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This article is about the 1977 short film. You may be looking for the 1976 studio album of the same name. |
The Third Reich 'n Roll (also known as Land of 1000 Dances) is a 1977 short film by The Residents. Now considered one of the earliest examples of the medium of "music video", it was shot by the group in early 1976 and 1977, using props and sets from the group's abandoned Vileness Fats film project.
The music featured in the video is a six minute "concentrate" edit of various pieces of music from the group's 1976 album of the same name. The video premiered on the short-lived Australian music television program Flashez in 1977, and has since been released by the group on the VHS collection Video Voodoo in 1987, the laserdisc Twenty Twisted Questions in 1992, and the Icky Flix DVD in 2001.
History[]
The first half of the video was shot by The Residents in early 1976, during a break from production on their long-running (but ultimately abandoned) film project Vileness Fats.[1]
For this video piece (which had no particular intended use at the time it was filmed), the group created costumes, instruments and a set entirely from a large number of newspapers which had been hoarded by their friend Palmer Eiland during his time living with them at their Sycamore Street studio.[2] The footage (unusually for The Residents at this time) was shot in color, though due to the set, costumes and props all being constructed from black and white newspaper, it is difficult to tell.
Although the Klansmen-esque hoods seemingly tie into the album's heavy use of Nazi symbolism and imagery, the band has clarified that it was simply coincidental, and that "the costumes were made that way because that was the simplest way to make a head-covering out of newspaper."
In 1977, after The Residents had released their third studio album The Third Reich 'n Roll and abandoned Vileness Fats once and for all, they were asked by Australian music program Flashez to supply a piece of short video material, which the group accepted, in lieu of organizing a tour to promote the album.
To this end, the group created additional black-and-white stop motion animation (using sets and props from the now-abandoned Vileness Fats project) to accompany the earlier "newspaper men" footage, and synced the resulting short film to a six-minute edit comprised of various pieces of music from the album's two suites (prominently featuring "Land of 1000 Dances" and "Wipeout").
Outline[]
The Residents in The Third Reich 'n Roll
Most versions of the video begin with the instrumental "March de la Winni", set to a short stop-motion animation of an Atomic Shopping Cart on the set of Vileness Fats. The Atomic Shopping Cart giggles into the camera and is then joined by two others. A title card reading "The Residents on Ralph Records" appears at the end of this clip.
The video itself begins with The Residents, dressed in newspaper costumes, with newspaper instruments, in a room lined with newspaper, performing "Land of 1000 Dances". This section ends with the group suddenly being shot with lasers by men in silver foil space suits.
A close-up of a Resident crossfades into the second half of the film, which consists of stop-motion animation of two Residents, an Atomic Shopping Cart, and various other props, including two huge skulls, in an altered version of the town square set from Vileness Fats. The video ends with a cardboard cut-out of Adolf Hitler overseeing the proceedings from the bridge, which has been redecorated with a large swastika.
Release[]
The video was first aired by the Australian music program Flashez in 1977. By 1979, it was being shown alongside the David Lynch film Eraserhead in midnight screenings in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.
Although the first half of the video is technically in color, it has sometimes been seen in an entirely monochrome version. The original color version (indicated by the color titles in the opening "Atomic Shopping Carts" sequence) was first released on home video as part of the VHS collection Video Voodoo in 1987.
In 2001, the video was remastered in its entirety and included on the Icky Flix video retrospective DVD (for which The Residents also created a newly-recorded version of the film's soundtrack). The color version is the most commonly seen today, with the Icky Flix remaster having been made officially available to stream on YouTube in 2010.
The film (alongside "Hello Skinny" and One Minute Movies) was restored in HD by Peter Conheim for the Cinema Preservation Alliance in 2019. This restored version appears within the collection Ears, Eyes and Throats: Restored Classic and Lost Punk Films 1976-1981.
Legacy[]
Aside from some short films by The Beatles (particularly "Strawberry Fields Forever"), The Third Reich 'n Roll is considered to be among the very first music videos - a medium which The Residents would continue to pioneer over the next several years.
A copy is held in the Museum of Modern Art, as part of their large collection of Residents material.
See also[]
- The Residents videography
- The Third Reich 'n Roll
- Vileness Fats
- "March de la Winni"
- Palmer Eiland
- Atomic Shopping Carts
- Mr. Skull
Watch online[]
- The Third Reich 'n Roll (Icky Flix remaster) on YouTube
External links and references[]
- "Land of 1000 Dances" at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
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The Third Reich 'n Roll (1976) Side A: "Swastikas on Parade" |
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Tourniquet of Roses Fingerprince / Babyfingers (1976-1979) Side A |