Commercial Album

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Commercial Album
Thecommercialalbum.jpg
Studio album by
The Residents
ReleasedOctober 1980
RecordedSeptember 1979 – October 1980
Genre
Length42:00
LabelRalph Records
ProducerThe Residents
The Residents chronology
Eskimo
(1979) 		Commercial Album
(1980) 		Mark of the Mole
(1981)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars link

Commercial Album is an album released by the Residents in 1980. It is commonly considered a follow-up to Duck Stab/Buster & Glen, in that it retains the former album's pop-oriented song structures. The album contains 40 songs, each lasting exactly one minute - a deliberate allusion to Top 40 mainstream radio. The album's liner notes state that, to form a complete pop song, tracks from the album should be played three times in a row.

The album features a number of guest musicians, notably Chris Cutler and Fred Frith from Henry Cow. Other guests are featured anonymously, such as Andy Partridge from XTC (as "Sandy Sandwich") and Lene Lovich (as "Mud's Sis"). It has also been recently confirmed that Brian Eno and David Byrne appear on the album uncredited.

As a promotional stunt, the Residents purchased 40 one-minute advertising slots on San Francisco's most popular Top 40 radio station at the time, KFRC, such that the station played each track of the album over three days. This prompted an editorial in Billboard magazine questioning whether the act was art or advertising.[1]

Track listing[]

All tracks last exactly one minute, but with a 3-second pause between songs, making each track last around 1:03. On the original LP version of the album, "Die in Terror" is incorrectly printed as track 14, between "The Nameless Souls" and "Love Leaks Out".

All tracks are written by The Residents.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Easter Woman"1:03
2."Perfect Love"1:03
3."Picnic Boy"1:03
4."End of Home"1:03
5."Amber"1:03
6."Japanese Watercolor"1:03
7."Secrets"1:03
8."Die in Terror"1:03
9."Red Rider"1:03
10."My Second Wife"1:03
11."Floyd"1:03
12."Suburban Bathers"1:03
13."Dimples and Toes"1:03
14."The Nameless Souls"1:03
15."Love Leaks Out"1:03
16."Act of Being Polite"1:03
17."Medicine Man"1:03
18."Tragic Bells"1:03
19."Loss of Innocence"1:03
20."The Simple Song"1:03
Side two
No.TitleLength
21."Ups and Downs"1:03
22."Possessions"1:03
23."Give it to Someone Else"1:03
24."Phantom"1:03
25."Less Not More"1:03
26."My Work is So Behind"1:03
27."Birds in the Trees"1:03
28."Handful of Desire"1:03
29."Moisture"1:03
30."Love is..."1:03
31."Troubled Man"1:03
32."La La"1:03
33."Loneliness"1:03
34."Nice Old Man"1:03
35."The Talk of Creatures"1:03
36."Fingertips"1:03
37."In Between Dreams"1:03
38."Margaret Freeman"1:03
39."The Coming of the Crow"1:03
40."When We Were Young"1:03
Total length:42:00

1988 CD bonus tracks[]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
41."Shut Up, Shut Up" 1:00
42."And I was Alone" 1:00
43."Theme for an American TV Show" 1:27
44."We're a Happy Family / Bali Ha'i"The Ramones1:11
45."The Sleeper" 2:58
46."Boy in Love" 2:56
47."Diskomo" 4:34
48."Jailhouse Rock"Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller3:08
49."This is a Man's Man's Man's World"James Brown / Betty Jean Newsome3:44
50."Hit the Road Jack"Percy Mayfield4:03
Total length:1:08:01
  • Tracks 41 and 42 are outtakes from the album, released separately as the Commercial Single.
  • Track 44 was recorded for the 1980 Morgan Fisher project Miniatures.
  • Tracks 45-48 were previously released on the 1983 compilation Residue.
  • Track 49 was previously released as a single in 1984.
  • Track 50 was previously released as a single in 1987.

2019 pREServed edition bonus tracks[]

Disc One
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
41."Shut Up, Shut Up" 1:02
42."And I was Alone" 1:04
43."Electronic Elaborate Waste" 1:02
44."Kraftwerk" 1:03
45."Cosmetics for Reality" 1:06
46."Rosco's Righteous Rodent" 1:01
47."Pretty Baby" 1:04
48."Tuxedos" 1:08
49."No Longer Unused" 1:03
50."Instant Hostility" 3:04
51."Elevator Lady" 2:37
52."We're a Happy Family"The Ramones1:10
Total length:1:01:50

After a small bit of silence, an unlisted track plays, a "concentrate" mix of the advertisements that were aired in promotion of the album on KFRC.

Disc Two
No.TitleLength
1."Shut Up, Shut Up (Residue version)"1:12
2."And I was Alone (alternate)"1:03
3."Ups and Downs (Residue version)"3:07
4."Boy in Love"2:55
5."Die in Terror (1982 rehearsal)"1:28
6."Give it to Someone Else (1982 rehearsal)"0:53
7."Love Leaks Out (1982 rehearsal)"1:09
8."The Talk of Creatures (1982 rehearsal)"1:04
9."Easter Woman (live 1986)"2:30
10."Amber (live 1986)"1:45
11."Red Rider (live 1986)"1:32
12."Die in Terror (live 1986)"1:26
13."The Coming of the Crow (live 1986)"1:45
14."Moisture (Icky Flix)"1:05
15."Act of Being Polite (Icky Flix)"1:03
16."Perfect Love (Icky Flix)"1:06
17."The Simple Song (Icky Flix)"1:04
18."Red Rider (Commercial DVD)"1:09
19."Moisture (Commercial DVD)"1:10
20."Commercial Album suite (live 2005)"5:48
21."Give it to Someone Else (live 2013)"3:04
22."Easter Woman (live 2015)"2:34
23."My Second Wife (live 2015)"2:28
24."Loss of Innocence (live 2015)"2:18
Total length:44:38

Personnel[]

  • Written & Produced By: The Residents
  • Extra Hard Working Guest Musician
    • Fred Frith: Guitar on 'Japanese Watercolor',[2] ''Moisture'[3]& 'The Coming of The Crow'[4]
  • Special Appearances
    • Chris Cutler – Drums on 'Love Leaks Out',[2] 'Moisture'[3] & 'The Coming of The Crow'[4]
    • Don Jackovich – Drums on 'Love Leaks Out'[3]
    • Sandy Sandwich – vocals, guitar on "Margaret Freeman"[citation needed]
    • Mud's Sis – Special Appearance
    • Snakefinger – Special Appearance on 'Moisture',[3] & Vocals on 'Ups And Down'
  • Secret Special Appearances
  • Cover Design & Art Direction
    • Pore Know Graphics

References[]

  1. ^ Jack McDonough (15 November 1980). Air Time, Ad Time Fuse In Residents' S.F. Promo. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 22–. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c The Residents - Heaven? [RykoDisc RCD 20012] (1986) Track Credits
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d The Residents - Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses [Euro Ralph CD017] (1997) Track Credits
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b The Residents - Hell! [RykoDisc RCD 20013] (1986) Track Credits
  5. ^ The Residents - Commercial Album [Mute, CDSTUMM243] (2004) Track Credits
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Knipfel, Jim (2018). The Residents Sell Out [Commercial Album pREServed Liner Notes]. Cherry Red Records, MVD Entertainment Group, New Ralph Too. p. 2.
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