The Nuns

The Nuns was a punk rock/new wave and gothic rock band in San Francisco and New York City.

Best known as one of the founding acts of the early San Francisco punk scene, the band went through a number of hiatuses and periodic reunions, lineup changes, and changes in style. Overall, The Nuns performed and recorded on and off from the mid-1970s into the 2000s. While the band was centered on Jennifer Miro and Jeff Olener through its various incarnations, Alejandro Escovedo, who went on to later success as an Americana and alternative country musician, was also a key member during its years of fame in late 1970s San Francisco.

The band formed in 1975 in Marin County, California when Alejandro Escovedo and Jeff Olener, who were film students at College of Marin, wanted to make a low-budget film about a strung-out rock singer and a band that could not play its instruments, and decided to play the part themselves. This project evolved into The Nuns. While the band was in its formative phase, they practiced in a warehouse in Terra Linda. Jennifer Miro (nee Jennifer R. Anderson), who was in a Mill Valley-based band that covered Doobie Brothers songs, practiced at the same warehouse. Olener soon invited Miro to join his band; Miro, who was unhappy with the band she was in, jumped at the opportunity.

The Nuns began performing around various venues in the San Francisco area in January 1976. They were the among the first punk bands in California and had difficulty finding regular venues. They played the first punk show at the Mabuhay Gardens in December 1976, and quickly became regulars. At their peak of popularity, they were playing two sold-out shows on consecutive weekend nights at the Mabuhay.

The Nuns original manager was Edwin Heaven. In 1977, Heaven discovered them when they opened at The Mabuhay Gardens for The Ramones. Within half a year, he had created a worldwide buzz for the band, designed most of their now-classic posters and, basically, took them from playing at San Francisco's Fab Mab to playing such larger venues as Bill Graham's Winterland and LA's The Whisky.

In January 1978, together with The Avengers they opened for the Sex Pistols at their final concert at San Francisco's Winterland. Even though The Nuns were the bigger draw in San Francisco at this time, they were the first band to go on, ahead of The Avengers. A third band, Negative Trend, had been directly recruited by the Sex Pistols but were tricked by Bill Graham into accepting the slot after the Sex Pistols, the house now emptied of fans.

The band's strong popularity in the San Francisco music scene later led to offers by Bill Graham to manage the band, however, this relationship soon turned to animosity touched off by Graham's offense at the song "Decadent Jew". The band also received overtures from CBS Records to release a major label album, however, by the time of the band's initial breakup, they had only managed to produce a few poorly-recorded demo tapes for the label and failed to secure a record deal. The band also released several singles in 1978–1979, as well as the self-titled 1979 7" EP (not to be confused with their self-titled LP a year later).