SIDE A - Santa Dog '78
SIDE B - Fire (1972)
SANTA DOG '78
45rpm Single
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SIDE A - Santa Dog '78 SIDE B - Fire (1972) |
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The Residents updated "Fire" from their Santa Dog release to exhibit their new sound in 1978. The B-Side was the original "Fire," mixed down at 40 rpm so it played back ever-so-slightly fast on a 45 rpm turntable.
The "Santa Dog '78" single was distributed as a free Christmas present to everyone on th Ralph Records mailing list.
It also effectively started the Residents' tradition of re-recording "Fire" every time they felt their style had significantly changed since the last recording.
RATING: 6
I had "Santa Dog '78" wrong. I thought it was a real and complete reduction of the original song. It isn't. Instead it is a new perspective, one that plays up the song's ultimate silliness and experimentation, and brings in some avant noise. It has its own little charm, and I like it a lot better now that I know this!
There's one problem. "Santa Dog '78" can't be quite as ballsy, novel, or as durned interesting as its predecessor. And since the first "Fire" is the B-side, that fact is all the more obvious. And maybe I'm not supposed to think of the '78 purely in relation to the '72—but, fellas, when you do a cover of your own song, give it a sequel-ish name, and put the original right there with it...you're asking for it!
Still, it's good. And it's neat to hear the Residents second-guessing themselves this way. So...yeah. Good.
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