Title In Limbo

The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects, and ten DVDs over the course of over half a century. They have undertaken seven major world tours and scored multiple films. Pioneers in exploring the potential of CD-ROM and similar technologies, the Residents have won several awards for their multimedia projects. They founded Ralph Records, a record label focusing on avant-garde music, in 1972.

Throughout the group's existence, the individual members have ostensibly attempted to work anonymously, preferring to have attention focused on their art. Much speculation and rumor has focused on this aspect of the group. In public, they appear silent and costumed, often wearing eyeball helmets, top hats and tails—a costume now recognized as their signature iconography. In 2017, Hardy Fox, long known to be associated with the Residents, identified himself as the band's co-founder and primary composer; he died in 2018.

History

1965–1972: Origins and Residents Unincorporated

The artists who became the Residents met in high school in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the early 1960s. Around 1965, they began making their first amateur home tape recordings and making art together with a number of friends. In 1966, intending to join the flourishing hippie movement, they headed west for San Francisco, but when their truck broke down in San Mateo, California, they decided to remain there.

While attempting to make a living, the group purchased crude recording equipment and began to refine their recording and editing skills, as well as photography, painting, and anything remotely to do with art that they could afford. The Residents have acknowledged the existence of at least two unreleased reel-to-reel items from this era, titled ''The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger'' and ''Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor''. The Cryptic Corporation has confirmed that their archives contain many tapes dating back decades, but because they were recorded before the group officially became the Residents, the band did not consider them part of its discography. However, some of these recordings, along with their demo albums ''The Warner Bros. Album,'' and ''Baby Sex'', would be released on the archival CD ''A Nickle If Your Dick's This Big'' in 2019.

Word of the unnamed group's experimentation spread, and in 1969 British guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Philip Lithman, later known as Snakefinger, began to participate with them. Around this time they also met the mysterious (and perhaps apocryphal) N. Senada, whom Lithman had picked up during an expedition in Bavaria. The two Europeans became great influences and life-long collaborators with the group.

In 1971, the group sent a reel-to-reel demo tape to Hal Halverstadt at Warner Bros., as he had signed Captain Beefheart, one of the group's heroes, to the label. Halverstadt was not impressed with '' The Warner Bros. Album'', but gave it an "A for Ariginality". Because the band had not included a name in the return address, the rejection slip was addressed to "Residents". The group decided to use this name, first becoming Residents Uninc., then shortening it to the current name.

The first known public performance of the Residents, Uninc. was at the Boarding House in San Francisco in 1971. The brief, guerrilla-style performance took the audience by surprise. A photo from it, showing Lithman playing violin with his pinky "about to strike the violin like a snake", originated the stage name he used for the rest of his life, Snakefinger. Later in 1971, a second tape was completed called ''Baby Sex'', featuring a long collage partially consisting of recordings from the Boarding House performance. The cover art for the tape box was a silk-screened copy of an old photo depicting a woman fellating a small child, an example of the extremely confrontational and deliberately puerile visual and lyrical style the group adopted during this period.

1972–1980: "Classic" era

''Santa Dog'', ''Meet the Residents'', ''Not Available'' & ''The Third Reich 'n Roll'' (1972–1976)

In early 1972, the band left San Mateo and relocated to 20 Sycamore St, San Francisco; a studio they named "El Ralpho", which boasted a completely open ground floor (seemingly ideal for a sound stage), allowing the group to expand their operations and also begin preliminary work on their most ambitious project up to that point, a full-length film entitled '' Vileness Fats'', which consumed most of their attention for the next four years. Intended to be the first-ever long form music video, the Residents saw this project as an opportunity to create the ultimate cult film. After four years of filming (from 1972 to 1976) the project was reluctantly cancelled because of time, space, and monetary constraints. Fifteen hours of footage was shot for the project, yet only approximately 35 minutes of that footage has ever been released.

The group also formed Ralph Records at this time, as a small, independent label to release and promote their own work. In 1972, to inaugurate the new business, the group recorded and pressed the ''Santa Dog'' EP, their first recorded output to be released to the public. Designed to resemble a Christmas card from an insurance company, the EP consisted of two 7" singles, one song on each side. The four songs were presented as being by four different bands (Ivory & the Braineaters, Delta Nudes, the College Walkers, and Arf & Omega featuring the Singing Lawnchairs), with only a small note on the interior of the gatefold sleeve mentioning the participation of "Residents, Uninc."

They sent copies of ''Santa Dog'' to west coast radio stations with no response until Bill Reinhardt, program director of KBOO-FM in Portland, Oregon, received a copy and played it heavily on his show. Reinhardt met the Residents at their studio at 20 Sycamore St. in the summer of 1973 with the news of his broadcasts. The Residents gave Reinhardt exclusive access to all their recordings, including copies of the original masters of ''Stuffed Trigger'', ''Baby Sex'', and '' The Warner Bros. Album''.

Throughout this point, the group had been manipulating old tapes they had collected and regularly recording jam sessions, and these recordings eventually became the group's debut full-length album, ''Meet the Residents'', which was released in 1974 on Ralph. To aid in promoting the group, Reinhardt was given 50 of the first 1,000 copies of ''Meet the Residents''. Some were sent to friends, listeners and critics, and two dozen were left for sale on consignment at the Music Millennium record store, where they sat unsold for months. KBOO DJ Barry Schwam (a.k.a. Schwump, who also recorded with the Residents) promoted them on his program as well. Eventually, KBOO airplay attracted a cult following.Following the release of ''Meet the Residents'', the group began working on a follow-up entitled ''Not Available''. Following N. Senada's theory of obscurity, the LP was recorded and compiled completely in private, and would not be released until the group had completely forgotten about its existence.

During breaks in the sessions for ''Vileness Fats'', the group recorded their next project, entitled '' The Third Reich 'n Roll'', over the course of a year between October 1974 and October 1975. The album consisted of two side-long medleys of the band covering popular songs from 1950s and 1960s, whilst toying with the concept of the popularity of rock 'n' roll being comparable to that of the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. The resulting LP was released in 1976, and was the group's first project to feature a music video, created by syncing an old video of the group performing with an edited version of "Swastikas on Parade".

After ''the Third Reich 'n Roll''s release, a group of enterprising friends and collaborators from their early days in San Mateo — Homer Flynn, Hardy Fox, Jay Clem and John Kennedy — also joined the group in San Francisco, forming what became the Cryptic Corporation to manage and represent the band. Clem became the band's spokesman; Fox edited, produced and compiled the band's increasingly prolific output; Flynn was already handling the group's cover design and promotional art under the banner of Pore Know Graphics; and Kennedy took the role of "President" (admittedly a fairly empty title, as overall responsibilities were handled more or less equally by the four). The Cryptic Corporation took over the day-to-day operations of Ralph Records, and provided the band with an improved public relations platform.

Shortly after the introduction of the Cryptic Corporation, the Residents recorded their " Satisfaction" single, the B-side of which featured the Residents' first work with the ARP Odyssey, the first synthesizer owned by the group, purchased by the Cryptics.

''Eskimo'', ''Fingerprince'', ''Duck Stab'', & rise in popularity (1976–1979)

Following "Satisfaction", the group began recording ''Eskimo'' in April 1976; a concept album based upon the Theory of Phonetic Organisation that suggests that music should not be confined to chords and structures, but instead should simply be a collection of fascinating noises. The album featured acoustic soundscapes inspired by Inuit culture, whilst parodying American ignorance of other cultures. The ''Eskimo'' sessions lasted many years, and featured many divergences, the first of which, in November 1976, resulted in ''Fingerprince'', a collection of unused recordings from ''the Third Reich 'n Roll'', ''Not Available'', and ''Eskimo'' sessions.

''Fingerprince'' received considerable coverage in the British press, and was the first LP by the group to receive any critical attention when Jon Savage reviewed the album and its two predecessors favorably for the December 31st issue of Sounds magazine. This review gained the group considerable attention, with many of their previously unsold mail-order items being sold seemingly overnight. The sudden success of ''Fingerprince'' and its predecessors caused the group to briefly halt production on ''Eskimo'' to create something more appealing to their newfound audience.

The Residents followed up ''Fingerprince'' with their '' Duck Stab!'' EP – their most accessible release up to that point. This EP got the band some attention from the press (namely ''NME'', ''Sounds'' and ''Melody Maker''), and was followed in 1978 by the ''Duck Stab/Buster & Glen'' album, which paired the EP with a similar, concurrently recorded EP which had not been released separately. The group then continued work on ''Eskimo'', which proved a very difficult project, marked by many conflicts between the band and their management which led to a number of delays in the release date.

The sudden attention afforded to them by the success of the ''Duck Stab!'' EP and "Satisfaction" single required an album release as soon as possible to help fund the band's spiraling recording costs, and to meet the demand for new Residents material. This forced the release of the band's long-shelved "second album" ''Not Available'' in 1978. The Residents were not bothered by this deviation from the original plan not to release the album, as the 1978 release ultimately did not affect the philosophical conditions under which it was originally recorded.

''Eskimo'' was finally released in 1979 to much acclaim, even making it to the final list for nominations for a Grammy award in 1980, although the album wasn't nominated. Rather than being songs in the orthodox sense, the compositions on ''Eskimo'' sounded like "live-action stories" without dialogue. The cover art of ''Eskimo'' also presents the first instance of the group wearing eyeball masks and tuxedos, which was later considered by many to be the group's signature costume. The Residents had only intended to wear these costumes for the cover of ''Eskimo'', but adopted the costumes in the longer term as it provided them with a unique and recognisable image.

The group followed ''Eskimo'' with '' Commercial Album'' in 1980. The LP featured 40 songs, each exactly one minute in length. Around this time, two short films were made in collaboration with Graeme Whifler: ''One Minute Movies'', consisting of four music videos for tracks from the ''Commercial Album''; and a video for "Hello Skinny" from the ''Duck Stab'' LP. Created at a time when MTV (and what later became known as "music video" in general) was in its infancy, the group's videos were in heavy rotation since they were among the few music videos available to broadcasters.

1981–1990: New technology and live performances

''Mark of the Mole'' & The Mole Show (1981–1983)

The Residents' follow up to ''Commercial Album'' was ''Mark of the Mole'', released in 1981. The album was a reaction to the group feeling betrayed by a suddenly disinterested music press.

Shortly after the release of ''Mark of the Mole'', the Residents purchased one of the first ever E-mu Emulator samplers, number #00005 specifically. The instrument was revolutionary for the band, as the sampling capacities of the keyboard not only allowed them to recreate instruments the members were not able to play, but also gave them the opportunity to create their meticulously crafted studio sound in a live setting. The first album the band recorded using the emulator was ''The Tunes of Two Cities'', the second part of the Mole Trilogy, which was nearly entirely recorded using the Emulator.

Following the release of ''Cities'' The Residents also released the EP ''Intermission''. Then they started rehearsing for a possible live show, eventually developing their first touring project, the Mole Show, a theatrical retelling of their ''Mark of the Mole'' album. The band debuted the show with a test performance, on April 10, 1982, before a tour of California in October, and a European tour throughout mid 1983. The show featured Penn Jillette as the narrator, playing a similar role as he had previously done with the Ralph Records 10th Anniversary radio special.

A third leg, featuring dates in New York, was booked, but had to be cancelled after one performance due to lack of funding. Following the Mole Show, the band was broke, and as such attempted to recoup some of their losses with several archival releases, including a collection of outtakes called '' Residue'' in 1983, and a VHS containing recordings from the Mole Show as well as a newly scored edit of ''Vileness Fats'' footage.

The American Composers Series, 13th Anniversary Show, and the end of Ralph (1984–1987)

Deciding to take a break from part three of the Mole Trilogy, the Residents began a new project entitled the ''American Composers Series'', a planned series of 10 albums which would pay tribute to pop artists and instrumental composers from the United States. The first result of this pairing was ''George & James'', featuring the music of George Gershwin and James Brown. Following the release of ''George & James'', the Residents finally abandoned part three of the Mole Trilogy, choosing instead to record a fourth entry entitled ''The Big Bubble'', featuring very stripped-down instrumentation in order to portray a fictional garage rock band. No further entries into the Mole Trilogy have been recorded, and the project is considered abandoned.

When ''The Big Bubble'' was released in Japan by Wave Records, it was an unquestioned success, its popularity resulting in Wave funding a two-week tour of Japan for the group in October 1985. The tour was successful, and re-ignited the group's interest in creating live performances. As a result, they eventually embarked on their 13th Anniversary world tour, ranging from 1985 to 1987, with Snakefinger playing electric guitar. As for studio work, the group eventually released their second entry in the American Composers series, '' Stars & Hank Forever'', featuring the music of Hank Williams and John Philip Sousa. Their version of the Williams song "Kaw-liga" was particularly successful in the emerging club scene.

Due to licensing costs and the emerging CD format, the American Composers series was later abandoned. ''Stars & Hank Forever'' was the last Residents project Snakefinger played on, as he died of a heart attack in July 1987.

Following the release of the ''13th Anniversary Show'' LP in 1986 and a cover of "Hit the Road Jack" in 1987, the Cryptic Corporation resigned control of Ralph Records over to Tom & Sheenah Timony, and the Residents signed to Rykodisc. Tom and Sheenah later turned Ralph into a new label, T.E.C. Tones, and established the Residents' official fan club from 1988 to 1993: UWEB (Uncle Willie's Eyeball Buddies).

''God in Three Persons'' and ''Cube E'' (1987–1990)

After two compilation CDs titled ''Heaven?'' and ''Hell!'', the Residents' first new project for Ryko was titled '' God in Three Persons'', an hour-long poem in the form of a spoken-word rock opera. This was the first new Residents album to be released on CD, and the last Residents project to be entirely recorded on analog tape, as the group moved on to MIDI technology; their first venture into MIDI was scoring episodes for ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' in 1987. Despite initially mixed critical and commercial reaction, ''God in Three Persons'' today is considered one of the group's masterworks.

On November 18, 1987, at a party in Amsterdam for Boudisque Records, the Residents' European label, they premiered a new work titled ''Buckaroo Blues'', a suite of cowboy songs. After a choreographed TELE5 appearance in April 1988, this suite was coupled with a second one titled ''Black Barry'', a suite of "black music" (that is, blues and gospel), and formed the first act of the Residents' next touring project, ''Cube-E: The History of American Music in 3EZ Pieces''. After the show's debut in New York, on July 21, 1989, it was decided to add a third act consisting of covers of Elvis Presley songs, completing the equation "Cowboy music + Black music = Rock and roll." The show took on a much more theatrical approach than the 13th Anniversary tour, with elaborate set designs, costumes, lighting and choreography. ''Cube-E'' toured from September 1989 to November 1990, and was successful, both critically and financially.

A studio version of the third act was also released and titled '' The King & Eye''. The album was recorded at Different Fur Studios and released on Enigma Records around the time the tour began in September 1989. Further television work was also being done for MTV, with the Residents scoring and doing voice work for ''Liquid Television'' and the Henry Selick-directed pilot "Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions."

1990–1997: Multimedia projects

''Freak Show'', CD-ROMs, and the 25th anniversary (1991–1997)

Recordings for a new studio album were worked on during breaks in the Cube-E tour, and shortly after the tour, ''Freak Show'' was released.''Freak Show'' pREServed edition liner notes. An album detailing the lives and personalities of fictional carnival freaks, the ''Freak Show'' project spawned many other iterations, such as a graphic novel in collaboration with comic artists from Dark Horse, such as Brian Bolland and Matt Howarth, and a promotional video created with the help of New York artist John Sanborn, which also presented a music video for "Harry the Head", animated by computer artist Jim Ludtke; both artists went on to collaborate with the Residents on many further projects.

A partnership with Voyager in 1992 allowed the Residents to develop a laserdisc titled '' Twenty Twisted Questions'' to celebrate their twentieth anniversary. Along with this laserdisc, a studio album was recorded, titled '' Our Finest Flowers''. Not quite a "greatest hits" compilation, many tracks on the album borrow elements from previous songs in the Residents' catalog.

The Residents' collaboration with Jim Ludtke resulted in the creation of the ''Freak Show'' and ''Bad Day on the Midway'' CD-ROMs. Both of these projects featured many other collaborations with visual artists, including returning collaborators from the ''Freak Show'' graphic novel, such as Richard Sala and Dave McKean. The Residents enjoyed quite a bit of critical and financial success with these CD-ROMs, winning several industry awards. However, during early development stages for a third CD-ROM, titled ''I Murdered Mommy'', their distributor Inscape was forced to dissolve due to oversaturation and obsoletion of the CD-ROM market.

Despite majorly occupying themselves with CD-ROM development, the Residents still remained musically active, releasing an enhanced CD album titled ''Gingerbread Man'' (an observation and study of nine fictional characters) in 1994, and scoring the Discovery Channel documentary series ''Hunters'' in 1995. ''Freak Show'' also got a live adaptation in November 1995, at the Archa Theater in Prague. While the Residents did act as music and stage directors for the show, they did not actually perform; the music was conducted and performed by Czech band Už Jsme Doma

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