THE RESIDENTS
Special representative Homer Flynn picks melancholy valentines, maraca whoopee and motel lounge cheese!
Want to find out what inspirational tunes echo within those unnerving yet enticing giant eyeballs they use for heads? Then you’ve come to the right place!
1 MOONDOG NEW AMSTERDAM (from Sax Pax For A Sax, Atlantic, 1994)
“The Residents never saw Moondog, but appreciated his work. From the late ’40s ’til the early ’70s, he stationed himself on Sixth Avenue between 52nd & 55th Streets, often in Viking drag. He composed a huge body of work, and was later ‘discovered’ by producer James William Guercio, who produced two Columbia LPs. They gained notoriety among hippies, on whose fringes were the early Residents. When he was dropped he relocated to Germany and in 1994 he made one final major label album, Sax Pax For A Sax, this lovely, melancholy valentine, showing his everlasting love of his adopted city.”
2 FRANK AND CLYDE THE MUSIC YOU’VE ASKED FOR (Carriage LP, circa 1960)
“Back in the pre-CD era, The Residents were big record collectors. A favourite event was a semi-annual sale at a store called The Record House in San Francisco, where you could buy completely unknown, usually crappy, LPs, two-for-25 cents. One was by Frank And Clyde, a duo, performing in Indiana motel lounges who somehow managed to rise above the cheap sentimentality of their oeuvre (jazz from the ’20s and ’30s), infusing the clichéd material with a feel of genuine emotion and authenticity. The real deal, you’ll never find Frank And Clyde on Spotify.”
3 ENNIO MORRICONE RETATA SECONDA (from Il Pentito soundtrack, GDM, 2007)
“Long-time devotees of film soundtracks, The Residents heard rumblings of Ennio Morricone’s brilliance long before succumbing to it via 1975 compilation I Film Della Violenza (Films Of Violence). Glomming on the Italian soundtrack master like lampreys on a whale, Morricone became as influential on the group as Sun Ra, James Brown, Harry Partch, Barry White, Captain Beefheart or any of their heroes. Given he’s not a pop artist creating ‘albums’, it’s impossible to pick a definitive work, but Retata Seconda from 1985 film Il Pentito The Residents consider all but perfect.”
4 BO DIDDLEY BRING IT TO JEROME (B-side of Pretty Thing, Checker, 1955)
“In the 1950s and ’60s, the ultimate event of one’s senior year at C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, was nothing if not atypical. Immediately after the Senior Prom, everyone went to the real party – the German Dance, rocking out from 2 to 6am. The performer in 1963 was Bo Diddley. In some ways, though, the real star was Jerome Green, Bo’s maracas player, with his tour de force being Bring It To Jerome. The highlight of the set was his ability to embrace a lit cigarette with his tongue, then somehow flip it around causing it to disappear into his closed mouth, only to have the cigarette reappear seconds later, still smoking – while never missing a beat with his maracas. The crowd went wild.”
5 JAMES BROWN OUT OF SIGHT (The T.A.M.I. Show, 1964)
“Watch this T.A.M.I. Show clip to see James Brown at his peak. After several of the group saw him at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1965, James Brown – a manic blur burning an indelible imprint into the memories of the Residents-to-be – became a major cultural hero. After, they saw the group at a gas station, seeking directions to the new highway. One of the Residents’ group offered to lead the way. After a meandering trip, James himself approached the group’s car, looking sceptical. Flustered, the future Resident pointed to the freeway entrance a few hundred feet away. Reassured, James shook hands with everyone, returned to his Cadillac and sped off.”