Remembering an underground hero Musician/cult figure Peter Ivers is being celebrated at The Cyrk with a screening of his seminal alt TV show New Wave Theatre and a reading by his biographer, Josh Frank Aaron Graham
the curious case of musician, alternative TV host, and all-around cult figure Peter Ivers while doing research for his 2006 book, Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies.
"While writing the book, I researched the two or three covers the Pixies did, one of which was In Heaven, Everything is Fine (from Eraserhead)," Frank says. "The only information available about that song is that it's written by both David Lynch and Peter Ivers. Now, that was intriguing to me. It was like a gaping hole in pop culture.'
Ivers, for the uninitiated, was a Harvard- educated underground musician with major label support. Early on, he mastered the harmonica, taught by such luminaries as Muddy Waters and Little Walter. Later in his life, Ivers hosted a TV show called New Wave Theatre, which unleashed the burgeoning L.A. punk scene of the 1980s into living rooms everywhere. Tragically, he was bludgeoned to death by an unknown assailant in 1983. He was just 37.
Ivers' short yet accomplished life inspired Frank to pen a book about him, aptly titled In Heaven, Everything is Fine.
Ivers had many famous friends, all of whom relished the chance to talk about Ivers to author Frank. From Harold Ramis (co-writer of Ghostbusters) and Dan Aykroyd, to directors John Landis and Joe Dante (Gremlins), Ivers' pals helped Frank better understand his subject.
"I got into contact with a very famous film producer, Lucy Fisher, who had been Ivers' girlfriend back then. I wanted to talk to those who knew Peter the best and loved him the best, but to speak to people who worked and lived in the same era, just to get a sense of the time and place," Frank says.
"This is the one project I worked on where not a single person said they wouldn't talk to me about Peter. That's quite amazing, you can't write a story without having someone who's angry at them, or embarrassed - there's always a reason. That wasn't the case here."
The New Wave Theatre years encompassed a lot of Ivers' creative output during the early 1980s, and his show introduced such groundbreaking punk acts as Fear, The Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys (Jello Biafra was a fan of Ivers' solo albums) and The Blasters to the curious public.
"Peter is a prime example of being an everyman of the underground artist. We're working on getting a documentary made about his life, because I feel that I'm not done on spreading the word about Ivers, his work and New Wave Theatre," Frank says.
Frank is also quick to mention how the visual aid of having episodes to supplement his reading only helps in making new fans of Ivers.
"What really brought Peter to life, and made people come out and see him, is when we actually show episodes of New Wave Theatre. It put into perspective that he was a rock star. I mean, you read the book, and it does its job and I'm more proud of it than any other creative work, but people really got turned onto Peter when I show live recordings of him. They relate to him today in a way that I don't think they really did back then," Frank says.
"It's both refreshing to know that there are still things to discover, but depressing that pop culture simplifies the timeline of history in order to make it more user-friendly. In doing so, we lose the more important moments that define us."
NEW WAVE THEATRE May 14, 7 p.m., The Cyrk (254 Young St.) w/ a performance by Slattern and a reading by Josh Frank
