Susan Beschta
Susan Springfield | |
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 Performing at CBGB in 1978 | |
| Born | Susan Marie Beschta April 21, 1952 Appleton, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | May 2, 2019 (aged 67) |
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| Genres | Punk rock |
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Susan Marie Beschta (April 21, 1952 – May 2, 2019), who performed as Susan Springfield, was the founder and lead singer of Erasers, a band that headlined at CBGB in the 1970s.[1]
She became a solo artist in the 1980s and then trained as a lawyer to start a new career.[2] After graduating from the CUNY School of Law, she fought human rights cases for Catholic Charities.[2]
Early life and education[]
She was born Susan Marie Beschta on April 21, 1952 in Appleton, Wisconsin – one of five children of a Catholic couple, Gerald and Jean Beschta.[3] The culture was traditional and her father was keen on sports but, while she was fond of the place, she chose a different path.[3] After college at University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, she went to the hippy scene of California and then hitch-hiked across the country to study fine arts at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn where she hoped to become a painter.[3]
Art and music[]
Beschta was able to stay rent-free at the Fine Arts Building at 232 East 59th Street in return for looking after its photo gallery.[4] She shared a loft with Jane Fire and they formed Erasers, a punk-rock band, in 1974, with Fire on drums and Beschta as the singer/songwriter and guitarist.[4] Several musicians such as and Anton Fig tried out with the band and the most lasting were Jody Beach on bass guitar and David Ebony, a classically-trained musician.[4] The band practised in the basement of a deli near the Fine Arts Building and they played some impromptu gigs in the street there.[4] They performed at venues including The Great Gildersleeve's and, most especially, CBGB, which was a famous proving ground for punk rock bands.[4] Their style was enthusiastic, feminist and non-commercial.[4] They attracted some favourable reviews but did not sign with a record label.[4]
Beschta was influential in the social scene of punk rock, entertaining stars like Johnny Rotten and Iggy Pop and dating Richard Hell.[2][5][6] In 1978, she starred with Debbie Harry in Amos Poe's movie The Foreigner.[5] After the Erasers, she performed in other bands and artistic projects including the Susan Springfield Band, Desire and Civilization and the Landscape of Discontent.[4][7]
Career as a judge[]
In 2002, she joined the Department of Homeland Security to handle immigration cases in New York while still volunteering for causes including ACT UP and Code Pink.[2] In 2018, she was sworn in as an immigration judge.[3][8]
Death[]
Beschta died on May 2, 2019, at the age of 67 in hospice care in Manhattan, New York City, of brain cancer.[2]
References[]
- ^ Rockwell, John (February 27, 1978), "Erasers, Rock Band, At CBGB's", New York Times, archived from the original on June 3, 2019, retrieved June 3, 2019
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Williams, Alex (May 10, 2019), "Susan Beschta, Punk Rocker Turned Judge, Is Dead at 67", New York Times, archived from the original on June 7, 2019, retrieved June 3, 2019
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Susan Beschta", The Times, p. 48, June 3, 2019, archived from the original on June 3, 2019, retrieved June 3, 2019
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Skolnik, Jes (January 13, 2016), "The Forgotten Women of Punk: CBGB Vets The Erasers on Their Radically Populist Art-Punk", Flavorwire, archived from the original on May 17, 2019, retrieved June 10, 2019
- ^ Jump up to: a b Blush, Steven (2016), "The Music", New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB, St. Martin's Press, p. 200, ISBN 9781250083623
- ^ Nichols, David (2011), The Go-Betweens, Verse Chorus Press, p. 139, ISBN 9781891241901
- ^ Alison Pearlman (2003), Unpackaging Art of the 1980s, University of Chicago Press, p. 195, ISBN 9780226651453
- ^ Susan M. Beschta, Immigration Judge, New York City Immigration Court, U.S. Department of Justice, November 16, 2018, archived from the original on May 12, 2019, retrieved June 10, 2019
Authority control  |
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- 1952 births
- 2019 deaths
- 20th-century American artists
- 20th-century American guitarists
- 20th-century American singers
- 20th-century American women writers
- 20th-century American women singers
- American women guitarists
- American female rock singers
- American women singer-songwriters
- American punk rock guitarists
- American punk rock singers
- American rock songwriters
- CUNY School of Law alumni
- Deaths from brain tumor
- Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
- Neurological disease deaths in New York (state)
- Female punk rock singers
- Guitarists from Wisconsin
- People from Appleton, Wisconsin
- Pratt Institute alumni
- Punk rock musicians
- Singers from Wisconsin
- University of Wisconsin–Whitewater alumni
- United States Article I federal judges
- 20th-century American judges
- 20th-century American women guitarists