UWEB

Uncle Willie's Eyeball Buddies, often referred to simply as UWEB, was an official Residents fan club founded in December 1988 by noted Residents historian Uncle Willie.
Unlike the earlier fan club W.E.I.R.D., UWEB was closely associated with The Residents and their management company The Cryptic Corporation. During its four year lifespan, UWEB released quarterly newsletters, as well as several EPs, albums and compilations of otherwise unheard Residents music, and t-shirts, yo-yos and other merchandise.
UWEB officially folded in December 1992, following the collapse of a planned fan convention and the restructuring of Ralph Records into Ralph America and Euro Ralph. In 1993, the book Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide to The Residents was published, and in 1999 a retrospective compilation of material from UWEB releases, Land of Mystery, was released by Ralph America. In 2023, the club's newsletters were compiled in the limited edition book UWEB Newsletters 1988-1993, by publisher Melodic Virtue.
After having been defunct for many years, The Residents were said in March 2023 to be "contemplating the possible revival of UWEB";"Greetings Eyeball Fans!", Cherry Red Residents newsletter, March 10th 2023 this may be related to a long-planned series of archival vinyl releases intended for mail-order distribution through Cherry Red Records, MVD Audio and New Ralph Too.
== History ==
Uncle Willie's Eyeball Buddies (or UWEB) was founded by Residents fan Uncle Willie in 1988. Willie had been introduced to The Residents six years earlier. The nephew, knowing that Willie's taste in music tended to be adventurous, would often bring home records to try and shock his uncle, which Willie would take great pleasure in dismissing. On this occasion, Willie's nephew brought The Residents' 1981 album Mark of the Mole, as well as two tickets to a performance of their Mole Show. After this, Willie was hooked.
Unlike the first Residents fan club, W.E.I.R.D., UWEB worked closely with The Residents and their management company The Cryptic Corporation, releasing exclusive and previously unheard material to members, and even recording tracks especially for UWEB releases. The club released a quarterly newsletter which announced the latest news, explored the technology behind the music, and generally examined the world of The Residents.
The face which appeared on every UWEB release quickly became another image in The Residents' iconography. The image derives from a 1959 drawing of Harry and David Holmes, the founders of the Fruit of the Month Club. Designer Rex Ray took the original image, flipped and stretched it horizontally to produce the face of Uncle Willie. In October 2001, fan website RZWeb received a cease and desist letter from the Fruit of the Month Club lawyers, demanding that the UWEB logo and any images of the Holmes brothers be removed from RZWeb.
UWEB folded in 1992. Uncle Willie was finding that the logistics of running the club were overshadowing the enjoyment he got out of it; plans for a fan convention had fallen through for a variety of reasons, and The Residents had gotten upset with UWEB after Willie had reported on an album they were recording entitled Monkey On My Back. After the album was announced in the UWEB newsletter, The Residents felt that they could no longer develop the album with the innocent approach they had intended, and shelved the project entirely, although it is believed this project later became their 1992 album Our Finest Flowers. Apparently the group eventually moved on from their tensions with UWEB, as the last track on Our Finest Flowers is titled "Be Kind To U-WEB Footed Friends".
Uncle Willie had always meant to keep UWEB out of the notoriously secretive group's way, and the demise of Monkey On My Back led him to feel that the fan club was doing more harm than good. Another factor which contributed to the end of UWEB was the restructuring of Ralph Records into Ralph America and EuroRalph. After the club folded, Uncle Willie published the book and compilation album Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents, joined the Ralph staff, and continued to write press releases and liner notes for the group into the beginning of the 21st century. 
==Releases ==
UWEB released nine CDs in all, each featuring never before released material. One of them, Stranger Than Supper, was distributed commercially to attract people to the club, while the others could only be ordered through UWEB. 
In 1999, Ralph America released a retrospective collection called Land of Mystery, which was compiled by Uncle Willie and featured tracks from the UWEB titles.
*"Santa Dog '88" (1988)
*The Snakey Wake (1988)
*Buckaroo Blues (1989)
*Liver Music (1990)
*Stranger Than Supper (1990)
*Daydream B Liver (1991)
*Live In The U.S.A. (1992)
*Philip Charles Lithman AKA Snakefinger 1949 - 1987 (1992)
*"Santa Dog '92" (1992)
== Newsletter==
The UWEB newsletter was released in annual volumes of three issues, with bonus fourth issues in the first two years. It was largely written by Uncle Willie (with contributions from other people in the Ralph circle), and featured recurring sections (such as news and Q&As); some issues also include Residents-themed crosswords.
In 2023, all issues of the newsletter were collected in the limited edition hardcover book UWEB Newsletters 1988-1993, which was sold exclusively with the deluxe and super deluxe editions of the Melodic Virtue coffee table book The Residents: A Sight For Sore Eyes, Vol. 2.
=== List of UWEB newsletters ===
==== Volume 1 ====
*UWEB Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 1 - October 1988
*UWEB Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 2 - January 1989
*UWEB Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 3 - June 1989
*UWEB Newsletter Vol. 1, No. 3½ - September 1989
==== Volume 2 ====
*UWEB Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 1 - December 1989
*UWEB Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2 - March 1990
*UWEB Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2½ - June 1990
*UWEB Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 3 - October 1990
==== Volume 3 ====
* UWEB Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 1 - March 1991
* UWEB Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 2 - June 1991
* UWEB Newsletter Vol. 3, No. 3 - October 1991
==== Volume 4 ====
* UWEB Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 1 - June 1992
* UWEB Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 2 - November 1992
* End of UWEB Notice Letter - January 1993
* UWEB Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 3 - May 1993
* Last Chance for Goods Notice Letter - July 1993Kim Andrews, comment in The Residents unofficial Facebook group, November 26th 2022
==See also==
*Uncle Willie
*Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents
*Land of Mystery
*W.E.I.R.D.
*Ralph Records
*Be Kind To U-WEB Footed Friends
*UWEB Newsletters 1988-1993
==External links and references==
*UWEB at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
Category:Lists‏‎
Category:Record labels‏‎
Category:UWEB
Category:Fan clubs
Category:Newsletters
Category:UWEB newsletters
Category:Uncle Willie