DUCK STAB
Duck Stab started life in February, 1978, as a seven-song
EP. It featured songs sung clearly, with understandable (if
nonsensical) lyrics -- a first for The Residents. The
EP was a runaway success, selling out the first pressing
very quickly. The band had to press more, which for them
was very unusual.
Unfortunately, the sound quality of the EP was poor
because The Residents had tried to squeeze sixteen minutes
of music onto the record. The band decided to re-release
the songs in an album in order to improve the sound. They
took a similar, unreleased EP called Buster & Glen and
made it into side two of the new album. Duck Stab / Buster
& Glen was released the following November, and was
later renamed as simply Duck Stab.
The album was as big a success. It was also a critical
success thanks to the accessibility of the music and the
clever, Lewis Carroll-flavoured lyrics (not to mention
Snakefinger's amazing guitar work).