Peter Ivers

Peter Scott Ivers (September 20, 1946 – March 3, 1983) was an American musician, songwriter and television personality. He was the host of the experimental music television show New Wave Theatre. Despite Ivers never having achieved mainstream success, biographer Josh Frank has described him as being connected by "a second degree to every major pop culture event of the last 30 years."Ivers' primary instrument was the harmonica, and at a concert in 1968, Muddy Waters referred to him as "the greatest harp player alive." Ivers was signed by Van Dyke Parks and Lenny Waronker to a $100,000 contract as a solo artist with Warner Bros. Records in the early 1970s; his albums Terminal Love and Peter Ivers were commercial flops, but would eventually come to be well-regarded by music journalists. He made his live debut opening for The New York Dolls, and would share concert bills with such notable acts as Fleetwood Mac and John Cale.Ivers scored the 1977 David Lynch film Eraserhead, and also contributed both songwriting and vocals to the piece "In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)". Later in his career, he wrote songs that were recorded by Diana Ross and The Pointer Sisters. Ivers was murdered in 1983 under mysterious circumstances, and the crime remains unsolved. Following the publication of a 2008 biography on Ivers, the LAPD re-opened the investigation into his death.