‘A Sight for Sore Eyes, Vol. 2,’ now available from Melodic Virtue
Arguing for the timelessness of the Residents’ music in the introduction to this book, Penn Jillette claims that the Faceless Four were the soundtrack to Madonna and Sean Penn’s star-crossed love.
I first met and worked with Madonna during the time this book chronicles, and the very first thing she talked to me about was The Residents. She was in awe that I had met and worked with them. It’s a mistake The Residents fans make over and over again. We often think that we’re the only ones who understand the brilliance of North Louisiana’s Phenomenal Pop Combo, but all anyone has to do is hear them to know there’s something different and wonderful there. Madonna explained to me that the other Penn, the Sean one, had rammed The Residents down her throat and she swallowed it greedily.
It sounds preposterous, but then you picture them on the set of Shanghai Surprise, smoking cigarettes in their trailer with “Sorry” emanating from the hi-fi, or maybe tearing up PCH past Paradise Cove in Sean’s 1987 Buick Grand National, windows down, with the live-in-Holland “Cry for the Fire” cranked loud enough on the tape deck to overcome the noises of traffic, wind and surf, and it sounds even more preposterous. It must be bullshit.
The Residents at sea with Jefferson Starship and Huey Lewis, June 2, 1984
Or must it? Weigh the evidence on the other side of the scale. The Eye Guys appeared in the music video for Jefferson Starship’s “Layin’ It On The Line.” David Byrne, Andy Partridge and Lene Lovich sang on Commercial Album. The Residents met James Brown. They had a hot tub. And their members were uncredited, so for all anyone knew, Miles Davis, Ukulele Ike, Charo and Del Shannon were under those eyeball heads. Would Sean and Madonna really have risked missing that band? If they weren’t listening to the Residents in 1985, what were they listening to?
The Swingin’ Medallions’ ‘Double Shot’ as interpreted on ‘God in Three Persons’
Most of the material in the book is credited to Homer Flynn and Poor? NO! Graphics, which is to say it reproduces items, many previously unseen, from the Cryptic Corporation’s archives of photographs, album and single art, and assorted Residentiabilia. Vol. 2 documents the Residents’ work and activities from Title in Limbo, their outstanding 1983 album-length collaboration with Renaldo & the Loaf, through Disfigured Night, their triumphant 1997 return to the stage. The period covered by the book takes in The 13th Anniversary Show, part four (but not part three) of the Mole Trilogy, the American Composer Series, God in Three Persons, and Cube E, as well as the projects with a CD-ROM dimension, Freak Show, Bad Day at the Midway and Gingerbread Man.
Stills from the ‘Bad Day at the Midway’ CD-ROM
There are surprises even for the jaded. Apparently the Residents worked on an unfinished album called Man between 1983 and 1986. Apparently they scored a 1990 short film called Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions. Apparently there was a Japanese edition of Uncle Willie’s Highly Opinionated Guide to the Residents. (That’s Uncle Willie who ran the Residents’ second fan club, Uncle Willie’s Eyeball Buddies (UWEB), for five years; the deluxe edition of A Sight for Sore Eyes, Vol. 2 comes with a lovely hardcover book of reproductions of the UWEB newsletters.) Contributing testimonials to this volume are, among others, Pee-wee Herman, Moritz R® of Der Plan, Tom Timony of New Ralph and T.E.C. Tones, Mark and Jerry of DEVO, David J of Bauhaus, Alex Paterson of the Orb, Alex Winter, Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt and Black Pus, Nils Frykdahl of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Faun Fables, Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto, Thor Harris of Swans, JG Thirlwell, and Diamanda Galás.
Like its predecessor, Vol. 2 includes a seven-inch record of an otherwise unavailable track. In this case, it’s “That’ll Be the Day (Baby Baby),” “an early demo for Sons of the South: Buddy and Sonny, an unfinished American Composer Series release featuring the songs of Buddy Holly and Sun Ra.”
A Sight for Sore Eyes, Vol. 2 ships from Melodic Virtue on August 11.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
New ‘visual history’ book celebrates 50 years of the Residents! Sneak peek and exclusive premiere!
‘23rd Century Giants,’ the incredible true story of Renaldo & The Loaf!