Last year DM alerted readers to the possibility of viewing all twenty-five episodes of the classic local music show that ran on Los Angeles area UHF station channel 18 from 1981 to 1983, New Wave Theatre. At that time we ended the post with the statement “Enjoy it before someone yanks it off of YouTube!” Well, sad to say, that warning proved all too apt, as the video has indeed since been pulled from YouTube.

In the intervening months I’ve received some requests as to where one could find the episodes, so I’m confident that there is some interest in this subject. It turns out that a YouTube user named TheSnappySneezer has uploaded first sixteen episodes of the show, so if you want to enjoy the punk and new wave madness, now’s your chance.

New Wave Theatre had an frenetic DIY vibe that perfectly mirrored the energy of the L.A. punk and new wave scenes. In Josh Frank’s book In Heaven Everything Is Fine, Ken Yas described New Wave Theatre as “Ed Sullivan on acid meets American Idol on cocaine.” New Wave Theatre provided a showcase for acts like the Angry Samoans, Dead Kennedys, 45 Grave, Fear, the Plugz, X, Circle Jerks, and many more.

It’s impossible to discuss the show New Wave Theatre without confronting its memorable host, Peter Ivers. Ivers was an L.A. musician who wrote “In Heaven (The Lady in the Radiator Song)” for David Lynch’s 1977 masterpiece Eraserhead (many years later, it was covered by the Pixies). In 1983 In early March 1983 Ivers was found murdered in his apartment, beaten to death with a hammer. The crime is officially unsolved but all indications appear to implicate one of his business associates.

After the jump, episodes 1-16 of New Wave Theatre….....

 
A generous and kind soul uploaded all 25 episodes of New Wave Theatre the incredible local TV show that extensively covered the Los Angeles punk scene. The show ran from January 1981 to March 1983, and was abruptly stopped in its tracks when its host, Peter Ivers, was found beaten to death in his apartment. Within a few months of its premiere, the crucial USA Network program that aired late at night on Fridays and Saturdays, Night Flight, provided a national showcase for the show.

The show was created and produced by David Jove, who also wrote the program with Billboard magazine editor Ed Ochs. Ivers’s murder is officially unsolved, but according to this page the prime suspect for the crime was Jove.
 

Peter Ivers
 
Ivers was a very interesting guy—among other things he wrote “In Heaven (The Lady in the Radiator Song),” which appears in David Lynch’s 1977 movie Eraserhead and many years later was covered by the Pixies. Among the bands that appeared on New Wave Theatre are the Angry Samoans, Dead Kennedys, 45 Grave, Fear and The Plugz, X, and Circle Jerks.

In Josh Frank’s book In Heaven Everything is Fine, Ken Yas, a friend of David Jove, memorably called New Wave Theatre “Ed Sullivan on acid meets American Idol on cocaine.”

Here’s the series in its entirety. Enjoy it before someone yanks it off of YouTube!
 

 
Thank you Annie Zaleski!