The Census Taker (released to video as Husbands, Wives, Money & Murder) is a low budget 1984 black comedy film directed by Bruce R. Cook. It stars Greg Mullavey, Meredith MacRae, Timothy Bottoms, and Garrett Morris (who is featured prominently on the soundtrack album's front cover).
The Census Taker was The Residents' first film soundtrack commission; their participation was suggested to Cook by Penn Jillette.
History[]
Director Bruce R. Cook had commissioned and rejected two soundtracks for The Census Taker before Penn Jillette recommended his friends The Residents. It was their first film soundtrack commission, following their work on their own short film Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? in 1984.
By this late stage in the film's production The Residents were given very little time to prepare, resulting in much of the soundtrack consisting of instrumental mixes of various tracks previously released on the group's 1980 LP Commercial Album and 1983 live album Mole Show.
The Residents did manage to write and record a handful of new pieces for the film, however, including "Creeping Dread", "Innocence Decayed", and the title track. In the end, the group were proud of the soundtrack but not the film, which they are said to have disliked.[1]
Synopsis[]
It's murderous fun when a snoopy census taker (Garrett Morris) drops dead in the living room of America's most typical family. This leaves George (Greg Mullavey) and Martha Dade (Meredith MacRae) under the gun to dispose of the stiff before their blood-sniffing detective guest (Timothy Bottoms) smells a rat![2]
Cast and characters[]
- Greg Mullavey as George Dade
- Meredith MacRae as Martha Dade
- Garrett Morris as Harvey McGraw
- Austen Tayler as Eva
- Timothy Bottoms as Pete
- Troy Alexander as Edward
- Erin-Bruce Tolcharian as Robert
- William R. Bremer as Sheriff
- Laine Walker-McGrew as Woman with Broom
- Laura Sorrenson as Woman in Leopard-skin Pants
- Anne Dubroff as Woman in Robe
- Roxy Kim as Punk Girl
- Jennifer Finch as Punk Girl
Soundtrack album[]
The Census Taker: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on February 16th 1985 on Episode Records. The first pressing of the album was on red vinyl, but all subsequent pressings were on black vinyl. The album only contains about 21 minutes of newly recorded music, but also features instrumental versions of songs from the group's back catalogue.
Selections from the newly recorded tracks were later included as a bonus on the CD issue of Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? in 1991. The full album was included as a bonus for the 2014 Vileness Fats reissue on MVD.
The Census Taker soundtrack was later reissued on RSD as a standalone digital release.
History[]
The earliest selections featured on the album originate from Commercial Album, finished in October of 1980. These include "End of Home", "Easter Woman", "Simple Song", "Nice Old Man" and "Margaret Freeman". "Secret Seed" and "Lights Out" originate from The Tunes of Two Cities and the Intermission EP, respectively.
The rest of the material was likely recorded in late 1983, just prior to the release of the film, although songs like "Where Is She?" and, "The Census Taker Returns" have been speculated to date back to the Commercial Album sessions.
The album was The Residents' first to be produced by someone not involved with The Residents nor The Cryptic Corporation, and was instead produced by Robert Bealmear and executive produced by Gordon M. Smith, who had those same roles on the film.
Track listing[]
All tracks composed by The Residents.
Original release (1985)[]
Side A (17:13)[]
- Creeping Dread (1:51)
- The Census Taker (3:39)
- Talk (0:41)
- End of Home (1:11)
- Emotional Music (3:21)
- Secret Seed (2:02)
- Easter Woman / Simple Song (2:00)
- Hellno (2:28)
Side B (16:48)[]
- Where Is She? (1:02)
- Innocence Decayed (3:03)
- Romanian / Nice Old Man (2:03)
- Margaret Freeman (1:00)
- Lights Out / Where Is She? (6:30)
- Passing The Bottle (2:23)
- The Census Taker Returns (0:47)
MVD Audio CD reissue (2014)[]
- Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? (4:12)
- Atomic Shopping Carts (2:07)
- Adventures of a Troubled Heart (3:15)
- Search For The Short Man (1:25)
- The Importance Of Evergreen (6:12)
- Broccoli and Saxophone (2:23)
- Disguised As Meat (3:04)
- Thoughts Busily Betraying (1:52)
- Lord, It's Lonely (1:33)
- The Knife Fight (8:57)
- Creeping Dread (1:51)
- The Census Taker (3:39)
- Talk (0:41)
- End of Home (1:11)
- Emotional Music (3:21)
- Secret Seed (2:02)
- Easter Woman / Simple Song (2:00)
- Hellno (2:28)
- Where Is She? (1:02)
- Innocence Decayed (3:01)
- Romanian / Nice Old Man (2:03)
- Margaret Freeman (1:00)
- Lights Out (6:30)
- Passing The Bottle (2:23)
- The Census Taker Returns (0:47)
Credits[]
- Music Composed And Played By: The Residents
- Executive Producer: Gordon M. Smith
- Director of Photography: Thomas Jewett
- Producer: Robert Bealmear
Recording dates[]
- "Creeping Dread," "The Census Taker," "Talk," "Emotional Music," "Hellno," "Where Is She?," "Innocence Decayed," "Romanian," "Passing The Bottle," "The Census Taker Returns" 1984
- "End of Home," "Easter Woman / Simple Song," "Nice Old Man," "Margaret Freeman" from The Commercial Album, 1980
- "Secret Seed" from The Tunes of Two Cities, March 1982
- "Lights Out" from Intermission, October 1982
Release history[]
The Census Taker: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released by Episode Records (a subsidiary of Ralph) one year after the release of the film, and two years after the actual recording sessions. The first pressing, limited to 450 copies, were on red vinyl, with the later stock versions appearing on black.
Although excerpts from the soundtrack had featured as bonus tracks on the 1991 Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? CD, the full album was not reissued for 26 years, when its contents appeared as bonus tracks on the Japanese Intermission CD reissue in 2011.
The soundtrack received its first full CD reissue in Western territories in 2014 via MVD Audio, where it was featured, once again, as bonus tracks for Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?.
| Year | Label | Format | Region | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Episode Records | LP | US | |
| 1991 | East Side Digital | CD | US | Abridged EP length version, bonus tracks on 'Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats' |
| Torso | NL | |||
| 2011 | Hayabusa Landings & Birdsong | CD | JP | Bonus on 'Intermission' CD |
| 2014 | MVD Audio | US | Bonus on Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? |
See also[]
Buy Or Die![]
Listen online[]
External links and references[]
- The Census Taker at The Residents Historical
- The Census Taker at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
- The Census Taker at IMDb
- The Census Taker at Discogs
- ↑ Ian Shirley, Never Known Questions: Five Decades of The Residents, 2015
- ↑ Husbands, Wives, Murder & Money VHS, 1986