New Wave Theatre
Encyclopedia
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area on UHF channel 18
KSCI
KSCI is an independent television station operating in Los Angeles and on KUAN-LP channel 48 in Poway, California, serving the San Diego area. It targets Asian Americans, and most of its programming is in Asian languages....
and eventually on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
as part of the late night variety show Night Flight
Night Flight (TV series)
Night Flight is a variety show that originated on the USA Network. An eclectic mix of short films, cartoons, B movies, stand up comedy, documentaries, music videos and more, Night Flight was broadcast, in various incarnations, from 1981 to 1996....
during the early 1980s. The show was created and produced by David Jove
David Jove
David Jove was a Canadian director, producer, and writer, particularly of underground and alternative music-themed films...
, who also wrote the program with Billboard magazine editor Ed Ochs. It was noted for showcasing rising punk and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
acts, including Bad Religion
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...
, Fear
Fear (band)
Fear is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1977. The band is credited for helping to shape the sound and style of American hardcore punk, the group started out as part of the early California punk rock scene, and gained national prominence after an infamous 1981...
, The Dead Kennedys, 45 Grave
45 Grave
45 Grave are an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1979. The original group broke up in 1985 but vocalist Dinah Cancer subsequently revived the band. 45 Grave are noted as one of the first bands to mix punk rock with horror-themed lyrics, thereby positioning them as...
, and The Circle Jerks.
Peter Ivers
Peter Ivers
Peter Scott Ivers 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...
, a Harvard-educated musician with a gregarious personality and a flair for the theatric, was the host for the entire run of the show. The format was extremely loose, owing partly to the desire to maintain the raw energy of the live performances and partly to the limited production budget. The program was presented in a format dubbed "live taped", in which the action was shot live and the video was then interspliced with video clips, photos, and graphics of everything from an exploding atomic bomb to a woman wringing a chicken's neck.
The show started with a montage of clips from punk/new wave acts while the title appeared and the theme song, an abrupt mixture of Fear's "Camarillo" and The Blasters
The Blasters
The Blasters are a rock and roll music group formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin and Dave Alvin , with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Phil Alvin explained the origin of the band's name: "I thought Joe Turner’s backup band on Atlantic records – I had...
' "American Music", played. Ivers would appear at the beginning and end of each show wearing dark glasses, spouting a stream of consciousness spiel about life, art and music. Besides the top-billed music acts, short skits were shown, including Sri Maharooni, a chain-smoking Indian fakir
Fakir
The fakir or faqir ; ) Derived from faqr is a Muslim Sufi ascetic in Middle East and South Asia. The Faqirs were wandering Dervishes teaching Islam and living on alms....
speaking about the meaning of life, and Chris Genkel (played by actor Robert Roll), a pitchman hawking bizarre products for "gherkins" from his company, Genkel Wax Works, in Adonai, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Celebrities, including Debra Winger
Debra Winger
Mary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
and Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly Heather D'Angelo is an American actress and singer.-Early life:D'Angelo was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Priscilla , a violinist, and Gene D'Angelo, a bass player and television station manager. She is of part Italian ancestry...
, were known to show up at NWTs tapings.
New Wave Theatre came to an end in 1983 when Ivers was found bludgeoned to death in his LA apartment. Ivers' friend, movie producer/director/writer Harold Ramis offered Jove help and the result was a pilot show for local TV (KTLA) called The Top directed by Jove, produced by the then prolific music video producer Paul Flattery (he and Jove first collaborated on "Stop In The Name Of Love", a video for The Hollies, which incorporated many of Jove's signature public domain footage montages) and executive produced by Harold Ramis
Harold Ramis
Harold Allen Ramis is an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. His best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters and Russell Ziskey in Stripes , both of which he also co-wrote...
. Ramis basically lent his name (as well as industry clout, contacts and credibility) to the show which was conceived partially to continue the spirit of New Wave Theatre, but also to take advantage of the then-emerging music video scene. (Flattery's music video resume was a who's who of the 80's). Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
was the initial host, but during the taping of his monologue at the head of the show, he went off-script and invited a heckling (and drunk) audience member on stage with him. After hurling the guy off-stage, a fight broke out between Chase and the audience and Chase walked off the show. Shooting continued and then a week later, inserts were shot with Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
as the host (in his last public appearance). The Top got good ratings but despite enlisting Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
, Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
, Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
, Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, and The Romantics
The Romantics
The Romantics is an American New Wave band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1977. The band adopted the name "The Romantics" because they formed on Valentine's Day, 1977. The Romantics achieved popularity in the United Kingdom, The U.S...
to perform during the pilot, the relationship between all of the parties - Jove, Flattery, Ramis and the KTLA executives - was so damaged by Jove's often bizarre and erratic behaviour that no more episodes were produced.
Rhino Video released two volumes of the best of New Wave Theatre in 1991 (Rhino Video numbers RNVD 2903 and RNVD 2904). Both are out of print, but used copies are not hard to find.
Media
- Video of FEARFear (band)Fear is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1977. The band is credited for helping to shape the sound and style of American hardcore punk, the group started out as part of the early California punk rock scene, and gained national prominence after an infamous 1981...
performing "New York's Alright (If You Like Saxophones)". Includes Ivers attempting to interview FEAR singer Lee VingLee VingLee Ving Lee Ving Lee Ving (born Lee James Capellaro; April 10, 1946 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an American musician, most famous for his role as lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Los Angeles-based punk rock band Fear, and actor. In the late 1960s Ving joined Sweet Stavin Chain Blues Band...
. - Video of Red Wedding performing "We Make History" on New Wave Theatre (RealVideo format). Includes NWT opening title segment.
- Audio of Castration Squad's NWT performance of "A Date with Jack" (MP3 format). Includes Ivers interviewing band members.
- The full footage from Bad ReligionBad ReligionBad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...
's New Wave Theatre appearances from 1980 and 1982 are part of the bonus features on the 2006 Bad Religion Live DVD Live at the Palladium.