Nervebreakers started as a cover band playing songs from the sixties. As the Ramones and the Sex Pistols became big in America, the band was finally able to find a sustaining audience. Nervebreakers first big break came when they opened for the Ramones on July 24, 1977 at The Electric Ballroom, a dance hall in the industrial district of Dallas. In 1978 Nervebreakers opened for the Sex Pistols at The Longhorn Ballroom, and a photo of guitarist Barry Kooda appeared the March 1978 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. Later that year the band recorded their debut EP "Politics" - the song "My Girlfriend is A Rock" became a runaway hit in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Boston and was later covered by the Angry Samoans and Wool, among others. They also opened for The Clash, John Cale, The Police and Johnny Thunders.