid 70's
punk band based in
San Francisco. The band was formed by
Alejandro Escovedo and Jeff Olener while working on a
student film project. They were trying to make a
documentary about a
rock band that couldn't play their instruments. After no luck, they decided to play the parts themseleves. They recruited Richie Dietrich and Jennifer Miro to round out the band.
In
1977, The
Nuns had become one of the most
popular bands in the
San Francisco area, often times selling out two shows a night in various
punk clubs.
Major labels were after
the band to record an album and they ended up spending several months in the
studio trying to complete a demo for
CBS. They may have had a hard time with the process because the group soon broke up with only
raw material layed down. However, sometime before the group disbanded, they performed their most noteworthy show. The
Nuns appeared on the
January 14th,
1978 bill at
Winterland to open up for the
Sex Pistols then last show. They were the first band to play that night, followed by the
Avengers, and then the
Sex Pistols.
Soon after this show,
Alejandro Escovedo moved to
Austin, TX to pursue another band that he created named
Rank and File. The other band members continued to work together in
Los Angeles under the name
391. Meanwhile, the producer of their
demo tapes had been listening and shopping around and had decided that the time was now to release an
album. The
Nuns got back together in
1980 to record an album. Escovedo was the only one who declined to return at this point.
History is blurred at this point, but there were several releases by The
Nuns on
Posh Boy Music and although the group was mostly
underground and
independent, they did achieve chart success with the song
No Solution. This track, penned by Jeff Olener and
Alejandro Escovedo rose to #2 on the
Swedish charts after being recorded and released by the group
SATOR. This song was never recorded in the studio by The
Nuns themselves, but was taken from a bootlegged
live recording and placed on a
vinyl compilation. SATOR liked the track so much that they decided to record it.
There is no exact date to be found for when
The Nuns actually parted ways for the last time, but they went missing through the later part of the 80's and all the 90's. There is no talk of a
reunion, but the members do still occasionly
perform together.
The Nuns Discography:
(No release dates available)
THE NUNS -
Wild (COMP)(LP) - PBS 106
THE NUNS -
In The Shadows /
Invisible People (45) - PBS 23
THE NUNS -
The Nuns (BLP 4010)(LP) - PBS 105
THE NUNS -
Desperate Children. (CD)(IP) - PBCD 88158-2
THE NUNS -
4 Days In A Motel Room: Their Greatest Sins. (CD)(IP) - PBCD 8159-2