1983 (released 1989)
THE
MOLE SHOW
LIVE IN HOLLAND JUNE 6TH 1983
Album
Voices of the
Air
The Secret Seed
(Narration)
The Ultimate Disaster
(Narration)
God of Darkness
(Narration)
Migration
(Narration)
Smack Your Lips
(Narration)
Another Land
(Narration)
The New Machine
(Narration)
Call of the Wild
Final Confrontation
(Narration)
Satisfaction
Happy Home
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HISTORICAL CONTEXT*
The Mole Show is to
the Residents very like what Let It Be was to the Beatles: a disastrous
project that was intended to reaffirm the group's relationship, and instead
almost destroyed it.
The Mole Trilogy had always
been designed to help the Residents work through their "anger, confusion
and frustration," and in 1982 they decided the next step was to take their
anger, confusion and frustration on the road in an ambitious stage show. Penn
Jillette, the narrator amidst elaborate sets, choreography and costumes, would
slowly revolt against the production, letting his "anger, confusion and
frustration" over his role and the Residents' values boil into a rage.
The audience, never knowing reality from performance, would go home in....anger,
confusion and frustration. The musical backdrop was the story from Mark
of the Mole, interspersed with the songs of The
Tunes of Two Cities.
Behind the scenes, the Mole
Show was a fiasco. Two of the four members of the Cryptic Corporation resigned
as the show opened, including John Kennedy—president of the Cryptics,
the Residents' chief financier, and owner of their studio and offices. He withdrew
his investment and evicted the group. The production immediately halted; the
Residents completed the tour only by borrowing from their parents, and by nearly
bleeding Ralph Records dry.
Things only got worse. Cast
and crew members clashed; there were thefts and damages without a replacement
budget; the Residents lost the tour's merchandising rights; Jillette became
deathly ill and left the show; and an angry promoter withheld the Residents'
equipment and stage props. After taking the disaster across North America and
Europe, the exhausted and almost-bankrupt Residents announced that they would
never tour again.
Nonetheless, onstage the show
was a huge critical success, and although box office couldn't recoup their losses
almost every show was a packed house. The concert in Utrecht, Holland, on 6
June 1983 was recorded for radio broadcast, and the Residents released it on
CD in 1989 as The Mole Show: Live in Holland.
REVIEW
RATING: 7
I have no doubt that, if only
you could see that performance, The Mole Show would easily rate at
least an 8 and probably a 9. After all, the audio by itself is very close to
an 8, and you don't go to a concert to hear a show, but to
see it. And what good do dancers and sets and costumes and
tricky lighting do for my ears?
That said, The Mole Show
is extraordinary. It not only puts The Tunes
of Two Cities into the perspective I was hoping for (although not at
all in the way I expected), but puts the "anger, confusion and frustration"
into perspective—which I neither hoped for NOR expected. There's something
about an off-mic Penn Jillette screaming "THE RESIDENTS ARE TAKING
YOU FOR A FUCKIN' RIDE!" that clarifies anger, confusion and frustration
whether you want it to or not. And he does it in the perfect context, between
"The New Machine" and "Final Confrontation," to weave seamlessly
into the Moles' saga.
As a bonus, the Mark
of the Mole songs become decipherable and sometimes even more coherent,
and tying in their version of "Satisfaction"
gives you a revelatory point of view on the whole Mole project, at least in
this live setting. There's only one major drawback: Mark
of the Mole and Tunes were
both pure studio creations, and it feels like a cheat to hear them without the
variety in instrumentation and careful overall treatment. Once you remember,
however, that the show here was about the CONTEXT for the music as much as the
music itself, you're willing to forgive...just don't ever think of it as a stand-in
for the original albums and you'll be fine.
Final, fun hint: for an even
cooler experience, pull out Intermission.
Program Track 1 before this CD starts; program tracks 2-4 between "Migration"
and the following narration; and program track 5 after "Happy Home."
It's bitchen.
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