A Medical Man

**"A Medical Man"** is a limited edition single by Renaldo & The Loaf, featuring the song of the same name from their 1981 Ralph Records album *Songs for Swinging Larvae*, recreating a never-released single which had been prepared by the duo to be released alongside the album.

The single was ultimately issued as a special 40th anniversary release on Renaldo & The Loaf's own label Rotcod Productions on April 2nd 2021, in an edition of 40 individually lathe cut 7" singles, housed in folded, printed sheets, each autographed by the duo internally on one side and decorated with selected lyrics on the other.

## Track listing

#### Side A

1. A Medical Man (1:16)
2. N2O (Going Under) (1:50)

## Release notes

### Things That Almost Happened - Number 1: The Ralph Single

When Ralph offered us our contract in 1980, it was normal for their artists to provide a single to accompany album releases - the rule was that the B side should not appear on the forthcoming album. Various Ralph artists had done this, Snakefinger, Yello, Tuxedomoon, MX80 Sound, Art Bears and the Residents.

We duly prepared a single but in the run up to the release of Songs for Swinging Larvae in Spring 1981, Ralph decided to discontinue single releases due to relatively poor sales. So our single was abandoned.

The tracks we chose for it were:

* Side 1 Medical Man + N2O (Going Under)
* Side 2 Post Mortem

We did supply Ralph with a cover image reflecting the medical theme and a very rough sketch for a back layout.

Post Mortem wasn’t wasted as it eventually resurfaced in anagram form as Metro Stomp on the 1984 Struve Sneff LP.

Renaldo and Ted

### A Medical Man - Lathe Cut Limited Edition Single

To further mark the 40th anniversary of the Larvae album, we wanted to somehow re-create the ‘single that never was’, the one that was planned to accompany the album’s release. However, at the same time Ralph decided to discontinue making singles and so, as we all know, it never happened. We had prepared cover artwork ideas and tracks were chosen – A Medical Man / N2O (Going Under) b/w Post Mortem. All the tracks were subsequently released, with Post Mortem morphing into Metro Stomp.

We are making just 40, numbered copies available - each 7” is individually lathe cut, so numbers had to be very limited. We are releasing it ourselves as a Rotcod Production (.rD8). The disc is in a full colour outer sleeve, we’ve signed the white inner sleeve and have also inscribed each with bits of lyric from the single, no two are alike.

We will be offering them via our Bandcamp page on Friday April 2nd. As there might possibly be some interest in these, we plan to release it at 17.00 GMT, which should be a reasonably sociable time for potential customers from the US west coast through Europe and beyond.

They will be offered at £35 per copy plus international tracked/signed postage – OK not the cheapest of shipping options but as safe as we can make it, as any lost copies will not be at all easy to replace.

It probably doesn’t need mentioning, but will anyway, it will be strictly limited to one copy per customer.

RATL Bandcamp is at: https://renaldoandtheloaf.bandcamp.com/

Renaldo & Ted

### Bandcamp release notes

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the release of *Songs For Swinging Larvae* on Ralph we have made a very limited numbered edition of 40 individually lathe cut 7" discs to re-create the unreleased single we prepared to go with the album. Although we chose the tracks at the time and produced some cover artwork, it was never realised as Ralph decided to discontinue making singles.

Each copy has a colour printed outer sleeve and a white inner sleeve that is signed and has been individually inscribed with lines of lyric by both of us (RATL). No two copies are the same. The edition is being released by us on our own Rotcod Productions label.

## External links and references

* "A Medical Man" on Discogs

1. ↑ Post by Walter Robotka, Renaldo & The Loaf Official Facebook group, September 17th 2020
2. ↑ Post by Walter Robotka, Renaldo & The Loaf Official Facebook group, March 29th 2021
3. ↑ "A Medical Man single" on Renaldo & The Loaf's official Bandcamp