PETER IVERS
Peter Ivers (September 20, 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 started playing harmonica with the Boston-based Street Choir. He embarked on a solo career in 1969 with the Epic release of his debut, Knight of the Blue Communion. (More from Wikipedia)
I first encountered the Unknowns on the eccentric Los Angeles punk rock showcase New Wave Theatre on late night TV in the early 1980’s, and I saw them perform on the show at least twice. At one of them, NWT host Peter Ivers stuck a mike in front of a little girl who was maybe six years old, and he asked her if she knew who the next band was. She said, “I don’t know”; and Ivers responded, “Neither do we: the Unknowns!”
Peter Ivers would interview the bands after their performances in a most bothersome way, often closing with the question, “What is the meaning of life?” I remember the Unknowns frontman Bruce Joyner giving a short rant in response to one of his questions about how “the world would be a helluva lot better place if people only worried about theirselves and not so much about other people”.
(June 2011)
* * *
I didn’t really remember the Dead Hippie performance on New Wave Theatre that well (that’s what 30 years will do to you). What I do remember was that he is the only guest on the show that ever really got the better of host Peter Ivers, whose annoying interviews after rock performances (including the inevitable question, “What is the meaning of life?”) really got to most of the musicians, even for bands that were on their second or third visit to the show. I am reminded of the late Tim Russert of Meet the Press who was always very irritated with guests who didn’t have answers ready for his questions – oftentimes he would even send the list of questions in advance.
Well, after Dead Hippie’s performance, frontman Simon Smallwood responded to Ivers’ first question by saying, “I just want to say this, man” before launching into a prepared monologue for several minutes about what it would take to turn the country around (apropos of the news this week, one specific item was guaranteed health care for all). He then handed the microphone back, and all Ivers could do at that point was scream out: “Dead Hippie!”
(July 2012)
* * *
I am reminded once again of the late, great Peter Ivers and the crazed interviews he used to do with punk rock musicians on the New Wave Theatre show. When someone was starting to act like a smartass, Peter would get them to turn to the camera and give the answer again; and invariably, they would change their tune. In almost every case, no matter what anti-religious screed a rock musician is trying to perform, the idea that they are sending their bare ideas out into the universe gives them pause; and they back off from showing a completely disrespectful attitude – that is true I think even of XTC’s notorious “Dear God”, for example.
(December 2012)
* * *
Anyway, in August 2006, I made my first edit: The album Peter Ivers by Peter Ivers – the late host of the cult-classic cable television program New Wave Theatre – has an alternate name of Peter Peter Ivers. That edit has survived to this day; that is not true of many, if not most of my early contributions – since anyone can edit Wikipedia, a lot can happen in seven years.
(September 2013)
* * *
A subtext in a lot of punk rock music is the idea of being at the mercy of forces beyond your control, even from the beginning of life. This is particularly true of the legendary public-access program, New Wave Theatre that was a Los Angeles punk-rock showcase and so much more. In a future post, I will give a tribute to this show; thus far, I have not really done justice to New Wave Theatre and their host Peter Ivers (who wound up being murdered in a case that has not been solved to this day).
(June 2016)
