Those McCartney samples are from one of the Christmas flexis - either '63 or '64, and I absolutely agree with the recommendation on Third Reich: its intended audience, if any, is people like us - overfamiliarity with 60s radio hits is a prerequisite, not that that's a bad thing . . .
My views on the NEW RECORDINGS: Mostly instrumental and atmospheric, their work seems very somber, and devoid of the 'humor' they sprinkle on the other 'pieces'. The new DVD, "Is Anybody Out There?" has the "Blair Witch/Paranormal Activity" feel, but, unlike the 'internet series', does NOT follow 'Bunny' to Arkansas....... why, I don't know! There's a taint to my opinions, since after listening/watching these, I saw "Strange Culture", the movie/documentary featuring The Res' score. Quite an interesting, unsung story of an artist arrested for 'terrorism'!
My suggestion for a good, fun NEW recording, is the Ralph America CD, "Smell My Picture"..... Still available at the RA website: http://ralphamerica.com/
Did the Beatles ever sue over this track? I can't imagine they would have been happy seeing their work sampled. Then again, maybe John would have liked it, if he had ever heard it (don't know if he did). I'm a big fan of Third Reich 'N Roll -- lots of fun. The melding of Hey Jude and Symphony for the Devil at the end of the album is brilliant.
There ARE rumors....... that John HAD a copy of "Meet The Residents"!!! AND, it is my theory, that Paul's "Thrillington" album cover, is a direct 'nod & wink' to the EYE-BOYS! Though placing a ram's head on the tuxidoed man on the cover was made BEFORE the Rez put eye-balls on THEIR heads, in similar garb!! I find the 'hint' to be the 'liner notes' to the "Thrillington" album to be the 'smoking gun'! AND, there's a tale that a man buys Residents album for Paul...... who IS this mysterious man?
Reducing the music behind "It's My Party" to some organ-on-the-string-setting blasts and bikehorns smothered in reverb was a smooth move too. Anyway, this is one of my all-time top-10 albums, one I've listened to probably over a thousand times and still get something out of. It moves from very silly to very eerie (the excerpt of "Little Girl" and the album's coming to a close amid music boxes, a synth that sounds like a wailing voice, and horn drones), and certainly never drags. Worth having for '60s music buffs who can appreciate something very left-field; it's also a good album for such folks to smoke up to and play "name that tune". It was years before I noticed that "Ballad of the Green Berets" was on there, cabaret--style, even though it was in plain sight.
McCartney absolutely has listened to - or at least paid attention to - the Residents. His web cast schtick for the release of Rushes is right from the pages of the Residents playbook. I've always wondered if McCartney likes the idea of removing his "image" from his work. Not that he can ever do that but sometimes I think that if he could he would. I thought McCartney II was very much in that vein even though the record company ended up commercializing it.
Rumor also has it that Dick Clark has (or had at one time) a framed copy of The Third Reick 'n' Roll in his office, as he found his depiction on the cover amusing.
Rare Residents Video These two videos are worth reposting from a previous thread. Both are from the singer called Peggy Honeydew. The first one was shot by Bill Reinhardt who was very much part of building the early Residents mythology. The second is a compilation of very rare photos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vonj9nVu4XE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWvRA1QjDLE For Beatles fans here are the Residents performing Mr. Kite http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AidJbgfGU_4 This is an interview with Homer Flynn in his role as one of the Residents handlers. The "Residents" run amuck in the TV studio. This is one of the oldest filmed interviews with one of the two main Residents that I have seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwLXPEYZi2M There are several other very rare things on YouTube if you search. Most of it is rather common stuff copied from their commercial videos and DVDs.
Big bucks for that 45 these days! Anyone else here get that recent Mole Show package? It's a bit typical of the Residents in that its kind of frivolous and ephemeral. But the Australian radio show included is worth every penny if you're interested in the Residents pre-1986 and the workings of Ralph records. Riveting stuff.
I'd love to get that as i was in attendance at the show on the dvd 10-27-82 (?) the video camera was very near our table .
Too bad this dosen't have the original setup as broadcast. Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran had been at the studio the previous week and were mobbed by hundreds of kids; footage of this was contrasted with the arrival of The Residents, where one lone fan waving around a copy of Duck Stab was being held back by burly security guys. Pretty funny stuff, actually.
That is funny though you can see that one guy. The interviewer is pretty good on this. Far better than what you get today. Pretty detailed questions.
That guy is one Christopher Ward, who wrote "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles and more recently stuff for the likes of Hilary Duff. Strange how these things work out!
Let my ask you all: Were Cheech & Chong Residents fans??? I remember seeing this as a kid, and wondering.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvlSRF_sfbQ
Bought tickets for LA today. I haven't seen them since 1986. I've been playing Duck Stab and Not Available a lot recently. I probably should catch up with what they have been doing for the last 30 years.
While we're here, would anyone like to weigh in their American Composers Series work from the '80's? I ask because I had played their Stars & Hank Forever LP yesterday for the first time in ages, and found the Hank Williams side really moving, and a good warmup for the traditional sides of Cube-E (especially the cowboy numbers of Buckaroo Blues). Oddly, I never picked up on the George & James record when it was released, and I've yet to hear it to this day. What I found noteworthy about this period in their career is that on these records, the Residents seemed to be getting more serious-minded, and this is where they started to move away from their earlier funny work. At least that's the way it seemed at the time. Eskimo and Mark of the Mole had some of their subversive humor, at least in a drier, more abstract way that something like Third Reich and Roll. After Stars and Hank Forever, they released God in Three Persons, possibly their first really serious/no overt jokes piece of work. For me the release of Residue seemed to be the clearinghouse of the early fun stuff, almost if they were bidding that phase of work a final adieu. I'd like to know if this trajectory make sense to anyone else who was listening to them at the time....
