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Pixies (band)
Encyclopedia
The Pixies are an American alternative rock
band formed in Boston
, Massachusetts in 1986. The group consists of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar), Joey Santiago
(lead guitar), Kim Deal
(bass, vocals), and David Lovering (drums). While the Pixies found only modest success in their home country, they were significantly more successful in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. The group disbanded in 1993 under acrimonious circumstances but reunited in 2004.
The band's style of music contains elements including indie rock
and surf rock
. Black Francis is the Pixies' primary songwriter and singer who has been noted for his yowling delivery. He has typically written about offbeat subjects, such as extraterrestrials, surrealism and biblical violence.
The group has been described as a big influence on the alternative rock boom of the 1990s, though they disbanded before reaping any of the benefits this might have brought them. Avowed fan Kurt Cobain
's acknowledgment of the debt his band Nirvana
owed to the Pixies, along with similar tributes by other alternative bands, helped the Pixies' legacy and popularity grow in the years following their break-up, leading to sold-out tours following their reunion in 2004.
. Although Santiago was worried about distractions, he noticed Francis played music and the pair began to jam together. Francis then embarked on a student exchange trip to Puerto Rico
to study Spanish. After six months, he returned to Amherst and dropped out of the university. Francis and Santiago spent 1984 working in a warehouse, with Francis composing songs on his acoustic guitar and writing lyrics on the subway train.
The pair formed a band in January 1986. Bass player Kim Deal joined Santiago and Francis two weeks later after responding to a classified advertisement Francis had placed, seeking a female bass player who liked both folk music
icons Peter, Paul and Mary
and the band Hüsker Dü
. Deal was the only person to respond, but arrived at the audition without a bass
as she had never played the instrument before. She later obtained one, and the trio started rehearsing in Deal's apartment.
After recruiting Deal, the band tried unsuccessfully to get her sister, Kelley Deal
, to join as its drummer. Kim's husband suggested they hire drummer David Lovering, whom Kim had met at her wedding reception. The group arrived at a name after Santiago selected the word "pixies" randomly from a dictionary and took a liking to how it looked and its definition as "mischievous little elves". Once the band had settled on a name and stable line-up, they moved rehearsals to Lovering's parents' garage in mid-1986. They began to play shows at bars in and around the Boston area.
, they were noticed by producer Gary Smith
, manager of Fort Apache Studios
. He told the band he "could not sleep until you guys are world famous." The band produced a 17-track demo at Fort Apache soon afterwards, known to fans as "The Purple Tape" because of the tape cover's purple background. Funded by Francis' father at the cost of $1000, the recording session was completed in three days. Local promoter Ken Goes became the band's manager, and he passed the demo to Ivo Watts-Russell
of the independent record label 4AD
. Watts-Russell nearly passed on the band, finding them too normal, "too rock 'n' roll", but signed them at the persuasion of his girlfriend.
Upon signing with 4AD, eight tracks from the Purple Tape were selected for the Come On Pilgrim
EP, the band's first release. On the EP, Francis drew upon his experiences in Puerto Rico, mostly in the songs "Vamos" and "Isla de Encanta"; the album included lyrics describing the poverty in Puerto Rico. The religious lyrics in Come On Pilgrim and later albums came from his parents' born-again Christian days in the Pentecostal Church. Critic Heather Phares sees themes such as sexual frustration ("I've Been Tired") and incest ("Nimrod's Son" and "The Holiday Song") on the EP.
. The album was recorded by Steve Albini
(who was hired by Watts-Russell on the advice of a 4AD colleague), completed in two weeks, and released in early 1988. Surfer Rosa gained the Pixies acclaim in Europe; both Melody Maker
and Sounds
gave Surfer Rosa their "Album of the Year" award. American critical response was also positive yet more muted, a reaction that persisted for much of the band's career. The album was eventually certified Gold in the U.S. in 2005. After the album was released, the band arrived in England to support Throwing Muses on the European "Sex and Death" tour—beginning at the Mean Fiddler
in London. The tour became notable for the band's in-joke
s, such as playing their entire set list
in alphabetical order.
Meanwhile, they signed an American distribution deal with major record label Elektra
. Around this time, the Pixies struck up a relationship with the British producer Gil Norton
. Norton produced their second full album, Doolittle
, which was recorded in the last six weeks of 1988 and seen as a departure from the raw sound of Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa. Doolittle had a much cleaner sound, largely due to Norton and the production budget of US$
40,000, which was quadruple that of Surfer Rosa. Doolittle featured the single "Here Comes Your Man
", which biographers Josh Frank and Caryn Ganz describe as an unusually jaunty and pop-like song for the band. "Monkey Gone to Heaven
" was a Top 10 modern rock
radio hit in the U.S., and reached the Top 100 in the U.K. Like Surfer Rosa, Doolittle was acclaimed by fans and music critics alike.
), and Deal was almost fired from the band when she refused to play at a concert in Frankfurt
. Santiago, in an interview with Mojo
, described Deal as being "headstrong and want[ing] to include her own songs, to explore her own world" on the band's albums; eventually she accepted that Francis was the singer and had musical control of the band, but after the Frankfurt incident, "they kinda stopped talking". The band became increasingly tired during the post-Doolittle "Fuck or Fight" tour of the United States and fighting among members continued. After the tour's final date in New York
, the band was too exhausted to attend the end-of-tour party the following night and soon announced a hiatus.
During this time, Santiago and Lovering went on vacation, while Francis performed a short solo tour, made up of a number of concerts to generate gas money as he traveled across the country. Deal formed a new band, The Breeders
, with Tanya Donelly
of Throwing Muses
and bass player Josephine Wiggs
of Perfect Disaster. Their debut album, Pod, was released in 1990.
" and "Dig for Fire
", Bossanova
reached number 70 in the United States. In contrast, the album peaked at number three in the United Kingdom. Also in 1990, the Pixies released a cover of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's
"Born in Chicago" on the compilation album Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary.
The band continued to tour, and released Trompe le Monde
in 1991, their final album before their break-up. The album included "U-Mass", which has been described as being about college apathy, and whose guitar riff was written years before at the University of Massachusetts before Francis and Santiago dropped out. The album also featured a cover of "Head On" by The Jesus and Mary Chain
. Also that year, the band contributed a cover of "I Can't Forget" to the Leonard Cohen
tribute album
I'm Your Fan
, and began an international tour on which they played stadiums in Europe and smaller venues in the United States. They then embarked on an uncomfortable tour supporting U2
on their Zoo TV tour in 1992. Tensions rose between band members, and, at the end of the year, the Pixies went on sabbatical and focused on separate projects.
In early 1993, Francis announced in an interview to BBC Radio 5
that the band was finished and offered no explanation at the time, unbeknownst to the other members of the band. He later called Santiago and subsequently notified Deal and Lovering via fax
, in January 1993. After the break-up, the four members embarked on separate projects. Black Francis renamed himself Frank Black
, and he released several solo albums, including a string of releases with Frank Black and the Catholics. Deal returned to The Breeders, who scored a hit with "Cannonball" from that group's platinum-selling Last Splash
in 1993, and released two more albums several years later. She also formed and released one album with The Amps
. Santiago played lead guitar on multiple Frank Black albums, as well as on other artists' albums. He wrote theme music for the show Undeclared
on Fox
television and for Crime and Punishment in Suburbia
. He formed a band called The Martinis
with his wife, Linda Mallari, who released an album in 2004. Lovering went on to become a magician and made occasional appearances as "The Scientific Phenomenalist", performing experiments on stage and occasionally opening for Frank Black and The Breeders. Lovering continued to do some drumming, playing with the band Cracker
, as well as on one of Tanya Donelly
's solo albums, and on the Martinis' song "Free", which appeared on the Empire Records
soundtrack.
4AD and Elektra Records continued to release Pixies material in the band's absence. They released the best-of album Death to the Pixies
(1997), the Peel-session compilation Pixies at the BBC
(1998), and the Complete 'B' Sides
compilation (2001). Meanwhile, in 2002 material from the band's original 17-track demo tape was released as an EP, Pixies, on Cooking Vinyl in the U.K. and SpinArt Records in the U.S.; Frank Black has also used these labels to release solo work and albums with The Catholics.
In the 11 years following the break-up, rumours sometimes circulated regarding a reunion. Though Frank Black steadfastly dismissed them, he did begin to incorporate an increasing number of Pixies songs in his sets with The Catholics, and occasionally included Santiago in his solo work and Lovering's magic show as an opening act to concerts.
In 2003, a series of phone calls between band members resulted in some low-key rehearsals, and soon to a decision to reunite. By February 2004, a full tour was announced, and tickets for nearly all the initial tour dates sold out within minutes. The band's four-night run at London's Brixton Academy was the fastest selling in the venue's 20-year history.
The Pixies played their first reunion concert on April 13, 2004, at The Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota
, and a warm-up tour through the U.S. and Canada was followed by an appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
. The band then spent much of 2004 touring throughout Brazil, Europe, Japan, and the U.S. The group won the Act-of-the-Year award in the 2004 Boston Music Awards. The 2004 reunion tour reportedly grossed over $14 million in ticket sales.
In June 2004, the band released a new single, "Bam Thwok
" exclusively on the iTunes Music Store. The song reached number one in the UK Official Download Chart
. 4AD released Wave of Mutilation: The Best of Pixies
, along with a companion DVD, entitled Pixies. The band also contributed a rendition of "Ain't That Pretty At All" to the Warren Zevon
tribute album Enjoy Every Sandwich
. "Bam Thwok
" and "Ain't That Pretty At All" were both recorded by engineer Ben Mumphrey
, the former at Stagg Street Studios
in Van Nuys, CA and the latter at Metamorphosis Studio in Vienna, Austria.
In 2005, the band made appearances at festivals including Lollapalooza
, "T on the Fringe", and the Newport Folk Festival
. The band continued to make appearances through 2006 and 2007, culminating in their first-ever appearances in Australia. Since 2005, Francis has at various times stated that the Pixies recording a new studio album was either a possibility, or an unlikelihood, the main obstacle being Deal's reluctance to do so.
In order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Doolittle, the Pixies launched a tour in October 2009, on which they perform all the album's songs and B-sides. The tour began in Europe, continued in the United States in November, with Australia, New Zealand, and more European dates in spring 2010, and back to North America in fall 2010 and into spring 2011. In the autumn of 2011 the "Lost Cities" tour continued the "Doolittle Tour" as they played many venues for the first time.
, Captain Beefheart
, and Iggy Pop
; Other influences associated with Francis include The Gun Club and The Cars
. During the making of Doolittle he was listening heavily to The Beatles
' White Album
. He has cited Buddy Holly
as a model for his compressed songwriting.
Santiago listened to 1970s and 1980s punk (including Black Flag
) and David Bowie
. Guitarists who influenced him include Jimi Hendrix
, Les Paul
, Wes Montgomery
, and George Harrison
. Deal's musical background was folk music and country
; she had formed a country-folk band with her sister in her teenage years, and played covers of artists such as The Everly Brothers
and Hank Williams. Other artists they listened to included XTC
, Gang of Four
and Elvis Costello
. Lovering is a fan of the band Rush
.
Other media such as film has had an impact on the Pixies; Francis cites surrealist films Eraserhead
and Un chien andalou
(as mentioned in "Debaser") as influences. He has commented on these influences, saying he "didn't have the patience to sit around reading Surrealist novels", but found it easier to watch twenty-minute films.
. I'm obsessed with them. Why it comes out so much I don't know." He has described Come on Pilgrims "Caribou" as being about reincarnation, and extraterrestrial themes appear in a number of songs on Bossanova.
Deal co-wrote Doolittles "Silver" with Francis, and they share lead harmony vocals on the track. She wrote and sang lead vocals on Surfer Rosas "Gigantic", and the single "Bam Thwok", credited as Mrs. John Murphy on the former composition—at the time she was married and she used this name as an ironic feminist
joke. She also sang lead vocals on the Francis-written "Into the White" and the Neil Young cover "I've Been Waiting For You", both B-sides. Lovering sang lead vocals on Doolittles "La La Love You" and the B-side "Make Believe".
Sonically, the Pixies are credited with popularizing the extreme dynamics and stop-start timing that would become widespread in alternative rock; Pixies songs typically feature hushed, restrained verses, and explosive, wailing choruses. Artists including David Bowie
, Radiohead
,PJ Harvey
, U2
, The Strokes
, Weezer
, and Pavement
have cited admiration of or influence by the Pixies. Bono
of U2 has called the Pixies "one of America's greatest bands ever", and Radiohead's Thom Yorke
has said that, while at school, "the Pixies had changed my life". Bowie, whose own music had inspired Francis and Santiago while they were at university, has said that the Pixies made "just about the most compelling music of the entire 80s".
One notable citation as an influence was by Kurt Cobain, on influencing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which he admitted was a conscious attempt to co-opt the Pixies' style. In a January 1994 interview with Rolling Stone
, he said, "I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it [smiles]. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band—or at least in a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard." Cobain cited Surfer Rosa as one of his main musical influences, and particularly admired the album's natural and powerful drum sounds—a result of Steve Albini's influence on the record. Albini later produced Nirvana's 1993 In Utero
at the request of Cobain.
By Bossanova, the band had developed a severe aversion to recording music videos, and Francis refused to lip-sync to them. For example, in the "Here Comes Your Man" video, both Black and Deal open their mouths wide instead of mouthing their lyrics. According to the record label this became one of the reasons that the Pixies never achieved major coverage on MTV
.
With Bossanovas release, 4AD hoped to get the Pixies chosen to perform their single "Velouria" on the BBC music program Top of the Pops
. To this end, the band was pressured into producing a video for the song, and they made one cheaply with the band members filmed running down a quarry, shown in slow motion. The group was ultimately not given a spot on the show.
A 90-minute documentary called loudQUIETloud: a film about The Pixies directed by Steven Cantor
and Matthew Galkin
was released in 2006. The film documents their 2004 reunion and tour, and covers the years after the break-up. In addition to Pixies and LoudQUIETloud, four other Pixies' DVDs were released between 2004 and 2006, all featuring concert performances: Live at the Town and Country Club 1988, The Pixies—Sell Out, The Pixies Acoustic: Live in Newport, and The Pixies Club Date: Live at the Paradise in Boston.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band formed in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts in 1986. The group consists of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar), Joey Santiago
Joey Santiago
Joey Santiago is a Filipino-American guitarist and composer. Active since 1986, Santiago is best known as the lead guitarist for the American alternative rock band Pixies. After the band's breakup in 1993, Santiago produced musical scores for film and television documentaries, and he formed The...
(lead guitar), Kim Deal
Kim Deal
Kimberley Ann Deal is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the bassist of the alternative rock band the Pixies and the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for The Breeders. Deal first joined the Pixies in January 1986 as the band's bassist, adopting the stage name Mrs...
(bass, vocals), and David Lovering (drums). While the Pixies found only modest success in their home country, they were significantly more successful in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. The group disbanded in 1993 under acrimonious circumstances but reunited in 2004.
The band's style of music contains elements including indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and surf rock
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
. Black Francis is the Pixies' primary songwriter and singer who has been noted for his yowling delivery. He has typically written about offbeat subjects, such as extraterrestrials, surrealism and biblical violence.
The group has been described as a big influence on the alternative rock boom of the 1990s, though they disbanded before reaping any of the benefits this might have brought them. Avowed fan Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
's acknowledgment of the debt his band Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
owed to the Pixies, along with similar tributes by other alternative bands, helped the Pixies' legacy and popularity grow in the years following their break-up, leading to sold-out tours following their reunion in 2004.
Formation
Joey Santiago and Black Francis (born Charles Thompson IV) first met when they lived next to each other in a suite while attending the University of Massachusetts AmherstUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
. Although Santiago was worried about distractions, he noticed Francis played music and the pair began to jam together. Francis then embarked on a student exchange trip to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
to study Spanish. After six months, he returned to Amherst and dropped out of the university. Francis and Santiago spent 1984 working in a warehouse, with Francis composing songs on his acoustic guitar and writing lyrics on the subway train.
The pair formed a band in January 1986. Bass player Kim Deal joined Santiago and Francis two weeks later after responding to a classified advertisement Francis had placed, seeking a female bass player who liked both folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
icons Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
and the band Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
. Deal was the only person to respond, but arrived at the audition without a bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
as she had never played the instrument before. She later obtained one, and the trio started rehearsing in Deal's apartment.
After recruiting Deal, the band tried unsuccessfully to get her sister, Kelley Deal
Kelley Deal
Kelley Deal is an American musician. The identical twin sister of Kim Deal, she is the lead guitarist of The Breeders, besides having a solo career.- Early days :...
, to join as its drummer. Kim's husband suggested they hire drummer David Lovering, whom Kim had met at her wedding reception. The group arrived at a name after Santiago selected the word "pixies" randomly from a dictionary and took a liking to how it looked and its definition as "mischievous little elves". Once the band had settled on a name and stable line-up, they moved rehearsals to Lovering's parents' garage in mid-1986. They began to play shows at bars in and around the Boston area.
Record contract and Come On Pilgrim
While the Pixies were playing a concert with Throwing MusesThrowing Muses
Throwing Muses is an alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, who both wrote the...
, they were noticed by producer Gary Smith
Gary Smith (record producer)
Gary Smith is an entrepreneur, record producer, and artist's manager known for his work recording albums by alternative rock musicians since the mid-1980s at Fort Apache Studios...
, manager of Fort Apache Studios
Fort Apache Studios
Fort Apache Studios is a New England recording studio internationally renowned for alternative rock sessions produced there since 1986. The studio is currently located in the village of Bellows Falls, Vermont in space leased in an old hotel called The Windham, owned by the town of Rockingham,...
. He told the band he "could not sleep until you guys are world famous." The band produced a 17-track demo at Fort Apache soon afterwards, known to fans as "The Purple Tape" because of the tape cover's purple background. Funded by Francis' father at the cost of $1000, the recording session was completed in three days. Local promoter Ken Goes became the band's manager, and he passed the demo to Ivo Watts-Russell
Ivo Watts-Russell
Ivo Watts-Russell was joint-founder with Peter Kent of the English indie record label 4AD. He has also produced several records, himself preferring to use the term "musical director" to explain his role in the creation....
of the independent record label 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
. Watts-Russell nearly passed on the band, finding them too normal, "too rock 'n' roll", but signed them at the persuasion of his girlfriend.
Upon signing with 4AD, eight tracks from the Purple Tape were selected for the Come On Pilgrim
Come on Pilgrim
Come On Pilgrim is the debut mini-LP release by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in September 1987 by 4AD.- Background :...
EP, the band's first release. On the EP, Francis drew upon his experiences in Puerto Rico, mostly in the songs "Vamos" and "Isla de Encanta"; the album included lyrics describing the poverty in Puerto Rico. The religious lyrics in Come On Pilgrim and later albums came from his parents' born-again Christian days in the Pentecostal Church. Critic Heather Phares sees themes such as sexual frustration ("I've Been Tired") and incest ("Nimrod's Son" and "The Holiday Song") on the EP.
Surfer Rosa and Doolittle
Come On Pilgrim was followed by the band's first full-length album, Surfer RosaSurfer Rosa
Like Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa displays a mix of musical styles; pop guitar songs such as "Broken Face", "Break My Body", and "Brick Is Red" are featured alongside slower, more melodic tracks exemplified by "Where Is My Mind?". The album includes heavier material, and prominently features the...
. The album was recorded by Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
(who was hired by Watts-Russell on the advice of a 4AD colleague), completed in two weeks, and released in early 1988. Surfer Rosa gained the Pixies acclaim in Europe; both Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
and Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
gave Surfer Rosa their "Album of the Year" award. American critical response was also positive yet more muted, a reaction that persisted for much of the band's career. The album was eventually certified Gold in the U.S. in 2005. After the album was released, the band arrived in England to support Throwing Muses on the European "Sex and Death" tour—beginning at the Mean Fiddler
Mean Fiddler
The Astoria 2, subsequently known as the LA2 then the Mean Fiddler, was a nightclub at 165 Charing Cross Road in London, England.The venue was connected to the London Astoria such that the two venues could function as a single venue where needed...
in London. The tour became notable for the band's in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
s, such as playing their entire set list
Set list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
in alphabetical order.
Meanwhile, they signed an American distribution deal with major record label Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
. Around this time, the Pixies struck up a relationship with the British producer Gil Norton
Gil Norton
Gil Norton is a British record producer known for his work with such bands as Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foo Fighters, Tribe, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Feeder, The Distillers, Maxïmo Park, Counting Crows, Terrorvision, The Triffids, Del Amitri, James, The Feelers, The Beekeepers,...
. Norton produced their second full album, Doolittle
Doolittle (album)
Doolittle features an eclectic mix of musical styles. While tracks such as "Tame" and "Crackity Jones" are fast and aggressive, and incorporate the band's trademark loud–quiet dynamic, other songs such as "Silver", "I Bleed", and "Here Comes Your Man" reveal a quieter, slower and more melodic...
, which was recorded in the last six weeks of 1988 and seen as a departure from the raw sound of Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa. Doolittle had a much cleaner sound, largely due to Norton and the production budget of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
40,000, which was quadruple that of Surfer Rosa. Doolittle featured the single "Here Comes Your Man
Here Comes Your Man
"Here Comes Your Man" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis. Produced by Gil Norton, it was released as the second single from the group's second album Doolittle in June 1989....
", which biographers Josh Frank and Caryn Ganz describe as an unusually jaunty and pop-like song for the band. "Monkey Gone to Heaven
Monkey Gone to Heaven
"Monkey Gone to Heaven" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies and is the seventh track on their 1989 album Doolittle. The song was written and sung by frontman Black Francis and was produced by Gil Norton. Referencing environmentalism and biblical numerology, the song's lyrics...
" was a Top 10 modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
radio hit in the U.S., and reached the Top 100 in the U.K. Like Surfer Rosa, Doolittle was acclaimed by fans and music critics alike.
Hiatus
After Doolittle tensions between Deal and Francis came to a head (for example, Francis threw a guitar at Deal during a concert in StuttgartStuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
), and Deal was almost fired from the band when she refused to play at a concert in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. Santiago, in an interview with Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
, described Deal as being "headstrong and want[ing] to include her own songs, to explore her own world" on the band's albums; eventually she accepted that Francis was the singer and had musical control of the band, but after the Frankfurt incident, "they kinda stopped talking". The band became increasingly tired during the post-Doolittle "Fuck or Fight" tour of the United States and fighting among members continued. After the tour's final date in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the band was too exhausted to attend the end-of-tour party the following night and soon announced a hiatus.
During this time, Santiago and Lovering went on vacation, while Francis performed a short solo tour, made up of a number of concerts to generate gas money as he traveled across the country. Deal formed a new band, The Breeders
The Breeders
The Breeders are an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 by Kim Deal of the Pixies and Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses. The band has experienced a number of line-up changes; the current line-up consists of Kim Deal , her twin sister Kelley Deal , Jose Medeles , Mando Lopez Todd the Fox...
, with Tanya Donelly
Tanya Donelly
Tanya Donelly is an American Grammy-nominated singer songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her stepsister Kristin Hersh. She then went on to work in The Breeders and Belly in the 1990s...
of Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses is an alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, who both wrote the...
and bass player Josephine Wiggs
Josephine Wiggs
Josephine Wiggs is an indie/alternative rock musician, noted for her work with the bands The Perfect Disaster, The Breeders, and Dusty Trails....
of Perfect Disaster. Their debut album, Pod, was released in 1990.
Bossanova, Trompe le Monde, and break-up
In 1990, all members of the group except for Deal moved to Los Angeles. Lovering stated that he, Santiago, and Francis moved there "because the recording studio was there". Unlike previous recordings, the band had little time to practice beforehand, and Black Francis wrote much of the album in the studio. Featuring the singles "VelouriaVelouria
"Velouria" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis. "Velouria" is featured on their album Bossanova, was the first single to be released from it and was the band's first UK Top 40 hit. The song features extensive use of theremin...
" and "Dig for Fire
Dig for Fire
"Dig for Fire" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies. The song appeared on their 1990 album Bossanova, and was released as a single in October 1990. The song reached number 11 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 62 in the UK....
", Bossanova
Bossanova
Bossanova is the third album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in August 1990 on the English independent record label 4AD in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. All of Bossanovas original material was written by the band's frontman Black Francis; it...
reached number 70 in the United States. In contrast, the album peaked at number three in the United Kingdom. Also in 1990, the Pixies released a cover of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
"Born in Chicago" on the compilation album Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary.
The band continued to tour, and released Trompe le Monde
Trompe le Monde
Trompe le Monde is the fourth and final album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in 1991 on the English independent record label 4AD in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States...
in 1991, their final album before their break-up. The album included "U-Mass", which has been described as being about college apathy, and whose guitar riff was written years before at the University of Massachusetts before Francis and Santiago dropped out. The album also featured a cover of "Head On" by The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride, Glasgow in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid...
. Also that year, the band contributed a cover of "I Can't Forget" to the Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
I'm Your Fan
I'm Your Fan
I'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen is a tribute album to Leonard Cohen, released in 1991, produced by the French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles. The album features Cohen's songs interpreted by some of the most respected rock acts of the time...
, and began an international tour on which they played stadiums in Europe and smaller venues in the United States. They then embarked on an uncomfortable tour supporting U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
on their Zoo TV tour in 1992. Tensions rose between band members, and, at the end of the year, the Pixies went on sabbatical and focused on separate projects.
In early 1993, Francis announced in an interview to BBC Radio 5
BBC Radio 5 (former)
BBC Radio 5 was a BBC radio network that carried sport, children's and educational programmes.It was transmitted via analogue radio on 693 and 909 kHz, and lasted for three years and eight months. The success of BBC Radio 4's coverage of the Gulf War, on a service known as Scud FM,...
that the band was finished and offered no explanation at the time, unbeknownst to the other members of the band. He later called Santiago and subsequently notified Deal and Lovering via fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
, in January 1993. After the break-up, the four members embarked on separate projects. Black Francis renamed himself Frank Black
Frank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
, and he released several solo albums, including a string of releases with Frank Black and the Catholics. Deal returned to The Breeders, who scored a hit with "Cannonball" from that group's platinum-selling Last Splash
Last Splash
Last Splash is the second album by indie rock band The Breeders, released August 1993. Originally formed as a side project for Pixies bassist Kim Deal, The Breeders quickly became her primary recording outlet....
in 1993, and released two more albums several years later. She also formed and released one album with The Amps
The Amps
The Amps were an indie-rock band from Dayton, Ohio. Formed by Kim Deal in 1995 after The Breeders went on hiatus, they first began touring as "Tammy Ampersand and the Amps" but it was later shortened to "The Amps."Their album Pacer was released in 1995.Kim Deal originally intended to play all of...
. Santiago played lead guitar on multiple Frank Black albums, as well as on other artists' albums. He wrote theme music for the show Undeclared
Undeclared
Undeclared is an American sitcom that aired on Fox during the 2001–02 season.- Premise :The half-hour comedy was Judd Apatow's follow-up to his earlier television series Freaks and Geeks, which also lasted for one season...
on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
television and for Crime and Punishment in Suburbia
Crime and Punishment in Suburbia
Crime and Punishment in Suburbia is a 2000 film directed by Rob Schmidt and starring Monica Keena , Ellen Barkin , Michael Ironside , James DeBello and Vincent Kartheiser ....
. He formed a band called The Martinis
The Martinis
The Martinis are a rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1993. The band consists of Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago and his wife Linda Mallari. They have released one album under the label Cooking Vinyl, Artist Direct, and Distracted/BMG...
with his wife, Linda Mallari, who released an album in 2004. Lovering went on to become a magician and made occasional appearances as "The Scientific Phenomenalist", performing experiments on stage and occasionally opening for Frank Black and The Breeders. Lovering continued to do some drumming, playing with the band Cracker
Cracker (band)
Cracker is an American alternative rock band featuring founders/songwriters singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. They are best known for their platinum-selling 1993 album, Kerosene Hat, featuring the hit songs "Low", "Euro-Trash Girl", and "Get Off This".Founders Lowery and Hickman...
, as well as on one of Tanya Donelly
Tanya Donelly
Tanya Donelly is an American Grammy-nominated singer songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her stepsister Kristin Hersh. She then went on to work in The Breeders and Belly in the 1990s...
's solo albums, and on the Martinis' song "Free", which appeared on the Empire Records
Empire Records
Empire Records is a 1995 coming of age film that follows a group of record store employees over the course of one exceptional day. The employees of this independent music store try to fight off a large chain, all while learning about each other...
soundtrack.
4AD and Elektra Records continued to release Pixies material in the band's absence. They released the best-of album Death to the Pixies
Death to the Pixies
Death to the Pixies was the first Pixies best-of compilation, released by 4AD in the UK on October 6, 1997 and 4AD/Elektra the following day in the United States to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the band's debut. It covered the years 1987 to 1991. It is currently out of print, having been...
(1997), the Peel-session compilation Pixies at the BBC
Pixies at the BBC
Pixies at the BBC is a compilation of live BBC radio sessions by the American alternative rock band Pixies. Released by 4AD on July 6, 1998 in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records on July 14, 1998 in the United States—five years after the band's initial split—it was recorded over several...
(1998), and the Complete 'B' Sides
Complete 'B' Sides
Complete 'B' Sides is a compilation record by the Pixies. It features the B-sides for all their six UK singles from the 1980s and 1990s and one U.S. single...
compilation (2001). Meanwhile, in 2002 material from the band's original 17-track demo tape was released as an EP, Pixies, on Cooking Vinyl in the U.K. and SpinArt Records in the U.S.; Frank Black has also used these labels to release solo work and albums with The Catholics.
Reunion
In 2003, a series of phone calls between band members resulted in some low-key rehearsals, and soon to a decision to reunite. By February 2004, a full tour was announced, and tickets for nearly all the initial tour dates sold out within minutes. The band's four-night run at London's Brixton Academy was the fastest selling in the venue's 20-year history.
The Pixies played their first reunion concert on April 13, 2004, at The Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, and a warm-up tour through the U.S. and Canada was followed by an appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
. The band then spent much of 2004 touring throughout Brazil, Europe, Japan, and the U.S. The group won the Act-of-the-Year award in the 2004 Boston Music Awards. The 2004 reunion tour reportedly grossed over $14 million in ticket sales.
In June 2004, the band released a new single, "Bam Thwok
Bam Thwok
"Bam Thwok" is a 2004 download-only single by the American alternative rock band Pixies. The song was written and sung by bassist Kim Deal, and released exclusively through the iTunes Store on June 15, 2004. Upon its release, "Bam Thwok" was a commercial success, debuting at number one on the very...
" exclusively on the iTunes Music Store. The song reached number one in the UK Official Download Chart
UK Official Download Chart
The UK Official Download Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the music industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being published on a Wednesday afternoon, so as to not to clash with the release of the main UK Singles Chart...
. 4AD released Wave of Mutilation: The Best of Pixies
Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies
Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies is a compilation album by Pixies. It was released on May 3, 2004 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States alongside a companion DVD featuring a live show, promotional videos and two documentaries...
, along with a companion DVD, entitled Pixies. The band also contributed a rendition of "Ain't That Pretty At All" to the Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
tribute album Enjoy Every Sandwich
Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren Zevon
Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon is a tribute album released in 2004 to the late Warren Zevon by many famous musicians. It includes two unreleased Zevon songs: "The Wind," sung by actor Billy Bob Thornton; and "Studebaker," sung by Warren's son Jordan Zevon.The album's title comes...
. "Bam Thwok
Bam Thwok
"Bam Thwok" is a 2004 download-only single by the American alternative rock band Pixies. The song was written and sung by bassist Kim Deal, and released exclusively through the iTunes Store on June 15, 2004. Upon its release, "Bam Thwok" was a commercial success, debuting at number one on the very...
" and "Ain't That Pretty At All" were both recorded by engineer Ben Mumphrey
Ben Mumphrey
Ben Mumphrey is an audio engineer, record producer and musician.Some of his work credited as producer or co-producer includes the Frank Black albums Show Me Your Tears, 93-03 and Devil's Workshop, all released on Cooking Vinyl Records, , the 1998 album by released by Bong...
, the former at Stagg Street Studios
Stagg Street Studios
Stagg Street Studios is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California. The studio has recorded songs by the Pixies and other bands....
in Van Nuys, CA and the latter at Metamorphosis Studio in Vienna, Austria.
In 2005, the band made appearances at festivals including Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
, "T on the Fringe", and the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
. The band continued to make appearances through 2006 and 2007, culminating in their first-ever appearances in Australia. Since 2005, Francis has at various times stated that the Pixies recording a new studio album was either a possibility, or an unlikelihood, the main obstacle being Deal's reluctance to do so.
In order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Doolittle, the Pixies launched a tour in October 2009, on which they perform all the album's songs and B-sides. The tour began in Europe, continued in the United States in November, with Australia, New Zealand, and more European dates in spring 2010, and back to North America in fall 2010 and into spring 2011. In the autumn of 2011 the "Lost Cities" tour continued the "Doolittle Tour" as they played many venues for the first time.
Musical style
The Pixies' musical style has been described as "an unorthodox marriage of surf music and punk rock, ... characterized by Black's bristling lyrics and hackle-raising caterwaul, Kim Deal's whispered harmonies and waspy basslines, Joey Santiago's fragile guitar, and the persistent flush of David Lovering's drums." The band's music incorporates extreme dynamic shifts; Francis explained in 1991, "Those are the two basic components of rock music [. . .] the dreamy side and the rockin' side. It's always been either sweaty or laid back and cool. We do try to be dynamic, but it's dumbo dynamics, because we don't know how to do anything else. We can play loud or quiet—that's it".Influences
The Pixies draw influence from a range of artists and genres; each member came from a different musical background. When he first started writing songs for the Pixies, Francis says he was listening to nothing but Hüsker DüHüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
, Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
, and Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
; Other influences associated with Francis include The Gun Club and The Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
. During the making of Doolittle he was listening heavily to The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' White Album
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
. He has cited Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
as a model for his compressed songwriting.
Santiago listened to 1970s and 1980s punk (including Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
) and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
. Guitarists who influenced him include Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
, Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
, and George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
. Deal's musical background was folk music and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
; she had formed a country-folk band with her sister in her teenage years, and played covers of artists such as The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
and Hank Williams. Other artists they listened to included XTC
XTC
XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
, Gang of Four
Gang of Four (band)
Gang of Four are an English post-punk group from Leeds. Original personnel were singer Jon King, guitarist Andy Gill, bass guitarist Dave Allen and drummer Hugo Burnham. They were fully active from 1977 to 1984, and then re-emerged twice in the 1990s with King and Gill...
and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
. Lovering is a fan of the band Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
.
Other media such as film has had an impact on the Pixies; Francis cites surrealist films Eraserhead
Eraserhead
Eraserhead is a 1977 American surrealist film and the first feature film of David Lynch, who wrote, produced and directed. Lynch began working on the film at the AFI Conservatory, which gave him a $10,000 grant to make the film after he had begun working there following his 1971 move to Los Angeles...
and Un chien andalou
Un chien andalou
Un Chien Andalou is a 1929 silent surrealist short film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel and artist Salvador Dalí. It was Buñuel's first film and was initially released in 1929 to a limited showing in Paris, but became popular and ran for eight months....
(as mentioned in "Debaser") as influences. He has commented on these influences, saying he "didn't have the patience to sit around reading Surrealist novels", but found it easier to watch twenty-minute films.
Songwriting and vocals
Most of the Pixies songs were composed and sung by Francis. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine has described Francis's writing as containing "bizarre, fragmented lyrics about space, religion, sex, mutilation, and pop culture". Biblical violence is a theme of Doolittles "Dead" and "Gouge Away"; Francis told a Melody Maker interviewer, "It's all those characters in the Old TestamentOld Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
. I'm obsessed with them. Why it comes out so much I don't know." He has described Come on Pilgrims "Caribou" as being about reincarnation, and extraterrestrial themes appear in a number of songs on Bossanova.
Deal co-wrote Doolittles "Silver" with Francis, and they share lead harmony vocals on the track. She wrote and sang lead vocals on Surfer Rosas "Gigantic", and the single "Bam Thwok", credited as Mrs. John Murphy on the former composition—at the time she was married and she used this name as an ironic feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
joke. She also sang lead vocals on the Francis-written "Into the White" and the Neil Young cover "I've Been Waiting For You", both B-sides. Lovering sang lead vocals on Doolittles "La La Love You" and the B-side "Make Believe".
Legacy
Although the Pixies produced relatively few albums, whose sales were modest, they had a significant influence on the alternative rock boom of the 1990s. Gary Smith, who produced the Pixies' first recording, Come On Pilgrim, commented on the band's influence on alternative rock and their legacy in 1997:I've heard it said about The Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
that while not a lot of people bought their albums, everyone who did started a band. I think this is largely true about the Pixies as well. Charles' secret weapon turned out to be not so secret and, sooner or later, all sorts of bands were exploiting the same strategy of wide dynamics. It became a kind of new pop formula and, within a short while, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was charging up the charts and even the members of Nirvana said later that it sounded for all the world like a Pixies song.
Sonically, the Pixies are credited with popularizing the extreme dynamics and stop-start timing that would become widespread in alternative rock; Pixies songs typically feature hushed, restrained verses, and explosive, wailing choruses. Artists including David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
,PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
, Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
, and Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
have cited admiration of or influence by the Pixies. Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
of U2 has called the Pixies "one of America's greatest bands ever", and Radiohead's Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke
Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
has said that, while at school, "the Pixies had changed my life". Bowie, whose own music had inspired Francis and Santiago while they were at university, has said that the Pixies made "just about the most compelling music of the entire 80s".
One notable citation as an influence was by Kurt Cobain, on influencing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which he admitted was a conscious attempt to co-opt the Pixies' style. In a January 1994 interview with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, he said, "I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it [smiles]. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band—or at least in a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard." Cobain cited Surfer Rosa as one of his main musical influences, and particularly admired the album's natural and powerful drum sounds—a result of Steve Albini's influence on the record. Albini later produced Nirvana's 1993 In Utero
In Utero
In Utero is the third and final studio album by the American grunge band Nirvana, released on September 13, 1993, on DGC Records. Nirvana intended the record to diverge significantly from the polished production of its previous album, Nevermind...
at the request of Cobain.
Music videos and DVDs
No music videos were released from Come on Pilgrim or Surfer Rosa, but from Doolittle onwards, the following videos were made: "Monkey Gone To Heaven", "Here Comes Your Man", "Velouria", "Dig For Fire", "Allison", "Alec Eiffel", "Head On", and "Debaser"; these were later released on the 2004 DVD Pixies. The videos for "Here Come Your Man" and "Allison" were also released on The Complete 'B' Sides.By Bossanova, the band had developed a severe aversion to recording music videos, and Francis refused to lip-sync to them. For example, in the "Here Comes Your Man" video, both Black and Deal open their mouths wide instead of mouthing their lyrics. According to the record label this became one of the reasons that the Pixies never achieved major coverage on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
With Bossanovas release, 4AD hoped to get the Pixies chosen to perform their single "Velouria" on the BBC music program Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
. To this end, the band was pressured into producing a video for the song, and they made one cheaply with the band members filmed running down a quarry, shown in slow motion. The group was ultimately not given a spot on the show.
A 90-minute documentary called loudQUIETloud: a film about The Pixies directed by Steven Cantor
Steven Cantor
Steven Cantor is an American film/television director and film/television producer. Notable works include the films “What Remains”, “loudQUIETloud”, "Devil's Playground " and “Blood Ties”...
and Matthew Galkin
Matthew Galkin
Matthew Galkin is an American film director and producer, best known for his work in documentaries.Galkin directed the 2010 HBO documentary Kevorkian, about the controversial right-to-die advocate Jack Kevorkian and his ill-fated 2008 run for Congress...
was released in 2006. The film documents their 2004 reunion and tour, and covers the years after the break-up. In addition to Pixies and LoudQUIETloud, four other Pixies' DVDs were released between 2004 and 2006, all featuring concert performances: Live at the Town and Country Club 1988, The Pixies—Sell Out, The Pixies Acoustic: Live in Newport, and The Pixies Club Date: Live at the Paradise in Boston.
Discography
- Come On PilgrimCome on PilgrimCome On Pilgrim is the debut mini-LP release by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in September 1987 by 4AD.- Background :...
(1987) - Surfer RosaSurfer RosaLike Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa displays a mix of musical styles; pop guitar songs such as "Broken Face", "Break My Body", and "Brick Is Red" are featured alongside slower, more melodic tracks exemplified by "Where Is My Mind?". The album includes heavier material, and prominently features the...
(1988) - DoolittleDoolittle (album)Doolittle features an eclectic mix of musical styles. While tracks such as "Tame" and "Crackity Jones" are fast and aggressive, and incorporate the band's trademark loud–quiet dynamic, other songs such as "Silver", "I Bleed", and "Here Comes Your Man" reveal a quieter, slower and more melodic...
(1989) - BossanovaBossanovaBossanova is the third album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in August 1990 on the English independent record label 4AD in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. All of Bossanovas original material was written by the band's frontman Black Francis; it...
(1990) - Trompe le MondeTrompe le MondeTrompe le Monde is the fourth and final album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in 1991 on the English independent record label 4AD in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States...
(1991)
See also
- List of alternative rock artists
- Music of MassachusettsMusic of MassachusettsMassachusetts is a U.S. state in New England. The music of Massachusetts has developed actively since it was first colonized by Britain. The city of Boston is an especially large part of the state's present music scene, which includes several genres of rock, as well as classical, folk, and hip hop...
- Music of the United States (1980s to the present)
- Timeline of alternative rockTimeline of alternative rock__NOTOC_1980 - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010 - See also- 1979 :* Newly formed bands...