Nurses - "Dead Man in Trenchtown" (Live, 1981)

The music of Washington, DC's Nurses has been described by frontman/primary songwriter Howard Wuelfing as "pop with a nihilist streak a yard wide." Along with groups like Half Japanese, the Slickee Boys, and Tru Fax and the Insaniacs, they were key players on the early (pre-hardcore) DC punk scene. Nurses released a few singles and appeared on a number of compilations, but wider recognition eluded them. (They split in 1981; guitarist Marc Halpern died shortly thereafter.) In my humble estimation, they're the greatest band you've never heard.

Howard Wuelfing - bass & vocal / Marc Halpern - guitar / Harry Raab - drums

(If you can find it, I highly recommend the Nurses' CD compilation DESTROY YOUR FRIENDS: LIVE & DEMOS 1979-1981 on the Hyped to Death label. It includes this track and 28 others.)

Recorded live at the Bayou, Washington - Feb. 1981