My friends always tell me that I choose the music I like based upon how few people have heard of the band. So I get some flack for liking obscure music. However, even though I've always thought that The Residents were one of the more well know bands I like (out of the lesser know bands in my cd collection), I'm still amazed at how many people have never even heard of them. But I guess I shouldn't be, considering how closely the band gaurds their anonymity.
Some background: The group consists of four members, who have never shown their faces (far before slipknot had the idea...) and usally dress in tuxedos and top hats with giant eyeball masks covering their faces.
They started their group at some point around 1970 or '71 after moving to San Francisco from Shreveport, LA. After being rejected by every label they sent a demo tape to they decided to start their own company and released their first record Santa Dog in 1972 which was limited to three hundred copies and sent to prominent people of the time (Frank Zappa, Richard Nixon....). Today an original copy of Santa Dog fetches quite a bit of money among collectors.
Their sound can best be described as eclectic, satirical, absurd. It's as if they take pop culture shove it in a Cuisinart drink what comes out, then puke it up and reconstruct it to form something entirely strange (my personal favortie is their Eskimo Album, a series of "authentic eskimo chants" that might very well be just a jumble of westren pop culture themes).
They were pioneers in the decontruction of pop music and in the relatively new medium (at the time they started) the music video. Check out their Icky Flix DVD for a taste.
Here are some links for more info:
www.residents.com
www.theresidents.co.uk
www.residents.terra.pl/start.html