Welcome
"An invaluable source for filling in the gaps in The Residents' collective hive memory with occasional nuggets of information it turns out everybody has forgotten over the past fifty years."
The Cryptic Corporation, Faceless Forever - A Residents Encyclopaedia, 2022
Welcome to Meet The Residents Wiki, an unofficial (but officially acknowledged!) fan-sourced guide and resource dedicated to North Louisiana's Phenomenal Pop Combo! For 50 years and counting, The Residents have existed at the forefront of virtually every new technology in sound, video, performance and interactive media - all while operating under a veil of obscurity and anonymity.
Since January 29th 2017, this wiki, founded and maintained by members of the fan group The Mysterious Spanish Ladies, has aimed to build a free and comprehensive hypertext encyclopedia and reference point on The Residents, sourced by and for fans, while also aiming to include details on The Cryptic Corporation, Ralph Records and other related entities.
Meet The Residents Wiki has been derived largely from the online resources (both official and unofficial) listed below, as well as other reference texts, many more of which we hope to transcribe and preserve for Residents fans and historians for decades or even centuries to come.
You can begin your journey through the wiki either by typing phrases or words into the search bar to the upper right hand side of the page, using the quick links in the "explore", "contents" and "recent projects" tabs in the drop-down navigation menu at the top of the screen, or the links under the "navigation" heading below.
The "classic eyeball"
Discography | Live shows | Videography | Soundtracks | Interactive media | Bibliography
Disguises | Identities | Aliases | Unfinished projects | Collaborators | Tribute albums
Record labels | Studios | Equipment
User rules | Style manual | Fandom guides | Help index
Fandom terms of use | Fandom privacy policy
Contact the administrators
Recent and upcoming releases
pREServed
CD series
- The next expected instalment in the pREServed CD reissue series is an expanded edition of Demons Dance Alone, compiled by The Residents with the help of their collaborator Carla Fabrizio, featuring two discs of supplementary material, including 27 previously unreleased tracks. It has been announced for release on June 28th 2024, alongside a two LP vinyl edition of the album.
- An expanded edition of Animal Lover is currently being prepared for release in autumn 2024, with vocalist Carla Fabrizio and Brian Poole (aka "Renaldo M") of former Ralph stablemates Renaldo & The Loaf said to be assisting the group in sorting through material from the era. An expanded edition of Tweedles! has also been announced as a forthcoming release.
- The long-delayed multi-disc box set The American Composers Box, featuring the two American Composers albums and other contemporary material, is said to be "almost ready to roll", and as of September 2023, is expected for release after the pREServed editions of Demons Dance Alone and Animal Lover.
- Other expected instalments in the pREServed series include the complete Icky Flix soundtrack (the latter of which was previously issued on vinyl for Record Store Day 2020), and an expanded Bunny Boy reissue; no release date has yet been announced.
Vinyl series
- The Residents have announced a new limited edition vinyl compilation, Leftovers Again?! AGAIN?! (a follow up to the 2021 album Leftovers Again?!, for Record Store Day on April 20th 2024, via Cherry Red Records, MVD Audio and New Ralph Too. The compilation is expected to contain previously unreleased studio outtakes dating from the "Residents Play The Beatles" sessions in 1977 up to The Big Bubble sessions in 1985, including an entire side of never-before-heard Mole Trilogy material.
Faceless Forever/50th Anniversary
- Secret Show Live in San Francisco, a live album featuring a recording of The Residents' 50th Anniversary secret show at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on January 14th 2023, was released as a CD/DVD set and a double LP vinyl edition via Cherry Red Records, MVD Audio and New Ralph Too on February 16th 2024. The DVD included with the CD edition of the album features a concert film of the performance directed by John Sanborn.
- Secret Show Live in San Francisco was preceded by the release of a digital single, "Semolina (Live, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, January 14, 2023)", featuring the version of "Semolina" performed at the secret show, backed with the version of "Hello Skinny" featuring Les Claypool. The single was released to streaming platforms on February 2nd 2024.
A Sight For Sore Eyes
- A limited edition 10" vinyl single by super-group Star Stunted II was released March 8th 2024 by A Sight For Sore Eyes publisher Melodic Virtue. The single, featuring a cover of The Residents and Renaldo & The Loaf's "Mahogany Wood", was issued to celebrate the July 2023 release of the book A Sight For Sore Eyes, Vol. 2. The single follows the 2021 Star Stunted cover of "Santa Dog", and features Neil Burke of Men's Recovery Project, Rob Crow of Pinback and PLOSIVS, Roy Mayorga of Ministry and Nausea, Dren McDonald, Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, and Aaron Tanner of publisher Melodic Virtue.
Psychofon Records
- English writer Andrew Hook (O for Obscurity, Or, The Story of N) has penned a second Residents-related book; titled Commercial Book, it is a genre-hopping short story collection inspired by the forty one-minute songs from The Residents' Commercial Album, with each of the book's forty stories exactly 1000 words in length. The book is endorsed by The Residents, who are said to have found the stories "delightful". Commercial Book began pre-sale on February 21st 2024, and was released March 15th via Psychofon Records and Eyeball Museum.
- A special hand-numbered collectors' edition of Commercial Book was also available through Psychofon Records alongside the standard edition; the special edition features a bonus CD, Commercial Album Radio Ads, with the mono "commercial" mixes of the Commercial Album songs which were sent to radio at the time of the album's release. The book and CD are housed inside special Psychofon packaging, with a stick of Residents-brand "Commercial Gum" hidden in a "compartment" within. The special edition had sold out by the end of March.
Klanggalerie
- On December 21st 2023, Klanggalerie released a compilation of material by Italian musician Alieno de Bootes, Unconventional Residents - Alternates & Outtakes, featuring previously unheard alternate versions and unreleased material from the sessions for Alieno de Bootes' two previous Residents cover albums, Unconventional Residents and Unconventional Residents II. The album is exclusively available for download from Klanggalerie's Bandcamp page.
- On February 2nd 2024, Klanggalerie released the third entry in Italian musician Alieno de Bootes' series of Residents cover albums, Unconventional Residents III, as the thirteenth instalment in the TOOK series of releases.
- Klanggalerie has announced an upcoming CD reissue of Charles Bobuck's GOD-O: Music for a Gallery Opening, which includes a second disc featuring a previously unheard thirty minute version of "God Damn Chickens", as well as reworked versions of the songs, which had previously been released as digital downloads.
- A compilation of unreleased Hardy Fox material entitled Fragments & Failures was originally scheduled to be released on Klanggalerie in early 2021, but was delayed by the label in favor of the Charles Bobuck compilation Oddities 2013-2015. Fragments & Failures is still expected for release, but no date has been announced.
Miscellaneous releases
- On January 25th 2024, the 2020 Klanggalerie reissue of The Residents' 2009 digital EP Anganok was made available on streaming platforms in some countries.
- Alongside the digital release of the live album Secret Show Live in San Francisco on February 16th 2024, The Residents also released a number of other catalog items to streaming platforms, including Eat Exuding Oinks! Ralph Records' 1977 Radio Special, Bad Day On The Midway: Music From The Game Reconsidered and Dollar General.
Future projects
- Filmmaker Marie Losier is filming a new feature-length documentary on The Residents, following the band "from Bourges to Brussels, from Paris to Essen and to San Francisco" during (and after) their 50th Anniversary tour Faceless Forever. The film, titled Behind The Mask, has been in development since 2020, and began production in late January 2023. The project is co-produced by Barberousse Films, and supported by ZDF and the Centre National du Cinema in partnership with ARTE and Villa Albertine. Further details (such as a release date) are yet to be announced.
- The Residents have "almost finished" recording a new studio album in collaboration with conductor Edwin Outwater and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The album, Doctor Dark, is said to be a "modern opera" inspired by the life of euthanasia advocate Jack Kevorkian and the 1990 Judas Priest subliminal message trial. The album is currently expected for release in the second half of 2024, with a planned theatrical adaptation to follow.
- A long-in-development series of "uber niche" limited vinyl and/or CD releases, to be sold via mail order and aimed primarily at specialist collectors, is expected at an unknown time in the future, possibly under the long-defunct UWEB branding.
- The Residents are said to be preparing a book for release which collects their numerous unproduced screenplays and treatments for film and television. Further information is yet to be announced.
Comix
External links and references
Photo montage by Graeme Whifler and The Residents for "Hello Skinny", 1979
Official
- The Residents Official Website
- The Residents Historical
- The Cryptic Corporation Official Website
- The Residents on Facebook
- The Residents on YouTube
- The Residents on Instagram
- The Residents on Twitter
- The Residents on TikTok
- Ralph America Official Website (defunct 2011)
- Euro Ralph Official Website (defunct 2006)
- Hacienda Bridge (Hardy Fox / Charles Bobuck) (defunct 2018)
Unofficial
- The Talk of Creatures forum
- The Residents unofficial Facebook group
- Ralph Records unofficial Facebook group
- Mr. Riggsy's ResTube on YouTube
- The Residents on Wikipedia
- The Residents on AllMusic
- RZWeb (semi-official; defunct 2004)
- Smelly Tongues - The Unofficial Residents Fan Club (defunct 2005)
- Giant Eyeballs - A Tribute To The Residents (defunct 2009)
- The Moles' Bach Is Dead Discography and Virtual Museum (defunct 2011)
- RRROAR - The Residents and Ralph Records Online Audio-Visual Resource (defunct 2015)
- Grandpa Gio and The Residents (defunct 2016)
Buy Or Die!
- Buy Or Die! The Official Residents Online Shop
- The Residents' Faceless Forever - Official Merchandise Store (US)
- The Residents' Faceless Forever - Official Merchandise Store (UK/EU)
- The Residents on Cherry Red Records
- The Residents on Psychofon Records
- Secret Records on Bandcamp
- Klanggalerie on Bandcamp
- The Residents on Amazon (see also The Residents Amazon author page)
- The Residents on Discogs
- Ralph Records on Discogs
- Ralphlet Outlet on Bandcamp
Listen online
In memoriam
June 17th 1949 - July 1st 1987 |
March 29th 1945 - October 30th 2018 |
Something missing?
Meet The Residents Wiki is compiled and maintained by members of the fan group The Mysterious Spanish Ladies for the education and information of other fans, and has not been officially endorsed by The Residents, The Cryptic Corporation, or their record labels past or present. Although we have attempted to derive as much of our information as possible from official sources, some information seen in these pages may nevertheless be missing, incorrect, outdated, or apocryphal.
You can help The Ladies by signing up as a Fandom user and helping to create and edit our articles. You can also drop into our Discord server, Mysterious Spanish, Uninc. to chat with The Mysterious Spanish Ladies and other wiki contributors. If you are intending to contribute to the wiki, please first take the time to read our user rules and style manual.
Missing articles
Feel like lending The Ladies a hand? The following is a selection of articles which need to be created. We are currently attempting to expand our pages relating to Vileness Fats, Not Available and The Mole Trilogy, so missing articles related to those projects have been highlighted.
Vileness Fats
- Scene 34 (Vileness Fats): Also known as "The Knife Fight"; the penultimate scene planned for The Residents' unfinished feature film Vileness Fats. It depicts the dramatic (and deadly) knife fight between the twin wrestlers Arf and Omega Berry on the dance floor of Uncle Willy's nightclub, followed by a closing benediction delivered by a ventriloquist. As the film's closing sequence was never completed, this scene closes both the 1984 VHS featurette Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? and the 2001 "concentrate" edit on the Icky Flix DVD. Excerpts are also included in The Residents' 2022 feature film Triple Trouble; a remastered version of the scene is featured in the special features of the DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film.
- Weenie: Character from The Residents' unfinished feature film Vileness Fats, portrayed by Danny Williams (who also portrays the character Ninnie). Weenie is the rebel Lonesome Jack's right hand man, and the only member of the Bell Boys to know about Jack's dual identity as Saint Steven, the religious leader of Vileness Flats.
- Abraham Lincoln: American lawyer and politician born in February 1809 who served as the 16th President of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Portrayed by Jay Clem in Vileness Fats as a previous incarnation of the film's protagonist Saint Steven and former love interest of the enchanted Native American priestess Weescoosa. In the film, Lincoln is said to be much shorter in real life, with his height being hidden by a tall hat (mirroring both Steve and his other prior incarnation, Napoleon). Lincoln is also mentioned in the liner notes of The Residents' album Intruders as having seen a ghostly doppelganger prior to his death.
- Resources: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum official website, Abraham Lincoln at Wikipedia, Mole Show/Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats? VHS, Vileness Fats at The Residents Historical, Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS, Intruders liner notes, "Lincoln's Doppelganger" at JonahWorld!
Not Available
- Where To Begin: A recording by The Residents featuring vocals by Hardy Fox which would later become incorporated into "The Making of a Soul" on the group's 1978 album Not Available. The song features a spoken monologue by Fox, traces of which remain embedded in the finished mix of "The Making of a Soul"; a section of the monologue was extracted from the song by a fan in the early 2000s. The clip was posted on The Residents' Official News BOG in 2004, giving rise to the legend of a so-called "hidden monologue" within the track. The original recording was released in its entirety in 2019 on the pREServed CD reissue of Not Available.
The Mole Trilogy
- God of Darkness: Track four from The Residents' 1982 album The Tunes of Two Cities. This song is a Mohelmot spiritual, referencing the Moles' religion, and specifically one of their several deities (previously mentioned in the lyrics of "The Ultimate Disaster" from the 1981 album Mark of the Mole. The song was also featured in The Residents' live tour The Mole Show as the penultimate number in the show's first act.
- Song of the Wild: Track ten from The Residents' 1982 album The Tunes of Two Cities, also referred to as "Call of the Wild," this is a Chub song, played live by The Residents during The Mole Show between the construction of "The New Machine" and the epic battle of "Final Confrontation." What the song actually represents is left ambiguous as to showcase the show's falling apart. It is described in the Mole Show's script as being "Moody, Quiet serious coming next." Live and rehearsal recordings of the songs appear on the Mole Show, Assorted Secrets, Mole Show (Live In Holland) and Mole Dance 82 albums.
Miscellaneous
- Spotted Pinto Bean: A song by The Residents, released as the ninth track on their debut album Meet The Residents on April 1st 1974; the closing track of Side A of the album. It features vocals from the group's early collaborator Pamela Zeibak. At the time of the album's release, the song was described by "Harvey Sox" as "Sun Ra with opera and honky-tonk after-hours piano during a thunderstorm backed by a Motown horn section." The 1977 stereo mix of the song is more than a minute shorter than the original mono release. A 2014 demo version by the group's composer Charles Bobuck was released on the EP Clank Clank Clank in 2017.
- Tom Timony: Residents fan since 1975, employee of Ralph Records beginning in 1980, and operator of New Ralph from 1983 to 1988, and then T.E.C. Tones from 1989 to 1999.
- The Ghost of Hope (live performance): A one-off live performance by The Residents at the Exploratorium in San Francisco on March 30th 2017, promoting the release of their concept album The Ghost of Hope. Originally announced as an album listening party with The Residents in attendance, the event turned out to be a full-fledged, unique live performance of around an hour in duration. The show took place between the Japanese and European legs of their In Between Dreams international tour. Although no audio or video has been officially released by The Residents to date, the show was filmed and released in its entirety on YouTube by the Exploratorium two days later, and remains viewable there.
- The Stone: A novella by Hardy Fox, serialized in his Hacienda Bridge email newsletter between March and October 2017. The novella marks the end of Fox's use of the Charles Bobuck persona, and is most well known for being the medium by which Fox chose to announce Bobuck's true identity. It is also related to the posthumous Fox album Ibbur.