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The Official W.E.I.R.D. Book of The Residents

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The Official W.E.I.R.D. Book of The Residents is a book by W.E.I.R.D. (We Endorse Immediate Residents Deification), the official fan club of The Residents from 1978 to 1981. The first published book about the group, it was compiled in collaboration with The Residents' management company The Cryptic Corporation, and was designed, compiled and edited by the club's co-founders Philip Culp and Mimi King.

The book was released in 1979, with a red and black cover illustrated by Gary Panter, in a limited run of 500 copies. A second edition was released in 1981, now in a run of 750 copies, featuring the same cover art but in yellow and black.

History[]

Included in the introductory package for members of the Residents fan club W.E.I.R.D.,[1] the purpose of The Official W.E.I.R.D. Book of The Residents was to introduce new members to all information available about The Residents at that time. While some of the presented facts have since been proven inaccurate or exaggerated, it was the first time many noteworthy events from the group's early years were detailed by an authorized source.

VF WEIRD Book

Centerfold of the Book, showing exclusive photos of the Vileness Fats filming sessions.

The original version of Matt Groening's essay "The True Story of The Residents" was first published in this guide. It is noted that there are blanks in the story that The Residents did not want to fill, leaving Groening to theorize about what could have happened in those gaps; therefore, this is not a completely "true" biography of the band, but rather an insight into their work. Some information about the cancelled film project Vileness Fats is also included, with a couple of previously unseen set photos from the production.

The most comprehensive discography of the group's releases published up to that date is featured, including details about the group's (then) unavailable early recordings. In the first edition of the book, the discography covers everything up until the 1979 album Eskimo (which at the time of publication, did not even have finalized cover art). The second edition expands the discography to include everything up to the 1981 W.E.I.R.D. release of the Babyfingers EP. [2]

Contents (1979 Edition)[]

Legacy[]

W.E.I.R.D. ceased operations in 1981 and the book has been out of print ever since.

Later literary guides to the works of The Residents, such as The Cryptic Guide to The Residents and Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide to The Residents by Uncle Willie (head of the successor fan club UWEB), have corrected and expanded upon the information presented in The Official W.E.I.R.D. Book, effectively supplanting the earlier guide.

Credits[]

See also[]

External links and references[]

  1. ↑ "The club's membership package was very elaborate: in addition to a member's card, you received a copy of The Official W.E.I.R.D. Book Of The Residents with cover art by Gary Panter and containing The True Story of The Residents by music journalist Matt Groening (later famous for his Life in Hell comix and The Simpsons)." "The Fan Clubs", The Residents Historical (archived via archive.org), 2007
  2. ↑ "Sooo, the 79 print goes up to the Eskimo info..the 81 goes up to to Babyfingers ...hope that helps.." - Andreas Mathews, comment in The Residents unofficial Facebook group, December 11, 2020
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