A Sun City Girls Chronology

This is not meant to be a comprehensive listing of SCG history. This is an outline of some of the more significant events over the past 25 years. More text will be entered here as time permits.

1979:
The Bishop Brothers move to Phoenix, AZ and begin playing open mic venues. They find a drummer, Kevin Hughes from Alaska, and form an all-cover-song band called Fuck You.

Charles Gocher moves to Phoenix looking for action.

1980:
Hughes leaves town and is replaced by Joe "Stage" Musico and the band name is changed to THE NEXT. The trio plays numerous shows in Phoenix and develop a 50-song repertoire.

The Bishops meet Charles Gocher on the open-mic scene and together, the 3 of them occassionaly perform for the next year (along with other revolving musicians) as The Freeform Orchestra. The Bishops begin hosting several open mic nights in local cafes but settled into a two-night stint every week at a new Tempe Pizza parlor in November of 1980 which would run well into 1981.

1981:
The NEXT change their name to Sun City Girls. The first SCG recording to make it to vinyl, "Shutup!", is released on the Ominous Clouds anti-nuke compilation LP.

The Bishops open-mic nights begin to displace the established "coffee house" scene by featuring hardcore punk, industrial music, extremist poetry, performance art, free jazz, and other confrontational stunts creating high tension with the standard clientele as well as the owners of the club by introducing an entirely new audience and array of performers to the mix of old school patrons and musicians. This is where the Bishops first met Eddy Detroit, Jesse Srgoncik, and a young promoter named Tony Victor who had been booking hardcore, industrial, and outsider music shows at a wrestling ring in downtown Phoenix ("Mad Gardens"). Victor and Greg Hynes (soon to become drummer of Mighty Sphincter) launched Placebo Records in the Summer of 1981.

SCG's "Bobbie Sands Boogie" appears on Placebo's Amuck compilation LP, the label's first 12".

Later in the year, the owner of the pizza parlor secretly arranged for the SCG PA system to be stolen as an excuse to get rid of them as open mic hosts. A satisfactory settlement was later reached and the police were never contacted.

Multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Linda Cushma joins the group, making SCG a quartet.

1982:
The Bishops join forces with Jesse Srgoncik and Maureen Tucker to form a short-lived group, Paris 1942.

Early in the year the addition of Jeff Jones makes Sun City Girls a quintet. In August Jeff and Stage both leave the band, then Charles Gocher joins as the drummer. Shortly after, Linda moves on and by November 1982, the trio of Alan Bishop, Richard Bishop, and Charles Gocher is established. Their first performance as a trio was opening for Black Flag at the Calderon Ballroom in Phoenix.

1983:
Along with monthly live shows, the group starts to record and distribute a variety of homemade cassettes of their numerous sound experiments.

The Bishops spend several months in Europe and North Africa.

1984:
First LP, Sun City Girls, released on Placebo.

SCG begin hosting "Punk Night" each Monday night at local Phoenix club, The Mason Jar. After too many wild shows, their 4-month reign was terminated by the owners.

First North American tour, opening for skate-punks JFA (Jodie Foster's Army).

1985:
Continued recordings and more extreme performances around the Southwestern US. More Overseas travel.
1986:
Second LP, Grotto of Miracles, released on Placebo. The first SCG bootlegs begin to appear.

More homemade recordings/live shows in the Southwest.

1987:
First 7-inch released on Pulp. SCG begins issuing Cloaven Cassettes. Horse Cock Phepner (third LP) issued on Placebo.

1988:
SCG self-record 6 LPs worth of material, including Torch of the Mystics, with the rest of the material being spread out as pieces for many later records (some still not issued).

1989:
Handmade Indonesian LP series distributed in Sumatra and Java while traveling through 6 Asian countries. Cloaven Cassettes still released regularly.

SCG become a favorite "House Band" of the Sun Club in Tempe, with many shows from 1989 to 1991.

1990:
Torch of the Mystics LP released on Majora. Collaboration LP with Eugene Chadborne, Country Music in The World of Islam, released on Fundamental. The last in the Cloaven Cassette series (The Great North American Tricksters) is released.

SCG perform live on Mt. Shasta. Second North American tour.

1991:
Dawn of the Devi LP released on Majora. SCG filmmaking begins.

Overseas travel.

1992:
Live From Planet Boomerang, a double-LP, released on Majora. Engineer Scott Colburn begins recording much of the SCG output.

Third North American tour with Thinking Fellers Union Local 282.

1993:
SCG now fully relocated to Seattle. Four-plus LPs, a double 7-inch, and miscellaneous singles, cassettes, and compilation cuts released. Abduction Records formed. Overseas travel.

Recordings at Palatine studio in Seattle, plus San Francisco shows.

SCG acquire a full Javanese Gamelan Orchestra at an auction in Seattle.

1994:
Four more LPs released, including some of SCG's first soundtrack work. A pre-empted public access mind control experiment is released on the Cloaven Theatre Video (VHS).

Overseas travel.

San Francisco and Northwest shows. Recordings at Palatine Studio.

1995:
Continued recording/releases/traveling/performances on the west coast.

Overseas travel.

1996:
Two double CD sets released: Dante's Disneyland Inferno (Abduction) and 330,003 Crossdressers from Beyond the Rig Veda.

Tour of Japan in April. Other Overseas travel.

1997:
Triple CD Box of Chameleons released, with 128 tracks spanning the early 1980s through 1996. Massive recording session at Colburn's studio spanning 2 months.

SCG moves into the GBU studio which serves as a rehearsal space large enough to house the full Gamelan orchestra. Overseas travel.

1998:
Overseas travel. Continued recording/releases.

No SCG live shows.

1999:
First SCG live show in 2 years (November 1999 in Seattle).
2000:
SCG begin releasing the Carnival Folklore Resurrection CD series.

More frequent live shows on the west coast.

2001:
Recording/Filmmaking/Northwest US shows.
2002:
Fourth North American tour with limited dates in 6 states.

Recording/Film.

Overseas travel.

2003:
Sublime Frequencies label established.

SCG move into an old theatre which serves as Headquarters.

2004:
www.SunCityGirls.com established.

Six VHS tapes are released.

In March, SCG play in Europe for the first time, at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival near London, England. This is followed in April and May by an extensive US tour.

2005:
Sir Richard Bishop extensive tour of Australia, the US, and Europe.

Overseas travel/recording.

SCG perform one show only in 2005 at the Instal Festival in Glasgow Scotland.

2006:
Solo touring by Sir Richard Bishop.

In December, SCG perform at All Tomorrows Parties' The Nightmare Before Christmas Festival in Somerset, England.

2007:
On January 25, SCG play the opening night of the Club Transmediale Festival in Berlin.

On February 19, Charles Gocher passes away after a long battle with cancer.