Santa Dog EP

The EP is notorious amongst Residents fans for being incredibly hard to find, of the 500 copies pressed, only 400 copies were deemed usable, 300 were sent to 'Close friends', and 100 were sent to record stores. Richard Nixon and Frank Zappa were two who were sent some of the 300 copies. Zappa's copy was returned to The Residents with the note "No Longer At Address". Nixon's copy was also refused, inspiring the title of their 1999 compilation album Refused. Santa Dog is referenced in the palindrome which reads "A Santa dog lived as a devil god at NASA" and is the inspiration for the title .The Residents had decided to make it tradition to re-record the title track "Fire" every 6 years. They did this once, for Santa Dog '78, but when beginning production on Santa Dog '84, they realized their sound hadn't changed enough since 1978, and so they chose to re-record Santa Dog whenever they felt their music had changed. In 2014, the original EP was re-pressed for the first time. [2]

"Santa Dog '78"
Single by The Residents
Released	December 1978
Songwriter(s)	The Residents
The Residents singles chronology
"The Beatles Play The Residents and The Residents Play The Beatles" (1977) "Santa Dog '78" (1978) "Diskomo" (1980)

Santa Dog '78 was the first re-working of the original 'Fire' single. It was given away to mail order customers. The B Side is the original Fire Single remixed to 40 RPM.[2] A Fan on RateYourMusic compared the remake to The Residents versions of Satisfaction and Flying, in that it chooses which parts to be authentic to.[3]

Santa Dog '88
EP by The Residents
Released	December 1988
Length	12:00
Label	UWEB
The Residents EP chronology
Kaw-Liga (1988) Santa Dog '88 (1988) Double Shot (1988)

Santa Dog '88 is the third released re-working of Fire, it was given out to members of The Residents fan club, known as UWEB.

The EP contains an outtake from The Residents Santa Dog '84 sessions, which was scrapped initially because the band believed their sound hadn't changed enough since 1978, but scraps of which were used for their single "For Elise" [2]

Santa Dog '92 was released January 1993[4] to members of The Residents' then fan club, UWEB. It was the last release by UWEB, which went defunct shortly afterwards.[5] The track features the more story driven style developed by The Residents through Buckaroo Blues (1989), The King & Eye (1989) & Freak Show (1990), combined with the re-working techniques used in Our Finest Flowers (1992). It is the longest version of Santa Dog released, clocking in at nearly 13 minutes, longer than all previous Santa Dog releases.

In compilations since, the track has been re-titled 'Where Are Your Dogs? Show Us Your Ugly!'[6]