Peter Ivers - Becoming Peter Ivers...

Absolutely essential Peter Ivers retrospective from the also absolutely essential RVNG stable. Most will know Peter Ivers via the inclusion of 'In Heaven' on the Eraserhead soundtrack, or perhaps Pixies cover of that same song (which i always loved). A wonky odd-pop delight of little comparison, but it only tells you a little of what made Ivers so special. A highly adept multi-instrumentalist with a preternatural ability to freewheel through genre, Ivers drew on blues, Bowie-esque outsider pop, showy glam and even an occasional disco-flected pop spirit (and i'm not imagining that - i just read he wrote songs for Diana Ross!). Tragically, Ivers' life was cut short when he was murdered in his apartment in 83, a crime that was never solved. It's a shit byline, but it does add some poignancy to this set, pregnant with hidden promise and in its way stands as some kind of precursor for every weird pop superstar who was just trying to break their way in.