18 Sycamore Street, San Francisco

**18-20 Sycamore Street, San Francisco, California** is a three-storey building which was rented by Residents, Uninc. in late 1972, following their move to San Francisco from their small apartment in San Mateo. The building's address was variously printed as either **18 Sycamore Street** or **20 Sycamore Street** during the group's time there.

A former print-works with a completely open ground floor, the building was large enough to act as a kind of artists' colony, being used simultaneously as a recording studio, art and design studio, film soundstage, record label headquarters, and living space for several people. 20 Sycamore Street was the first of the group's studios to be nicknamed El Ralpho, in honor of their then-newly founded record label Ralph Records.

The Residents and Ralph Records remained in the Sycamore Street studio until July 1976, when they moved into an even larger office and studio space at 444 Grove Street. Upon moving to Grove Street, The Residents also moved into separate homes, and never lived together again.

## History

Prior to Residents, Uninc. moving into the premises, 18-20 Sycamore Street had been used as a printworks, and most recently at that time, as the headquarters for the long-running dog magazine Western Kennel World, which had only recently ended publication.

When Residents, Uninc. moved into the building in the second half of 1972, it was full of photographs of dogs; the magazine's headquarters had housed a dog photography studio, which the group discovered had been also used to produce pornography on the side. A Polaroid photo found in the building depicting a dog in a Santa Claus costume inspired the opening track and cover art design of the group's first official release, the double 7" EP *Santa Dog*, which was issued in December as the inaugural release from the group's new independent record label, Ralph Records.

The upstairs space was used as a communal living area, with a TV room (housing The Residents' sizable record collection) and enough bedrooms to house not only The Residents, but also a number of their friends, including Jay Clem, John Kennedy and the group's graphic designer Homer Flynn, who had a small silkscreen printing space in the building's greenhouse (which also boasted an atrium and skylight), alongside ferns and other plants maintained by the members of the household. Much like their previous space in San Mateo, the group vigorously decorated the premises, with paintings, found art materials, and various ephemera collected by its members all displayed throughout the building.

The basement housed The Residents' recording studio, where the group's engineer Hardy Fox produced their earliest official recordings. By the end of the group's time in the building, the studio featured at least three open reel tape machines, a mixing board, and various musical instruments, as well as a number of large paintings (including a prominent graphic of a crucified figure in a bra) and one of the large prop skulls later seen in promotional videos and live appearances.

The building also featured an entirely open space on the ground floor, which The Residents promptly converted into as a soundstage for their first attempted film production, *Vileness Fats*. The space, however, was not high enough to house a full-size film production; the group incorporated this into the script by making most of the characters one-armed midgets and building the sets at a shorter scale; the actors crouched inside the costumes during shooting. The film was in production for almost the entirety of The Residents' time at Sycamore Street, being abandoned in an incomplete state shortly before they left the building.

By 1976, Kennedy had become independently wealthy, enabling him to purchase a larger building at 444 Grove Street. The group moved into the new building in July, disassembling Residents, Uninc. upon their exit, with Kennedy founding the new management group The Cryptic Corporation alongside Flynn, Fox and Clem. Upon vacating the building, a decision was made that the members of the group would live separately; it is said that The Residents have never lived together again.

After The Residents vacated the Sycamore Street warehouse, it became the San Francisco home of their friend and collaborator, English guitarist Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman. Snakefinger used The Residents' former studio as his main living space. The space is now an orthopedic rehabilitation clinic.

## List of projects recorded at this studio

* *1-10 (With A Touch of 11)* (1972)
* *Santa Dog* (1972)
* *Meet The Residents* (1974)
* *German Slide Music* (1975)
* *The Third Reich 'n Roll* (1976)
* "Satisfaction" (1976)
* *Fingerprince* (1977) (partially)
* *Not Available* (1978) (partially)

## See also

* Western Kennel World
* Ralph Records
* Residents, Uninc.
* *Santa Dog*
* *Vileness Fats*
* "The Ralph Records Guided Tour"
* "The Residents Exposed!"
* The Residents' record collection
* 167½ 17th Avenue, San Mateo
* 444 Grove Street, San Francisco

## External links and references

* 18-20 Sycamore Street, San Francisco at Google Maps
* "The Residents Exposed!" home movie by William Reinhardt on YouTube
* "The Residents Revealed!" William Reinhardt photo slideshow on YouTube

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Fifty Years Of Weird & Wacky Wonderfulness", Musique Machine, March 23rd 2022
2. ↑ Carol Roever Simonds, "The 50's, 60's and Beyond", Dog News, December 3rd 2010 (archived via Google Cache
3. ↑ "Portfolio Info Continued", *Evidence of Residents Volume 1*
4. ↑ "Santa Dog - Res History Ep. 1" by Mr. Riggsy's ResTube on YouTube, April 27th 2021
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Residents Exposed!" home movie by William Reinhardt (posted by "rossarooney"), YouTube, July 21st 2008
6. ↑ Ian Shirley, *Never Known Questions: Five Decades of The Residents*, 2016

**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*‎‎‏‏‎