Peter Scott Ivers (born Peter Scott Rose, September 20, 1946 – March 3, 1983) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and television personality. He was the host of the experimental music television show New Wave Theatre. Despite Ivers never having achieved mainstream success, biographer Josh Frank has described him as being connected by "a second degree to every major pop culture event of the last 30 years." A native of Brookline, Massachusetts, Ivers' primary instrument was the harmonica, and at a concert in 1968, Muddy Waters referred to him as "the greatest harp player alive." After migrating to Los Angeles, Ivers was signed by Van Dyke Parks and Lenny Waronker to a $100,000 contract as a solo artist with Warner Bros. Records in the early 1970s. His albums Terminal Love (1974) and Peter Ivers (1976) sold poorly, but later earned a cult following. He made his live debut opening for the New York Dolls, and shared concert bills with such acts as Fleetwood Mac and John Cale. Ivers scored the 1977 David Lynch film Eraserhead and contributed both songwriting and vocals to the piece "In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)". Later in his career, he wrote songs that were recorded by Diana Ross and the Pointer Sisters. In 1983, Ivers was murdered under mysterious circumstances, and the crime remains unsolved. Life and career Early life Peter Ivers was born in Illinois on September 20, 1946, and spent the first two years of his life in Chicago. His mother Merle Rose was a homemaker; his father Jordan Rose was a physician, and became ill with lung cancer when Peter was two years old. Shortly after Jordan was diagnosed, the family relocated to Arizona in an attempt to help him recover. However, his health declined, and Jordan died in 1949. Merle quickly remarried to Paul Isenstein, a businessman from the Boston area. She didn't care for his last name, and picked the last name "Ivers" out of the phone book as her new married name (Paul also took the last name, in an attempt to win her affection). Merle was a free spirit and doting mother, who exposed young Peter to a wide variety of music. From about age four, Peter was raised in Brookline, a suburb of Boston. He attended the Roxbury Latin School and then Harvard University, majoring in classical languages, but chose a career in music. He started