167½ 17th Avenue, San Mateo

### Status

Vacated by Residents, Uninc. in 1972; condemned by the City of San Mateo in March 2023

**167½ 17th Avenue, San Mateo, California** is the apartment where the group who would become The Residents began their earliest experiments with art, photography and music performance and recording.

The group moved into the apartment (which was situated above an auto body shop) in 1968. Their earliest known recordings, including the demo tapes *The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger*, *Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor*, *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* and *B.S.*, were recorded and compiled in this apartment.

Residents, Uninc. left San Mateo by the summer of 1972, moving into a former print-works located at 20 Sycamore Street, San Francisco, which functioned as the location of their recording and film studios and the headquarters of their record label Ralph Records until June 1976.

In January 2019, the City of San Mateo advised the current owners of the property that it was a dangerous and unsafe structure; in March 2023, the building was condemned and is currently awaiting demolition.

## History

After completing their studies at Louisiana Tech and working for a short time, the members of the group who would later become The Residents, having become tired of the repressive atmosphere of the South, decided to move to San Francisco, following in the footsteps of a friend who had recently moved there.

Established Residents history holds that in 1968, the group packed their belongings into a truck and left Louisiana for San Francisco, only to have the truck break down in nearby San Mateo, where they decided to stay, finding a "low rent" apartment above an auto body shop on 17th Avenue.

Upon moving into the apartment, the group began experimenting with photography, silkscreen printing, amateur pornography, and, after one member of the group received a two-track tape recorder from a friend, early experiments with music. The apartment was near railroad tracks; a publicly unseen early photograph of the group finds them sitting nude in a boxcar.

The Pre-Residents shared the space with other friends, including musician and early collaborator Roland Sheehan. They decorated the apartment by hanging white sheets (and later plastic) from the ceiling, separating the apartment's rooms into "cubicles", and held parties where they would record loose, improvised jam sessions with friends. They met vocalist Pamela Zeibak when she dated one of their roommates. They would often travel to San Francisco, seeing bands at the Fillmore West and films such as *2001: A Space Odyssey*.

Sheehan arrived at the apartment with a U-Haul trailer full of musical instruments in mid-1970 and stayed with the group for the summer, producing the recordings that would become their first demo tapes, *Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor* and *The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger*. The song "Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor" was spontaneously composed and recorded by Sheehan and the group in the apartment after Sheehan looked out the window to see a pick-up truck full of rusty coathangers.

Sheehan left San Mateo later in the year, but The Pre-Residents continued to compose and record their own music. Now wishing to pursue a recording contract, they compiled a demo tape which they deemed interesting enough to send to Hal Halverstadt, then director of marketing at Reprise Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.. The tape, titled *The Warner Bros. Album* (with the Warner Bros. logo positioned prominently on the silkscreen cover art), was deemed "okay at best" by Halverstadt, and he mailed it back to the group a few months later with a short, polite rejection note.

As no clear artist name was included with the tape, Halverstadt addressed it to "Residents, 167½ 17th Avenue, San Mateo". The group, who had been experimenting with names for some time (including, but not limited to, "Ensenada and Spontaneous Cumbustion" and "The New Beatles") found significance in the "bland, colorless" name, and adopted it as their own, initially becoming Residents, Uninc..

By this time, The Pre-Residents had met British guitarist Philip Charles Lithman and the Bavarian avant-garde composer and music theorist N. Senada. Lithman had been introduced to the groups by their mutual acquaintance Margaret Smyk, and Senada had apparently arrived unannounced at the apartment one day in a trenchcoat, fedora and sunglasses, unknown to all present. Senada, apparently unable to speak or write English, nevertheless heavily influenced the group's philosophy and compositional methods from that time onwards.

Residents, Uninc.'s first known live performance was at The Boarding House in San Francisco in October 1971, shortly followed by their second performance at Lithman's acid-fuelled green card wedding. Senada and Lithman appeared with the group at both performances, where they premiered a number of compositions including "Somethin' Devilish", "Eloise" and "Kamakazi Lady".

These appearances and other recordings made at the apartment formed the basis of Residents, Uninc.'s next demo tape, *Baby Sex*, which was completed in late 1971. It was again submitted to Halverstadt, this time with a more disturbing cover graphic derived from a pornographic advertisement a member of the group had received (apparently unsolicited) in the mail. The tape was rejected by Halverstadt, again with a polite note encouraging the group to continue sending their recordings.

Shortly afterwards, Lithman returned to England when his visa expired (the green card wedding having never been officiated), where he would spend the next few years recording and touring with the folk-rock group Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers.

Residents, Uninc. left San Mateo for the Mission District of San Francisco in 1972, where they rented a much larger space (a former print-works) on Sycamore Street.

## Current status

On January 24th 2019, the City of San Mateo sent a Notice and Order to Abate a Dangerous and Unsafe Structure to the current owners of the building at 167 17th Avenue (including The Pre-Residents' former apartment above), citing numerous issues including damaged walking surfaces and unstable structural elements causing a likelihood of collapse.

On March 28th 2023, the building was condemned as being unsafe to occupy, with nobody being allowed access to the premises unless for maintenance or repair purposes. The property is now presumed to be awaiting demolition as of April.

## List of recordings

* "I Hear Ya Got Religion" (1969)
* "Moonman" (1969)
* *The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger* (1970)
* *Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor* (1970)
* *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* (1971)
* *B.S.* (1971)

## See also

* 20 Sycamore Street, San Francisco
* 444 Grove Street, San Francisco

## External links and references

* 167 17th Avenue, San Mateo, California at Google Maps

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Matt Groening, "The True Story of The Residents", 1979
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Ian Shirley, *Never Known Questions: Five Decades of The Residents*, 2015
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Post by Jason Roth, The Residents unofficial Facebook group, April 7th 2023
4. ↑ *Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide to The Residents*, 1993
5. ↑ Jim Knipfel, "Somethin' Devilish: The Untold (And Finally True) Pre-History of The Residents 1963-1971)"

**Side A**
"Untitled Instrumental #1" · "One Boy" / "Kids" · "Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor" · "Untitled Instrumental #2"
**Side B**
"Untitled Instrumental #3" · "Bringing in the Sheaves" · "|Untitled Instrumental #4" · "Let It Be" · "Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor" (reprise) · "Bo Diddley" · "Yesterday"
**Personnel**
The Delta Nudes · Roland Sheehan
**Related works**
"I Hear Ya Got Religion" · "Moonman" · *The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger* · *Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents* · *Leftovers Again?!*
**Related articles**
""Satisfaction" (song) · "When Johnny Comes Marching" · *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* · **San Mateo apartment** · *Bye Bye Birdie* · The Rolling Stones · The Beatles · *A Nickle If Your Dick's This Big*

‎

**Side A**
"Satisfaction" · "96 Tears" · "Let It Be" · "The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger" · "Untitled Instrumental #1" · "Ecological Blues"
**Side B**
"Summertime" · "Untitled Instrumental #2" · "House of the Rising Sun" · "Summertime" (reprise) · "The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger" (reprise) · "Untitled Instrumental #3"
**Personnel**
The Delta Nudes · Roland Sheehan · Palmer Eiland
**Related works**
"I Hear Ya Got Religion" · "Moonman" · *Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor* · *ERA B474* · *The Delta Nudes' Greatest Hiss*
**Related articles**
"When Johnny Comes Marching" · "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" · *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* · **San Mateo apartment** · The Rolling Stones · George Gershwin · The Beatles

**Side A**
"Strawberry Fields Forever" · "The Mad Sawmill of Copenhagen, Germany" · "Baby Skeletons and Dogs" ("Oh Mummy, Oh Daddy, Can't You See That It's True") · "Going to Arcata Blues" · "Black Velvet Original" · "Jimi Hendrix Dildo" · "In the Still of the Night" · "Maggie's Farm" · "Snot and Feces Live at the Grunt Festival" · "Sweet Meat"
**Side B**
"Oh Yeah Uhh Bop Shoo Bop" · "Ohm is Where the Art Is" · "Concerto in R Flat Minor" · "Gagagapiggaeioupe" · "Sold American" · "Love Theme from a Major Motion Picture" · "Prelude for Accordion, Sousaphone and French Horn" · "Oh God You're a Pie in the Sky" · "Short Circuit Comes to Town" · "Marching Toward AEIOU Blues" · "In the Still of the Night Again / Rumba" · "Oh Mummy, Oh Daddy, Can't You See That It's True Again" · "Art the White Elephant" · "Psychedelic and Orgasmic Finale"
**Personnel**
Ensenada and Spontaneous Cumbustion · Jim Whitaker · Bob Tangney
**Related works**
*WB:RMX* · *ERA B474* · *The Delta Nudes' Greatest Hiss* · *A Nickle If Your Dick's This Big*
**Related articles**
The Delta Nudes · **San Mateo apartment** · Hal Halverstadt · Residents, Uninc. · Punographics Ltd. · Warner Bros. Records · The Beatles · Bob Dylan · Richard Nixon · Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! show

**Side A**
"We Stole This Riff" · "Holelottadick" · "B.S." · "Deepsea Diver Song" · "King Kong" · "Cantaten to der Dyin Prunen"
**Side B**
"Somethin' Devilish" · "The Fourth Crucifixion" · "Hallowed Be Thy Wean" ("Pink Lemonade" · "Sandman" · "Eat Me Mother" · "Bumble Bee" · "Eloise" · "Somethin' Devilish" · "Kamakazi Lady" · "D For Doorknob" · "The Three Most Important Things In The Whole Wide World")
**Personnel**
Residents, Uninc. · Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman · N. Senada · Peggy Honeydew (Margaret Smyk)
**Related works**
The Boarding House performance ("Intro Tape '71") · "A Live Radio Broadcast" · Philip's Wedding · Chris' Party · *ERA B474* · *The Delta Nudes' Greatest Hiss* · *A Nickle If Your Dick's This Big*
**Related articles**
*The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* · **San Mateo apartment** · Hal Halverstadt · Porno Graphics · Tim Buckley · Led Zeppelin · Frank Zappa · Randy Newman · *Vileness Fats*‏‏‎

**Major works**
*Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor* (1970) · *The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger* (1970) · *The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* (1971) · *B.S.* (1971) · *Santa Dog* (1972)
**Other recordings**
"I Hear Ya Got Religion" / "Moonman" (1969) · *1-10 (With A Touch of 11)* (1972)
**Compilation albums**
*ERA B474* (2012) · *The Delta Nudes' Greatest Hiss* (2013) · *The Residents Present The Delta Nudes* (2016) · *A Nickle If Your Dick's This Big* (2019) · *Warning: Uninc.* (2022)
**Live shows**
The Boarding House, October 18th 1971 · Philip's Wedding, October 31st 1971 · Chris' Party, February 12th 1972
**Collaborators**
Randy Rose · Charles Bobuck · Hardy Fox · Homer Flynn · Palmer Eiland · Roger "Bunny" Hartley · Jay Clem · John Kennedy · Roland Sheehan · Bob Tangney · Jim Whitaker · N. Senada · Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman · Peggy Honeydew (Margaret Swaton) · The Singing Lawn Chairs (Pamela Zeibak)
**Related articles**
**San Mateo apartment** · Hal Halverstadt · Porno Graphics · Sycamore St. studio · Ralph Records · The Residents · *Vileness Fats* · *Meet The Residents* · *The Third Reich 'n Roll* · "Satisfaction" · "Aphids In The Hall" · The Cryptic Corporation · *WB:RMX*‎‎‏‏‎