“Janitor”, Suburban Lawns

This way: Janitor

Suburban Lawns were an American punk band formed in Long Beach, California in 1978 by CalArts students Vex Billingsgate and Su Tissue. They later recruited Richard "Frankie Ennui" Whitney, Charles "Chuck Roast" Rodriguez, and John "John Gleur" McBurney.

After forming in 1978, Suburban Lawns released their debut single, "Gidget Goes to Hell", in 1979 on their own Suburban Industrial label. The song gained the band notoriety when its Jonathan Demme-directed music video was shown on Saturday Night Live.

Their sole album, Suburban Lawns, produced and engineered by EJ Emmons and Troy Mathisen, was released in 1981 on I.R.S. Records, featuring new wave radio favorite "Janitor" (previously released as a single in 1980).

It has been said that the lyrics of “Janitor” were derived from a real-life conversation between Sue "Su Tissue" McLane and friend Brian Smith. According to Smith, the two were conversing in a loud room when they first met:

She asked me what I did for a living. I said I'm a janitor, and she thought I said "Oh my genitals." Frankie Ennui overheard this and wrote the song.

[Spotify] Janitor

[Extra credit] Janitor