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Freak Show

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Freak Show is the eighteenth studio album (and twentieth album overall) [Note 1] by The Residents, released in December 1990 on East Side Digital and Torso. Freak Show is a concept album following the stories of several different characters within a travelling carnival freak show.

Following the album's success, this concept was expanded to include multimedia projects such as a graphic novel and a CD-ROM. Expanded editions of the album were issued in 2003, 2006 and 2021.

History[]

Background[]

In 1989, The Residents debuted their third touring show, Cube-E, a thought-provoking retelling of the history of American music, presented in an hour-and-a-half performance that toured the world twice. Despite the critical praise and financial success, The Residents were dissatisfied that, although the show was a major artistic achievement, audiences could not see past the group's "weird" reputation.

When back on tour in December, The Residents began conceptualising an album based around a circus, inspired by their dissatisfaction with this limited understanding of their show. In the spring of 1990, they held a jam session to generate material for their next album, initially planned to focus on roller-skating circus ponies; however, this idea was quickly abandoned.[1]

Development[]

FreaksNotAsOthers

Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others by Daniel P. Mannix

The Residents started thinking about the circus freak shows of years gone by, which members of the group had witnessed in their youth in Louisiana in the 1950s. The Residents turned to Daniel P. Mannix's book Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others, and the 1932 horror film Freaks, for inspiration.[2]

Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others is a detailed exploration of American carnival freak shows, written by a man who had spent the 1940s working in them. The book was first published in 1976 in limited quantities but received a wider release in 1989.

Inspired by this, the group began to write lyrics and melodies derived from their earlier jam sessions. These songs grew into character studies; for example, the track "Lillie" is about a member of the audience who, despite being a "normal" person, is so disturbing that she manages to scare out the performers.

When sessions for the album proper began in July, The Residents sought the assistance of Laurie Amat, a female vocalist who had been working with the group since the end of the American Composers Series. They also worked with Tony Janssen, who was also assisting The Residents with sound on their Cube-E tour, and newcomer guest vocalist Diana Alden.

Sessions for the album concluded in October 1990, after which The Residents began their tour of Canada and the east coast of the United States. The tour was halted after a performance in New York City, where a speaker fell into the audience and caused a fire. Feeling dissatisfied with live performance (an all-too-familiar feeling), The Residents mutually agreed never to tour again.

Release[]

HarryTheHead

Screenshot from the "Harry The Head" animated video by Jim Ludtke

Freak Show was first teased in the October 1990 UWEB newsletter as the next Residents release through Enigma, alongside the Cube E live album. The album was released two months later in Europe by Dutch label Torso on CD, LP and cassette, but the US release was delayed due to the collapse of Enigma.

IRS Records was expected to pick up the album for release in April 1991.[3] By June, negotiations with IRS had fallen through, and The Cryptic Corporation began pressing their own copies to sell through mail order, on CD, LP and cassette. They also produced several promo LP versions.

Concurrently with the US release of the album, a VHS containing music videos for "Everyone Comes To The Freak Show" (by John Sanborn) and "Harry The Head" (by Jim Ludtke) was released. The album was eventually given a wide release on CD by East Side Digital.

The Freak Show multimedia project[]

TysFreakShow

"Tex" and Laurie Amat performing live in Ty's Freak Show, 1991

In November 1991, The Residents performed a live show featuring three songs from Freak Show, using props and costumes from their previous live shows Cube-E and The 13th Anniversary Show.

A graphic novel based on the album was released in 1992 by Dark Horse Comics, with a bonus CD single titled "Blowoff". The book featured contributions from several influential comic artists, including Charles Burns, Dave McKean, Savage Pencil and Matt Howarth.

Almost immediately following the release of the graphic novel, The Residents started working with Jim Ludtke and The Voyager Company on a CD-ROM adaptation of the album. It was released in 1994, alongside a reissue of the album, retitled Freak Show (Original Soundtrack). The CD-ROM met with critical acclaim and commercial success, and led The Residents to further explore the medium with their later CD-ROM projects, Gingerbread Man and Bad Day on the Midway.

In November 1995, members of Czech band Už Jsme Doma performed a live show based on the album at the Archa Theatre in Prague. Around this time, The Residents pitched an animated series based on the album to MTV, but backed out when they realised this would mean selling the character rights to the network. This marked the end of the Freak Show project, as The Residents turned their attention to Bad Day on the Midway.

In 2004, The Residents briefly returned to the Freak Show multimedia project, working with Jim Ludtke in secrecy on a planned animated DVD adaptation of the album. The project was abandoned in its early stages, however, following Ludtke's untimely death.

Reissues[]

FreakShow13thBack

Back cover of 13th Anniversary release

Ralph America Special Edition (2002)[]

In July 2002 an expanded version of Freak Show was released by Ralph America, in recognition of the album's 13th anniversary. This edition combined the original album with excerpts from the "Blowoff" single, and also featured a bonus disc of live interpretations of the songs, housed in a "longbox" style package.

The expanded version of the album featured in this edition would become standard for many years, being featured on all reissues until the pREServed edition in 2021. The bonus disc, Prague and Beyond, was later released separately in 2010, via the group's digital music platform Robot Selling Device.

Mute Records CD/DVD edition (2006)[]

In 2006, Mute Records released a two disc reissue of the album, presented as a jewelcase-sized hardcover book. It features the 2002 "Special Edition" bonus DVD, which collected various visual elements from the Freak Show multimedia project dating from 1990 to 2004, such as music videos, live clips, and excerpts from the unfinished Jim Ludtke animated DVD adaptation. Inside the cover, there is a 5-page retrospective on the album, as well as a condensed version of the Freak Show comic, which reformats the pages to fit within the pages of the book. It features the comics of Harry the Head, Herman the Human Mole, Benny the Bouncing Bump, and Mickey the Mumbling Midget. The final page is dedicated to CD and DVD credits.

pREServed edition (2021)[]

Freak Show was released in a three-disc expanded and remastered edition by New Ralph Too, Cherry Red Records and MVD Audio on March 26th 2021 as part of The Residents' pREServed series. The release was originally announced for February 26th but was later delayed by a month for unspecified reasons. The set briefly appeared on streaming platforms (including Spotify) on its original release date before quickly being removed.

The pREServed edition of Freak Show contains a new remaster by Scott Colburn of the original nine-track edition of the album, with related contemporary material, a full disc of unreleased studio jams and work-in-progress material, and a live disc featuring a new restoration of the Ty's Freak Show performance and live versions of every song on the original album dating from 1995 through 2018.

Legacy[]

Freak Show has proven to be a touchstone project for The Residents, with material from it appearing in all of the group's "Greatest Hits"-style live shows to date. Despite the group's evident love of live performances of the material, The Residents haven't felt the need to re-record much of the material in the studio, with "Harry The Head" and "Jelly Jack" being the only examples (both found on the 2001 Icky Flix DVD).

Three remixes of "Jelly Jack" have been released, the first being a remix of a 1997 performance of the track released on The 12 Days of Brumalia, the second being apart of the RMX album, and the third being a digital single released in 2014. All three of these are based on the 1997 live version.

Track listing[]

All tracks composed by The Residents.

Freakshow-back

Back cover art from the original CD release of Freak Show, 1990

Original CD release (1990)[]

  1. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show (3:59)
  2. Harry The Head (2:54)
  3. Herman The Human Mole (3:57)
  4. Wanda The Worm Woman (4:34)
  5. Jello Jack The Boneless Boy (5:53)
  6. Benny The Bouncing Bump (6:07)
  7. Mickey The Mumbling Midget (4:26)
  8. Lillie (6:56)
  9. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (5:50)

Original vinyl release (1990)[]

Side A[]

  1. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show (3:00)
  2. Harry The Head (2:52)
  3. Herman The Human Mole (3:54)
  4. Wanda The Worm Woman (4:34)
  5. Jello Jack The Boneless Boy (5:53)

Side B[]

  1. Benny The Bouncing Bump (6:03)
  2. Mickey The Mumbling Midget (4:25)
  3. Lillie (6:54)
  4. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (5:44)

Freak Show (Original Soundtrack) (1994)[]

  1. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show (3:02)
  2. Harry The Head (2:56)
  3. Herman The Human Mole (3:57)
  4. Wanda The Worm Woman (4:37)
  5. Jelly Jack The Boneless Boy (5:57)
  6. Benny The Bouncing Bump (6:07)
  7. Mickey The Mumbling Midget (4:28)
  8. Lillie (6:59)
  9. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (5:47)

Euro Ralph box set editions (1994)[]

Freak Show LP[]

Side A[]
  1. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show (3:59)
  2. Harry The Head (2:54)
  3. Herman The Human Mole (3:57)
  4. Wanda The Worm Woman (4:34)
  5. Jello Jack The Boneless Boy (5:53)
Side B[]
  1. Benny The Bouncing Bump (6:07)
  2. Mickey The Mumbling Midget (4:26)
  3. Lillie (6:56)
  4. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (5:50)

Freak Show CD[]

  1. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show (3:59)
  2. Harry The Head (2:54)
  3. Herman The Human Mole (3:57)
  4. Wanda The Worm Woman (4:34)
  5. Jello Jack The Boneless Boy (5:53)
  6. Benny The Bouncing Bump (6:07)
  7. Mickey The Mumbling Midget (4:26)
  8. Lillie (6:56)
  9. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (5:50)

"Holy Kiss Of Flesh (Remix)" CD[]

  1. Holy Kiss Of Flesh (Remix) (14:15)

13th Anniversary Special Edition (2002)[]

Disc 1[]

  1. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show (5:24)
  2. Harry's Introduction (0:34)
  3. Harry The Head (3:02)
  4. Herman Watches TV (Mexican Porn) (2:38)
  5. Herman The Human Mole (3:59)
  6. Wanda Does Her Act (2:03)
  7. Wanda The Worm Woman (4:38)
  8. Jack Amuses The Crowd (0:46)
  9. Jack The Boneless Boy (5:57)
  10. Benny Bounces (0:34)
  11. Benny The Bouncing Bump (6:10)
  12. Mickey The Mumbling Midget (4:39)
  13. Lillie (7:00)
  14. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (5:57)

Disc 2 - Prague and Beyond[]

Tracks 1-10 performed live in Prague in November 1995 by The Freak Show Band, featuring members of Už Jsme Doma.

  1. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show (3:20)
  2. Wanda (Ft. Andrea Nováková) (3:54)
  3. Mickey (3:02)
  4. Bridge (2:58)
  5. Herman (Ft. Vladimír Gut) (4:20)
  6. Harry (Ft. Wayne Doba) (1:14)
  7. Jack (3:39)
  8. Benny (Ft. Miroslav Matyáš) (6:44)
  9. Wanda's Letters (Part 17) (Ft. Andrea Nováková) (10:07)
  10. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (1:28)
  11. Freak Show Remix (2001) (9:00)
  12. Benny Live - Icky Flix Tour (2001) (10:09)

Mute Records reissue (2006)[]

Disc 1 (CD)[]

  1. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show (5:24)
  2. Harry's Introduction (0:27)
  3. Harry The Head (2:58)
  4. Herman Watches TV (Mexican Porn) (2:34)
  5. Herman The Human Mole (3:55)
  6. Wanda Does Her Act (1:59)
  7. Wanda The Worm Woman (4:34)
  8. Jack Amuses The Crowd (0:46)
  9. Jack The Boneless Boy (5:53)
  10. Benny Bounces (0:32)
  11. Benny The Bouncing Bump (6:06)
  12. Mickey The Mumbling Midget (4:35)
  13. Lillie (6:56)
  14. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (5:57)

Disc 2 (DVD)[]

  1. Mute Film Presents (0:21)
  2. The Cryptic Corporation (0:07)
  3. Intro Title (0:42)
  4. Herman The Human Mole (2004) (3:26)
  5. The Freak Show Press Release including Harry The Head (1992) (7:57)
  6. Jelly Jack Video (1992) (4:19)
  7. Benny The Bouncing Bump (NEC) (1991) (5:05)
  8. Freak Show Live (Prague) excerpt (1995) (2:06)
  9. Benny The Bouncing Bump (2004) (4:57)
  10. Pickled Punks (2004) (0:16)
  11. Introduction (0:53)
  12. Joseph Merrick - The Elephant Man (3:14)
  13. Chang & Eng - The Original Siamese Twins (3:30)
  14. Johnny Eck - Half Man (3:32)
  15. Prince Randian - The Human Torso (3:19)
  16. The Hilton Sisters - Chained For Life (3:23)
  17. Conclusion (1:17)

pREServed CD edition (2021)[]

(*) indicates tracks which are previously unreleased.

Disc 1 - Freak Show + Bonus Tracks[]

  1. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show (4:02)
  2. Harry The Head (2:57)
  3. Herman The Human Mole (3:57)
  4. Wanda The Worm Woman (4:37)
  5. Jack The Boneless Boy (5:57)
  6. Benny The Bouncing Bump (6:07)
  7. Mickey The Mumbling Midget (4:28)
  8. Lillie (7:02)
  9. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (5:50)
  10. The Mutes (5:40)
  11. Blowoff (13:38)
  12. All Tha' Freaks (1:04)
  13. The Eyes Scream (2:25)
  14. Jelly Jack (Icky Flix) (4:21)
  15. Harry The Head (Icky Flix) (2:57)
  16. Jelly Jack RMX (3:39)

Disc 2 - The Freak Show Evolutions[]

  1. Spring 1990 Jam 1 (4:52) (*)
    1. Herman Watches TV
    2. Harry's Introduction
    3. Herman Watches TV
  2. Spring 1990 Jam 2 (9:55) (*)
    1. Wanda The Worm Woman
    2. Jack The Boneless Boy
    3. Herman The Human Mole
    4. Wanda The Worm Woman
    5. Wanda Does Her Act
    6. Blowoff
    7. Everyone Comes To The Freak Show
  3. Spring 1990 Jam 3 (8:52) (*)
    1. Benny The Bouncing Bump
    2. Willie's Theme / Anganok
  4. Rough Mix 1 (1:42) (*)
  5. Rough Mix 2 (Jack Amuses The Crowd) (2:35) (*)
  6. Rough Mix 4 (Jack The Boneless Boy) (2:13) (*)
  7. Rough Mix 7 (5:19) (*)
    1. Nobody Laughs When They Leave
    2. Mickey The Mumbling Midget
  8. Rough Mix 10 (1:16) (*)
  9. Rough Mix 12 (Wanda The Worm Woman) (1:42) (*)
  10. Rough Mix 13 (Lillie) (1:48) (*)
  11. Rough Mix 14 (Mickey The Mumbling Midget) (2:59) (*)
  12. Rough Mix 16 (1:21) (*)
  13. Rough Mix 19 (0:50) (*)
  14. Rough Mix 21 (0:44) (*)
  15. Pony Rink 1 (Lillie) (0:44) (*)
  16. Pony Rink 3 (Lillie) (2:54) (*)
  17. Pony Rink 4 (Lillie) (2:22) (*)
  18. Pony Rink 5 (1:55) (*)
  19. Pony Rink 6 (Herman The Human Mole) (1:59) (*)
  20. Pony Rink 9 (Jack The Boneless Boy) (2:12) (*)
  21. Pony Rink 10 (Jack The Boneless Boy) (2:37) (*)
  22. Pony Rink 11 (Lillie) (1:54) (*)
  23. Pony Rink 13 (Wanda The Worm Woman) (1:21) (*)
  24. Pony Rink 17 (Wanda The Worm Woman) (2:01) (*)
  25. Pony Rink 20 (Lillie) (2:32) (*)
  26. Pony Rink 23 (Mickey The Mumbling Midget) (3:03) (*)
  27. Pony Rink 26 (Blowoff / Everyone Comes To The Freak Show) (2:58) (*)

Disc 3 - Live Freaks[]

  1. Ty's Freak Show Restoration (1991) (18:08) (*)
  2. Everyone Comes To The Freakshow (1997) (2:29)
  3. Harry (2014) (3:04)
  4. Herman (2014) (3:18)
  5. Wanda (1995) (4:50)
  6. Jack (1997) (5:53)
  7. Benny (2001) (6:44)
  8. Mickey (2018) (4:14)
  9. Lillie (2011) (5:59)
  10. Nobody Laughs When They Leave (2001) (3:25)

Credits[]

Mute Records reissue DVD (2006)[]

  • Pickled Punks
    • Animated by Casey Stockdon
  • Herman / Benny 2004
  • Benny The Bump NEC
    • Produced by Ty Roberts
    • Edited by Todd Rundgren
    • With Guests: L. Amat, C. LeMaitre & S. McLennan
  • Freak Show Live Prague, Czech Republic National Television
    • Tex: W. Doba
    • Herman: V. Gut
    • Musical Director: M. Wanek

Release history[]

Year Label Format Region
1990 Cryptic Corporation LP/CD US
CD
East Side Digital
Torso LP/CD/Cass NL
1991 Cryptic Corporation Cass US
1994 Euro Ralph CD/BOX EU
1995 East Side Digital CD US
2003 Ralph America
2006 Mute EU
2021 New Ralph Too, Cherry Red Records, MVDaudio US & EU

Cover Art Gallery[]

Mute, 2006[]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ Freak Show is referred to as The Residents' twentieth album in an April 1991 Cryptic press release.

External links and references[]

  1. ↑ "Freak Show started out to be about a circus, then it was about a pony circus. A roller skating pony circus" 'Mondo 2000 #5 interview with The Cryptic Corporation,
  2. ↑ Jim Knipfel, "Turning The Tip: The Freak Show Project (1990-1995)", Freak Show pREServed CD edition liner notes, 2021
  3. ↑ UWEB newsletter (Volume 3 #1, March 1991)
Mtrlabel-transparent-sml The Residents studio albums

Ralph Records (1972 - 1987)
Meet The Residents (1974) · The Third Reich 'n Roll (1976) · Fingerprince (1977) · Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen (1978)
Not Available (1978) · Eskimo (1979) · Commercial Album (1980) · Mark of the Mole (1981)
The Tunes of Two Cities (1982) · George & James (1984) · The Big Bubble (1985) · Stars & Hank Forever! (1986)

Ryko and Enigma (1988 - 1989)
God In Three Persons (1988) · The King & Eye (1989)

East Side Digital (1990 - 2002)
Freak Show (1990) · Our Finest Flowers (1992) · Gingerbread Man (1994) · Have A Bad Day (1996)
Wormwood (1998) · Demons Dance Alone (2002)

Mute Records (2004 - 2007)
Animal Lover (2005) · Tweedles! (2006) · The Voice of Midnight (2007)

MVD Audio (2008 - 2015)
The Bunny Boy (2008) · Lonely Teenager (2011) · Mush-Room (2013)

MVD Audio and Cherry Red (2016 - present)
The Ghost of Hope (2017) · Intruders (2018) · Metal, Meat & Bone (2020)

Fan club / off-label albums
Buckaroo Blues (1989) · The 12 Days of Brumalia (2004) · Night of the Hunters (2007)
Hades (2009) · Dollar General (2010) · Night Train To Nowhere! (2012)

Soundtrack albums
Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? (1984) · The Census Taker (1985) · Hunters (1995) · Icky Flix (2001)
I Murdered Mommy! (2004) · Postcards From Patmos (2008) · Strange Culture/Haeckel's Tale (2010)
Chuck's Ghost Music (2011) · Theory of Obscurity Soundtrack (2014) · Sculpt (2016) · Music to Eat Bricks By (2019) · Triple Trouble (2022)

Collaborative albums
Title In Limbo with Renaldo & The Loaf (1983) · I Am A Resident! with You? (2018)

Live in the studio
Assorted Secrets (1984) · Roadworms: The Berlin Sessions (2000) · Talking Light Live In Rehearsal, Santa Cruz, California (2010)
Mole Dance 82 (2021) · Duck Stab! Alive! (2021)

Related articles
The Residents discography (W.E.I.R.D., 1979) · Ralph Records discography

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