I recently bumped into a live Suburban Lawns Janitor video, and for the last few days I've been walking around singing "I'm a janitor, oh my genitals. I'm a janitor, oh my genitals..." in my head. I hope to God I've been singing it in my head, or I would have been arrested by now. Hmmmmm...
Such a great band Suburban Lawns was, and Su Tissue is so damn cool. Hope you enjoy it!
From IRS Corner:
Suburban Lawns formed in Long Beach, California in 1978, though several members had know each other longer and played together previously under various names such as The Fabulons or Art Attack (two were students at the famous California Institute of the Arts). They found their stride with a quirky tune called “Gidget Goes To Hell” released in 1979 on their own indpendent Suburban Industrial Records and got a boost when a music video for the tune ran on “Saturday Night Live”.
Thanks to continued airplay (from Rodney Bingenheimer & KROQ), the band was able to license thier self-produced debut LP to I.R.S. Records for a whopping $25,000 — more than it cost to produce — and get picked up by Ian Copeland’s Frontier Booking International. The arrangement gave them terrific opportunities to open for and tour with dozens of great UK and US bands.
The five members of Suburban Lawns took on stage names that would put smiles on the faces of anyone culturally literate: Su Tissue (Sue McLane), Vex Billingsgate (William Ranson), John Gleur (John McBurney), Frankie Ennui (Richard Whitney) and Chuck Roast (Charles Rodriguez). Su was the usual “front-person” though lead vocal duties switched from song to song with everyone except Chuck Roast singing at least one song.
Despite the regional success of the debut LP, a follow-up was a long time coming. And a long time in the pop-world often leads to turmoil brewing within bands. Shortly after Richard Mazda took on production of the their follow up, Baby (which ended up as an EP), John McBurney departed the fold. Other issues took their toll and Baby was released with little fanfare and less promotion. Soon after it hit the street the band folded. Despite a “fan club” address on the sleeve the Lawns were done.
Suburban Lawns- My Boyfriend
Gidget Goes to Hell (Single) Technical Information:
Artist: Suburban Lawns
Album: Gidget Goes to Hell (Single)
Year: 1979
Audio Codec(s): MP3
Encoding: Lossy
Rip: vinyl rip
Avg. bitrate: 320 kb/s
Sample rate: 44100
Bits per sample: CBR
Channels: 2
File size: 8.82 MB
Length: 0:03:42
Tracklisting:
01. Gidget Goes to Hell (2:03)
02. My Boyfriend (1:40)
Gidget Goes to Hell (Single) Megaupload Link
Suburban Lawns- Janitor
Suburban Lawns Technical Information:
Artist: Suburban Lawns
Album: Suburban Lawns
Year: 1981
Audio Codec(s): MP3
Encoding: Lossy
Rip: vinyl rip
Bitrate: 320 kb/s
Sample rate: 48000 Hz
Bits per sample: CBR
Channels: 2
File size: 66.6 MB
Length: 0:29:05
Tracklisting:
01. Flying Saucer Safari (2:14)
02. Pioneers (2:08)
03. Not Allowed (2:20)
04. Gossip (2:30)
05. Intellectual Rock (2:09)
06. Protection (1:58)
07. Anything (1:41)
08. Janitor (2:31)
09. Computer Date (1:08)
10. Mom and Dad and God (1:58)
11. Unable (1:35)
12. When the World (2:49)
13. Green Eyes (2:54)
14. Jam the Controls (1:10)
Suburban Lawns Megaupload Link
