The Residents' sixth album, Eskimo was their biggest success as band yet. The new wave press hailed it as a musical breakthrough and a milestone. This was quite a reaction for an album the band themselves expected to flop for being too pretentious. To keep the newfound success from going to their eyeball-masked heads, and to reinforce the fact that The Residents' music was always changing, decided to create a disco remix of Eskimo.
Diskomo uses elements from the various "songs" on Eskimo to create a bouncy new wave disco tune. The result was a bizarre parody of both disco music, and The Residents own work. Diskomo was debuted by The Residents when they took over San Francisco's largest Disco Hall and blasted the music at the dancers.
Diskomo was originally released as a 7" single, backed by Goosebump, a collection of Mother Goose rhymes set to twisted music. Goosebump was performed by The Residents and Snakefinger on instruments purchased from a local Toys R' Us. The songs bring back the sinister overtones of the original nusery rhymes, and are a bizarre counterpoint to the Diskomo track.
The Residents revisited Diskomo every few years. For The 13th Anniversary Show, Diskomo was performed in a percussion heavy version as an encore. In 1992, a live performance was released as a flexi-disc in Reflex Magazine. Finally, in 2000, The Residents revisited Diskomo once more for the Diskomo 2000 EP.
Tracklist:
- Diskomo
- Theme from the Walrus Hunt
- Bladder Music
- Crossing the Tundra
- Spirit Battle
- Sunrise
- Theme from the Walrus Hunt (reprise)
Goosebump
- Disaster
- Plants
- Farmers
- Twinkle