Snakefinger ‎– "The Spot" (Ralph Records 7" ‎– RR7805) 1978

Snakefinger's solo debut single, attractively pressed in Blue vinyl, is his best and most commercial tune. Should have fit right in with the Post-punk flood very nicely,especially in his native UK. Anything in coloured vinyl nailed to the wall of yer local pop emporium got bought pronto, so one imagines that this shifted a few units.
'Meet The Residents' favourite "Smelly Tongues" gets a Lithman overhaul on side B to further add to this 7 incher's cred.

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Snakefinger ‎– "Manual Of Errors" (Ralph Records ‎– SN 8203) 1982

Not Lithman's best album, but still ahead of the pack by some margin in invention and creepy quirkiness. "You Sliced Up My Wife" is one of Snakefinger's best tunes, and its got classic 1980+ porno graphic's style artwork. So its a thing of great barely fathomable beauty.
After this he went on to do some awful blues stuff,in between guesting for the Residents, leading up to his untimely death in 1987.

Tracklist:
Yeti: What Are You? 4:01
Beatnik Party 3:42
The Garden Of Earthly Delights 3:00
You Sliced Up My Wife 1:59
I Followed George's Dream 5:16
Bring Back Reality 5:06
Shining Faces ("I Am Nino") 2:19
Eva's Warning 4:33
Private Universe / The Life On Nebulov 7:25

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Snakefinger ‎– "Greener Postures" (Ralph Records ‎– SN-8053-L) 1980

Snakefinger was on a roll ,post 1975, once Chilli Willi had run its course.
His second solo album for Ralph is at least the equal of "Chewing Hides The Sound", with more quirky but strange pop songs. Hummable but creepy, a rare combination indeed.

Tracklist:

Golden Goat
Don't Lie
The Man In The Dark Sedan
I Come From An Island
Jungle Princess
Trashing All The Loves Of History
Save Me From Dali
Living In Vain
The Picture Makers Vs. Children Of The Sea

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Snakefinger - "Chewing Hides The Sound" (Ralph Records - SNK 7909) 1979

Even though we saw pictures of Snakefinger, and knew he was in abysmally bad pub rock group Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, there was still an aire of mystery about him. Like most artists featured on the official Buy or Die innersleeve that accompanied all Ralph releases up to 1982.
The music is typically inventive and features the trademark harmonised, pitch shifted Snakefinger guitar sound, that adorned most Residents records from that golden period.
Naturally there are many Resident contributions to this fine LP, which is justified as they were heavily  indebted to Phillip 'Snakefinger ' Lithman for his many musicianly interjections on their best recordings. As he could actually play an instrument, he was essential to compliment the Residents masterly,and monophonic, use of 'wrong notes'. They are both greatly missed, as Phil Lithman died (for real) in 1987, and the Residents died Artistically) around 1983-ish. Reside in Peace both of you.

Tracklist:

The Model 3:39
Kill The Great Raven 3:05
Jesus Was A Leprechaun 2:00
Here Comes The Bums 2:51
The Vivian Girls 2:59
Magic And Ecstasy 2:51
Who Is The Culprit And Who Is The Victim? 2:59
What Wilbur? 2:35
Picnic In The Jungle 4:00
Friendly Warning 2:39
I Love Mary 2:33
The Vultures Of Bombay 3:06

DOWNOADing reveals the sound HERE!

Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers ‎– "Bongos Over Balham" (Mooncrest ‎– CREST 21) 1974

What are the odds that two bands can exist with the words Chilli, Red, Hot, and Peppers in their group moniker, and both be so skin crawlingly awful?
This outing by Snakefinger's Pub Rock group isn't as terrible as the debut, less countrified with a hint of something more rocky.....just a hint mind!
They are  now a group, having recruited other musicians, including one Pete Thomas; soon to be one of Elvis Costello's Attractions.
Snakefingers distinctive guitar style can be heard all over this one, which would find a natural home on the Residents classic pre 1983 records.

Tracklist:

Choo Choo Ch' Boogie 3:29
We Get Along 3:01
Desert Island Woman 5:23
All In A Dream 3:54
Fiddle Diddle 2:50
Breathe A Little 2:45
Truck Driving Girl 2:12
Jungle Song 3:61
Midnight Bus 2:18
Just Like The Devil 2:46
9-5 Songwriting Man 3:38

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Chilli Willi And The Red Hot Peppers ‎– "Kings Of The Robot Rhythm" (Revelation Enterprises Ltd. ‎– REV 002) 1972

From its slightly racist cover, to the unpleasant hippie photo's on the inner, this music makes me wanna puke! .....but......it bizarrely has a Residents connection in the form of Phillip "Snakefinger" Lithman, who was one of those dirty hippies featured in the photos herein!
After hanging round with the Residents in Frisco, Phillip returned to the UK in time for the early Pub Rock scene ,and formed Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers as a duo, with another hippie. At this time Pub Rock was primarily concerned with trying to be an american redneck, this didn't exist in the UK, as an alternative to the topographic oceans of Prog Rock that were prevalent at the time. After listening to this I was sent scrambling for my copy of "Tales of Topographic Oceans" by Yes, it was that shit! The ironic thing is that this stuff is just as 'muso*' (*a derogatory term for a technically gifted and terminally boring Musician) , as a Rick Wakeman concept album, but less authentic. At least Rick was being himself. Country music is and has always been a crime against Culture, up there with the destruction of Palmyra in Syria.
This casts an uncomfortable shadow over who or what the Residents were in 1971!?
I remember Bill Drummond recounting seeing the Residents 'Mole Show' and spying a tuft of long thick curly hair protruding from the base of the eyeball mask of a Resident. This, quite rightly, destroyed his admiration of said group somewhat. I'm not quite that fickle, but it does take the shine off their peerless work up to that mole show watershed in the Residents career.
Thankfully Pub Rock got a bit more mean and exciting in the years after this, with the rejection of this Bluegrass nonsense and a return to some balls to the wall R'n'R!
Then Snakefinger cut his hair ,shaved off that moustache, and help create some of the most bizarre pop music ever made.

Tracklist:

Living Out My Suitcase
The Ballad Of Chilli Willi
Window Pane
I'll Be Home
Nashville Rag
That's All Right Mamma
Drunken Sunken Red Neck Blues
Get Your Gauge Up Let Your Love Come Down
Happy You/Fiddle Dee
Astrella From The Astral Planet
Paper Mill
A Page In History

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Various Artists - "Frank Johnson's Favorites" (Ralph Records RR8110) 1981

As selected by the Ralph records computer, a certain mr Frank Johnson(Oh those Zany chaps!). Here are his/her/its favourite Ralph Records recordings. Mostly obscure B-sides, and unreleased compositions from Ralph's band of weirdo's from around 1977 to 81. No Chrome on this one, but this is compensated for by a hefty number of Englishmen. San Francisco must have ran out of weirdo's!?

Great tracks by UK pub Rocker, Phillip Lithman, aka Snakefinger; unreleased gibberish from the medical men of Renaldo and the Loaf; a couple of Henry Cow connected numbers from Fred Frith and Art Bears; Swiss art pop from Yello; more MX-80 Sound avant rock riffage; and two decent singles from Tuxedo Moon (when they were still good).

Of course we also get a couple of excellent Residents B-Sides,which, naturally are the best, and weirdest ,of the bunch.

A great compilation to alienate your conformist friends,and to prove that you are an intellectual who can appreciate things from outside of outside the box.

Sleeve Notes:

Compilation of single B-sides and non-LP tracks selected by Frank Johnson, the Ralph Records computer (at that time):

Track A1: released as a single in 1980, never before on any LP,
Track A2: released as the B side to "Dancing In The Street" single (1980),
Track A3: never before released. Thanks to Melvyn for sitting still,
Track A4: released as a single in 1980, never before on any LP,
Track A5: released as the B side of "Satisfaction" single (1976), never before on any LP,
Track A6: released as the B side of "The Spot" single in 1978, never before on any LP,
Track B1: released as the B side of "Bimbo" single (1980), never before on any LP,
Track B2: released as the B side of "Someday You'll Be King" (1980), never before on any LP,
Track B3: released as the B side of "Man In The Dark Sedan" single (1980), never before on any LP,
Track B4: released as the second side of "The Beatles Play The Residents - The Residents Play The Beatles" single (1977), never before on any LP,
Track B5: released as the B side of "Rats And Monkeys" single (1979), never before on any LP,
Track B6: released as the B side of "What Use?" single (1980), never before on any LP.

Tracklist :

A1	–Tuxedomoon	Dark Companion	4:10
A2	–Fred Frith	What A Dilemma	3:12
A3	–Renaldo And The Loaf	Melvyn's Repose	2:05
A4	–MX-80 Sound	O Type	3:36
A5	–Residents, The	Loser = Weed	2:09
A6	–Snakefinger	Smelly Tongues	2:24
B1	–Yello	I.T. Splash	2:37
B2	–MX-80 Sound	White Night	4:17
B3	–Snakefinger	Womb To Worm	3:13
B4	–Residents, The	Flying	3:22
B5	–Art Bears	Collapse (Edited Version)	3:00
B6	–Tuxedomoon	Crash	5:26

DOWNLOAD frank johnson's favorites and make them your own HERE!