The Plimsouls were an American rock band formed in Paramount, California in 1978. The band recorded two full-length albums and an EP before splitting up in 1984.
Formed by singer, songwriter, guitarist Peter Case, who has sported a wide-ranging musical career ranging from Power Pop to folk-rock to solo acoustic performance; he was a member of cult fave San Franciso band The Nerves who had released the influential 1976 self-titled EP that included the song “Hanging on the Telephone” (later a hit for Blondie) Case (who had fronted the “The Nerves”.
The Plimsouls began as a trio in 1978, initially named the Tone Dogs, which included Case, bassist Dave Pahoa, and drummer Louie Ramírez From their inception, the band quickly became a crowd favourite in the Los Angeles club scene. Long Beach promoter Stephen Zepeda signed the group to his Beat Records label for a five-song EP called Zero Hour which was released in 1980. The_Plimsouls added guitarist Eddie Muñoz who joined the group during the recording of the EP.
Danny Holloway produced the Zero Hour EP and managed the group. The song “Zero Hour” received heavy airplay on local station KROQ-FM, and the Plimsouls grew to be one of the top club draws in the city. Case received critical praise for his song-writing. In 1981, Planet Records signed the group and released their self-titled debut album which Holloway also produced. The single “Now” received strong local airplay in Los Angeles and was also covered by Phil Seymour appearing on the 2011 CD edition of his second album. Seymour also appeared live with the Plimsouls during the late 1970s, both as a guest vocalist and as an artist on the same bill. The band received some national attention in 1982 when the single “A Million Miles Away” was released on their own Shaky City record label, distributed by Bomp! Records. The song reached No. 11 on the Mainstream Rock (chart). “The song was also featured in the 1983 film “Valley Girl.
The band also appeared in the film performing the song and parts of two others. The song was included on the band’s second album, Everywhere at Once released by Geffen Records in 1983. “A Million Miles Away” was re-released as a single in 1983 and peaked at No. 82 on the chart. The band broke up 1984. Several years later, in 1990, a then up-and-coming band named the Goo Goo Dolls covered “A Million Miles Away” on their Hold Me Up album. A re-recorded version of the song is also included on the Speed (1994 film) soundtrack album.
The Plimsouls – A Million Miles Away
Singer, songwriter & guitarist Peter Case, who has sported a wide-ranging musical career ranging from Power Pop to folk-rock to solo acoustic performance; he had been a member of cult fave San Francisco band The Nerves who released the influential 1976 self-titled EP that included the song “Hanging on the Telephone”. The Plimsouls became one of the standard bearers of ’80s Power Pop via such essential tracks as as “A Million Miles Away” & “The Oldest Story in the World”, & were featured in the movie, ‘Valley Girl’; Peter’s critically-acclaimed solo career began with the 1986 album ‘Peter Case’ & the 1989 ‘The Man With the Blue Post-Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar’; he released five studio albums on folk label Vanguard Records between 1995-2002; his 2007 ‘Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John’ (on Yep Roc) was nominated for a Grammy award; his most recent releases include the 2010 ‘Wig!‘, followed by outtakes compilation ‘The Case Files’ in 2011 & new studio album ‘HWY 62’ in 2015 (Omnovire Records); The Plimsouls were inducted into the Power Pop Hall of Fame in 2017; Peter is also an active musicologist & regularly conducts songwriting workshops.
The Fat Angel Sings 