Duck Stab/Buster & Glen
Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen, later renamed as just Duck Stab, is the fifth studio album by American art rock group The Residents, released in November 1978. It is named after the first side of the album, Duck Stab!, a seven-song EP released earlier in 1978 featuring shorter songs similar to the first side of Fingerprince. Buster and Glen, the B-side of the album, was intended to follow Duck Stab! presumably in early 1979.
| Duck Stab/Buster & Glen | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 30, 1978 | |||
| Recorded | October 1977–August 1978 | |||
| Length | 34:30 | |||
| Label | Ralph East Side Digital | |||
| Producer | The Residents | |||
| The Residents chronology | ||||
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| Buster & Glen cover | ||||
 | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A−[2] |
| Glorious Noise | (Recommended) [3] |
After the first pressing of Duck Stab! quickly sold out—which was an oddity for the band—they decided to re-release it as an album, merged with the unreleased Buster and Glen. This was also in part due to the audio quality of the original EP, which The Residents stated was poor.[4]
The shorter length of the songs made the album more accessible for fans who had recently heard "Satisfaction", and songs like "Constantinople" and "Hello Skinny" helped cement the band's cult following. Some noted that the Residents were approaching commercial elements with this EP, but they were purposefully avoiding others, such as a traditional chorus/verse structure.[5] This album features guitar by Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman.
The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[6]
Track listing
All tracks written and composed by The Residents, except "Sinister Exaggerator", composed by The Residents and Snakefinger.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Constantinople" | 2:23 |
| 2. | "Sinister Exaggerator" | 3:28 |
| 3. | "The Booker Tease" | 1:04 |
| 4. | "Blue Rosebuds" | 3:08 |
| 5. | "Laughing Song" | 2:12 |
| 6. | "Bach is Dead" | 1:12 |
| 7. | "Elvis and His Boss" | 2:29 |
| Total length: | 17:05 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Lizard Lady" | 1:54 |
| 9. | "Semolina" | 2:48 |
| 10. | "Birthday Boy" | 2:41 |
| 11. | "Weight-Lifting Lulu" | 3:11 |
| 12. | "Krafty Cheese" | 1:59 |
| 13. | "Hello Skinny" | 2:41 |
| 14. | "The Electrocutioner" | 3:20 |
| Total length: | 19:35 | |
1987 CD bonus tracks
Tracks 15-18 taken from the 1980 EP Diskomo/Goosebump.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 15. | "Disaster" | 3:48 |
| 16. | "Plants" | 3:14 |
| 17. | "Farmers" | 5:27 |
| 18. | "Twinkle" | 1:58 |
| Total length: | 49:04 | |
2018 pREServed edition
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 15. | "Guylum Bardot '78" | 1:07 |
| 16. | "Soulful Sax" | 2:20 |
| 17. | "Ow Boutthat" | 0:50 |
| 18. | "When Johnny Comes Marching" | 1:37 |
| 19. | "Unlisted" | 2:00 |
| 20. | "Santa Dog '78" | 1:52 |
| Total length: | 44:16 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bach is Dead (1982 rehearsal)" | 1:21 |
| 2. | "Birthday Boy (1982 rehearsal)" | 3:42 |
| 3. | "Constantinople (1982 rehearsal)" | 2:11 |
| 4. | "DS / BaG suite (Tromsø, inconvenienced, 1986)" | 13:22 |
| 5. | "Semolina (live 1986)" | 3:56 |
| 6. | "Hello Skinny (Icky Flix version)" | 3:06 |
| 7. | "Constantinople (Icky Flix version)" | 2:28 |
| 8. | "Lizard Lady / Hello Skinny (live 2005)" | 5:10 |
| 9. | "Semolina (live 2011)" | 3:47 |
| 10. | "Lizard Lady (live 2011)" | 3:42 |
| 11. | "Blue Rosebuds (live 2014)" | 3:08 |
| 12. | "Weight-Lifting Lulu (live 2014)" | 3:30 |
| 13. | "Blue Rosebuds RMX" | 3:24 |
| 14. | "The Booker Tease (re-imagined)" | 2:24 |
| 15. | "Weight-Lifting Lulu (re-imagined)" | 3:17 |
| 16. | "Constantinople (Adobe)" | 1:55 |
| 17. | "Bach is Dead (re-imagined)" | 2:26 |
| 18. | "Laughing Song (re-imagined)" | 2:23 |
| 19. | "The Electrocutioner (re-imagined)" | 2:39 |
| 20. | "Hello Skinny (re-imagined)" | 4:04 |
| Total length: | 1:11:51 | |
Personnel
- Guests
- Snakefinger – vocals, guitar
- Ruby – vocals on "The Electrocutioner"
- G. Whifler – photography
- Pore No Graphics - cover art
Covers
- American punk band Ism recorded an uptempo cover of "Constantinople" (with a part of "Blue Rosebuds" in the middle) and released it on a 12" EP in 1984, also entitled Constantinople.
- "Blue Rosebuds" was covered by Shock Headed Peters on the compilation album Devastate to Liberate in December 1985.
- Primus released a medley of the songs "Hello Skinny" and "Constantinople" on the Caroline Records compilation promotional CD On the Nineties Tip... in 1990, and included it as a bonus track on the 2002 reissue of Frizzle Fry. Shortly afterward, they covered "Sinister Exaggerator" on their 1992 EP Miscellaneous Debris. In the UK, it was on the CD single "Making Plans for Nigel (Cheesy EP 2)."
- "Bach is Dead" is covered by Idiot Flesh on their 1997 album Fancy.
- "Hello Skinny" and "The Electrocutioner" are covered by Flat Earth Society on their 2000 album Bonk.
- Friendly Rich and the Lollipop People covered "Blue Rosebuds" on their 2010 album The Sacred Prune of Remembrance.
References
- McCarthy, Kieran. Duck Stab/Buster & Glen at AllMusic
- Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- Glorious Noise review
- "Historical - The Residents: Duck Stab". Retrieved 2018-05-14.
- gio80. "The Seeds That Turn Into Tomorrow (Duck Stab!) | Grandpa Gio and The Residents". Retrieved 2019-06-07.
- Blacklock, Mark (2006). "The Residents: Duck Stab/Buster & Glen". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe Publishing. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-7893-1371-3.