History Trivia / TheResidents

* TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment: ''Not Available'' is named such because the band completed the album in 1974 but was withheld from release until 1978 as part of their "theory of obscurity" philosophy.

** ''Fingerprince'' was going to have one side cut with two spiral grooves, meaning that the listener would hear two different records depending on where they dropped the needle. They abandoned this plan when they discovered that Creator/MontyPython had done the same thing with their ''[[AudioPlay/TheMontyPythonMatchingTieAndHandkerchief Matching Tie and Handkerchief]]'' album.

* BigNameFan: Creator/PennAndTeller, Creator/MattGroening, Music/TheyMightBeGiants, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/BrianEno, Music/{{Buckethead}}, [[Music/{{Primus}} Les Claypool,]] [[Music/{{Bauhaus}} David J,]] [[Music/{{XTC}} Andy Partridge,]] [[Music/TheBuzzcocks Pete Shelley,]] [[Music/{{Devo}} Jerry Casale,]] and numerous others.
* BlackSheepHit[=/=]GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: "Kaw-Liga", a dance/house-style cover of a Music/HankWilliams song with the bass line of Music/MichaelJackson's "Billie Jean" was a minor club hit in France and Ibiza. One could say that they don't really have a consistent style to be at odds with, but it's a lot more poppy than what they usually do.

** ''Fingerprints'' was going to have one side cut with two spiral grooves, meaning that the listener would hear two different records depending on where they dropped the needle. They abandoned this plan when they discovered that Creator/MontyPython had done the same thing with their ''[[AudioPlay/TheMontyPythonMatchingTieAndHandkerchief Matching Tie and Handkerchief]]'' album.

** An official licensed ''Mark Of The Mole'' game was in development for the Atari 2600, but was never finished, with only a playable demo being released. Interestingly it was sort of a proto RhythmGame featuring the Mole characters, where the player would have to hit the right note to complete melodies from the album.

* HeAlsoDid: These days, the identities of the members of the band Cromagnon is common knowledge to those who've actually heard of it, but back in the day it was rumored that bits of the band had moved onto help form The Residents. Also, they were briefly rumored to have been Music/TheBeatles.
** Randy featured in an educational rap song in the 1990s, under the name Seymour Hodges. He played the role of a [[TooSmartForStrangers creepy stranger]].

* RealitySubtext: ''The Big Bubble'' has this in spades; it was their first project in the Mole Trilogy after the disastrous Mole Show tour, which nearly ended the band, caused Ralph Records to collapse, drove away two bandmembers, alienated two of the Cryptic Corporation heads (one of whom was bankrolling their massive studio), and ended business relationships between them and Graeme Whifler. Not only does this account for the pared-down sound, but it also explains titles like "Sorry," "Go Where You Wanna Go," and "Fear For the Future," as well as "Cry For the Fire"'s deeply mournful tone.

* ReclusiveArtist: Taken to its LogicalExtreme--they rarely even get their own mail.

** Jim Ludtke (''Freak Show,'' ''Bad Day on the Midway,'' ''Icky Flix'') was working or scheduled on projects for the Residents right up until he died in 2005. Known projects include the ''Freak Show'' DVD and a video for ''The Commercial DVD.'' The incomplete footage from the former was included as-is in a 2006 reissue, while the latter's place was taken up by a tribute to his work.

** Several music videos were planned to promote ''Duck Stab!'', but of those, only "Hello Skinny" finished production. The star actor left before the wrap, meaning Graeme Whifler and the band had to rush completion on much of the video. The final scenes were intended for another one, which was too incomplete to salvage for the same reason.

** The star actor for the "Hello Skinny" video left before the wrap, leaving Graeme Whifler and the band to rush completion on much of the video. The final scenes were intended for another music video, which was too incomplete to salvage for the same reason. In fact, several music videos were planned to promote ''Duck Stab!'', but only those two even got as far as filming.

** The actor for the "Hello Skinny" video fled midway through filming. This forced the band and Graeme Whifler to pad the video out with still shots, and footage from another project too incomplete to salvage. Several more videos were planned, but had to be cancelled for the same reason.

** Jim Ludtke (''Freak Show,'' ''Bad Day on the Midway,'' ''Icky Flix'') was working or scheduled on projects for the Residents right up until he died in 2005. Known projects include the ''Freak Show'' DVD and a video for ''The Commercial DVD.'' The incomplete footage from the former was included as-is in a 2006 reissue, while the latter's place was taken up by a tribute to his work.
** Snakefinger was meant to appear on ''God in Three Persons,'' but died before they could record his parts.

* RealitySubtext: ''The Big Bubble'' has this in spades; it was their first project in the Mole Trilogy after the disastrous Mole Show tour, which nearly ended the band, caused Ralph Records to collapse, drove away two bandmembers, and alienated two of the Cryptic Corporation heads, one of whom was bankrolling their massive studio. Not only does this account for the pared-down sound, but it also explains titles like "Sorry," "Go Where You Wanna Go," and "Fear For the Future," as well as "Cry For the Fire"'s deeply mournful tone.
** "Shorty's Lament," written right after Jay Clem left the Corporation, is a bit more obvious, with its existential questions, disaster metaphors (complete with crashing noises). It even namechecks Jay and Uncle Willie, a figure who would become more involved with the group as the decade went on.

* BigNameFan: Creator/PennAndTeller, Creator/MattGroening, Music/TheyMightBeGiants, Music/DavidByrne, Music/BrianEno, Music/{{Buckethead}}, [[Music/{{Primus}} Les Claypool,]] [[Music/{{Bauhaus}} David J,]] [[Music/{{XTC}} Andy Partridge,]] [[Music/TheBuzzcocks Pete Shelley,]] [[Music/{{Devo}} Jerry Casale,]] and numerous others.

* BigNameFan: Creator/PennAndTeller, Creator/MattGroening, Music/TheyMightBeGiants, Music/DavidByrne, Music/BrianEno, Music/{{Buckethead}}, [[Music/{{Primus}} Les Claypool,]] [[Music/{{Bauhaus}} David J,]] [[Music/{{XTC}} Andy Partridge,]] [[Music/TheBuzzcocks Pete Shelley,]] [[Music/{{Devo}} Jerry Casale,] and numerous others.

* BigNameFan: Creator/PennAndTeller, Creator/MattGroening, Music/TheyMightBeGiants, Music/DavidByrne, Music/BrianEno, Music/{{Buckethead}}, [[Music/{{Primus}} Les Claypool,]] [[Music/{{Bauhaus}} David J,]] [[Music/{{XTC}} Andy Partridge,]] [[Music/TheBuzzcocks Pete Shelley,]] and numerous others.

** Snakefinger was meant to appear on ''God in Three Persons,'' but died of a heart attack before they could record his parts.
* WrittenInInfirmity: The basic concept of ''Our Finest Flowers.'' As the story goes, the band had prepared a greatest hits compilation to celebrate their 20th anniversary, but then one of them retched onto the proposed tracklisting. His efforts at cleaning it off messed up the handwriting, which the band decided to try and parse anyway, for a laugh.

** The promotional campaign for ''God In Three Persons'' ran afoul of this--Rykodisc only wanted to put out the album proper, rather than the soundtrack (they did relent) or the related non-album singles (which Torso put out instead).

** Jim Ludtke (''Freak Show,'' ''Bad Day on the Midway,'' ''Icky Flix'') was working or scheduled on projects for the Residents right up until he died in 2005. Known projects include the ''Freak Show'' DVD and a video for ''The Commercial DVD.'' The incomplete footage from the former was included as-is in a 2006 reissue of the album.

* ThePeteBest: Around for the very earliest years of the group, Roland Sheehan was a key contributing factor to the sound and direction of the group's earliest demos (predating even those the group sent to Hal Halverstadt). He stopped working with them in 1970, the year before they met Snakefinger.

* RealitySubtext: ''The Big Bubble'' has this in spades; it was their first project in the Mole Trilogy after the disastrous Mole Show tour, which nearly ended the band, caused Ralph Records to collapse, drove away two bandmembers, and alienated two of the Cryptic Corporation heads, one of whom was bankrolling their massive studio. Not only does this account for the pared-down sound, but it also explains titles like "Sorry," "Go Where You Wanna Go," and "Fear For the Future," as well as "Cry For The Fire's" deeply mournful tone.

** The promotional campaign for ''God In Three Persons'' ran afoul of this--Rykodisc only wanted to put out the album proper, rather than the soundtrack (they did relent) or the related non-album singles (which ''did'' see release--on Torso.)