Over the course of a recording career spanning several decades, The Residents have remained a riddle of Sphinx-like proportions; cloaking their lives and music in a haze of wilful obscurity, the band's members never identified themselves by name, always appearing in public in disguise (in the old days... tuxedos, top hats and giant eyeball masks) and refusing to grant media interviews.

rzwttuxweb
Circa 1986



Pasted Graphic
Circa 2010

willie-disc


This compilation album offers edits of various albums by The Residents over the time period 1972-1991. The edits are sold for .99 as individual downloads here:
http://theresidents.downloadcentric.net/


* Willie's Theme
* Santa Dog
* Vileness Fats
* Meet the Residents
* Not Available
* The Third Reich 'N' Roll
* Fingerprince
* Duck Stab
* Eskimo
* The Commercial Album
* The Decade Ends Theme
* Willie's Theme II
* Mark Of The Mole
* The Tunes Of Two Cities
* The Big Bubble
* The Mole Show
* George & James
* Stars & Hank Forever
* The 13th Anniversary Show
* God In Three Persons
* The King & Eye
* Cube E: The History Of American Music In 3 E-Z Pieces
* Freak Show
* Our Finest Flowers
* Finale


What is...


The Residents
Four people who dabble in the arts. They make music, videos, perform, and generally have a pretty good time.

Robot Selling Device
An automated download store for music by The Residents. It is ever growing and changing. Also known as RSD. RSD

Ralph
Ralph is a mail order store. They specialize in collectible and physical objects associated with The Residents. Also knows as Ralph America. RALPH

el Ralpho
el Ralpho is the original name for The Residents studio from the 1970’s - 80’s. Now days it is the name of the recording archives that occasionally gets mined for new music or video. el Ralpho

Historical
Historical is a collection of data relating to the music and art of The Residents. INDEX

The Residents TV
Residents video clips are posted here. The TV can be found on thousands of web sites. At the bottom is a “chat” button. Clicking the button reveals a constant conversation usually about The Residents.

EYE.TV Public Access
Residents.com supports a sister channel to The Residents.TV. Anyone can post video and chat about anything on this channel.

The Cryptic Corporation
The Cryptic Corporation is the business and personal management for The Residents. They deal with the accounting and legal necessities of the group. Also known as Cryptic. CRYPTIC


FAQ



1. Are The Residents a band, or what?

A. I guess I would have to say a "what." The Residents write, record and perform music, so I suppose that kind of makes them a band. However, they think of themselves as a "group" which is not so directly music-orientated.

2. Who is in The Residents?

A. If the question is "what are the names the parents gave to the people making up The Residents," then I would say that those names belong to individuals and not the group. The group doesn't have names within its structure. If the question is the real "who," meaning the philosophy and outlook, then that is all clearly stated in the work. I would find it difficult to summarize.

3. Is it the same people now as the people who started the group?

A. It is exactly the same. However they work with other people all the time and those people may be considered "Residents" for the period of the project or projects. I understand that the number of people who have been in The Residents is probably over a hundred at this point and still growing.

4. How does one get to work with The Residents?

A. It generally is a result of The Residents asking you to participate, or a recommendation to fill a needed role.

5. Why are the people who do The Residents obsessed with being anonymous?

A. They aren't. It is other people who seem to be uncomfortable with their privacy. Say you have a tank of goldfish. Say you have given each goldfish a name. A stranger wanders into your house and sees your tank of goldfish and wants to know who they are. Considering that he is a stranger, you tell him it is a tank of goldfish.

6. Why not just make up fake names, then? Who would know the difference?

A. Most people in show biz have made up names. That is true. The Residents reveal more about who they are by using no name than people who use fake names. But as you can see it is others, like you, who keep asking about names as though that matters somehow.

7. It is common knowledge that The Residents recorded early albums that have never been released. Why don't they release that material?

A. Like any artist, there is early work. But in this particular situation, the first actual release by The Residents was 1974's Meet The Residents. Anything earlier, including Santa Dog, was not by The Residents. But I know what you mean. There are recordings by the people who later became The Residents. Some older recordings were stolen from their studio, mostly unfinished experimental recordings. Also, a demo of material that was sent to Warner Brothers was taken. Most of the recordings were not touched and a lot of the old stuff has been discarded by The Residents at this point. They prefer to not release recordings that they feel do not represent them. This is true for all artists, not just The Residents.

Search the Historical