SCW’s God, Family, Country show was performed on November 9, 1989 at Toronto’s venerable Music Gallery as part of the 20th Century and how to leave it series curated by Myke Dyer.

Poster for the God Family Country show (designed by PnrH)

The show was based on a series of videos SCW had prepared in advance. There were three sections, one for each topic: God, Family and Country. Each section began with a taped introduction by SCW collaborator Charles ‘Militant’ Doubt, plus a CGI animated intro (pretty advanced for 1989).

For the show the pre-recorded videos were processed and animated live with Amiga computers operated by SCW collaborators Bruce Becker and Catherine Willson, accompanied with sequenced and improvised musical performances by SCW. Because the main focus of the show was the live processed video, the three band members were set up at the back of the darkened hall wearing their Who Shot the Pope? hats, which were created – as always – by SCW’s wardrobe designer Cathie Whittaker.

Here’s some photos from the show (taken with flash – the hall was actually dark):

Although SCW had planned on recording the GFC show, someone (R.I.P. GBH) accidentally unplugged the video recorder right before the show began, so there’s no record of the performance as the audience experienced it. There is however a live audio recording which was made separately. To give a taste of the performance, the following clips show the pre-recorded video clips along with the live audio.

Here are the pre-recorded intros for the GFC show along with the live audio:

Each of the three members of SCW wrote tunes addressing each of the topics of God, Family, and Country. Here is the pre-recorded video for dWM’s “Who Shot the Pope?” (part of the God section) along with the live audio:

Here is the pre-recorded video for Jeff-0’s “Mary Dear” (part of the Family section) along with the live audio:

Here is the pre-recorded video for Roba’s “That’s Wrong!” (also part of the Family section) along with the live audio:

On December 31 1988 SCW hosted their second annual New Year’s party, once again at ARC on Queen St. West in Toronto. This time they topped the previous year’s show by having four different costume changes, all created by official SCW wardrobe designer Cathie Whittaker.

Poster for the show designed by PnrH and Jeff-0

Here’s a photo gallery highlighting some of the costume changes.

Newspaper Ad for the Show

Here’s some video featuring MCs Eddie Fast and Old Lang supervising the limbo contest!

On Dec 31 1987 SCW presented their first annual New Year’s show at a gallery space on Queen St. West in Toronto. With DJs, MCs, limbo dancing and more! Why? Because!

Poster for the show designed by PnrH and Jeff-0

This show provided SCW with an opportunity to showcase their new five-piece lineup and new disco-punk-funk sound.

Here’s some video!

And here’s a photo gallery…

In July of 1987 SCW was invited to play a show in a park back in Waterloo, Ontario where SCW started out from. The city fathers wouldn’t allow SCW to perform as Sucking Chest Wound so the band temporarily changed their name back to Sweet Children of the West, which had been used previously.

The lineup for the show consisted of legendary Waterloo band X-cessive Rancidity, followed by SCW, and finishing with our friend Eli’s band Abstress (who were the organizers of the show).

This performance marked SCW’s final gig as a free improvisation ensemble. After this show SCW saw the light and was reborn – at least for live shows – as a disco-funk-punk-jazz band.

On the way to the show the band stopped by the local St. Vincent de Paul charity shop to buy their stage outfits. Check it out…

Here’s a gallery of photos from the show taken by Cathie Whittaker

SCW’s cover version of an Arthur Jones composition called Sad Eyes

On April 17 1985 SCW returned to the Mayfair Hotel in Kitchener, Canada for another performance. This time they performed upstairs at a club called Level 21. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear they performed as Sweet Children of the West; the name would be resurrected later on when they were banned from performing as Sucking Chest Wound. The focus of the show was on videos prepared beforehand and played back on video monitors located throughout the performance space, along with slides projected onto the stage.  SCW performed largely behind screens, occasionally venturing out onto the stage to tweak knobs etc.

Here’s an edit of the performance