In 1978, CalArts students Sue “Su Tissue” McLane and William “Vex Billingsgate” Ranson founded the post-punk band Suburban Lawns. Joined by Richard “Frankie Ennui” Whitney, Charles “Chuck Roast” Rodriguez, and John “John Gleur” McBurney, they became a staple on the Los Angeles New Wave scene. In 1979, the video that Jonathan Demme directed for their track Gidget Goes To Hell (below) aired on Saturday Night Live. (Su Tissue later appeared in Demme’s 1986 film Something Wild.) That broader exposure resulted in a record deal with IRS who in 1982 released Suburban Lawns’ excellent self-titled album, the only LP the group released. It featured this excellent song “Janitor.” From Wikipedia:
The lyrics of “Janitor” were derived from a real-life conversation between Sue McLane and friend Brian Smith. According to Smith, the two were conversing in a loud room when they first met:
“She asked me what I did for a living. I said “I’m a janitor,” and she thought I said “Oh my genitals.” [Richard Whitney] overheard this and wrote the song.”
