For those who grew up during that time and hearing the song “Janitor” playing on KROQ, there is no doubt that it was a very cool and unique song for the time. But definitely give “Suburban Lawns” a try as there are a lot of cool songs from the band members!
Click here to purchase Suburban Lawns deput LP “Suburban Lawns” on Amazon
BAND: Suburban Lawns
ALBUM: Suburban Lawns
DURATION: 14 Songs (29 Minutes)
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1981
1. Flying Saucer Safari
2. Pioneers
3. Not Allowed
4. Gossip
5. Intellectual Rock
6. Protection
7. Anything
8. Janitor
9. Computer Date
10. Mom and Dad and God
11. Unable
12. When in the World
13. Green Eyes
14. Jam the Controls
Back in 1978, the post-punk group Suburban Lawns was formed in Long Beach.
Consisting of CalArts students William “Vex” Billingsgate Ranson and Sue “Su Tissue” McLane, they would recruit Richard “Frankie Ennui” Whitney, Charles “Chuck Roast” Rodriguez and John “John Gleur” McBurney for their new band.
And their first indie single was “Gidget Goes to Hell” directed by budding filmmaker Jonathan Demme (who would go on to direct “The Silence of the Lamb”, “Philadelphia”, “The Manchurian Candidate”, “Rachel Getting Married”).
And the music video aired on “Saturday Night Live”.
The group was signed to I.R.S. Records (yes, the same record label as The Go-Gos and at one time Oingo Boingo) and the re-release of their second single “Janitor” would become popular on the radio.
But it was their single “Janitor” that would reach KROQ 106.7’s “Top 100 Songs of 1981” (KROQ is a legendary radio station in the ’80s and ’90s that played music that other radio stations would not play, and were known as a post punk/New Wave/Alternative rock station).
“Janitor” would beat out songs like The Pretenders “Adultress”, X’s “White Girl”, Devo’s “Jerkin’ Back and Forth”, The Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and The Kinks’ “Destroyer”.
What made the song a hit was it’s lyrics “I’m a janitor, oh my genitals” and Su Tissue’s vocals which was pretty fall out and unexpected when you first listen to it. It really catches your attention.
The song was derived when Sue Tissue and her friend Brian Smith were having a conversation and she asked him what he did for a living and he said, “I’m a janitor” but Su Tissue heard it as “Oh my genitals”. Frankie Ennui having heard this, went out and wrote a song.
While the song was a hit and their eponymous titled debut LP “Suburban Lawns” became a big hit because of the song, the group released a five song EP in 1983 but then disbanded afterward.
In 2020, the album was released with the album and EP combined on CD.
But for those purchasing it on digital, you’ll need to purchase the album and EP separately.
But the songs are evenly split with the guys of the group and Su Tissue lending her vocals on other songs such as “Fly Saucer Safari”, “Anything”, “Gossip”, “Unable”, “Green Eyes”. There is no main lead vocalist for Suburban Lawns as vocalist as Frankie Ennui, Vex Billingsgate, Su Tissue and John McBurney lent their vocals for various songs. In the album, you will find tracks featuring primarily all the guys, the guys and Su or all Su.
So, it was an interesting album that you got a mix of everything.
But I can see if people bought this album being a bit bummed thinking they were going to get songs with Su Tissue’s vocals. Having heard “Gidget Goes to Hell” and “Janitor”, it was something that was expected.
But if you accept the band as a whole and delivering cool punk music (some will call it early new wave, which the band did not like being put in that category at the time) with a big touch of humor and nerdy tech synth pop, popularized by Devo.
Coincidentally, another band with a lead vocalist with cutesy vocals and dominated the KROQ 106.7 at No.1 that same year was Missing Persons with their song “Mental Hopscotch”. But 1981 was a big year for female vocalists, with Missing Persons, The Go-Go’s, Suburban Lawns and The Pretenders dominating the top 20.
So, the band was in no doubt good company with having a chart topping hit on KROQ 106.7.
And while the band never reunited musically, the guys of the band went on to become part of other bands, while Sue McLane (Su Tissue) would release solo music work and even starred in the Demme 1986 film “Something Wild”.
But nevertheless, for those who grew up during that time and hearing the song “Janitor” playing on KROQ, there is no doubt that it was a very cool and unique song for the time. But definitely give “Suburban Lawns” a try as there are a lot of cool songs from the band members!
Click here to purchase Suburban Lawns deput LP “Suburban Lawns” on Amazon
