The Burning Nerve Ending Magic Podcast :: A Sun City Girls Story

If Alex Coxen, the madman behind all things Milk Music/Mystic 100's/Graffiti Phallico/Worn Spiral, were alive during te Sun City Girls' radioactive reign on society's senses in the 1980s, his iconic illustrations would have been all over the band's bootlegs, t-shirts, show posters, and other various alchemical artifacts without a doubt. Bridging the gap and endless distance between the parameters of punk and the enlightened ecosystem of the hippie generation, Coxen's influences have connected him from one end of the galaxy to the next, just like the greats before. This isn't the first time we've made a connection between the Sun City Girls and the mighty melodies of the Grateful Dead on "The Burning Nerve Ending Magic Podcast." From Greg Ginn sporting his classic "Steal Your Face" tee at a Blag Flag show in 1983, to Placebo Records founder Tony Beram, who released the Girls' second LP, having seen the Dead numerous times during his youth, the cosmic connection is both relevant and uniquely universal. Join us as we take a trip, literally, with Coxen to explore the first time he became aware of the Girls' music, aquring his copy of "Grotto of Miracle," the critical chemicals that make up consciousness, and much more.

It's bitter-sweet wrapping this two part episode up with the legend behind the Phoenix, Arizona-based label Placebo Records, Tony "Victor" Beram, but all good things must come to an end. Or do they? For this epic episode of "The Burning Nerve Ending Magic Podcast," we sit down with Beram to discuss the band's last two cult classic LPs on the label, 1986's "Grotto of Miracles," and 1987's "Horse Cock Phepner." Two subliminal subjects in the band's institution of indecipherable intelligence that poetically pushed the boundaries of bravery, humour, politics, and alchemical attitude, which have become some of thier most revered efforts to date, the power of the Sun City Girls only grew mightier as the times continued to unfold like a freakish flower. Released during the crazy whirlwind of metaphysical mind control, cultural censorship, and contagious creativity, the Girls unleashed their next two sonic specimens like a pack of wild deranged dogs on a bunch of iridescent intruders looking for a biblical bone during the hallucinogenic height of the Cloaven Cassette series throughout the 1980s. Buckle up as Beram takes us on one last holy hoorah through the liberating landscape of one of the most fascinating groups to have ever existed. Do you disagree? No one asked...    

It's hard to say, if at all possible, where the Sun City Girls would be if they hadn't released their groundbreaking self-titled LP on famed Phoenix, Arizona-based label Placebo Records in 1984. As a prolific powerhouse that would later go on to self-release a treasure trove of metaphysical material, the band's harmoniously humble days in the 1980s were marked by their cosmic connection with local hero Tony "Victor" Beram, who attended an open mic a few years before the release of the band's first album, and immediately ignited a life long brothership that has stood the test of time. Springing into action, these two electrifying entities combined their esoteric efforts and set out to take over the world with their unique univeralism and artistic integrity. Or piss it off as they held a merciless mirror in its face during a time of censorship, political unrest, and the emerging AIDS epidemic, to name a few. For the first part of this two part episode of "The Burning Nerve Ending Magic Podcast," we sit down with Beram to chat about the early days of Placebo Records, meeting the Bishop brothers, and the late great Charles Gocher, pushing to release the band's monumental debut at any cost, touring for three months in the summer 1984 with skatepunk legends J.F.A., the abstract atmosphere of the local scene, and much more.

Imagine being on the road touring with the Sun City Girls for over a month in the autumn of 1992, pulling poetic pranks, and making memories that you'll continue to carry with you for the rest of your life. Memories that you reflect upon to make sure that life wasn't some Truman Show reality trick, and that it really did happen. From Vancouver, Canada, to Winnipeg, Columnus, OH, to home base in Tempe, AZ, where the Girls, and their guests, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 shared a bill with the late grate Eddy Detroit and his Ubangi Sextet, these two powerhouses put a cap on the end of an era in a lot of ways. The 1990s were a glorious time for our spiritual subjects, and Mark Davies (The White Shark) takes us on a journey that is simply one for the ages. On this episode of "The Burning Nerve Ending Magic Podcast - A Sun City Girls Story," we sit down with Mark Davies to talk about his unparalleled and unique connection to the Sun City Girls, and how a night in the Bay Area sometime in the late 1980s eventually led to a deep friendship that has gone down in harmonious history as one of those tonal tales you only read about in underground zines, or hear on interstellar broadcasts that stretch across the nocturnal night skies like some holy hand gripping sonic secrets with all its strength.

Before his long-running career as a legendary stand-up comedian, Neil Hamburger, Gregg Turkington was a prominent fan figure in the highly influential Tempe/Phoenix, Arizona music scene of the 1980s, which ultimately gave birth to such notable acts like the Meat Puppets, Mighty Sphincter, skate punk legends J.F.A. (Jodie Foster's Army), and, of course, the Sun City Girls. As a young teen, Turkington's connection to the Sun City Girls, in particular members, the Bishop brothers, and late drummer Charles Gocher, who tragically passed in 2007, not only inspired his poetic pursuit over the decades, but also showed the aspiring artist that anything is possible if you stand your ground. Mixing melody with madness, the band shook the scene's hardcore backdrop with free-range ritualism and challenged even the politics of punk to go where no man has gone before. Eventually relocating to San Francisco to work alongside Bay area legends, Flipper, Turkington launched his own zine, "Breakfast Without Meat (Gravyhills Cassettes)," which simultaneously acted as a record that famously released one of SCG's most notorious albums, 1986's "Midnight Cowboys From Ipanema." Now, if you want to get technical, this is considered to be the band's third official album, but who's asking? A collection of radio-friendly covers inoculated with various spiritual snippets from their cosmic catalog, Turkington later reissued the album on vinyl and CD with his newly formed label, Amarillo Records, while continuing to book and stay connected with the band during some of their earliest West Coast shows. Similar to that of the Sun City Girls, Turkington's legacy is radically rich with a liberating language spoken only through the melodic mist that entangles its subject's senses with an ancient grip like no other.