Santa Dog - Historical - The Residents

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Santa Dog(1972)

OverviewTracksLyrics

The 1972 two disk "single" Santa Dog, supposedly about "a weiner dog in a Santa suit" and with a title that's an anagram of "Satan God", was the first published recording by The Residents.

The package was the founding release from Ralph Records and consisted of two 45s in a hand silk-screened gatefold sleeve which was printed to look like a Christmas card from an insurance company. This sleeve included '50s-ish drawings illustrating each song surrounded by text saying "Season's Greetings from Residents Uninc." and announcing the upcoming Vileness Fats project. 500 copies were pressed but only 400 were usable because of various problems. In addition, some of the sets were shrink-wrapped before the varnish on the silk-screening was dry and the packages had to be torn apart to be opened. Of the 400 usable copies, 300 were sent out to friends, record companies, and anyone else who came to mind. Richard Nixon was sent a copy, as was Frank Zappa, whose copy was returned "No Longer At Address" and was later given away in a contest.

In 2014 the original single was recreated by Superior Viaduct.

Santa Dog '78(1978)

OverviewTracks

Side two is the same recording as the original Santa Dog but is mastered at 40 RPM (not 45) which makes the playback a little faster. This was given away to mail order customers.

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Santa Dog '88(1988)

OverviewTracks

This CD was given out free to each new UWEB member when they joined. It included his or her official UWEB membership number in the liner notes.

The CD includes several incarnations of the first track from The Residents' first release, Santa Dog, dating from the original 1972 version to one recorded in 1988, including an unfinished version from 1984. The band planned to release a new Santa Dog that year since it was six years since the previous one, which in turn was made six years after the first. However they decided that Santa Dogs should only come out when the band changes outlook or style. They scrapped the incomplete song, though they salvaged parts of it for For Elsie.

Santa Dog '92(1992)

Overview

This was distributed as a Christmas present to all UWEB members in January, 1993, just before the club folded. The single track, Santa Dog '92, is a 12:41 minute long version of Santa Dog.

Refused(1999)

OverviewTracks

Toward the end of 1999, The Residents recorded their "end of the millennium" edition of Santa Dog. Ralph America first released the track as one of their "free MP3 of the month" promotions, then followed that up with Refused, a collection of nearly all released Santa Dogs, including a much longer version of the latest version and four other new tracks: Flood, Famine, Plague, and Pestilence.

The only Santa Dogs to not be included in this collection are: Santa Dog '84 as it originally appeared on the 1988 UWEB collection; the 40rpm version of the original "Fire" as found on Santa Dog '78, and the Gamelan version from the Ralph America MP3 series.

The name "Refused" and the artwork for this release come from the copy of the original Santa Dog mailed out to Richard Nixon at the White House that was returned unopened to The Residents. The CD itself is done up to look like the original label on the Fire/Lightning 45.

In 2019, Klanggalerie refused another version of Refused, removing three of the original tracks (Lightning, Explosion, Aircraft Damage) in favor of collecting more versions of Fire, particularly those that had been recorded after the original compilation was made.

Santa Dog 2006(2006)

Overview

Out of the blue, Santa Dog 2006 appeared in the world. There was no announcement, it just popped onto The Residents' website one day in December.

In 2007 a slightly altered version of this track was put onto the site for a brief time. Only an extremely particular collector would find that interesting.

Santa Dog 2012(2012)

Overview

On the heels of the announcement for the Ultimate Box Set, The Residents released the latest iteration of their never to be completed series, Santa Dog. This one, as one could guess, was entitled "Santa Dog 2012."

This version featured many new lyrics as well as the refrain "eyes are big for what they wait for" from "Aircraft Damage," which was originally put to Santa Dog music in 1999 when they were added to "Santa Dog '84 (unfinished)."

The track was later included on the retrospective compilation, Ten Two Times, produced as a tour merchandise item for Wonder of Weird in 2013.

Santa Dog '17(2017)

OverviewTracks

Santa Dog struck again in 2017. In August, Sarah Cahill hosted a radio program on KALW entitled "The Residents Go to the Dogs" which, with the help of special guest Homer Flynn, explored the history of the song. At the end of the show, a brand new recording, "Santa Dog '17," was premiered.

Shortly thereafter, Psychofon Records announced plans to release the song on vinyl, as well as a new commemorative lapel pin, to be released in December. An MP3 of the new track was made available to download for subscribers of the Cherry Red Records Residents mailing list.