"Drivin'" was a moderately successful hit single for San Francisco new wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 band Pearl Harbor and the Explosions. It first was released on 415 Records

415 Records

415 Records was a San Francisco record label created in 1978. The label focused its efforts on local punk rock and new wave music acts of the late 1970s through the late 1980s, including The Offs, The Nuns, Romeo Void, and Wire Train...

, November 21, 1979. Shortly after, it was re-recorded for the band's 1980 self-titled debut LP

Pearl Harbor and the Explosions (album)

Pearl Harbor and the Explosions is San Francisco band Pearl Harbor and the Explosions' debut album, released in 1980 on Warner Bros. Records.-Track listing:...

 on Warner Bros

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

, and that version was also released as a single.

After hearing the 415 single, the band Jane Aire and the Belvederes recorded a cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

of "Drivin'", which was released almost at the same time as Pearl Harbor's own WB version.