Ralph Records 10th Anniversary Radio Special!

Ralph Records 10th Anniversary Radio Special! is a radio special hosted by Penn Jillette aired in 1982. The Residents' music is featured at several points of the special.
==History==
In celebration of their 10 year anniversary, Ralph Records decided to produce a radio special that showcased the body of work of their artists over the years. This would not feature any previously unreleased music, but rather give a retrospective of their history.
They would do the special in collaboration with The Cryptic Corporation, who had previously produced a similar radio special for the 5th anniversary of The Residents. And similarly to that show, they planned for an originally open-minded host to be taken to his limits by the outlandish and anti-establishment music released on the label.
For the role of the host, they picked magician Penn Jillette. Who in the show's storyline, had not had any kind of experience listening to Ralph music. Even though he had previously appeared, albeit in a then uncredited role, as a vocalist on The Residents' Mark of The Mole album the year prior. 
Music from all of Ralph's recording artists at the time was played during the special. Previous signee to the label Schwump was not included; nor was Art Bears, who have their name on the cover the record (but they do appear on 10 Years in 20 Minutes); however, the band's guitarist, Fred Frith, was part of the special. Chrome, who never had a standalone release on the label, had their work for Subterranean Modern played. 
===Six days at the Bentley Motor Inn===
From March 1st to the 6th, Penn was locked in a room at the Bentley Motor Inn Motel, conveniently located across the street of Ralph's headquarters. He would be left alone, with only a microphone, and a daily package that included different records of the label's catalogue, as well as some bios and instructions to listen to all the vinyls so he could host the special. 
The first package contained The Residents' (and Ralph's) first releases: Santa Dog, Meet The Residents, Not Available, The Third Reich 'n Roll & Satisfaction. In between the tracks, Penn attempts to explain The Residents history, while increasingly becoming more and more dumbfounded by the band musical decisions. He ends up the first day by admitting that he didn't like any of the music, and irritated by the fact that The Residents were successful enough that they could hire him, thinking it should have been the other way around. 
The second day comes, and the new package contains Snakefinger's The Spot and Chewing Hides The Sound, the compilation album Subterranean Modern, Tuxedomoon's Half-Mute & MX-80 Sound's Out of the Tunnel, representing Ralph's non Residents releases from 1978 to 1980. Penn believes Snakefinger is a bit better than The Residents, but still too "disonant". He keeps complaining about how none of the band tries to make easy listening music. 
Day Three's package goes back to The Residents, and it's intended to represent their middle years', from 1978 to 1980: Duck Stab!, Eskimo & Commercial Album. Penn actually has a very positive reaction to Duck Stab!, but gets extremely dissapointed after Eskimo. After a nap, he gives Commercial a try, and completely loses his composure it because of the short length of its tracks. 
Day Four arrives, with a package was entitled 'The Buy Or Die Years', containing Yello's Solid Pleasure, Fred Frith's Gravity, Snakefinger's Greener Postures, & MX-80 Sound's Crowd Control. Penn behaves in a depressive state, saying that Ralph's music has made him sick, and decides that he wouldn't listen to the music. However, he found himself enticed by the cover of Gravity, and ended up giving it a shot, only to stop the record mid-listening. 
Day Five was dedicated to the package 'Buy Or Die II', it contained Renaldo & The Loaf's Songs For Swinging Larvae, Yello's Solid Pleasure (again), Fred Frith's Speechless and Tuxedomoon's Desire. After a good night of sleep, Penn has a more positive attitude, and decides to go back to the listening sessions. He ends up liking Swinging Larvae, and is ecstatic after listening to Yello, considering them the best band in the world. 
The sixth and final day came with a package with Ralph's new releases at the time: Snakefinger's Manual of Errors, and The Residents' Mark of The Mole & The Tunes of Two Cities. Now that he is more receptive of the label's unconventional style of music, Penn has a way more favorable reaction to both artists. He ends the special by declaring himself the number one fan of Ralph and The Residents before leaving the motel. 
==Release==
The special was released as a double-LP on April of 1982, and sent to various radio stations around the world, as well as friends of the label. Included on Side B of the second LP was 10 Years in 20 Minutes, a sound collage made of 250 snippets from various albums and singles in Ralph's catalog. And as a bonus, the "Ralph Records Tenth Anniversary Commemorative Gift Pak!" was given. This was a special gift box full of Ralph memorabilia, such as an ice scraper, a golf ball, a forehead thermometer, a key tag (with the hair of a Resident inside of it), a pizza holder, a silk screened poster, and the Santa Dog Commemorative Sponge. 
One year later, the radio special was made available for purchase via mail order as a cassette. Some editions of this release would have no photos of Penn or Ralph logos in the cover, just a text-only dot-matrix printed j-card. 10 Years in 20 Minutes wasn't included. 
In 1998, Ralph America re-released the special on CD, with a sticker that said "Ralph America Anniversary Historic Release 1972-1998". This release would mark the beginning of their "historical recordings" series, on which they would bring some of Ralph Records releases to CD for the first time ever. However, the series would only last two instalments, with the second one being the CD reissue of Title In Limbo. 
==Track listing==
===Side A===
# Day One (12:47) *All songs performed by The Residents
#*Fire
#*Smelly Tongues
#*Ship's A'Going Down
#*Hitler Was A Vegetarian
#*Satisfaction
# Day Two (12:28)
#*Snakefinger - The Spot
#*Chrome - Meet You In The Subway
#*Snakefinger - The Model
#*Tuxedomoon - What Use?
#*MX-80 Sound - Metro Teens
#*Snakefinger - Here Comes The Bums
===Side B===
# Day Three (12:00) *All songs performed by The Residents 
#*Constantinople
#*The Festival of Death
#*Amber
#*Japanese Watercolor
#Day Four (12:32)
#*Fred Frith - Dancing In The Street / My Enemy Is A Bad Man 
#*MX-80 Sound - Why Are We Here?
#*Yello - Rock Stop
#*Snakefinger - The Man In The Dark Sedan
===Side C===
# Day Five (12:07)
#*Renaldo & The Loaf - Is Guava A Donut?
#*Yello - Bimbo
#*Fred Frith - Come Across
#*Tuxedomoon - Incubus (Blue Suit)
# Day Six (12:49)
#*Snakefinger - Shining Faces (I Am Nino)
#*Snakefinger - Eva's Warning
#*The Residents - The Secret Seed
#*The Residents - Smack Your Lips (Clap Your Teeth)
===Side D===
#10 Years In 20 Minutes (20:20)
==Liner notes==
=== 1982 release ===
In February 1982 Ralph Records contacted Mr Jillette, a nationally known entertainer and announcer, to see if he were interested in involvement in Ralph's 10th  Anniversary Radio Special. The format of the special, as specified in Mr Jillette's contract, was unusual, but the salary was sufficient, so Mr Jillette agreed.
At 8:00 AM on Monday, March 1, Mr Jillette entered room 312 of the Bentley Motor Inn at 465 Grove Street (directly across the street from the Ralph Headquarters in San Francisco. The door was locked behind him.
Mr Jillette was to spend the next six days alone in this room. Each day he received a new package of records from Ralph. His job was to listen to and comment on these recordings.
The Ralph Records 10th Anniversary Radio Special was compiled from more than 50 hours of tape-recorded while Mr Jillette was alone in his motel room.
=== 1998 reissue ===
Back in 1982, the execs at Ralph decided it was time to expose themselves to the unknowing masses. Needing a cultural midwife between the twisted world of Ralph Records and the straight world of the FM dial, they kidnapped magician and announcer extraordinaire Mr. Penn Jillette, locked him away in a room of the now infamous Bentley Motor Lodge for six days and force fed him a steady diet of Ralph Records. And the rest, as they say, is his story...
==Credits==
*Host: Penn Jillette
*Featuring The Music Of: The Residents, Snakefinger, Tuxedomoon, Fred Frith ,Yello, Renaldo & The Loaf, MX-80 Sound, Chrome & Art Bears
*Produced by Ralph Records & The Cryptic Corporation.
== Cover Art Gallery ==
===== 1998 =====
File:Ralph10 Outer Cover.jpg|Front of cover sheet
File:Ralph10 Inner Cover.jpg|Back of cover sheet
File:Ralph10 Back.jpg|Back cover art
File:Ralph10 CD.jpg|Disc art
== See also ==
* Ralph Records
* The Residents Radio Special
* Penn Jillette
== External links and references ==
* Ralph Records 10th Anniversary Radio Special! at Discogs
Category:Ralph Records
Category:Ralph Records releases
Category:Ralph albums
Category:1982
Category:Radio specials
Category:Ralph Samplers