UWEB Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2½ (or UWEB Newsletter Vol II Supplement (2+1/2)) is the seventh newsletter sent to members of the official Residents fan club UWEB in June 1990.
This issue is a special supplementary newsletter, featuring an interview with then-Ralph Records owner Tom Timony conducted in January 1990.
"It's your bonus newsletter!" by Uncle Willie, from UWEB Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2½, June 1990
It is summer 1990, and this is a bonus 4th newsletter. We guarantee only 3 newsletters a year in this organization. But for the second year in a row, we have published a bonus 4th summer edition. Yes, folks, we actually deliver more than we promise.
Don't take this for granted. Remember the cycle of life... of being created, of existing, of dying. Everything does it. This organization won't last forever. The Eyeballs will cease to record and physically die. "Liver Music", "Buckaroo Blues", and "The Snakey Wake" will be pressed in a certain number of copies and then there will be only the ones you stumble into in collector magazines. That is the way it should be. I have no complaints about the mortality of anything.
The point of this observation is simply to take a moment to realize that you are involved in something that is actually happening right now. When you look back on UWEB and say to your friend, "Wow, remember how cool UWEB was when it first started? How there were CD's available only for members? How UWEB delivered more than it promised?" Take this moment to comprehend that now is the time you will be referring to.
Hey Buddies, it was not my intent to stir up a controversy over this thing of editing live tapes. I put this "Liver" together and without some editing, it would have been real crap. Perhaps in your imagination, all this wonderful music has been excluded, but lets get real.
Commercial releases for the public will always be edited. The double-CD or 4 LP sets that would be necessary to capture the entire "CUBE E", for instance, would be economic suicide for a record company. The "CUBE E: Live In Holland" edit that is currently in progress will have removed about 1/3 of the show by the time it fits on a single compact disc. The real trick is to try to piece the selections that are "best" into some kind of cohesive structure.
Live shows are produced to be seen as well as heard. Eliminate the visual and the music may not be as interesting. Editing can help this. Also, there is a certain problem of technical failures to be edited around. For instance, in "CUBE E" there is a problem, "Burning Love". The whips are cracking against the floor and are being picked up by the vocalist microphone. This is not a problem for the show because the audience can see the source of the noise. On tape, it sounds like a bad microphone connection that is popping in a very irritating manner. This would keep "Burning Love" off the project. Snip, snip.
The idea of producing full-show projects for UWEB is more realistic, but the double-CD would be expensive and probably only two or three hundred of you would even buy it. We really must select our projects carefully. Would you rather have "Live in the USA - The Thirteenth Anniversary Show" on 2/CD... or two CD's of unreleased music and/or experimental pieces? Don't write me to answer that question. I already know your answer. You want both. You kids are like baby birds.
News News News News[]
"News News News News", from UWEB Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2½, June 1990
Athens police arrived in full force as the 3,000 person audience of the early show of CUBE E poured into the street following the performance and ran directly into the 3,000 people waiting to get into the theatre for the late show. Instant party. The police had to blockade both ends of the street and redirect traffic around the huge mob as they tried to encourage the excited people to go home. Going home was not what the folks had in mind. The Rezis played two scorching shows that night (they played two sold-out performances in Athens last fall as well) and have pretty much claimed Athens as one of their favorite places. In fact, if you're in Greece you might as well drop by The Residents Bar at g. Kalari 4, Thessaloniki, Greece (tel [redacted]). Tell 'em Uncle Willie sent ya.
Speaking of bars, there is a bar in Paramiago, Italy named Bar Mr. Eye featuring a tuxedo-clad eyeball head person over the doorway.
Amsterdam: CUBE E Brought the cheering audience to its feet at the prestigious Amsterdam Opera House (Het Muziektheatre) and the entire thing was captured on an 24 track mobile truck sitting outside. The show has been mixed and is scheduled for release in the fall. And to respond to your first thought before you even think it, NO, it will not be the entire show, it will be edited to fit on a CD and 2-LP set.
I have learned that the band had their passports disappear in Italy. This could do wonders for being anonymous if they fell into the wrong hands, huh?
I have been hit with tons of mail asking about the two secret tracks on the Don't Be Cruel CD single that Torso (Holland) has released. I asked the Cryptic Corp about it. They said that the two tracks aren't secret exactly. The R just decided at the last minute that the disc was too short and threw on two things that were currently being recorded even though they were just "unfinished scratch tracks". The names listed on the master tape for the CD single have the names listed as "Song 1 with no name" and "Song 2 with no name". The tracks could easily surface again someday in a different form and actually have names, but for the moment that is it.
Cube E lightning designer, Chris "Dano" McGregor, is featured in the new issue of the trade magazine, Lighting Dimensions, with his design for the show. Lots of cool color pictures, too.
The new video for Don't Be Cruel is finished and will soon start appearing on MTV and VH-1. The video is all animation using a Macintosh Computer. A real breakthrough for desktop video. The video is included in an hour-long production, The Eyes Scream, which is hosted by Penn & Teller. This video is currently looking for a distributor so I can't really say with certainty when you can expect to see it, probably in the fall. But I will have to say, it is terrific.
If you know how to read, try picking up the new British paperback, HYPE, by John Gill. Our favorite Eyeballed Ones pop in and out of it in most flattering ways.
Also, look for Cale Gagne's "Sonic Transports", a book of essays and interviews that not only gives a closer look at the structure behind the eyeball music, but also that of worthies, Fred Frith, Glen Branca, and "Blue" Gene Tyranny
I have just learned that Warner Bros. has dropped its option on the Pee-Wee Herman Album. Too bad. Lots of good music has gone into that show from a number of artists.
You may have noticed in the last issue that we used the phrase, BUY OR DIE. Ralph/T.E.C. Tones has graciously passed the term on to UWEB to use with our merchandise. No longer will you see it used in the R/T.E.C. Tones catalogs
Scene and Knotted[]
Club X on the BBC ran a film showing models/dancers posing in JeanPaul Gaultier clothes to selections from The Commercial Album.
The Montreal International Fireworks Competition's USA team used "Lights Out" from Intermission as background music for their performance.
Heaven & Hell film by Diane Keaton uses "Walter Westinghouse" and not in the "Heaven" section.
ECTO Tapes sent me a notice that they are collecting Hi-Bias Chrome tapes of RZ covers for a compilation cassette. For information, write them at ECTO Tapes, 5912 H.W. 62nd Terr., Oklahoma City, OK 73122 USA
Snorp Magazine is a RZ oriented fanzine that is of possible interest to Buddies. Write Tom Bruny, [redacted], Michigan 48150, USA
Tour stuff[]
CUBE E: THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC IN THREE EZ PIECES return to stage this fall. If ya ain't seen it, ya better catch it this time cause it is tha last chance, folks. Dates are sketchy but I know New Music America has them in Montreal Canada the 9th and 10th of November. Other anticipated (but unconfirmed) dates are in New York, Toronto, Minniapolis, Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Cleveland, Boston. Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Los Angles, Honolulu.
"The Real Story" interview with Tom Timony, from UWEB Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2½, June 1990
A few years ago I started occasional mailing Ralph Records the results of my snoopy nature toward this Eyeballed group. Much to my surprise and delight, my puny writing started getting published in the "Buy or Die" mail order catalog. "Willie Watches" became so popular with the mail-order folks, that I was contacted by the man behind the record company, Tom Timony. He asked me to continue writing my column and he would assist me with getting more information. The rest is history. Tom is a hard man to get to know. He runs constantly from place to place with a feeling of over-worked anxiety mixed with enthusiasm for his next project. We are both in New York for the CUBE E show and I manage to trap him for a moment. We are sitting below the fountain in Trump Tower. This self monument to businessman Donald Trump seems the perfect spot for an interview with the elusive Thomas Timony.
UW: Okay, let's start with now. What are you doing in New York?
Tom: Same thing you are, more or less.
UW: Pretend you don't know me. What are you doing in New York?
Tom: The R******** are currently in a two-week run of CUBE E and I am stuck in the lobby selling T-Shirts, posters, and eyeball earrings. In fact, I have never seen the show, but the people buying stuff say it's really good.
UW: Don't you want to see it for yourself?
Tom: Sure I do, but work comes first. I know that eventually, I will see it. I can wait.
UW: What has put you into the merchandising position?
Tom: Most people out there know that I run Ralph Records. Ralph has contracted the merchandising from The Cryptics for the American portion of the tour.
UW: I get a lot of mail asking about Ralph Records.
Tom: Asking what?
UW: Well, we have been watching The RZ go from a solid Ralph act to RYKO, Eastside Digital, Boudisque/TORSO, Enigma/Capitol, and even yours truly, UWEB. Was there a falling out between Ralph and Cryptic?
Tom: Not a falling out. More of a well-planned remodeling. Ralph used to belong to the Cryptic Corporation, so naturally, The Band was on Ralph. A few years ago, The Cryptic operation decided that it was a good business decision to move their star act over to other labels, almost caused Ralph to disappear along with the ozone.
UW: So what happened to prevent it?
Tom: Me. I was working as head of sales of Ralph. If the Cryptics lost interest in the label, I was going to find myself out of a job as well, so I did what any enterprising young person would have done in that position.
I worked out an arrangement to purchase the label from them.
UW: So you bought Ralph?
Tom: Yes, I bought Ralph headquarters. The Cryptics held all the masters of past releases and their contracts, so I basically just bought the shell and had to start filling it up again.
UW: So you did not have any of the Ralph product, just the rights to continue the label?
Tom: I had to license former Ralph product from The Cryptics if I were to release it
UW: Did this course conflict between you and them?
Tom: Nothing serious. I understood that the only reason I was in a position to buy it was that they were making a major business move on behalf of their clients.
UW: So you had the mail-order and distributor accounts, but no artists?
Tom: Exactly, I had the buyers, but noting to sell.
UW: What did you do?
Tom: I grabbed up several older RZ titles for LP only. I had also bought the stock in the warehouse and that would keep me going for a short time.
UW: So what have you released on your own since The Cryptic Corporation have shifted the Eyed Ones to other labels?
Tom: The first thing I did was to license two albums by Renaldo and The Loaf, "Streve and Sneff" and "The Elbow Is Taboo". I also picked up releases by Eugene Chadborn, King Kurt, and Voice Farm. At that time I was married to Sheenah (Fair) and we put a project together called "Potatoes" that featured music from a lot of different artists all working in a more folk music direction. Now I have expanded Ralph into 'Ralph/T.E.C Tones' and started and associated label, "Psycho Acoustic".
UW: What exactly is the difference between "Ralph Records" and "Ralph/T.E.C Tones" and how do they differ from "Psycho Acoustic"?
Tom: I guess the difference is that Ralph Records is used on older products, T.E.C Tones started a new era using the old philosophies, Psycho Acoustic is a new label not related to Ralph at all. It specializes in wild psycho vocal styles.
UW: What has been released on T.E.C Tones and on Psycho Acoustic?
Tom: Psycho Acoustic has To Nije Sala / What Makes Donna Twirl and Sic Kids. T.E.C Tones has Freshly Wrapped Candies and the Potatoes CD which is actually another label, Elemental.
UW: I noticed the Potatoes CD does not have the Frank Harris track, I can't think of the title right now, that was so wonderful on the LP, why is the CD different?
Tom: Contractual agreements caused two cuts to be removed, but the producer added five new cuts.
UW: What do you have planned next?
Tom: A 12 inch of "We Don't Talk To Strangers" b/w "Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts" performed by Penn Jillette and BEETS, a jazz compilation. Both are from the Elemental Label.
UW: This is a lot of different companies. Any other involvements?
Tom: Some people think I am you.
UW: I'm not surprised, but you don't look like me at all. But since you bring it up, care to talk about your involvement with UWEB and how that fits in with the record companies?
Tom: It doesn't fit into the record companies at all, though I have helped you get your UWEB products manufactured, and collect your mail when you are out running around Europe.
UW: Any thoughts on how UWEB could be better run or organized from a record company's point of view?
Tom: A record company has the responsibility of expanding the world of the listener, a buddy system like this one, exists to fill in the holes left by that expansion. I think UWEB will do good by listening to what Buddies want and trying to give it to them. I wish I was allowed to sell some of the CD's you have released.
UW: Thanks for talking with me.
Tom: Anytime.
Q+A[]
Q+A from the UWEB Newsletter Vol II supplement issue, June 1990
A. Ah. Snakefinger's piece that was giving an orchestral boost by his eye-friends for the Snakey Wake. I've seen the tape on the shelf. I'll ask about getting it for a future project.
Q. Can you write me a personal letter?
A. I could, but ya know, I have to work for a living just like the rest of you Buddies and don't exactly have tons of extra time to do more with this UWEB monster than I currently am. Maybe in a few years I'll retire from the work-a-day world then I can be better at personal correspondence.
A. Oops. You are right. Santa Dog has been performed twice. Uncle Willie likes that you read the newsletters so closely.
Q. How did THEY end up in that Jefferson Starship video a few years ago?
A. The story twists around something about Grace Slick asking The R to participate in a "San Francisco" event for MTV that was going to include all the major bands from the Bay area - the Starship, Grateful Dead, Huey Lewis, Journey, etc. the Eyeballs were flattered enough at the inclusion to agree. The next week the Starship was shooting the video and asked if THEY would be in it. They said yes, but actually sent other people - employees of Ralph Records - disguised as the infamous quartet.
List[]
A COMPLETE LIST OF THE "PEE WEE HERMAN SHOWS" THAT HAVE MUSIC BY BIG R.
Show 201 - Remodeling the playhouse
Show 209 - playhouse in space
Show 210 - pajama party
Show 302 - the dentist
Show 503 - playhouse newspaper
In addition, they have written music for 2 or 3 TV commercials for Pee Wee toys.
