Ralph Records
Encyclopedia
Ralph Records was The Residents
' original record label
, the name coming from the somewhat colorful phrase "calling Ralph on the porcelain telephone."
Ralph was founded in 1972
, shortly after the group had moved to San Francisco
, when the band realized that they were the only people who would be willing to publish their work. They "unincorporated" themselves as The Residents Uninc. and managed the new company under that name. One of the group's members could draw, so they gave the company a graphic design wing called Porno Graphics, aka Pore-Know Graphics, aka Poor No Graphics, aka Porneaugraphics, etc., and the whole operation was run out of their new two-story building at 18 Sycamore St. in the Mission District. They named their studio El Ralpho, spoofing Sun Ra
who had named his El Saturn.
Ralph's first release was December 1972's Santa Dog
(RR-1272), a two-disk single which was mailed out for free to about three hundred people — friends, radio stations, even Richard Nixon
and Frank Zappa
were sent copies (though Zappa's was returned—he had moved). This was followed by the band's first album, Meet the Residents (RR-0274), recorded in 1973 and released in 1974. They had trouble with distribution and made up 4000 seven-minute flexi-disks
based on the album with which to promote it. The flexy was included in the February 1974, issue of File, a Canadian
art magazine.
Over the years Ralph moved to other artists besides the Residents. The first was Schwump, a friend from Portland, Oregon, who in 1975 released a single called "Aphids in the Hall" (RRX-0776). The Residents' best friend and guitarist, Snakefinger
, released a single called "The Spot" (RR-7802) in 1978 and went on to release four more albums.
Ralph's slogan "Buy Or Die!" was used as the title of its semiannual mail order catalogs, as well as their sampler 7" EPs. Four of the "Buy or Die!" EPs had cover art by Gary Panter
.
In 1976, the Cryptic Corporation took over control of Ralph Records and maintained it until 1985, when they handed it over to sales manager Tom Timony. The Residents left the label in 1987, after which Timony ran it under license and folded it into his own label, TEC Tones, until reverting control to Ralph in 1992. Ralph Records has not really been a label since 1987
. Since 1992 it has operated as EuroRalphAmerica, the Residents' mail-order company.
In August 2010 Ralph Records announced their closing "due to the general state of the music business and the expanding cost of creating physical products. It's been a great ride. Thanks for all your support over the past 11 years". Notices were sent on Twitter
saying that they would sell out their stock of various limited Residents releases, and have a sale on all the other items offered online.
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
' original record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, the name coming from the somewhat colorful phrase "calling Ralph on the porcelain telephone."
Ralph was founded in 1972
1972 in music
-Events:*January 17 – Highway 51 South in Memphis, Tennessee is renamed "Elvis Presley Boulevard"*January 20 – The début of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at The Dome, Brighton, is halted by technical difficulties,...
, shortly after the group had moved to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, when the band realized that they were the only people who would be willing to publish their work. They "unincorporated" themselves as The Residents Uninc. and managed the new company under that name. One of the group's members could draw, so they gave the company a graphic design wing called Porno Graphics, aka Pore-Know Graphics, aka Poor No Graphics, aka Porneaugraphics, etc., and the whole operation was run out of their new two-story building at 18 Sycamore St. in the Mission District. They named their studio El Ralpho, spoofing Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
who had named his El Saturn.
Ralph's first release was December 1972's Santa Dog
Santa Dog
Santa Dog was the first official release from The Residents and Ralph Records. It was a double single released in December, 1972.The single was packaged to look like a Christmas card from an insurance agency and was mailed to various recipients, including Frank Zappa and Richard Nixon. The...
(RR-1272), a two-disk single which was mailed out for free to about three hundred people — friends, radio stations, even Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
were sent copies (though Zappa's was returned—he had moved). This was followed by the band's first album, Meet the Residents (RR-0274), recorded in 1973 and released in 1974. They had trouble with distribution and made up 4000 seven-minute flexi-disks
Flexi disc
The flexi disc is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable...
based on the album with which to promote it. The flexy was included in the February 1974, issue of File, a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
art magazine.
Over the years Ralph moved to other artists besides the Residents. The first was Schwump, a friend from Portland, Oregon, who in 1975 released a single called "Aphids in the Hall" (RRX-0776). The Residents' best friend and guitarist, Snakefinger
Snakefinger
Philip Charles Lithman , who performed under the stage name Snakefinger, was an English musician, singer and songwriter. A multi-instrumentalist, he was best known for his guitar and violin work and his collaborations with The Residents.-History:Lithman was born in Tooting, South London, and came...
, released a single called "The Spot" (RR-7802) in 1978 and went on to release four more albums.
Ralph's slogan "Buy Or Die!" was used as the title of its semiannual mail order catalogs, as well as their sampler 7" EPs. Four of the "Buy or Die!" EPs had cover art by Gary Panter
Gary Panter
Gary Panter is an illustrator, painter, designer and part-time musician. Panter's work is representative of the post-underground, new wave comics movement that began with the end of Arcade: The Comics Revue and the initiation of RAW, one of the second generation in American underground comix...
.
In 1976, the Cryptic Corporation took over control of Ralph Records and maintained it until 1985, when they handed it over to sales manager Tom Timony. The Residents left the label in 1987, after which Timony ran it under license and folded it into his own label, TEC Tones, until reverting control to Ralph in 1992. Ralph Records has not really been a label since 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
. Since 1992 it has operated as EuroRalphAmerica, the Residents' mail-order company.
In August 2010 Ralph Records announced their closing "due to the general state of the music business and the expanding cost of creating physical products. It's been a great ride. Thanks for all your support over the past 11 years". Notices were sent on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
saying that they would sell out their stock of various limited Residents releases, and have a sale on all the other items offered online.
Artists who released records on Ralph
- Art BearsArt BearsArt Bears were an English avant-rock group formed during the disassembly of Henry Cow in 1978 by three of its members, Chris Cutler , Fred Frith and Dagmar Krause...
(2 releases) - Eugene ChadbourneEugene ChadbourneEugene Chadbourne is an American improvisor, guitarist and banjoist. Highly eclectic and unconventional, Chadbourne's most formative influence is free jazz. He has also been a reviewer for Allmusic and a contributor to Maximum RocknRoll.Chadbourne started out playing rock and roll guitar, but...
(1) - ChromeChrome (band)Chrome was an experimental rock group founded in San Francisco, California in 1976.Chrome took part of their inspiration for their rough and sometimes chaotic music from proto punk pioneers like The Stooges. The sound of the group was often coarse and featured heavy elements of feedback and...
(only 3 tracks on Subterranean Modern compilation) - Club Foot OrchestraClub Foot OrchestraThe Club Foot Orchestra is a music ensemble founded in 1983 by Richard Marriott. After a brief career playing dramatic, complex music in San Francisco clubs, they became known for their equally dramatic and complex scores for classic silent movies. The ensemble got their name from a performance art...
(2) - Freshly Wrapped Candies (1)
- Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
(4) - Frank Harris and Maria Marquez (1)
- King KurtKing KurtKing Kurt was a 1980s psychobilly rock band from the UK. They formed in 1981 and split up in 1988, although they have reformed sporadically and played a reunion concert in 2010...
(1) - MX-80 Sound (5)
- Nash the SlashNash the SlashNash the Slash is a Canadian musician. Though a multi-instrumentalist, he is known primarily for playing electric violin and mandolin, as well as harmonica, keyboards, glockenspiel, and other instruments .Nash worked as a solo artist beginning in 1975, then founded the progressive rock band FM in...
(1) - Michael Perilstein (1)
- Renaldo and the LoafRenaldo and the LoafRenaldo and the Loaf was an English musical duo active in the late seventies and most of the eighties, consisting of a pathologist and an architect ....
(4) - The ResidentsThe ResidentsThe Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
(31) - Rhythm & Noise (2)
- Schwump (1)
- SnakefingerSnakefingerPhilip Charles Lithman , who performed under the stage name Snakefinger, was an English musician, singer and songwriter. A multi-instrumentalist, he was best known for his guitar and violin work and his collaborations with The Residents.-History:Lithman was born in Tooting, South London, and came...
(11) - Bill SpoonerBill SpoonerWilliam "Sputnik" Spooner is a musician, guitarist, and songwriter, and the founder of The Tubes, a theatrical rock band. His songwriting is known for its use of humor and satire. He has released three solo albums: First Chud , Mall to Mars , and Demo-licious...
(1) - SuckdogSuckdogSuckdog or "Suckdog Circus" was an American underground band. The core members were the married couple Lisa Crystal Carver and Jean-Louis Costes. The troupe toured every state in the continental United States for several years, performing a mix of wrestling, musical performances, film-screenings...
(1) - Hajime Tachibana (1)
- TuxedomoonTuxedomoonTuxedomoon is an experimental post-punk/New Wave group formed in San Francisco, California, consisting of core members Blaine L. Reininger, Steven Brown and Peter Principle....
(7) - Voice FarmVoice FarmVoice Farm is a music and video collective based in San Francisco known for their outrageous live shows and videos. Vocalist Charly Brown and sound designer Myke Reilly form the core of the group. Voice Farm's musical style has evolved from their influential early 80's synth-pop sound into what...
(2) - YelloYelloYello is a Swiss electronica band consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank. They are probably best known for their singles "The Race" and "Oh Yeah", which feature a mix of electronic music and manipulated vocals, as does most of their music....
(2)
Compilations
- Subterranean Modern, 1979
- Frank Johnson's Favorites, 1981
- Best of Ralph, 1982