Residents Classic Series

Graphic featured on the back cover of all releases in the series

The Residents Classic Series was a series of CD reissues of "classic" era albums by The Residents, released by East Side Digital (in the USA) and Torso (in Europe) in 1987 and 1988. The Classic Series editions were the first CD versions of these albums to be released.

Releases in this series featured the first seven studio albums by The Residents, beginning with 1974's Meet The Residents and concluding with 1980's Commercial Album, with additional songs from singles and EPs and other rarities included as bonus tracks.

ESD intended to follow this series in 1991 with the Film and Video Series, featuring works created by the band for film and television, however only one entry in this second series (Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? and The Census Taker) was released by ESD and Torso; a second followed in 2010 featuring the soundtracks to Strange Culture and the Masters of Horror episode "Haeckel's Tale", but this was released digitally through the group's Robot Selling Device.

Later CD reissues of the albums largely dispensed with the bonus tracks, until the pREServed series of newly remastered, multi-disc editions of albums from The Residents' catalog began in 2017. The pREServed series can be seen as a successor of sorts to the Classic Series, though it is much more expansive and has released a significantly higher amount of previously unheard material to the world.

The colored, branded bags included with the 2023 "Classic Series" vinyl editions by Psychofon Records

On January 10th 2023 Psychofon Records announced a special collectors' vinyl edition of the Classic Series; each album will be pressed on multi-colored vinyl and presented in a tote bag branded with the Classic Series logo. Pre-orders will open on January 15th for the first three instalments in this series: Meet The Residents on orange and black starburst-style vinyl, The Third Reich 'n Roll with splatter/dotted vinyl (with original swastika cover art and record labels), and Fingerprince on three-color neon pink, violet and ultra clear vinyl. Meet The Residents will be released January 29th 2023, with Third Reich expected to follow in late February and Fingerprince in late March.

List of releases

Original series (1987-1988)

• The Third Reich 'n Roll (1987)
  • includes "Satisfaction" and The Beatles Play The Residents and The Residents Play The Beatles
• Fingerprince (1987)
  • includes Babyfingers (minus "Monstrous Intro")
• Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen (1987)
  • includes Goosebump
• Eskimo (1987)
  • includes The Replacement
• Commercial Album (1988)
  • includes ten "bonus babies": "Shut Up Shut Up", "And I Was Alone", "Theme For An American TV Show", "We're A Happy Family", "The Sleeper", "Boy In Love", "Diskomo", "Jailhouse Rock", "This Is A Man's Man's Man's World" and "Hit The Road Jack"
• Meet The Residents (1988)
  • includes Santa Dog
• Not Available (1988)
  • includes six tracks from Title In Limbo (featuring Renaldo & The Loaf): "Intro: Version", "The Shoe Salesman", "Crashing", "Monkey & Bunny", "Mahogany Wood" and "The Sailor Song"

50th Anniversary vinyl series (2023)

• Meet The Residents (January 29th 2023)
  • Black and orange starburst vinyl in branded orange tote bag
• The Third Reich 'n Roll (late February 2023)
  • Splattered/dotted vinyl in branded red tote bag, featuring uncensored original cover art and record labels
• Fingerprince (late March 2023)
  • Purple, violent and clear vinyl in branded pink tote bag with "gimmick" and "Tourniquet of Roses bonus"

See also

• pREServed
• East Side Digital
• Torso
• Film and Video Series

External links and references

• Residents Classic Series on Discogs
• "The Classic Albums" on RzWeb (via archive.org)