The Breakaways

The Breakaways were a short-lived combo that filled the gap between Peter Case and Paul Collins' work with the seminal power pop band the Nerves and their later groups the Plimsouls and the Beat. In 1978, the Nerves came to an end after the departure of guitarist Jack Lee, and Case and Collins chose to keep the momentum going by forming a new band, the Breakaways. While Lee had been the principal songwriter in the Nerves, Case and Collins saw the Breakaways as a chance to show more of their talents, and they began with a series of intensive songwriting sessions in their rehearsal space, located in the same massive basement as the Los Angeles punk mecca/dive the Masque. Initially, the Breakaways featured Harlan Hollander on guitar, Case on bass and vocals, and Collins on drums and vocals, but Hollander opted out of the band after the recording of its first demo, and the Breakaways expanded to a quartet by hiring two new members, Ian Espinoza on lead guitar and Danny Biazys on rhythm guitar. This lineup recorded some more material and played some shows after making its live debut at L.A.'s legendary Whisky a Go Go, but before long the Breakaways once again found themselves without guitarists, so Case and Collins moved to the front line and looked for a rhythm section to back them up. The Breakaways hooked up with bassist Steve Huff and drummer Mike Ruiz, and this edition of the band played more club gigs and cut a handful of demos (some of which feature Brandon Mattheson on drums). However, what began as a collaboration between Case and Collins started to fray as they began moving in different directions, and Case left to form the Plimsouls in late 1978, while Collins, Huff, and Ruiz became the Beat with the addition of guitarist Larry Whitman. The Breakaways' recordings finally saw the light of day in 2009 with the release of Walking Out on Love: The Lost Sessions. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi