Man (album)

The Residents in the "This Is A Man's Man's Man's World" video, 1984

***Man*** (also referred to as ***The Man's Album***)was the working title of an unfinished album by The Residents, recorded between 1983 and 1986. As suggested by its title, *Man* would have conceptually focused on men, and the male perspective.

Two tracks known to have originated from the unfinished album, "Ugly Beauty" and "Siren Song (Of The Shrunken Head)", were released by the group in 1997 on the box set *Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses*.

## History

The Residents began work on an album centered entirely on the male perspective around 1983, and continued through 1985. Recording was halted when *The Big Bubble* concept was introduced. Sessions recommenced in 1986, but the group's enthusiasm for the concept had depleted as the "boldness" of *The Big Bubble* made the *Man* project seem tame by comparison.

The James Brown cover "This Is A Man's Man's Man's World" was intended by the group to have been related to this concept; other pieces of music found their way into "Safety Is A Cootie Wootie" (recorded around the same time *Title In Limbo* was being completed) and other unspecified non-album tracks. Further unspecified instrumental elements from these sessions were used in *For Elsie*, recorded in 1985.

Two tracks, "Siren Song (Of The Shrunken Head)" and "Ugly Beauty", which were later attributed to *Man* were included in a 1987 Demo Tape broadcast on Dutch radio by Hardy Fox in July of 1987. As Hardy stated in the broadcast the tracks had all been recorded following the conclusion of the 13th Anniversary Show in January of 1987. In the interview Hardy described the tracks as rough demos and wasn't sure whether The Residents had larger plans for them.

> "It's a rough sketch for a real completed thing. It's a not a recording of that recording quality, it's quickly done. But it has vocals and everything so... Anyway I don't know if it's for anything in particular. Might be. I don't know."
>
>

In 1997, alternate versions of these tracks dated to 1986 were included on the four disc box set *Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses*. The liner notes of that box-set included the first public references to *Man*. It was also detailed by the group on their official website, under the now-defunct "Graveyard" section in the mid 2000s.

A multitrack tape labelled "Man" dating from 1985 exists in The Cryptic Corporation archives, and in 2020 the tape was said to be on a list of items planned to be digitally transferred for possible inclusion in the pREServed series of remastered and expanded reissues.

## Related tracks

* This Is A Man's Man's Man's World
* Safety Is A Cootie Wootie
* For Elsie
* Siren Song (Of The Shrunken Head)
* Ugly Beauty

## See also

* List of unfinished projects
* *Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses ‎*
* "Safety Is A Cootie Wootie"
* *For Elsie*

## External links and references

* *Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses* at Discogs
* Graveyard at The Residents Historical (via archive.org)

1. ↑ Hardy Fox on 'Beautiful Extremes', June 1987
2. ↑ "There is a multitrack tape in the archive labelled 'Man'. Intriguing." Richard Anderson, comment posted to Ralph Records unofficial Facebook group, May 23rd 2020
3. ↑ "I also just noticed 'Mole 4 Sketches' on the list they sent me. And that the other is more specifically labelled 'Man 85', so there's a clear date." Richard Anderson, comment posted in Ralph Records unofficial Facebook group, May 24th 2020
4. ↑ "I don't think there's any more info but I'll check. They're all being transferred and 'Man' is on the list." Richard Anderson, comment posted in Ralph Records unofficial Facebook group, May 24th 2020