Rykodisc is an American record label. Its catalog is owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through the Alternative Distribution Alliance. Residents' CDs were occasionally released through Rykodisc in the 80s and 90s.
Background[]
Rykodisc was formed in 1983 by Arthur Mann, Rob Simonds, Doug Lexa & Don Rose as the first CD-only record label.
In 1986 Rykodisc released the first two Residents CDs, Heaven & Hell, two compilation albums designed for The Residents to test the waters of the then-new CD format. This same year, The Cryptic Corporation signed a deal with East Side Digital, Robert Simonds' other record label, to allow them to release CDs of The Residents' back catalog.
The group's first new studio album released on CD was God In Three Persons, which took advantage of the formats long-form play style by creating a continuous narrative with no need the act break which concept albums recorded for vinyl often required.
The group also took advantage of how cheap CDs were to produce, bt creating the God In Three Persons 'potato chip' series of CDs, containing God In Three Persons, The God In Three Persons Soundtrack, The Double Shot EP, and The Holy Kiss of Flesh single. LP versions of God In Three Persons and its soundtrack were also released through Ryko Analogue, a subdivision of RykoDisc focussing on vinyl and cassette releases. Rkyodisc disapproved of the potato chip release model and likely dropped the group because of it, giving East Side Digital the rights to release new Residents albums.
This seemed to be the end of The Residents' relationship with Ryko, however, in 1997 Rykodisc would release the abridged 2xCD version of Euro Ralph's 'Our Poor, Our Tired, Our Huddled Masses' 4xCD boxset. This version removed the singles and outtakes CDs. A cassette pressing of the CD was sent to radio stations.
The Residents appeared on four different Rykodisc Sampler compilations, Steal This Disc 1 + 2, Here It Is, The Music, and Radio Free. The track featured on these samplers could be seen as the 'singles' from whatever album had most recently been released.
In 2006, Rykodisc was bought by Warner Bros. Records. Whilst still existing as a record label, it mostly co-releases material alongside other labels, with the last independent Ryko release being a re-issue of Copper Blue by American Rock trio Sugar in 2011.
List of Releases[]
- Heaven? (1986, CD)
- Hell! (1986, CD)
- Steal This Disc (1987, CD)
- Here It Is, The Music (1988, CD)
- God In Three Persons (1988, CD)
- 2xLP + Cassette versions released through Ryko Analogue.
- Steal This Disc 2 (1988, CD)
- God In Three Persons Soundtrack (1988, CD)
- LP + Cassette versions released through Ryko Analogue.
- Double Shot (1988, MiniCD)
- Holy Kiss Of Flesh (1988, MiniCD)
- Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses (1997, 2xCD, Cass)
- Radio Free - Cult Cuts That Were Too Cool For Radio (1998, CD)