Peter Ivers

Peter Scott Ivers (September 1946 - March 3, 1983) was an American musician, best known as the host of "New Wave Theatre".

Ivers was born in Illinois, but raised in Brookline, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. He attended the Roxbury Latin School and then Harvard University, majoring in classical languages, but chose a career in music. He started playing harmonica with the Boston-based Beacon Street Union (although he does not appear on their album, "The Clown Died In Marvin Gardens"). He embarked on a solo career in 1969 with the Epic release of his debut, "Knight of the Blue Communion" (also featuring Sri Lankan jazz diva Yolande Bavan, who many erroneously believe was married to Peter).

In 1971 Ivers' replaced Yolande with Asha Puthli on "Take It Out On Me", his second album for Epic. The single from this second album, a cover of the Marvin Gaye number, "Ain't That Peculiar", backed by the Ivers' original, "Clarence O' Day", was released and briefly entered the Top 100 Singles Billboard charts but the album was shelved. After the second LP, "Take It Out On Me" was shelved by Epic, Ivers signed with Warner Bros., where he recorded two more albums. In 1971 and 1972, WNET and WGBH presented "Jesus, A Passion Play for Americans", a play produced by Jac Venza, Christopher Sarson and written and directed by Timothy Mayer. The music and lyrics were Peters' from "Knight of the Blue Communion." Other important roles are played by Andreas Teuber, Asha Puthli, Steve Kaplan and Laura Esterman.

The work was broadcast as part of the WNET "American Playhouse" series. As a rock retelling of the story of Jesus, the work was a precursor to classics of that genre, such as "Godspell" and "Jesus Christ Superstar".

In 1976, Ivers was asked by David Lynch to write a song for his movie, "Eraserhead". Ivers penned "In Heaven (The Lady in the Radiator Song)", which became the most well-known composition from the film.

Ivers' best friend was Harvard classmate Douglas Kenney, founder of the "National Lampoon". Ivers was also close friends with John Belushi. Both men preceded Ivers in death.

In 1981 Ivers was tapped by David Jove to host "New Wave Theatre" on Los Angeles TV station KSCI which was shown irregularly as part of the weekend program "Night Flight" on the fledgling USA Network. The program was a frantic cacophony of music, theater and comedy, lorded over by Ivers with his manic presentation. Using a method of filming known as "live taped", the show was the first opportunity for many alternative musicians to receive nationwide exposure. Notable bands who appeared on the show included The Angry Samoans, The Dead Kennedys, 45 Grave, Fear and The Plugz.

In 1983, Peter Ivers was found bludgeoned to death in his Los Angeles apartment. Harvard established the "Peter Ivers Visiting Artist Program" in his memory.

Josh Frank and Charlie Buckholtz have written a book about Ivers' life, art and mysterious death: [http://inheaveneverythingisfine.com In Heaven Everything Is Fine: The Unsolved Life of Peter Ivers and the Lost History of New Wave Theater] . On the basis of new information unearthed during the creation of this book, the Los Angeles Police Department has now reopened their investigation into Ivers' death.

Frank's site [http://peterivers.com peterivers.com] is rich multimedia resource for those interested Ivers' life and art.

Discography

* "Knight of the Blue Communion" (Epic, 1969)
* "Take It Out on Me" (Epic, 1971)*
* "Terminal Love" (Warner Bros., 1974)
* "Peter Ivers" (also known as "Peter Peter Ivers") (Warner Bros., 1976)
* "Nirvana Peter" (Warner Bros., 1985)**

* Not released

** Compilation of previous Warner recordings with bonus tracks

External links

* [http://www.rockinboston.com/peterivers.html Joe Harvard's "Rock In Boston" writeup on Ivers]
* [http://ghosttownfilms.net/Ivers2.html Extensive writeup on Peter Ivers at Ghosttown Films]
*
* [http://inheaveneverythingisfine.com Frank and Buckholtz' book about Ivers' life, art and mysterious death]
* [http://peterivers.com Josh Frank's Peter Ivers site]
* [http://www.laweekly.com/2008-08-07/art-books/a-meeting-of-strange-minds-peter-ivers-david-lynch-and-devo/ "L.A. Weekly" article]