1984

1984
The Residents, as seen on the "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" music video
Notable releases	George & James LP Mole Show / Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? VHS
Chronology
previous	1983
next	1985

1984 saw the release of George and James, an album that kickstarted The Residents' American Composer series. For this project, the group was going to tackle music by 20 different composers from the United States in the span of 10 albums.

Other notable release of this year was the Mole Show / Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats? VHS tape, which not only was the first home video release of a live performance by The Residents. It also was the first time footage of the infamous Vileness Fats project was seen by the public.

Timeline

February

• 1st: Big Brother, the Ralph Records Bulletin Board System, is launched.
• Tra Project in Japan publishes Tra Special Comics with a companion tape including The Residents' "Safety is a Cootie Wootie" suite.
• The Residents finish recording George & James and "This is a Man's Man's Man's World". It is likely that work on the later-abandoned "Man" album began around this time.

March

• Ding Dong Records & Tapes releases Film Noir - American Style, a two-tape compilation of various contemporary artists. The Residents' "Edweena" is included.
• 13th: The Residents' tenth studio album, George & James, is released by Ralph Records. This is the first entry in The American Composers Series.

April

• 20th: The White Single is released, alongside The Residents' "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" music video.
• Record Magazine publish an article on the Ralph Records' filmography; this is the earliest reference we have he the Mole Show / Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats VHS. Ralph Records releases 17x7 The Ralph Singles, a box set of various singles released on the label. Korova releases Ralph Before '84, a two-volume set of records. Volume 1 features tracks by The Residents while Volume 2 features tracks by other Ralph artists.

May

• 28th: The Residents are featured in an article for People Magazine.

June

• 2nd: The Residents (in their eyeball disguises) appear on the MTV Starship Cruise, an event produced by the cable station where winners of a contest got a party with several music artists.

July

• The Census Taker is premiered. It is very poorly reviewed and commercially unsuccessful. The Residents recorded the film's soundtrack.

August

• The Cryptic Corporation moves their offices into 566 Folsom Street; The Residents finish work on the new Vileness Fats soundtrack.

September

• The Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats soundtrack album is released. A few instrumentals recorded at this time were later compiled into "Theme for an American TV Show"

October

• 2nd: Grandpa Gio's review of Assorted Secrets was written on this day; the earliest known reference to this album.

November

• 5th: John Peel plays "It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s Man’s World" on his BBC radio show.

December

• As it's been six years since the release of "Santa Dog '78", The Residents begin work on "Santa Dog '84", but ultimately scrap it, as the group felt that they hadn't evolved enough to justify it. The track is eventually worked on further for the Refused project.

Releases

• George & James (LP, Ralph Records, RR8052)
• Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? (LP, Ralph Records, RZ8452, 10,000+ copies pressed, soundtrack)
• The White Single (7'', Ralph Records, RZ8422)
• "It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s Man’s World" (7'', Korova Records, KOW36, 5,000 copies pressed)
• Assorted Secrets (Cassette, Ralph Records, 181, 2,000 copies manufactured, compilation)
• Ralph Before '84: Volume I (LP, Korova Records, 240471-1, 5,000-10,000 copies pressed, compilation)

Compilation appearances

• Tra Special Comics (Cassette, Tra Project, TRA-S04, 3,000-4,000 copies manufactured)
  • The Residents contributed the track "Safety is a Cootie Wootie".
  • Bundled with a 155-page book with a collection of comics based on its the tracks.
• Film Noir - American Style (2xCassette, Ding Dong Records, DDC-010, 2,000 copies manufactured)
  • The Residents contributed an excerpt from "Edweena".
• 17x7 The Ralph Singles (13x7'' singles, 4xEP, Box Set, Ralph Records, 444 copies manufactured)
  • The box set contains two previous releases by The Residents: the "Satisfaction" 7'' single, the Duck Stab! EP and The White Single.
  • It also includes 4 singles by Snakefinger ("The Spot", "What Wilbur?", "The Model" and "The Man in the Dark Sedan"), all of which The Residents helped write and produce.
  • Aditionally, the box set has the Buy or Die 1980 and Buy or Die 1980½ samplers, both of which feature tracks by The Residents

Filmography

• It's a Man's Man's Man's World (Dir. The Residents)
  • Written by and starring The Residents

Home video releases

• Mole Show / Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? (VHS, NTSC, Ralph Records, RV 620)
  • "Double feature" release. Includes the following short films:
    • The Mole Show (Dir. The Residents)
    • Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats? (Dir. The Residents)
      • "Concentrate" edit of all the available footage for Vileness Fats.
• Ralph Video Volume I (VHS, NTSC, Ralph Records, RV 660)
  • Previously released as Ralph Video.
  • Different cover art.

Scoring for film and video

• The Census Taker (Dir. Bruce R. Cook)
  • Soundtrack by The Residents