"Picnic Boy" is the third track on The Residents' Commercial Album, released by Ralph Records on October 29th 1980. Like all songs on the album, it is one minute long. The song features lead vocals from American new wave singer Lene Lovich, who remained uncredited for her role until 2004.
The song was performed live for the first (and, to date, only) time on Halloween in 1998, with Molly Harvey on vocals, as an encore following The Residents' first Wormwood show at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
Fan-made cover versions of the song by Dr. Fritz Rotwang and The Beaches are featured on the bonus disc of the CD edition of the 2018 tribute album I Am A Resident!.
History[]
"Picnic Boy" was recorded by The Residents between September and November 1979, and released on their seventh studio album, Commercial Album, on October 29th 1980. It was also included on the A-side of the promotional 7" Commercial Single, released in the same year.
It has long been recognized that American vocalist Lene Lovich performed lead vocals on the song, however she was uncredited on all releases of Commercial Album until the 2004 Mute Records CD reissue (in which she was credited as a guest musician on the album, but not as performing on "Picnic Boy" specifically).
In 1981, "Picnic Boy" was one of four songs from Commercial Album featured in the soundtrack of Light, a ballet by French dancer and choreographer Maurice Béjart which was performed in Brussels. To date, no footage of this performance has surfaced publicly, however an excerpt from the piece was performed in July 2017 as part of a retrospective of Béjart's work at the Festival Peralada in Spain.[1]
Legacy[]
An extended arrangement of "Picnic Boy" (with a repeated verse) was performed live on October 31st 1998 at the Fillmore in San Francisco, as the encore to the first Wormwood Live show. This version featured Molly Harvey on lead vocals and was later released on the pREServed CD box set Wormwood Box in 2022.
The song was first covered in 1988 by French musician Cripure S.A., for the unofficial tribute album Constantinople - A Tribute to The Residents. Two fan-made covers of "Picnic Boy" were included on the bonus disc of the CD edition of the official tribute album I Am A Resident! in 2018; one by Dr. Fritz Rotwang, and another by The Beaches.
In 2020, The Cryptic Corporation asked The Residents to curate a Spotify playlist of their favorite songs from their own catalog, titled "Residents' Personal Favorites"; this song was one of forty selected by the group.
In 2024 psychofon records released an accompanying CD to the brand new Commercial Book. This CD contains the original radio ads played shortly before the albums released marking the world premiere of the songs. Every song was featured from this album including this one.
Music videos[]
Still from The Residents' video for Commercial DVD, 2004
Two "one minute movies" for "Picnic Boy" were produced for the Commercial DVD in 2004. The first, directed by The Residents themselves, features a dancing toy skeleton miming the song's lyrics over an image of a fat man in a diaper. During the guitar solo, the man is digitally manipulated to "dance, superimposed over footage of a choreographed dance sequence.
The second video, animated by Eric Nordhauser, is comprised of digitally manipulated stock images, and depicts an anthropomorphic cat living with the titular "picnic boy" in an apartment surrounded by violent children. The cat sends the boy out and drives away in a flying car, while the boy is decapitated by the children, who carve off the skin from his face.
Lyrics[]
She called my friend a picnic boy I never could stand that Oh she called my friend a picnic boy And said he was too fat Fat.
I left her in the early morning Looking at the rain I found I could not take the pressure So I took the train[2]
Radio ad announcer[]
It's time for the world premiere of the resident's commercial album. This is cut number three: “Picnic Boy”. The Residents are the world's most unusual and unique musical group, as this selection clearly shows. You've just heard a snatch from one of the 40 strange tunes found on the resident's commercial album. The Residents are on Ralph records. Demand it! At your local record store.
List of releases[]
- Commercial Album (1980) [Version 1]
- Commercial Single (1980) [Version 1]
- In Memoriam Torso (1994) [Version 1]
- I Am A Resident! CD edition (2018) [Version 2] [Version 3]
- Wormwood Box: Curious Stories From The Bible pREServed (2022) [Version 4]
- Commercial Album Radio Ads (2024) [Version 5]
List of versions[]
See also[]
- Commercial Album
- Commercial Single
- Commercial DVD
- Lene Lovich
External links and references[]
- Commercial Album at The Residents Historical
- Commercial Album at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
- Commercial Album at Discogs
