Mystery Box
The Mystery Box was an item (or rather, a variety of items) sold by The Residents at the merchandise stand on at least two of their tours, with the first box being made available on The Bunny Boy tour in 2008. [1]
The second Mystery Box was revealed by the group's lead singer Randy Rose during the Ultimate Box Set promotional video in 2012. It was available for sale at the merchandise table during the Wonder of Weird tour for the eye-watering price of $4,999,999.[2]
The first box
The first Mystery Box was announced by The Cryptic Corporation's web administrator Big Brother on The Residents' official blog in September 2008, prior to the start of the group's Bunny Boy tour.
The contents of the box were said to change from night to night. Other than this, no further explanation was offered by the group.[1]
The second box
"This is it. It's a one of a kind, beyond-the-valley-of-the-blue-moose-cucamonga-stand-up-and-shout-CONSTANTINOPLE item!" - Randy Rose
According to The Residents' lead singer Randy Rose, the creation of the second Mystery Box was a response to a message from one J. Edgar Sacamoto, who felt that the group's highly expensive and limited edition Ultimate Box Set was underwhelming. The Mystery Box therefore went up for sale at the same time as the Ultimate Box Set. with a price tag of $4,999,999 (compared to the $100,000 price of the Box Set).[2]
Visually, the second Mystery Box appears to have been at least partly inspired by the wrapped present seen in the video for "Act of Being Polite" although the color of the wrapping paper differs. It was sighted at the merchandise table on the group's 40th Anniversary tour The Wonder of Weird, although it was never purchased.
Contents
Many theories have been thrown around as to what was inside the second Mystery Box, with theories including the original Polaroid used to create the cover art of The Residents' debut EP Santa Dog, an unmasked picture of the group, and the rejection letter they received from Warner Brothers.
It was ultimately revealed by Homer Flynn during a reading of The Brick-Eaters in August 2018 that the Mystery Box contained the complete publishing rights to all of The Residents' music. He also explained that the Mystery Box had been something of a joke/publicity stunt and that they did not expect anyone to buy it.[3]
Since the publishing rights to The Residents' music are now partly owned by Cherry Red Records and MVD Audio, the Mystery Box is no longer available for sale.
See also
External links and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Big Brother, "Tour Merch update", The Residents Blog, September 27th 2008
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://youtu.be/7T343JR_BjM
- ↑ Ultimate Box Set#cite note-4