] Holier Than The Holy Grail
]
] THE RESIDENTS THIRD REICH%u2019N%u2019ROLL COLLECTORS
] EDITION
]
] The Story:
]
] What started as just another idea in 1976 finally managed
] to grow into a bona fide nightmare of complexity.
]
] The concept was simple enough. The Residents wanted to
] market a record as a limited edition art project.
]
] First needed were records. Not the kind that just get
] stamped off by those automatic machines. No sireee. The
] Residents were intent on actually pressing the records
] themselves on manual presses using colored vinyl (color
] vinyl was a lot more special in 1976). The job of
] locating a pressing plant which would allow strangers to
] come in after-hours to press their own records%u2026and
] only 50 records at that%u2026was staggering. But the
] plant was found, and the Residents (in full costume) did
] manage to press the record found in this package.
]
] Then a cover was needed. Cardboard was out of question,
] as was mass printing. A wood-working shop was finally
] found that agreed to manufacture the basic wooden box.
] The Residents would then paint the box, glue the hand
] printed silk-screen graphics to the lid, and line the
] inside with red velvet. To make a long long story short,
] nothing worked. The lids on the boxes wouldn%u2019t slide
] with the screened prints glued to them. The glue made the
] prints wrinkle. The paint on the boxes was streaked and
] drippy. The specially printed and made inner-sleeve was
] too big to fit in the box. The red velvet was even the
] wrong shade of red and clashed with the cover. As the
] problems multiplied and other projects demanded time, THE
] THIRD REICH%u2019N%u2019ROLL collectors edition looked
] like it was about to be abandonded.

Hey, anyone want to get this for me?

eBay item 2597664857 (Ends Feb-29-04 12:05:49 PST) - The Residents THIRD REICH'N'ROLL wooden box

] I was 23-24 years old when I wrote these diaries. I
] certainly wasn't planning on publishing them when I wrote
] them; so reading them now either makes me laugh, cry or
] cringe. I will not make any claims to being a gifted
] writer or diarist, but the aim here is to give the reader
] some sense of what it was like to tour across the USA in
] a van with a punk rock band in the mid to late 1980's.
] Some say this was the heyday of independent rock music
] and the college radio scene. I would bet we worked harder
] and played many more shows than many of today's
] 'alternative' rock bands will play in their short-lived
] careers.

Dean Clean has put up a Moveable Type blog, and is posting commented entries from his journal covering the Milkmen's first tour. Other members of the band are also adding comments. You can follow the band on their tour, 18 years lagged.

Also, they have a number of music videos available for download from their main website.

The Dead Milkmen are required listening. Don't trust anyone who says they do not like The Dead Milkmen.

The Dead Milkmen: 18 years ago