1997 marked The Residents' celebration of their twenty-fifth anniversary with the usual run of merchandising and special releases; most notably the 4xCD box set Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses, and a fruitful licensing deal with Bomba Records to reissue the group's back catalog in Japan.
With their partners in CD-ROM development, Inscape, officially imploded, the I Murdered Mommy project was unceremoniously abandoned and, after a brief period of inactivity, The Residents decided to turn their attention once more to live performance; the Disfigured Night project slowly took shape throughout the year, culminating in a much-celebrated run of shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco, which began a small tradition of special Halloween shows in The Residents' hometown that persisted throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.
This year is also marked by Molly Harvey's first live appearance with the group, and the limited release of N. Senada's Pollex Christi.
Timeline[]
February[]
- 2nd: The Learning Channel broadcast a documentary called Sideshow: Alive on the Inside, which briefly mentions The Residents and the Freak Show CD-ROM.
- Inscape is acquired by Graphix Zone, officially ending The Residents' CD-ROM development career.[1]
March[]
- 27th: The earliest archives of residents.com are from this date.
April[]
- The Residents' recording of N. Senada's Pollex Christi is released by Ralph America.
- 27th: Meet the Residents, Not Available and The Third Reich 'n' Roll are issued on CD by the group's new Japanese distributor Bomba Records in Tokyo, which are given licensing rights to The Residents' entire catalog. These albums are also reissued by East Side Digital in the US to celebrate the group's twenty-fifth anniversary.
May[]
- The Residents perform at the Adobe World Headquarters in San Jose, California, improvising old lyrics over the new material they have been recording. This is the first appearance of Molly Harvey performing on stage with the group.
- Pollex Christi is reissued due to unexpected demand.[2]
June[]
- 9th: The Residents announce a televised performance in Köln, Germany.
- 22nd: Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses, a 4xCD box set chronicling The Residents' discography (along with unissued material dating all the way from 1971), is released by Euro Ralph. Also, Fingerprince and Duck Stab / Buster & Glen are reissued in the US and Japan.[3][4]
July[]
- 22nd: The Residents announce that the title of their upcoming German performance is Disfigured Night.
- Eyesore: A Stab at The Residents is released in Japan sometime this summer.
August[]
- The Residents appear in print ads for the Deck II, published in Mix, Keyboard, and Electronic Musician magazines.[5]
- 16th: The Residents perform Disfigured Night at the PopKomm Music Festival in Köln, Germany.[6] The show is filmed for TV broadcast.
- 29th: The Residents announce a four-night, five-show run at the Fillmore in San Francisco in late October.
September[]
- 9th: The 2xCD retail edition of Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses is released by Rykodisc in the US. Also, Not Available is reissued in the US.[7]
- 28th: Eskimo and the Commercial Album are reissued in the US and Japan.[8][9]
October[]
- 4th: The Residents present a video retrospective showcase at the Mill Valley Film Festival.
- 26th: Mark of the Mole and The Tunes of Two Cities are reissued in Japan.[10][11]
- 28th - 31st: The Residents perform for four nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco, California, for their twenty-fifth anniversary celebration. On Halloween night, Disfigured Night is performed for the last time, and the show is recorded for a future release.[12]
December[]
- 10th: The Cryptic Corporation announces that their entire schedule for the spring of 1998 has been cleared so The Residents can work on a new studio album.
- 21st: Diskomo / Goosebump is reissued in Japan.[13]
Releases[]
- Pollex Christi (CD, Ralph America, RA 001)
- Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses (4xCD, Box Set, Euro Ralph, CD 017, Compilation)
- A condensed, 2xCD version was released by Rykodisc.
Re-Releases[]
- Meet The Residents (CD, East Side Digital / Bomba Records, ESD 81222 / BOM22010)
- Not Available (CD, East Side Digital / Bomba Records, ESD 81232 / BOM22011)
- The Third Reich 'n Roll (CD, East Side Digital / Bomba Records, ESD 81242 / BOM22012)
- Fingerprince (CD, East Side Digital / Bomba Records, ESD 81252 / BOM22022)
- Duck Stab / Buster & Glen (CD, East Side Digital / Bomba Records, ESD 81262 / BOM22023)
- Eskimo (CD, East Side Digital / Bomba Records, ESD 81272 / BOM22040)
- Commercial Album (CD, East Side Digital / Bomba Records, ESD 81282 / BOM22041)
- Diskomo / Goosebump (CD, Bomba Records, BOM810)
- Mark of The Mole (CD, Bomba Records, BOM22046)
- The Tunes of Two Cities (CD, Bomba Records, BOM22047)
Filmography[]
- Disfigured Night! (VHS, NTSC / PAL, Cryptic Corporation, concert exclusive later sold through mail order)
References[]
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Graphix Zone to Acquire L.A. Game Maker Inscape", Feb 28 1997
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Residents-Pollex-Christi/release/3318618
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Residents-%E3%82%B6%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%87%E3%83%B3%E3%83%84-Fingerprince/release/810204
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Residents-Duck-Stab-Buster-Glen/release/812030
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/19970327122819/http://www.residents.com/biz/ralph.html
- ↑ https://www.residents.com/historical/?page=disfigurednight
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Residents-Not-Available/release/800071
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Residents-Eskimo/release/834137
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Residents-Commercial-Album/release/3401218
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Residents-Mark-Of-The-Mole/release/2893841
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Residents-The-Tunes-Of-Two-Cities/release/4451825
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/19980123210302/http://www.requestmedia.com/concerts/103197.html#gen1
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Residents-Diskomo-Goosebump/release/805381