Residents, The

[David Oskard <dno@cvl.umd.edu>]

Here's a "little" blurb Rich Rosen sent me many moons ago on the whole Ralph
Records / Residents scene.  Their music is, well... interesting.  They go
for the psychotic sound it seems.  I think one of the great experiments
of all time occurred when they payed a guy named Penn Gillete (sp?) a lot
of money to be locked in a motel room for 6 days and listen to ALL Ralph
Records has ever put out.  The results are found on the Ralph 10th Anniv-

ersary album.  Anyway,  here's what Rich sent me:

Your article was cut off completely (must have been painful) except for the
title.  If you are asking "WHO ARE THE RESIDENTS?", I will try to provide an
answer. If you are answering the question you ask, this letter is redundant and
should be burned immediately.

The Residents are originally from Shreveport, LA.  There they got involved
in making weird music and such.  They moved to the San Francisco area where
they continued this process, sending a demo to Warner Bros. records without
a name.  It got rejected and sent back with the address label saying
"RESIDENTS".  A name was born.

In some order or other, Ralph Records and the Cryptic Corporation were formed
by friends and associates of the Residents to promote and distribute their
music.  Their first album, "Meet the Residents", had a cover based on the
"Meet the Beatles" album cover, except with the Beatles' faces grotesquely
distorted.  It was withdrawn (at the request of Capitol Records; actually the
Beatles loved it---unless it was because...)  and a new cover (also with a
picture of the Beatles) was released, this time with the Beatles' heads
replaced with crustaceans.  This was approximately 1972.

Since then, the Residents have recorded many albums, including "Not Available"
(a record that was not supposed to have been released until the Residents
forgot about it; it was released despite the fact that they hadn't;  this is
all based on the theory of obscurity of N. Senada, their cultural idol and
something-or-other), "Third Reich n' Roll" (a medleyesque sendup of the
music of the sixties, including simultaneous playing of Inagaddadavida, Hey
Jude, and Sympathy for the Devil, + 96 Tears, Hey Little Girl, Light My Fire,
Yummy Yummy, Hanky Panky, all in the inimitable Residents style),"Fingerprince"
(which contains an extended ballet piece), "Eskimo" (a conceptual album that
is supposedly based on Eskimo music, culled from research by N. Senada),
"Diskomo" (an EP containing disco versions of pieces from Eskimo, backed with
Residential style Mother Goose songs), "The Residents Commercial Album" (with
40 1-minute 'commercials' [top 40??], each just long enough to make you want
more---all absolutely great!), "Duck Stab"/"Buster & Glen"  (each side of this
album is from an EP, though the Buster & Glen EP was never released except on
this album; contains what have been called "nearly pop" stylings including
'Constantinople', 'Laughing Song', 'Sinister Exaggerator', 'Bach is Dead'),
and finally the Mole albums ("Mark of the Mole", which details the stories of
the Mole people who work in the pits, who are forced by disaster to go to the
cities to do menial work for the ruling Chubs, and "Tunes of Two Cities",
which alternates between songs showing music of the Moles and the Chubs---Mole
music is bizarre and industrial, while Chub music seems to be Residential
versions of old swing tunes---these albums were supposed to be part of a
trilogy, the third alubm of which has never been released; they are also the
basis for the Mole Show which the Residents have performed only a very few
times in recent months).

The Residents' identities are kept very secret, so as to prevent them from
being swallowed up in the rock 'n roll superstar gluttony machine (?).
Speculation has had it that they are the Beatles, since their first work
emerged just after the Beatles broke up.  On Third Reich n' Roll, they
explain "Why the Residents Hate the Beatles", after the backlash from their
first album cover.  Some say "Who hates the Beatles more than the Beatles
themselves, who broke up the band to get out of the hassles of Beatledom?"
They have released a special single (no longer available) called "The
Beatles Play the Residents/The Residents Play the Beatles" which includes a
track called 'Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life', which is a Revolution
9-esque portrait of the Beatles music in tape loops, backwards orchestral
passages, and weird verbiage.  What does all of this mean?  Probably nothing.

Because of the secrecy surrounding them, the Residents have rarely performed
live.  Rare occurrrences of live performances have involved secretive
disguises (mummification, and their trademark---wearing eyeball head masks
with top hats).  Only recently did they engage in a modest tour with their
Mole Show.

Meanwhile, Ralph Records has grown beyond the point where the Residents can
control it. Ralph has released "Not Available" (as well as recent live records)
without Residential permission.  It should be noted that there are many other
artists that have been involved with Ralph.  Among them:

	Snakefinger (actually Phil Lithman) - an English guitarist who has
		appeared with the Residents live and on record; very bizarre
		and incredible style; did a cover of Kraftwerk's "The Model";
		last record (Manual of Errors) has him working with Eric Drew
		Feldman who has worked with Capt. Beefheart

	Fred Frith - very serious and prolific guitarist who has worked with
		Eno, Material, the Art Bears, Matching Mole, and can be found
		all over the Residents Commercial Album

	Tuxedomoon - no longer with Ralph, sort of chamber noise; violin,
		sax, bass, rhythm machine, eerie keyboards and vocals on
		occasion, "Half-Mute" is a great album, though I've never found
		a good pressing

	Yello - European synthodisco, but really much more, very experimental

	Renaldo & the Loaf - newcomers, now working on a collaboration with
		the Residents; very very weird---tape loops and bizarrely
		processed instruments and even more bizarrely processed voices;
		"Songs for Swinging Larvae" (1st album) is very good

Plus there are several compilations: "Subterranean Modern"--contains Residents,
Tuxedomoon, Chrome, and MX80 Sound doing versions of "Left My Heart in San
Francisco" plus original material;  "Frank Johnson's Favorites"--Frank
Johnsons was their bookkeeper, then they got a computer and named it after the
departed Frank; Frank picked out these rarities (mostly B-sides not found on
albums), incl. the Beatles "Flying" taken from the aforementioned Residents
single;  "Best of Ralph"--really THE must-own record here; contains "Beyond
the Valley of a Day in the Life", "Constantinople", excerpts from Eskimo
and Third Reich n' Roll, plus works by other Ralph artists:  Tuxedomoon's
"What Use?", Fred Frith's "Dancin' in the Streets" and "Norgaarden Nyvla",
Renaldo & the Loaf's "Bali Whine", Snakefinger's "The Model" and "The
Spot" (a Residents cut) and "The Man in the Dark Sedan", and more.  Get your
name on their mailing list for further info.  Write to:

	Mail Order/Ralph Records
	109 Minna Street, #391
	San Francisco, CA 94105

Good luck.				Rich Rosen    pyuxn!rlr


Good enough for ya?  	David