109 Minna Street is an apartment building located in San Francisco, which contained the Ralph Records headquarters between 1982[1] and 1989. The label was operated from apartment #391, and after it was disbanded in 1989, TEC Tones (and Ralph America) were hosted in the building until 1999.[2]
As The Residents' recorded at Ralph Records' previous two headquarters (El Ralpho and 444 Grove Street), it's often incorrectly assumed that the group recorded there during their later years on the label. Instead, The Residents and The Cryptic Corporation (the latter then separated from Ralph) moved to Clementina Street in 1982 and renovated it into a recording studio after the conclusion of the 1983 Mole Show tour.[1]
History[]
Following The Residents' first Mole Show tour in October of 1982, John Kennedy of The Cryptic Corporation retired as company president, and substantially increased the rent on The Cryptic Corporation's operating space of 444 Grove Street to a level they could no longer afford. As such, The Cryptic Corporation and Ralph Records had to relocate.
As The Cryptic Corporation had sold Ralph Records to Tom Timony, the organisations relocated to separate buildings. The Cryptic Corporation relocated to Clementina Street, and Ralph Records relocated to Minna, apartment #391, announcing the move in a newsletter published on February 26th, 1983. In July 1983, The Residents themselves moved into Clementina Street and began recording there.
Whilst Ralph Records was operating out of Minna Street; The Residents released five albums on the label before leaving in 1987 with the release of the Hit The Road Jack single. During the Minna Street period, the label signed acts such as Hajime Tachibana, Rhythm & Noise, King Kurt, Bill Spooner, Michael Perilstein, Snakefinger's Vestal Virgins, Club Foot Orchestra & Voice Farm. Following the departure of The Residents, as well as the disbanding of Renaldo & The Loaf and the death of Snakefinger, Ralph Records shifted its focus to more limited, cost-effective releases, such as the cassette exclusive Big City Orchestra album, Animal Religion. The label's final release was a live cassette by The Residents (who were between labels at the time) titled Buckaroo Blues & Black Barry, released in October of 1989.
Around that time, Timony launched a new cassette-only record label titled TEC Tones, which would continue to be operated out of 109 Minna Street at #250 instead of #391. TEC Tones was granted permission to re-issue Residents albums as cassettes, but no new Residents releases would come from the label.
In 1993, The Cryptic Corporation formed Ralph America, a mail-order label dedicated to niche Residents releases. The label was initially located at the old #391 apartment,[3] but moved to Oakland, California, in 1999.
TEC Tones' final release was The Flying Ballerina by Drums & Tuba in 1998, followed by an unreleased Eric Drew Feldman-produced album Toot: Sweet! by The Stinky Puffs the following year, which, incidentally, featured a cover of You YesYesYes.[4]
See Also[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 RzWeb: The Cryptic Corporation
- ↑ The Stinky Puffs – Toot: Sweet! (1999, CDr) - Discogs
- ↑ Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents (1993)
- ↑ T.E.C. Tones Label | Releases | Discogs
