Shocking Artists

[Guybrush]

Funny thing about the Residents is that if you go back to the late 50's and look at the outside stuff in popular culture you'll find a lot of things that sound like them.  Les Baxter, Esquivel, and Martin Denny come to mind immediately.  They weren't playing rock music but more trying to play the tiki-bar stuff but not really knowing how to. 

I haven't thought about this connection before, but when you mention it, I can definitely see it even if it might not be apparent at first glance.

I think The Third Reich n' Roll is a masterpiece in deconstruction and a very fun listen. Never really listened to much else of theirs though. I take it Duck Stab is a good one to check out?

Yes, absolutely. I saw them play it earlier this year as they were doing an anniversary tour. Or whatever's left of them 😉 a few hired guns in that band now, I think.

Duck Stab is grating, funny and at times unsettling. What more could you want from a Residents album? My favorite Residents song is from there, Lizard Lady.

[larsvsnapster]

The lowdown on the Residents:  The Cryptic Corporation are the authors and artistic directors.  Homer Flynn is sole proprietor now.  Everyone else involved are The Residents.  It's not a band but an art collective and actual membership over the years has been extremely fluid.  Some of the earlier tracks don't feature anyone who was in the Cryptic Corp actually playing the music.  "Spotted Pinto Bean" aside from a few cameos from Homer and Jay singing the male vocal parts is a shining example.  Hardy Fox is not the pianist on that. 

[Guybrush]

The lowdown on the Residents:  The Cryptic Corporation are the authors and artistic directors.  Homer Flynn is sole proprietor now.  Everyone else involved are The Residents.  It's not a band but an art collective and actual membership over the years has been extremely fluid.  Some of the earlier tracks don't feature anyone who was in the Cryptic Corp actually playing the music.  "Spotted Pinto Bean" aside from a few cameos from Homer and Jay singing the male vocal parts is a shining example.  Hardy Fox is not the pianist on that. 

Yes, there was a great website in the early days of internet where me and my friends learned some of this. I remember the site described them as the world's most famous unknown band.

They have art projects outside of music, of course, and you can sometimes notice lineup changes, like when they got a female singer.

But without knowing, I've thought (maybe erroneously) that they can't have too much of a turnover or else they wouldn't have been able to keep their secrets for so long.

Or maybe they were just really good with their legal contracts and non-disclosure agreements?

[larsvsnapster]

I subscribed to Hacienda Bridge and Hardy himself told a lot of these things.  One of the wilder posts was where he pointed out how many female Residents there actually have been (it's over 20, maybe 30), included pictures of them and had lovely things to say about all of them.  One of the biggest shockers was his view that the anonymity thing was never a big secret but the fans ate it up, and sometimes took it a bit far. 

[Guybrush]

I subscribed to Hacienda Bridge and Hardy himself told a lot of these things.  One of the wilder posts was where he pointed out how many female Residents there actually have been (it's over 20, maybe 30), included pictures of them and had lovely things to say about all of them.  One of the biggest shockers was his view that the anonymity thing was never a big secret but the fans ate it up, and sometimes took it a bit far. 

Hey, that's some really interesting trivia. Thanks for sharing!

One thing that was sad about watching Residents in March playing the Duck Stab album is it sadly wasn't very good. I was excited to see that album - with all its weird sounds - recreated on stage. But it was just arranged for an electronic drum kit, a guitar and a Nord stage keyboard. They also didn't play Sinister Exaggerator? Weird. Did they forget? Flynn only performs in a somewhat guttural spoken word throughout which feels a little less musical to me overall.

So not all I was hoping for, but hey.  I got to see a legend and hang out with friends.

[larsvsnapster]

One thing that was sad about watching Residents in March playing the Duck Stab album is it sadly wasn't very good.

Yes, Homer has gotten quite screamy with his delivery nowadays.  I always liked it more when he was the Mel Blanc of Leftfield Music, doing all the silly voices.  Another bit of trivia -- N. Senada is Homer in a wig with a saxophone.  And broccoli too.