Residents

The musicians from Louisiana met in high school in the '60s and were to become the Residents.
They all moved to San Francisco. They tried several arts such as photography, tape machines... to see what they were able to achieve.
Hopefully their experimentations spread and, in 1969, a British guitarist named Philip Lithman (Snakefingers) decided to visit them in California. He went there with a German friend called N. Senada, who was recording bird songs.
They all got along very well. In 1971 the group sent one of the tapes (The Warner Bros Album) to Harve Halverstadt (who worked with Captain Beefheart who was admired by the band) at Warner Bros but he wasn't impressed and sent back the tape at their address with a name 'the residents' as he ignored the band name!
You've just learnt how they choose their name!
The Residents did one more tape album and a live show together, then decided that it was time to travel the world to share their music. They also realised that they wouldn't let a major to sell their records so they formed their own record label. In 1972 the brand-new Ralph Records released The Residents' first single and the band hasn't stopped since.
Doggy Bag has very recent pictures of the band on stage...but still you won't see their face!

Click on a picture