History Trivia / TheResidents

** While ''Triple Trouble'' would be successfully finished, it would suffer some serious roadblocks along the way. Initially announced as ''Double Trouble'', the film would have roughly half an hour of footage shot in 2017, only for production to slow to a crawl due to difficulties with securing funding for the film. To make matters worse, the 2019 death of actress Gerri Lawlor and the 2020 UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic both rendered the film unfeasible to complete in its original state. Rather than scrap the film, the band drastically retooled the film into ''Triple Trouble'', with a rewritten plot set after the envisioned plot for ''Double Trouble'' and the 2017 footage repurposed into flashbacks. This new vision for the film would complete principal photography in only ten days and see release in 2022 to coincide with the band's return to touring.

* DevelopmentHell: There was a lot of turmoil between the band and personnel during the production of ''Eskimo,'' to the point where amidst all the release delays, their label put out ''Not Available'' just for the sake of having something out.
* DiedDuringProduction: Snakefinger was their first pick of guest musician for ''God in Three Persons,'' but he had a fatal heart attack before they could even record his parts. The earliest versions of the ''Cube-E'' tour, planned before he died, were also meant to feature him.

** ''Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor,'' a pre-demo home tape was only ever released in a severely truncated form on ''Leftovers Again?!'' ''The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger,'' from around the same time, has never been considered for an official release.

** Vileness Fats was supposed to be the BigDamnMovie for the Residents' synthesizer era, but ended up being unreleased. The sets were built in GermanExpressionism style, but filming space was so small that each set was dismantled before building another. Videotape was used since the band thought it was the medium of the future and on the cheap, since they didn't have to pay for film development. Production was slow as the Residents had day jobs to fund the film. When production stopped, the film had 14 hours of footage, with [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants less than two thirds of the script finished]], and the [[TechnologyMarchesOn video looking outdated]]. Footage from the film was used in ''Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats?'' the "Vileness Fats Concentrate" from ''Icky Flix,'' and the 2022 film ''Triple Trouble''.

* BuryYourArt: For decades, the band refused to officially release their pre-''Santa Dog'' demo tapes out of embarrassment towards them, with only snippets and select songs getting released. By the 2010s, they softened their stance to give ''The Warner Bros. Album'' and ''Baby Sex'' official releases as part of their pREServed rerelease campaign. However, they remain steadfast in refusing to release ''Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor'' and ''The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger'', with the former only receiving a truncated release and the latter explicitly ruled out from being released.

** The somber tone and lyrics of ''Demons Dance Alone'' were a byproduct of the band's feelings of grief following the September 11th, 2001 attacks, which occured in the middle of a tour in Europe.

** Vileness Fats was supposed to be the BigDamnMovie for the Residents' synthesizer era, but ended up being unreleased. The sets were built in GermanExpressionism style, but filming space was so small that each set was dismantled before building another. Videotape was used since the band thought it was the medium of the future and on the cheap, since they didn't have to pay for film development. Production was slow as the Residents had day jobs to fund the film. When production stopped, the film had 14 hours of footage, with [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants less than two thirds of the script finished]], and the [[TechnologyMarchesOn video looking outdated]]. Footage from the film was used in ''Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats?'' the "Vileness Fats Concentrate" from ''Icky Flix,'' and the upcoming ''Triple Trouble''.

* BuryYourArt: For decades, the band refused to officially release their pre-''Santa Dog'' demo tapes out of embarrassment towards them, with only snippets and select songs getting released. By the 2010s, they softened their stance to give ''The Warner Bros. Album'' and ''Baby Sex'' official releases as part of their pREServed rerelease campaign. However, they remain steadfast in refusing to release ''Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor'' and ''The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger'', with the former only receiving a truncuated release and the latter explicitly ruled out from being released.

** 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 (also of a heart attack) 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, as well as the ''Theory of Obscurity'' DVD. The latter's place was taken up by a tribute to Ludtke's work.

* MoneyDearBoy: Immediately following the Mole Show disaster, the Corporation was desperate to recuperate the group's losses however it could. This included releasing the band's rehearsal tapes as ''Assorted Secrets'', and encouraging them to reconnect with Renaldo & The Loaf to complete ''Title In Limbo.''

* RealitySubtext: ''The Big Bubble'' has this in spades; it was the first album of all-new, original material since the Mole Show tour, which nearly ended the band, caused Ralph Records to collapse, drove away two members, alienated two of the Cryptic Corporation heads (one of whom was bankrolling their massive studio), and ended their business relationship with 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.

* BuryYourArt: For decades, the band refused to officially release their pre-''Santa Dog'' demo tapes out of embarrassment towards them, with only snippets and select songs getting released. By the 2010's, they softened their stance to give ''The Warner Bros. Album'' and ''Baby Sex'' official releases as part of their pREServed rerelease campaign. However, they remain steadfast in refusing to release ''Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor'' and ''The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger'', with the former only receiving a truncuated release and the latter explicitly ruled out from being released.
* CreatorBacklash: The band is known to hold their early demo tapes from in low regard due to their amateurish nature and [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness lack of resemblence to their later work]]. For this reason, ''The Warner Brothers Album'' and ''Baby Sex'' were not officially released to the public in full for decades, ''Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor'' was only ever released in a severely truncated form on an outtakes compilation, and ''The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger'' has never been considered for an official release.

** The promotional campaign for ''God In Three Persons'' ran afoul of this-- Creator/{{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).

** Hardy Fox had a solo career, though it switched names a lot--a good chunk of the work he did under these names was on the band's behalf.

* OfficialFanSubmittedContent: The entire source material for ''I Am A Resident!''
* OpinionMyopia: The Wormwood tour, based on an album which dealt in the DarkerAndEdgier stories of Literature/TheBible, was accused of [[HePannedItNowHeSucks panning it]]. This got it a lot of backlash--perfectly well-selling shows would get cancelled out of nowhere, objects would get thrown at the performers, Nolan Cook even had to leave a show in Athens, Greece after taking a rock to the eyeball-mask.

* ReclusiveArtist: Taken to its LogicalExtreme--the band is said to rarely even get their own mail.
* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: A live performance of ''God In Three Persons'' was considered shortly after the album's release but ultimately abandoned in favor of the ''Cube-E'' tour. It would be left on the back burner until 2019, when a successful crowdfunding campaign finally allowed a string of live performances adapting the album at the Museum of Modern Art in 2020.

** The European leg of the ''Mole Show'' tour in 1983. It was their first tour, and the band hadn't realized that large touring productions are highly subject to FinaglesLaw. The band traveled in two buses, one for the crew and one for the band themselves. The road crew was hostile to both the band and [[Creator/PennAndTeller Penn Jillette]], who was the emcee of the show. The backdrops could only fit in a 747, which added to the cost. Jillette also became seriously ill during the band's stop in Madrid. The band ended up so deep in debt that their gear was impounded just before they were due for another show back in the States--they had to borrow equipment from friends and contacts to play. The experience caused the band to abandon plans to complete the rest of "The Mole Trilogy", save for ''The Big Bubble'', and swear off touring entirely for a while.
** Vileness Fats was supposed to be the BigDamnMovie for the Residents' synthesizer era, but ended up being unreleased. The sets were built in GermanExpressionism style, but filming space was so small that each set was dismantled before building another. Videotape was used since the band thought it was the medium of the future and on the cheap, since they didn't have to pay for film development. Production was slow as the Residents had day jobs to fund the film. When production stopped, the film had 14 hours of footage, with [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants less than two thirds of the script finished]], and the [[TechnologyMarchesOn video looking outdated]]. Footage from the film was used in ''Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?'' the "Vileness Fats Concentrate" from ''Icky Flix,'' and the upcoming ''Triple Trouble''.

** An official licensed ''Mark Of The Mole'' game was in development for the Atari 2600 around 1983, but it 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.

** "The Dying Oilman" comes in part from Hardy's childhood in a Longview oil field.

* BuryYourArt: For decades, the band refused to officially release their pre-''Santa Dog'' demo tapes out of embarrassment towards them, with only snippets and select somgs getting released. By the 2010's, they softened their stance to give ''The Warner Bros. Album'' and ''Baby Sex'' official releases as part of their pREServed rerelease campaign. However, they remain steadfast in refusing to release ''Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor'' and ''The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger'', with the former only receiving a truncuated release and the latter explicitly ruled out from being released.

** Cryptic Corporation co-founder John Kennedy ([[NamesTheSame no relation]]) bought an old cinema in San Francisco to help him bankroll the band and Ralph Records, as well as get the group back into film after ''Vileness Fats'' fell through. However, the neighborhood petitioned against letting him open it, presuming he would be screening gay pornography.

** The band's live rehearsal album ''Assorted Secrets'' was only given a release out of desperation to recoup the costs of the Mole Show tour, and only received a limited print run. In case there was any doubt of their distaste of the album, a limited rerelease had album art depicting a Resident covering his face in shame and stretching a hand towards the viewer, along with blurbs stating [[OurProductSucks "The One That Won't Go Away!", "They Hate It!!!", "You Shouldn't Listen To This...", and "Don't play this for your friends..."]].

* OldShame: The band is known to hold their early demo tapes from in low regard due to their amateurish nature and [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness lack of resemblence to their later work]]. For this reason, ''The Warner Brothers Album'' and ''Baby Sex'' were not officially released to the public in full for decades, ''Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor'' was only ever released in a severely truncated form on an outtakes compilation, and ''The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger'' has never been considered for an official release.

* DiedDuringProduction: Snakefinger was their first pick of guest musician for ''God in Three Persons,'' but he had a fatal heart attack before they could even record his parts.

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

** The star actor for "Hello Skinny" left before the wrap, meaning Graeme Whifler and the band had to rush to complete the video. The final scenes were intended for another video, which was too incomplete to salvage for the same reason. Several others were planned, but never got off the ground for that same reason.

** Much of the band's trademark look consists of second-choices and compromises from more impractical ideas. At various points, the group entertained portraying itself as AmbiguouslyHuman by making it unclear how they got around, and wearing massive silver spheres on their heads instead of the trademark eyeball, among other ideas.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The American Composers Series was supposed to last ten volumes. And an additional three were planned out: ''The Trouble with Harrys'' (Music/HarryPartch and Music/HarryNilsson), ''Bob and the Blob'' (Music/BobDylan and Music/BarryWhite), and one featuring Music/RayCharles and Music/SunRa covers, the latter of which even yielded a few recordings. Other musicians included Music/CaptainBeefheart, Music/SmokeyRobinson, Music/CharlesIves, Music/StevieWonder, Music/{{Moondog}}, Music/ScottJoplin and Music/BrianWilson. But, alas, the concept was buried under a mountain of legal fees two albums in.

** Very early on, The Residents floated the idea of portraying themselves as AmbiguouslyHuman. The way they planned was to make it seem as though they did not move by walking, or even have feet. This was very quickly ruled out as impractical.

** ''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.

** Originally, the band intended to wear faceless silver spheres as masks for the album cover of ''Music/{{Eskimo}}''. Due to the impracticality of the mask designs, they were retooled into the now-iconic eyeball masks.

* MoneyDearBoy: Immediately following the Mole Show disaster, the Corporation was desperate to recuperate the group's losses however it could. This included releasing the band's rehearsal tapes as ''Assorted Secrets'', and encouraging the group to reconnect with Renaldo & The Loaf to complete ''Title In Limbo.''

** 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, as well as the ''Theory of Obscurity'' DVD. The latter's place was taken up by a tribute to Ludtke's work.

* MoneyDearBoy: Immediately following the Mole Show disaster, the Corporation was desperate to recuperate the group's losses however it could. This resulted in, among other things, the release of the band's rehearsal tapes as ''Assorted Secrets'', and the completion of ''Title In Limbo.''

* DiedMidProduction: Snakefinger was their first pick of guest musician for ''God in Three Persons,'' but he died before they could record his parts.

** The manifesto that came with ''The Warner Brothers Album'' suggests that it was their third--the remaining two albums may or may not be this, even in light of the [=pREServed=] editions.
* MoneyDearBoy: Immediately following the Mole Show disaster, the Corporation was desperate to recuperate the group's losses however it could. This resulted in, among other things, the release of the band's rehearsal tapes as ''Assorted Secrets'', and the completion of their Renaldo & The Loaf collab ''Title In Limbo.''

* OldShame: The band is known to hold their early demo tapes from in low regard due to their amateurish nature and [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness lack of resemblence to their later work]]. For this reason, ''The Warner Brothers Album'' and ''Baby Sex'' were not officially released to the public in full for decades, while other demo tapes such as ''Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor'' and ''The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger'' have never seen the light of day beyond bootlegs and are unlikely to ever be officially released.

** Vileness Fats was supposed to be the BigDamnMovie for the Residents' synthesizer era, but ended up being unreleased. The sets were built in GermanExpressionism style, but filming space was so small that each set was dismantled before building another. Videotape was used since the band thought it was the medium of the future and on the cheap, since they didn't have to pay for film development. Production was slow as the Residents had day jobs to fund the film. When production stopped, the film had 14 hours of footage, with [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants less than two thirds of the script finished]], and the [[TechnologyMarchesOn video looking outdated]]. Footage from the film was used in ''Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?'' the "Vileness Fats Concentrate" from ''Icky Flix,'' and the upcoming ''Double Header''.

** Several music videos were planned to promote ''Duck Stab!''--of those, only "Hello Skinny" finished production. The star actor left before the wrap, meaning Graeme Whifler and the band had to rush to complete it. The final scenes were intended for another video, which was too incomplete to salvage for the same reason.
** The American Composers Series was supposed to last ten volumes, three of which were planned out. The trio were to be comprised of with "The Trouble with Harrys" (Music/HarryPartch and Music/HarryNilsson), "Bob and the Blob" (Music/BobDylan and Music/BarryWhite), and one featuring Music/RayCharles and Music/SunRa covers. The only things that came from the latter sessions were a cover of "Hit the Road, Jack" (released as a single) and "Space is the Place" (released on [[https://www.discogs.com/Various-Wavelength-Infinity-A-Sun-Ra-Tribute/release/2175533 a Sun Ra tribute album]] and a B-sides compilation). Other musicians included Music/CaptainBeefheart, Music/SmokeyRobinson, Music/CharlesIves, Music/StevieWonder, Music/{{Moondog}}, Music/ScottJoplin and Music/BrianWilson.
** Snakefinger was meant to appear on ''God in Three Persons,'' but died before they could record his parts.
** 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, as well as the ''Theory of Obscurity'' DVD. The latter's place was taken up by a tribute to Ludtke's work.

%%* DoingItForTheArt

* MoneyDearBoy: [[https://residents.com/historical/?page=assortedsecrets The band have admitted]] that the need to quickly recuperate money lost from the Mole Show was the reason why ''Assorted Secrets'', a compilation of Mole Show live rehearsal recordings, was released.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Their "managers" (officially speaking, friends of theirs who handle the business side of things for them) described working with them as more or less baby-sitting, but are basically willing to put up with it because they make awesome music.
* CanonImmigrant: The Residents have shown up as characters in Matt Howarth's assorted comic-books, usually as musical wizards.

* DoingItForTheArt

* UnPerson: Mr. Red Eye is a subversion. While reissues (and recent music videos) of work he did before becoming Mr. Skull still show him as Mr. Skull anyway, they still issue videos that featured him (including the old "This Is A Man's World" cover and the One Minute Movies.)
* TheVoiceless: They never do public interviews themselves; questions are always fielded to a "spokesperson" (often Homer Flynn). When it's a televised interview, the Residents are left to wander in the background, and the result is often hilarious.

** 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 (with footage also appearing as a bonus feature for the ''Theory of Obscurity'' documentary's DVD release), while the latter's place was taken up by a tribute to his work.

** 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.

** A fourth CD-ROM titled ''I Murdered Mommy!'' was planned and had a soundtrack composed before being cancelled due to the CD-ROM game fad dying out and the publishing company going defunct.

* BunnyEarsLawyer:Their "managers" (officially speaking, friends of theirs who handle the business side of things for them) described working with them as more or less baby-sitting, but are basically willing to put up with it because they make awesome music.

** 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.