New News From New Ralph, February 26th 1983
"New News From New Ralph" was a press release issued by New Ralph on February 26th 1983, following The Cryptic Corporation's move from their headquarters at 444 Grove Street in San Francisco to a smaller space at 109 Minna Street following the resignation of John Kennedy.
The press release promotes The Residents' then-upcoming tour of The Mole Show and compilation album Residue of The Residents, as well as the Renaldo & The Loaf album Arabic Yodelling, while noting that an upcoming album by guitarist Fred Frith is nearing completion.
The below text has been transcribed to this wiki by a Mysterious Spanish Lady from a photograph of a copy of the press release kept by former Heavy Metal magazine editor Lou Stathis (September 29th 1952 – May 4th 1997)[1] which was being auctioned on eBay in mid-2022.
Stathis' copy includes a personal inscription from a Resident at the bottom of the page; the Resident has circled the phrases "6-8 weeks of" and "dates all over Europe" from the text of the press release, and drawn lines leading down the margin of the page to their note which reads: "and we expect you at every one! The Residents".
The press release
NEW NEWS FROM NEW RALPH FEBRUARY 26, 1983
"NEW" RALPH, YOU ASK. HOW ABOUT "SORTA NEW"? RALPH HAS MOVED. NO MORE 444. WRITE THIS DOWN...
- RALPH
- 109 MINNA STREET #391
- SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105
- PHONE 415/543-4085
- TELEX 278498 SRVCE UR
A NEW CATALOG IS NOW OUT THAT IS FULL OF INTERESTING STUFF. THE RUMOR THAT RALPH HAS DROPPED ALL OF IT'S ACTS EXCEPT THE RESIDENTS WILL BE PLACED ALONG SIDE ALL THE OTHER FAULTY RALPH RUMORS AS THE NEW CATALOG OFFERS THE NEW ALBUM BY RENALDO & THE LOAF NAMED "ARABIC YODELLING". A NEW FRED FRITH LP IS NEARING COMPLETION, TOO.
BUT MAIN EMPHASIS IS ON THE RESIDENTS AS THEY PREPARE TO OPEN THEIR HIT "MOLE SHOW" IN FRANCE MAY 12TH. FOLLOWING THAT COMES 6-8 WEEKS OF RIGOROUS DATES ALL OVER EUROPE.
WORK CONTINUES ON EAST COAST DATES, BUT EAST COAST PROMOTERS ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH SUCH A LARGE AND EXPENSIVE SHOW. SURELY A SUCCESSFUL EUROPEAN TOURS WILL ENCOURAGE PROMOTERS TO BRING MOLES TO THE ATLANTIC STATES.
THE RESIDENTS HAVE A "NEW" RELEASE, TOO. WELL, SORTA NEW. IT'S CALLED "RESIDUE" AND IT HAS SIX PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED SONGS, FIVE "RARE" SONGS, AND ONE "ORIGINAL VERSION" OF A RELEASED SONG. IT WILL BE OUT IN APRIL.
ENCLOSED IS A RECORD WE THINK YOU'LL LIKE.