As told to me by Brian Smith (who prefers not to have his email adress bandied about):

The Suburaban Lawns were friends of mine, and although they were in New York for a short while, they were mostly from Southern CA. Their first studio was in Long Beach, in an old store front. Su and Bill (Vex) were students at Cal Arts, where they met and the band first formed. The drummer and guitar player were from Huntington Beach. Frank was a computer geek, and Chuck was a house painter.

I helped get them their first paying job at the Cuckoo's Nest in Costa Mesa, where a lot of unsigned bans played. Their independent single Gidget Goes To Hell was self-produced. They first appeared on the radio on Rodney Bingenheimer's "Rodney on the Rocks" on KROQ in Pasadena. I was sitting in their van when it was broadcast.

Their influences were The New York Dolls, David Bowie, Eno, etc. They regularly appeared with Human Hands, Wall of Voodoo, The Blasters, The Brainiacs (Featured in Lily Tomlin's movie The Incredible Shrinking Woman), The Furys, etc. When they became better known, they opened for The Psychedelic Furs at The Whiskey a Go Go, U2 (at the L.A. URGH - The Music Wars concert series, which was made into a film), and after they went to New York, they appeared on the Saturday Night Live show (after the original cast left and they re-grouped 1982).

The song Janitor was conceived after a conversation in a loud room between myself and Su. She asked me what I did for a living. I said "I'm a Janitor" and she thought I said "Oh my genitals". Frank overheard this and wrote the song.

Trivia: Su was a student at the Berklee College of Music. She studied classical piano. I think she's from Boston. In 1986 she appeared in a movie, Something Wild with Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels, directed by John Demme.

The band broke up because of the usual ego problems that arise after awhile. I was at the last show in Hollywood, Christmas Eve, 1985(?). Thought you might be interested since you bothered to mention them. Truly one of the best of their time. I'm glad I was around because it was a real kick in the ass!

Yes, the part about "Janitor" is true.