Wednesday, August 27, 2008

in the short grass: residents only



ralph RR87521.



I used to think if I ever got a gig on hospital radio it would be fun to feature The Residents on a Wednesday afternoon as part of a mid-week therapy playlist.

Then I discovered Jandek.

From Wiki:

"The Residents supposedly hail from Shreveport, Louisiana, where they met in high school in the 1960s. In 1966, members headed west to San Francisco, California. After their truck broke down in San Mateo, they decided to remain there. Like all information pertaining to the early days of the band, this is provided by The Cryptic Corporation and may or may not be invented."

Here are two key moments from The Residents' 1978 release on Ralph Records. Who are these crazy kids, anyhow ? I was always too dim to figure it out. Answers on the back of a postcard, please.

THE RESIDENTS: SINISTER EXAGGERATOR from "Duck Stab / Buster & Glen" LP (Ralph) 1978 (US)

THE RESIDENTS: BLUE ROSEBUDS from "Duck Stab / Buster & Glen" LP (Ralph) 1978 (US)

PURCHASE DUCK STAB / BUSTER & GLEN

THE RESIDENTS OFFICIAL WEB SITE

3 comments:

Mr. Beer N. Hockey said...

The Residents are a band I would have gladly paid $3 to see back when a beer cost $2 in the upscale places I frequented. Don't know who they are and never gave a shit. Their 3rd Reich and Roll video was sure something else (all us bloggers who use pen names are just like the Residents what with our faces being obscured) and I have long been fond of their Eskimo record, the one with a lot of whales singing on it.

ib said...

Beer, you're 100% right! The Residents are/were the kings of mystery, and we're all of us taking their cue. I've been itching to put something up by them for that very reason - it's a fact that none of us would recognise one another even if we bumped trolleys in the local supermarket or on the astral aisle. Kind of cool for all that. After a fashion.

You're right (or 'reich') about 3rd Reich and Roll and Eskimo, too. I was quite happy with the selections off "Duck Stab" until i'd posted it and "Jumbalya (On The Bayou)" came on my player - the one from "Stars & Hank Forever". What a great fucking song! What an amazingly creepy version!

Actually, sometimes I wish I was a resident. It must be the longest running secret in show-biz.

By the way, did you read that letter from Bukowski to Nathan Ø in the comments under your poem ? I don't care to admit I give a fuck, but... the world's a sadder place without him.

ib said...

Actually, I was more than a little intrigued to notice that there appears to be a body of Residents aficionados located in the Yemen. This I gathered by perusing server statistics. Odd.