| There are many things not known about The Residents, however these are not among those things.These are entirely different things not known.MOJO Magazine recently voted The Residents' Satisfaction as the 74th most important punk single in history.Billboard Magazine wrote an editorial about it questioning whether it was advertising, payola, or art.Five of their earliest videos are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.In 1991 The Residents released their album, Freak Show.The Residents, in 1993, wrote a ten hour score for The Discovery Channel nature show, Hunters.In 2002 The Residents released their first DVD, Icky Flix.It did not become an actual nominee, however.Still The Residents were invited to the ceremonies and party and shared a table with Donna Summer.For other uses, see Resident.Throughout their career, spanning nearly four decades, they have maintained complete anonymity.All public relations, interviews and promotions are handled by their spokesgroup, The Cryptic Corporation.The Mole Show: The start of the Live Era
3 The 13th Anniversary show
4 Cube E
5 Wormwood
5.Who are the Residents?Origins
Because of the obscure nature of the band, it is difficult to compile a history that is completely accurate.What follows is information from unauthorized accounts which may or may not be entirely reliable.The Residents supposedly hail from Shreveport, Louisiana, where they met in high school in the 1960s.Newer information indicates they are probably from Slidell, Louisiana, and picked Shreveport as the "place to be from" since it is the city in Louisiana that was furthest from Slidell.Whilst attempting to make a living, they began to experiment with tape machines, photography, and anything remotely to do with "art" that they could get their hands on.The group purchased crude recording equipment and instruments and began to make tapes, refusing to let an almost complete lack of musical proficiency stand in the way.Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor and The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger.Hear You Got Religion", supposedly recorded in 1969, and released originally as a downloadable track from Ralph America in 1999.Cryptic says there are lots of tapes dating back decades, but they were all recorded before the group had officially become "The Residents" so the band do not consider them to be part of their discography.Album" (he describes it as "okay at best" in "Uncle Willie's Cryptic Guide to the Residents"), but awarded the tape an "A for Ariginality".Because the band had not included any name in the return address, the rejection slip was simply addressed to "The Residents".The first performance of the band using the Residents moniker was at the Boarding House in San Francisco in 1971.In 1972 they moved to San Francisco and formed Ralph Records.By this time, The Cryptic Corporation was operating as a partnership and incorporated to take over the running of Ralph Records.Album Era
Before the Santa Dog single and while recording Meet the Residents, The Residents undertook one of their first major projects: the ambitious Vileness Fats film project.The Residents saw this project as the opportunity to create the ultimate cult film.Santa Dog is considered by both The Residents themselves and their fans to be the "official" start of the band's recorded output.Shortly after this release, the band left San Mateo and relocated to San Francisco.The Residents, at this point, were at a rough point in their career.The album was recorded and then placed in storage to be issued only when everyone had forgotten about it.Eskimo) forced its release in 1978 after the band had almost forgotten about it.The Residents were unbothered by this deviation from their plan since the 1978 decision to release the album would not affect the philosophical conditions under which it was originally recorded.The Third Reich 'n' Roll came next, a pastiche on 60's rock 'n' roll with an overarching Nazi theme (represented visually on the album cover, which featured Dick Clark in an SS uniform holding a carrot, with a number of Hitler's dancing on clouds behind him).Fingerprince album on the CD reissues.The Residents remixed the "songs" in disco style, the results of which appeared on the EP Diskomo.The Commercial Album (1980) consisted of 40 songs that, like Eskimo, rejected traditional song structure.This prompted an editorial in Billboard magazine questioning whether the act was art or advertising.When MTV was in its infancy, The Residents' videos were in heavy rotation since they were among the few music videos available to broadcasters.The Residents' earliest videos are in the New York Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection and were eventually released together in 2001 on the Icky Flix DVD, which includes an optional audio track of remixes.Snakefinger presented projected films of the Residents prior to live performance during this time.Other network competitors to MTV such as the USA network presented Residents videos but the videos were not on MTV.Many think, after observation of official clues in liner notes such as those found in Demons Dance Alone, that the Mole Show caused several members of the Residents to leave, leaving Mr.This tour is also noted for being the first time The Residents appeared on stage wearing their trademark eyeball masks and tuxedos.The performance featured The Residents in front of painted back drops used to help illustrate the story.The show was designed to appear as if it was falling apart as it progressed, Penn would grow angrier with the crowd, the lights music and smoke would intensify.The 13th Anniversary show
After being approached by their Japaneses distributor to do a 2 week run of shows in Japan The Residents created the 13th Anniversary tour.Featuring inflatable Giraffes, Dancers in eye ball masks illuminating the darkened stage with work lights, and a lead vocalist dressed in a garish yellow suit wearing a Nixon mask.After the two week run in Japan the residents took the show through the US.Backstage at the Hollywood Palace show in December 26, 1985 one member's eyeball mask (Mr.Red Eye) was stolen, so it was replaced with a giant skull mask.It was put into retirement because it was now "unclean" (and in a bad condition) and had become a superfluous shell.From this point forward the lead Resident was known as Mr.Cube E
Was a three act performance covering the history of American Music.It was a step up from previous shows, featuring more elaborate dance numbers and sets.It was also the first show comprised exclusivly of music written for the show.Part one covering cowboy music was first performed on German television as "Buckaroo Blues".It featured the singer and 2 dancers wearing giant cowboys hats around a glowing campfire.The act ended when a giant cube head rose from the back of the stage.An elderly Elvis performing songs for his grandchildren.Wormwood
Based around bible stories stories, featured the residents departing from preprogramed music and once a gain using a live band.The band wore ecclesiastical robes and performed in a brightly lit fluorescent cave.Act one consisted of one off stories about individual bible characters.In Athens Greece one of The Residents had to leave the stage after being struck by a rock hurled from the audience.Eye", a surreal biography of Elvis Presley and the birth of rock and roll.This marked the beginning of The Residents' obsession with emerging computer technology in the 1990s.ROM experiment, Puppet Motel.Several of the songs were also performed live during the 1997 25th anniversary concerts at the Fillmore in San Francisco.The Freak Show Soundtrack with a different cover.The Freak Show Special Edition, was released in 2002 to mark their 30th anniversary.Band Era
More recently The Residents have recorded the dramatic album "Demons Dance Alone" (also a tour and DVD in 2002) and "Animal Lover" in 2005.The Residents many projects.In February of 2005 the Residents toured Australia as part of the "What is Music?"Anniversary Tour: The Way We Were.They added video projections and unusual flexible screens to the stage set, creating an unsettling ambiance.The performances on the Way We Were tour were recorded and were released on CD and DVD in 2005.Following the success of River of Crime, The Residents launched their weekly Timmy video project on YouTube.In 2007 they did the music for the documentary Strange Culture and also released a double instrumental album, Night of the Hunters.On the Fourth of July, 2007, the planned October release of their latest project with Mute Records, The Voice of Midnight (a music theater adaptation of E.Who are the Residents?Much of the speculation about the members' true identities swirls around their management team, known as "The Cryptic Corporation."Clem and Kennedy left the Corporation in 1982.The Residents themselves don't grant interviews, though Flynn and Fox have occasionally commented to the media.Nolan Cook, who has been working with the band recently, denied in an interview that Fox and Flynn are the Residents, saying that he has come across such rumors, and they are completely false.William Poundstone, author of the Big Secrets books, claimed Flynn and possibly Fox are likely members of The Residents, probably the group leaders; this is probably the most widespread belief among the group's fans.Flynn and Fox are merely trusted managers who both handle the Residents' business and protect their identities, makes them the logical choice to be assigned the copyrights.Since 1976, the Residents' recordings have all listed their producer as "The Cryptic Corporation," presumably meaning Fox in particular.Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats?See Copyrights for details.This is the only official MySpace site for The Residents.It is maintained by Big Brother who also maintains The Residents other web sites.The Residents do not maintain this site so no messages left for The Residents on MySpace will be seen by them, sorry."Are you sure you want to delete this comment?"FOREVER WAIT AT CONSTANTINOPLE!Lovelyness is the music created by The Residents unique style of art.Hey guys, thanx for the add, I am amazed with your work, I first saw a couple of videos that a local channel played in a progressive music tv show, and it..My Favorite Hit is "True Love"!Congratulations on the new album.As usual with all Residents recordings, it is mind blowing.The new album is amazing!COMNew shirts there too...IN SARDINIA THERE ARE MANY TRIBES THAT LISTEN YOUR MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks for some great music.Still have the tape around here somewhere...Certainly a Conway Twitty highpoint.I've been listening since 1989.Any plans to play live sometime?Your optical orb delights me.Your music made me a happy feeling.And I respect you very much!!"Commercial album" DVD and I have to say "yo shit is the DOPEST."Your stuff always reminds be of zonked out nights in Saigon, sipping the green fairy and bhanging the chi gai.It was way back when KFJC had the moutain of madness, and the first song I heard was benny the bouncing bump, off of the Live from the Fillmore.Cooler than ice cream and that's pretty darn cool!The Residents,whee fheel verry honoured to bee countedamong Your friends.Ignorance of THEIR culture is still not considered cool...Greetings from Venice, Italy!We love everything about The Residents.The ideas, the styles, the concepts and the music.But then again, when it comes to The Residents, every show is a great one.Those who work for The Residents, concider yourself very lucky.You work for a great band.JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL THE YEARS, OF SURREAL SOUNDS, I LOVE YOUR MUSIC.Music is just amazing to get lost in....The Commercial Album will always remain in a clogged and crusty place in my heart."Urgent Security Alert","Warning: You are submitting information to an outside site.This could be an attempt to steal your username and password.Get the latest Flash player.The video has been added to your playlist.This video will appear on your blog shortly.Thank you for sharing your concerns.Content of this nature is not necessarily prohibited on YouTube, however we will review this video and take action as appropriate.Please refer to our Help Center for more information and the form to submit.Thank you for sharing this video!Change this to see only comments above a certain value.Change the value of a comment by clicking on a thumb.LOOOOOOOOOOOO V V V V VE IT!SLASHduRocker, go for the "The Third Reich and Roll" Residents album; this is the intro of side A, "Hitler was a Vegetarian".Video of the residents and the odd things they do.Video of the residents and the odd things they do.The code changes based on your selection.Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.Get the latest Flash player.This video has been added to your favorites.The video has been added to your playlist.Thank you for sharing your concerns.Content of this nature is not necessarily prohibited on YouTube, however we will review this video and take action as appropriate.Thank you for sharing your concerns.We can only process copyright complaints submitted by authorized parties in accordance with processes defined in law.There may be significant legal penalties for false notices.Thank you for sharing this video!Change the value of a comment by clicking on a thumb.Homer Flynn is definitely one of the Residents...CONVINCED that Les Claypool was the lead singer of The Residents.Les would have been about 5 years old when the first Residents album came out.More like Les was influenced by the vocalist with the Residents.Just because that one acts afeminate doesnt mean its a woman.He's on THE COMMERCIAL ALBUM, which that video is from.Would you like to comment?The Residents get interviewed in Toronto 1986.The Residents get interviewed in Toronto 1986.One of the Residents shuts off a video camera during the live brodcast at the MUCHMUSIC studio.The code changes based on your selection.Viewing this page requires a browser capable of displaying frames.Not that I expected anything less than spectacular.This archive has clips and, in some cases, complete videos of all the Residents recorded visual work (both in the studio and live performance), as well as a complete
discography with soundbite samples from each release.Spurred by these two completely unheralded masterworks, I figured it was time to place a call to the Cryptic Corporation, the organization that handles all the Residents' affairs regarding dealings with the general outside world.Residents have never granted an interview in their 21 years of creative output, anonymity is key.The Residents have never felt a need to let the public know where they're headed
or what they're doing, because they may not know (there are plenty of other reasons I won't go into here, as well).Cryptic Corporation, as spokesperson of the Residents, does grant interviews on occasion and we were lucky enough to have Hardy Fox (who, along with Homer Flynn, is the heart and soul of Cryptic) reply to our request for more information within a few days.Residents themselves, specific questions about methodology and motive are unanswerable and left up to the mind of user.The Residents, Fox explains, were almost more apprehensive about initially putting the music together than waiting to see how it had been compiled for an audio release (which was unplanned when the music was
recorded).Even though the idea was they wanted to do this show on predators, and they wanted it to be somewhat vicious.The classic Western sound The Residents achieve on Hunters is a closer cousin to sweeping movie scores from the '30s and '40s rather than classical music, but insidious rumblings lurk within all the pieces.Which is one of the things that makes it interesting.It's consistent to a tuning but it's not a Western
tuning.ROM, it was conceived of as an
audio album.That was one of the requirements.Commonplace for artists who want to keep a hand in every aspect of a production, but for the Residents it goes far beyond control to overall theories and plans of action.It was a really different idea from Freak Show.If it had been
something that was in that general direction, I don't think it would have ever happened.ROM, which is a total experience sort of thing.In fact, they've said that what they see it as is it gives you something to do while you listen to album.ROM is one hell of a response.Inventing a new format is pretty heavy, especially for something whose significance Fox almost dismisses.The Residents have used popular cultural iconography throughout their long career.Pieces and
The King and Eye .Freak Show is another natural extension of the group's fascination with the roots of American culture.The Gingerbread Man deals with aging, jadedness and dying.Everything takes on a new life in the interactive mode, however, and here the creative genius of the Residents allows the user to manipulate just about every aspect of all the characters.Residents' animator Jim Ludtke), depressing other ones can change content of the songs or make thoughts and images fly out of the characters' heads.UWEB put out the book (and accompanying CD) Uncle Willy's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents about
two years ago.Aside from being entirely translated into Japanese, where release of a new edition is imminent, Fox relates the plans for the book's electronic debut.If the Residents weren't doing anything anymore it would be fine (for just a book to
be published), but since every year it goes out of date it doesn't make much sense.This brings up the Residents connection to the Internet, details of which Fox was also happy to relate.There is a web site under construction.It's mainly taking the time to put it together, but we hope it won't take too long before both the mail order catalog and the Uncle Willy book will be there.As well as what's coming and
what's being worked on. |
