Sussman Lawrence was a band led by Peter Himmelman

Peter Himmelman

Peter Himmelman is a singer-songwriter from Minnesota, who formerly played in the band Sussman Lawrence.-Family life:He is Bob Dylan's son-in-law, being married to his daughter Maria Dylan...

 on lead vocals and guitar, with his cousin Jeff Victor on keyboards and backup vocals. Both had previously performed as the only white members in Minneapolis soul singer Alexander O'Neal

Alexander O'Neal

Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer. He is best-known for the songs "If You Were Here Tonight" and "Fake", and the duets with Cherrelle, "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This".-Biography:...

's band. Saxophonist Eric Moen, bass guitarist Al Wolovitch, and drummer Andrew Kamman rounded out the group, which formed in the late ‘70s and took its name from a character on Steamroller, a local Public-access television

Public-access television

Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...

 comedy show that Himmelman hosted.

The members of Sussman Lawrence had all gone to junior high school together in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park. Heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

 and Bob Marley

Bob Marley

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...

, Himmelman (who also performed with Shangoya where he added a 'rock-guitar' flavor to the Caribbean sound) brought a pronounced reggae/ska flavor to their debut album “Hail To The Modern Hero!” and then embellished it on the more polished and ambitiously pop-oriented follow up, the double-LP masterpiece “Pop City.” Both albums fueled Sussman Lawrence’s incendiary live shows with such fan favorites as “House on Fire,” “Baby Let Me Be Your Cigarette,” “Closer, Closer,” and “The Fifth of August”—a gorgeous love song that would resurface on Himmelman’s 1994 album “Skin.”

Searching for greater glory, Sussman Lawrence left the Midwest in 1984 for the East Coast. Settling in Ridgewood, New Jersey, the band gained a foothold in the thriving Manhattan concert scene with their way-over-the-top live shows. Himmelman’s writing, however, was beginning to take a turn inward, as evidenced on his first solo album “This Father’s Day,” which was independently released in 1985 and then re-released by Island Records the following year. Recorded with the same band he’d been with since 1979, Sussman Lawrence then became The Peter Himmelman Band.

Peter Himmelman would go on as a solo recording artist. Now based in Los Angeles, he has branched out, composing popular children’s records and award-winning music for film and television—most notably the hit CBS drama "Judging Amy

Judging Amy

Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...

". Also in L.A. are Andy Kamman, who moved on to play drums for Vonda Shepard and the recording group Uma, and Al Wolovitch, who is a scorer of TV shows and commercials in his own right. Eric Moen is back in Minneapolis, as is Jeff Victor, who has been performing live at Timberwolves home games and touring with The Honeydogs, in addition to winning Emmy and Cleo awards while producing CDs for Target Corp's Lifescape label.

Sussman Lawrence paved the way for more renowned, perhaps, but no more deserving Minneapolis post-punk bands as Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....

, The Replacements, and Soul Asylum

Soul Asylum

Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1983.The band originally formed in 1981 under the name Loud Fast Rules, with the original line-up consisting of Dan Murphy, Dave Pirner, Karl Mueller and Pat Morley. The latter was replaced by Grant Young in...

.

Discography

• Hail To The Modern Hero! (LP, 1980)
• Pop City (double LP, 1984)
• The Complete Sussman Lawrence (1979-1985)
  The Complete Sussman Lawrence (1979-1985)
  This is the 2004 2CD reissue on Deep Shag Records of Sussman Lawrence's two rare indie albums—Hail to the Modern Hero! and Pop City entitled "The Complete Sussman Lawrence " which includes four rare bonus tracks...
  
   (double CD reissue with bonus tracks) (CD, Deep Shag Records
  Deep Shag Records
  Deep Shag Records is an American record company started in 2000 by Michael Reed. They are best known for the On The Road With Ellison series of releases by Harlan Ellison and for re-issuing rare 1980's modern rock, New Wave, comedy, and spoken word albums which were previously unavailable on...
  
  , 2004)