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] She was sworn in as a federal judge in 2018.[3]
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.[4] The culture was traditional and her father was keen on sports but, while she was fond of the place, she chose a different path.[4] 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.[4]
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.[5] 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.[5] Several musicians such as Richie Lure 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.[5] The band practised in the basement of a deli near the Fine Arts Building and they played some impromptu gigs in the street there.[5] They performed at venues including The Great Gildersleeve's and, most especially, CBGB, which was a famous proving ground for punk rock bands.[5] Their style was enthusiastic, feminist and non-commercial.[5] They attracted some favourable reviews but did not sign with a record label.[5]
^ abBlush, 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, ISBN9781250083623
^Nichols, David (2011), The Go-Betweens, Verse Chorus Press, p. 139, ISBN9781891241901
^Alison Pearlman (2003), Unpackaging Art of the 1980s, University of Chicago Press, p. 195, ISBN9780226651453