Black Tar and the Cry Babies

Black Tar and the Cry Babies (also known simply as Black Tar or TAR) were a Residents offshoot project - the "minus" to The Residents' "plus" - supposedly formed by the group's keyboardist and primary composer Charles Bobuck and producer/arranger Hardy Fox in 1982 by means of "natural cell division".
Black Tar and the Cry Babies first came to the attention of Residents/Bobuck fans on Halloween 2015, with the release of the group's first EP, Season of the Witch. Further releases followed at least annually on each Halloween until 2017. The complete works of Black Tar were compiled into a self-titled album and released on Klanggalerie in 2019. 
== History ==
"Black Tar and the Cry Babies formed in 1982 when natural cell division, as foretold in the Book of Ibbur, forced the creation of two groups from what was originally only singular.  One would carry the plus banner of the original Residents and the other would become the TAR, the minus creation, the un-Residents some would say, though that implies the un was a lesser embodiment. This was not true."
Hardy Fox, April 1st 2017Hacienda Bridge newsletter, April 1st 2017Black Tar and the Cry Babies were referenced for the first time by The Residents in October 2015, with the special Halloween digital release of the Season of the Witch EP. The name of the project was apparently inspired by the lyrics of the 1974 outtake "Saint Nix". 
Little more would be heard from this project until Charles Bobuck and Hardy Fox retired from The Residents and The Cryptic Corporation in 2016.
All known Black Tar tracks were collected and released on the compilations 13 Tiny Tunes for Hallow's Eve, TAR-Nation, Tarnation Serafini and Black Tar and the Cry Babies between 2016 and 2019.
== Discography ==
* Season of the Witch EP (2015)
* Black Tar - 13 Tiny Tunes for Hallow's Eve (as C. Bobuck / H. Fox) LP (2016)
* Left With The Fires EP (2017)
* TAR-Nation: The Best of Black Tar and The Cry Babies compilation (2017)
* Tarnation Serafini compilation (as Black Tar + CB) (2017)
* Black Tar and the Cry Babies compilation (2019)
==== Fictional discography ====
Hardy Fox detailed a previously unknown and lengthy discography for Black Tar and the Cry Babies in his April 1st 2017 Hacienda Bridge newsletter, which included a sample from each of the unreleased "albums" listed in the newsletter. 
The released sample tracks have since been said by Walter Robotka of Klanggalerie to have been nothing more than "ironic sound clips often not even using Hardy's own music", and as such these tracks were not included on the 2019 Klanggalerie compilation of the group's work.Black Tar and the Cry Babiesat Klanggalerie 
* Entrails of Tomorrow LP (????)
* The Poison of Time LP (????)
* Season of the Witch LP (????)
* Smells Funny on the Inside LP (????)
* Obey Consume LP (????)
* Pink EP (????)
== See also ==
* Charles Bobuck
* Combo de Mecanico
* The UGHS!
* Sonidos de la Noche
* Randy Rose
* Hardy Fox
*"Saint Nix"
== External links and references ==
* Hacienda Bridge
* Black Tar and the Cry Babies on Discogs
Category:Black Tar and the Cry Babies
Category:Charles Bobuck
Category:The Residents
Category:Hardy Fox
Category:Pseudonyms used by Hardy Fox