History Music / TheResidents

* WrittenInInfirmity: The basic concept for "Our Finest Flowers" was allegedly thought up after a bandmate retched all over a list of songs for the "greatest hits" compilation they ''would'' have released.

* ChildPopstar: Subverted; the child singing on some of the Demons Dance Alone tracks was actually collaborator Molly Harvey. She did such a good CreepyChild impersonation that it was once thought that a child did the vocals

The current lineup as it is now comprises Randy Rose (formerly known as Mr. Skull), Charles Bobuck, and Bob. A member named Carlos was part of the band (and even did vocals in lieu of Mr. Skull for one album, which was credited to the gang as Sonidas De La Noche) but has since retired.

The lineup, as it is now comprises Randy Rose (once known as Mr. Skull), Charles Bobuck, and Bob. A member named Carlos was part of the band (and even did vocals in lieu of Mr. Skull for one album, which was credited to the gang as Sonidas De La Noche) but has since retired.

* AcceptableTargets: [[{{In-Universe}} They don't like]] Music/TheBeatles.
** It's a bit more complicated than that. The Residents released a single called ''The Beatles Play the Residents and the Residents Play the Beatles'', which featured as its A-side a four-minute sound collage created out of Beatles recordings (much like the Beatles' own ''Love'', only thirty years before that album) and a B-side which featured the Residents "covering" the Beatles' "Flying", which was selected because it was one of the few songs credited to all four Beatles (although in the Residents' usual demented approach to cover songs, their version bears little resemblance to the original). The single was evidently created both to pay tribute to and to satirise the Beatles, and concurrent with its release, two humorous rumours were publicised: first, that the Residents despised everything the Beatles stood for, and secondly, that the Residents ''were'' the Beatles. Confidential sources familiar with the band have since claimed that neither of these rumours were true. The single was limited to 500 copies and it now goes for hundreds of dollars. The songs are also available on a few out-of-print editions of ''The Third Reich 'n Roll'', which themselves can go for pretty high prices.
:::Of course, there's also the cover of ''Meet the Residents'', which is a dadaist parody of the cover of the Beatles' ''Meet the Beatles'' (a U.S.-only album which has since been replaced by the U.K. version, ''With the Beatles'', which uses the same photo on its cover).

* 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, people thought they were Music/TheBeatles briefly. It ALMOST makes a twisted sort of sense, but not really.

* SkullForAHead: What happened when the Red Eyeball mask was stolen and returned in a beat-up state--the skull in question was originally a prop for a photoshoot.

-->'''Randy:''' Nowhere does the Good Book say 'Jesus loves me.'

* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning

** It's a bit more complicated than that. The Residents released a single called ''The Beatles Play the Residents and the Residents Play the Beatles'', which featured as its A-side a four-minute sound collage created out of Beatles recordings (much like the Beatles' own ''Love'', only thirty years before that album) and a B-side which featured the Residents "covering" the Beatles' "Flying", which was selected because it was one of the few songs credited to all four Beatles (albeit in their usual demented approach to cover songs, it bears little relationship to the original). The single was evidently created both to pay tribute to and to satirise the Beatles, and concurrent with its release, two humorous rumours were publicised: first, that the Residents despised everything the Beatles stood for, and secondly, that the Residents ''were'' the Beatles. Confidential sources familiar with the band have since claimed that neither of these rumours were true. The single was limited to 500 copies and it now goes for hundreds of dollars. The songs are also available on a few out-of-print editions of ''The Third Reich 'n Roll'', which themselves can go for pretty high prices.

[[caption-width-right:315:The Residents]]

* AdultChild[=/=]ManChild: Interviews suggest that they used to be such.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The "Disfigured Night" show was hosted by Marlboro, who insisted that Mr. Skull not wear his trademark headpiece for fear of associating their trademark product with death.

* IAmTheBand: Mr. Skull, the band's singer, is rumored to be the only remaining original member, and supposedly has been for some time. WordOfGod and friends of the band say otherwise, (there is suspicion that not even he is an original member) but it's quite widely believed. Either way, he is definitely the oldest, having been around as early as 1971.

* SkullForAHead: Mr. Red-Eye became Mr. Skull after his eyeball was stolen and returned in a state of disrepair.

An avant-garde rock group that have released over 100 albums, helped pioneer the modern MusicVideos, and produced some of the creepiest songs, both original [[TheCoverChangesTheMeaning and covers]], for about 4 decades, all while staying anonymous to the public.

Originally named "Residents Unincorporated", the group changed their name shortly before releasing their first album, ''Meet the Residents''. After this, the Residents released several more albums, including, but not limited to, ''Third Reich 'n' Roll'', which consists of two medleys of warped pop songs, ''Duck Stab/Buster & Glen'', which is considered the group's most accessible work, ''Mark of the Mole'', which would followed up by two albums in the same series and a tour, ''The Commercial Album'', made up of 40 one minute songs, ''Freak Show'', the soundtrack to the CD-ROM game of the same name, ''Wormwood'', songs based on the darker stories of Literature/TheBible, and most recently, ''The Bunny Boy''.

* TheFaceless: The band always performs masked, leaving their true identities to speculation. The most popular theory is that their "managers"/spokesmen of their Cryptic Corporation, Homer Flynn and Hardy Fox, are likely founding and current members of the band. The two are listed in BMI as the composers of all Residents songs and Flynn's talking voice is very similar to Mr. Skull's distinctive singing voice. On the other hand, Flynn and Mr. Skull could just happen to have similar accents, and keeping their reclusive tendencies and alleged flightiness in mind, maybe it was decided things would run more smoothly if their managers got the royalty checks, then parceled out the money to the band members.
** Somewhat subverted in recently, as they move away from the eyeball image. The band, now a trio, has names. "Chuck" and "Bob" still performed masked, but singer "Randy" has a face, half of which an "old man" mask.

* AcceptableTargets: [[{{In-Universe}} They don't like]] TheBeatles.

* 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, people thought they were TheBeatles briefly. It ALMOST makes a twisted sort of sense, but not really.

* LittleBoyBlueNote: Subverted; the child singing on some of the Demons Dance Alone tracks was actually collaborator Molly Harvey. She did such a good CreepyChild impersonation that it was once thought that a child did the vocals.

!!TheResidents have examples of:

** Their cover of TheRollingStones' "Satisfaction" isn't called the "most intentionally repulsive song" for nothing.

* TheFaceless: The band always performs masked, leaving their true identities to speculation.
** The most popular theory is that their "managers"/spokesmen of their Cryptic Corporation, Homer Flynn and Hardy Fox, are likely founding and current members of the band. The two are listed in BMI as the composers of all Residents songs and Flynn's talking voice is very similar to Mr. Skull's distinctive singing voice. On the other hand, Flynn and Mr. Skull could just happen to have similar accents, and keeping their reclusive tendencies and alleged flightiness in mind, maybe it was decided things would run more smoothly if their managers got the royalty checks, then parceled out the money to the band members.

** SkullForAHead: Mr. Red-Eye became Mr. Skull after his eyeball was stolen and returned in a state of disrepair.

* StylisticSuck: Their cover of TheRollingStones' "Satisfaction" isn't called the "most intentionally repulsive song" for nothing.

An avant-garde rock group that have released over 100 albums, helped pioneer the modern MusicVideos, and produced some of the creepiest songs, both original [[TheCoverChangesTheMeaning and covers]], for about 4 decades, all while staying anonymous to the public.

Originally named "Residents Unincorporated", the group changed their name shortly before releasing their first album, ''Meet the Residents''. After this, the Residents released several more albums, including, but not limited to, ''Third Reich 'n' Roll'', which consists of two medleys of warped pop songs, ''Duck Stab/Buster & Glen'', which is considered the group's most accessible work, ''Mark of the Mole'', which would followed up by two albums in the same series and a tour, ''The Commercial Album'', made up of 40 one minute songs, ''Freak Show'', the soundtrack to the CD-ROM game of the same name, ''Wormwood'', songs based on the darker stories of TheBible, and most recently, ''The Bunny Boy''.

* AppropriatedAppellation: Before they had settled on a name, they sent out a demo tape to Warner Brothers. Because the return address didn't include a name, their rejection letter was simply addressed to "Residents".

** The most popular theory is that their "managers"/spokesmen of their Cryptic Corporation, Homer Flynn and Hardy Fox, are likely founding and current members of the band. The two are listed in BMI as the composers of all Residents songs and Flynn's talking voice is very similar to Mr. Skull's distinctive singing voice. On the other hand, Flynn and Mr. Skull could just happen to have similar accents, and keeping their reclusive tendencies and alleged flightiness in mind, maybe it was decided things would run more smoothly if their managers got the royalty checks, then parceled out the money to the band members.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Possibly the only reason they got away with the [[http://www.residents.com/historical4/Tweedles/files/stacks_image_2202-tweed500.jpg artwork]] (NSFW) for ''Tweedles!'' was the [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Tweedles.jpg way that they packaged it.]]

* OpinionMyopia: The Wormwood tour, based on an album which dealt in the DarkerAndEdgier stories of 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.

* AdultChild[=/=]ManChild: Interviews (and what they've been seen doing during them) tend to suggest this.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: ''Wormwood.''

* [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg My Bandmates ... And Zoidberg]]: Multiple, the two most famous being Snakefinger and Nolan Cook (who can even be seen wearing an eyeball in the Wormwood tour), both of which regularly played guitar with the band, but are not considered members.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/resident.jpg
[[caption-width:315:The Residents]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Possibly the only reason they got away with the [[http://residents.com/historical/page0/page24/files/tweed500.jpg artwork]] (NSFW) for ''Tweedles!'' was the [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Tweedles.jpg way that they packaged it.]]