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The Pixies Information
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'Pixies' are an alternative rock music group. They formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1986 and disbanded in 1993, then reunited in 2004. Pixies found only modest success in their home, the United States, but were significantly more successful in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. The band is often referenced as "the Pixies"; this is incorrect as the band does not use the article "the" to preface their name.
Black Francis a.k.a. Frank Black (real name Charles Thompson) (vocals, guitar), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass guitar, vocals), and David Lovering (drums) have been the group's continual members. Their melodic music is distinctive, but drew upon elements of punk and indie rock, with occasional touches of surf music and other genres.
Francis was the group's primary songwriter and singer; with a distinctly desperate, yowling delivery, he typically wrote cryptic songs about offbeat subjects, such as unidentified flying objects and surrealism. Violent Biblical imagery and references to mental instability, physical injury, and incest also feature highly in much of his work. Deal contributed songs as well, and her often feathery voice acted as an oddly effective counterbalance to Francis (Incidentally, the then-married Deal was credited as "Mrs. John Murphy" on the first few Pixies records).
Musically, it has been argued that the Pixies were just slightly ahead of their time. Right at the moment they were imploding, Nirvana was recording Nevermind, the album that would break alternative rock into the mainstream. There are substantial parallels between the two groups' sounds and Kurt Cobain was known to have been a fan-in fact, in a Rolling Stone interview he claimed "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was his failed attempt to write a Pixies song. This comment, allied with similar tributes by other Grunge bands, generated a retrospective interest in the Pixies from the mainstream music buying public.
History
The band was formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts by Joey Santiago and Black Francis (born Charles Thompson IV). Bassist Kim Deal later joined Santiago and Francis after responding to a classified ad Francis had placed, seeking a bassist who liked both folk music icons Peter, Paul and Mary and hardcore punkers Hüsker Dü. She also suggested that they pick up drummer David Lovering, whom she had met at her wedding reception.
They arrived at a name ('Pixies') after Santiago selected the word randomly from a dictionary. The group was originally named 'Pixies in Panoply', but soon shortened it to 'Pixies'.
Pixies began playing shows in the Boston area, and during a concert with Throwing Muses, the band was noticed by Gary Smith, a producer at Fort Apache Studios. Smith became the band's manager and produced a 17 track demo (known as the "Purple Tape", publicly released in 2002). The demo fell into the hands of Ivo Watts-Russell, owner of 4AD, who signed the band. Eight tracks from the demo were selected for the Come on Pilgrim EP, the band's first release. It was followed by their first full-length album, Surfer Rosa in early 1988, recorded by Steve Albini.
4AD was a British music label, and the notoriously rabid/laconic British music press immediately clutched Pixies to their collective bosoms and refused to let go. The band remained unsigned in the US for a while, but after a foray up the UK pop charts and some inroads into American college rock stations, they were picked up by Elektra Records. For the remainder of their career, Pixies remained large-scale stars in Britain and cult figures in the US.
Pixies' first studio release was entitled "Come on Pilgrim". The title was taken from a lyric in the song "Levitate me". Come on Pilgrim would showcase out much of the Pixies' variety and set up the beginnings of many trends in their music. It includes two songs partly sung in Spanish (Vamos and Isla de Encanta), two songs that explicitly discuss incest (Nimrod's Son and The Holiday Song), two songs with religious references (Caribou and The Holiday Song). Beyond lyrical trends, Come on Pilgrim displayed Santiago's propensity for erratic lead, Kim Deal's sweet harmonies, and Black Francis's amazing vocal range, from screaming to simpler, traditional melodies.
Surfer Rosa, Pixies' second album, gained them acclaim throughout the musical world. Artists and groups such as David Bowie, Radiohead, U2, and many others attest to the immense importance and appreciation of the album by musicians.
Their third album, Doolittle, featured the prominent singles: "Here Comes Your Man", and "Monkey Gone to Heaven." It was a top 10 hit in the UK and reached the top 100 in North America.
After Doolittle, Pixies went on hiatus and Black Francis temporarily went solo, while Kim Deal formed The Breeders with Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses. During this time, Black Francis limited Deal's contributions to the band; the first three albums had been partly written by Deal, but when Bossanova was released in 1990, all the original songs were by him. Deal was not pleased, and unilaterally announced an apparent break-up of the band on-stage during the following tour. Pixies were at the height of their popularity, however, and while headlining at the Reading Festival in 1991, they played a highly enthusiastic version of "Debaser" which has become legendary among fans.
Break-up announcements notwithstanding, one more album was to follow. Trompe le Monde, released in 1991 still featured little input from Deal and wasn't as critically well-regarded as their first few albums. However, finding Pixies fans who actually dislike Trompe le Monde is far more rare than critics would have you believe.
Following the release and an uncomfortable tour supporting fans U2, Pixies went on sabbatical and focused on separate projects. In early 1993, Francis announced on a radio interview that the band was finished, unbeknownst to the other members of the band.
After the Breakup
Black Francis renamed himself Frank Black, and released three solo albums. He then went on to form a band with Scott Boutier, Eric Drew Feldman, Rich Gilbert, David McGaffrey, and Dave Phillips called Frank Black and the Catholics, who released six albums with a more stripped down, country tinge than Black's solo work. In 2005 Black released his fourth solo album, Honeycomb, featuring a mellow, Catholics style approach and backing from seasoned Nashville musicians, and is preparing a fifth from the same sessions, The Sicilian, for a 2006 release.
Deal returned to the Breeders, and scored a hit with "Cannonball" from that group's Last Splash in 1993. However, for several years they struggled to produce another album, mainly due to Kelley Deal's struggles with heroin. The album, Title TK, finally appeared in 2002, with only Kim and Kelley remaining from the previous Breeders lineup. Kim Deal has also recorded with The Amps.
Lovering dropped back into obscurity, becoming a magician and making occasional appearances as a "The Scientific Phenomenalist", performing experiments on stage and sporadically opening for Frank Black. He also drummed on one of Tanya Donelly's solo albums.
Santiago has appeared on Frank Black's solo albums, on an album by eccentric indie-rock musician Charles Douglas called "Statecraft" in 2004, writes music for FOX television, and has a band called The Martinis with his wife, Linda Mallari. They released their debut album, Smitten, in 2004.
Reunion
In the 11 years since the band broke up, there were a number of rumors that would circulate regarding reunion tours. Roughly once a year (often on April Fool's Day) someone would be led to believe that the band had reunited.
The Pixies recorded an episode for the PBS series, Austin City Limits, which was their first public appearance since their break-up. The episode aired on January 29, 2004.
The Pixies would play their second "postbreakup" concert on April 13 at The Fine Line Music Cafe in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota and a 15 concert warmup tour of the western United States and Canada, culminating in the performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Tickets for shows on this tour often sold out minutes after going on sale despite some rather moderately sized Canadian cities such as Winnipeg and Regina being stops. It is rumoured that these dates hold the world record for fastest selling shows ever.
This was followed by a three-month world tour and four-month return to the US, ending on December 18 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City (see for detailed information).
In spring 2004, 4AD released Wave of Mutilation: The Best of the Pixies and a companion DVD which features a full concert, the music videos, and a documentary on Pixies. A "new retrospective compilation CD" is set for release in the near future. Many of the reunion shows, including that April 13 show in Minneapolis, were sold by in sets of 1,000. The entire edition size has now sold out.
Later in 2004, the band released its first song since Trompe le Monde. Penned and predominantly sung by Deal, the song was titled "Bam Thwok." It was an iTunes-only single, and as soon as it was released, the track shot to #2 on the list of best-selling songs on iTunes, a position which it held for many days. While some fans loved the song and others hated it (most of the lyrics, according to Deal, were taken from a children's book), the band's return was generally welcome by fans of Alternative music.
On May 26th 2005, Pixies began their 2005 tour in Portland, OR. Playing two shows that day, once at 7:45 PM and again at 11:45 PM. are now recording and selling their shows. They will be heading this year's Lollapalooza on their North American Tour and also be heading both the Leeds and Reading Festival on their European Tour.
In 2005, Pixies embarked on tour with Weezer across North America (see ).
On August 4th, 2005 the Pixies played an acoustic concert (first ever) at The Egg at Albany, New York's Empire State Plaza. This was unannounced, as the first official acoustic concert was at the Newport Folk Festival two days later. That was recorded for both a DVD and for a .
Discography
Studio Albums
| 'Year' | 'Title' | 'Label' | | 1987 | Come on Pilgrim | 4AD | | 1988 | Surfer Rosa | 4AD | | 1989 | Doolittle | 4AD | | 1990 | Bossanova | 4AD | | 1991 | Trompe le Monde | 4AD | | 1992 | Surfer Rosa & Come on Pilgrim | 4AD |
Compilations and tributes
| 'Year' | 'Title' | 'Label' | | 1991 | I'm Your Fan: The songs of Leonard Cohen By... | EastWest Records | Features the rare track, "I Can't Forget". | | 1997 | Death to the Pixies 1987-1991 | 4AD/Elektra | | 1997 | Death to the Pixies: CD2 - Live | 4AD/Elektra | | 1998 | Pixies at the BBC | 4AD/Elektra | | 2001 | Complete B-Sides | 4AD/Elektra | | 2002 | Pixies (The Purple Tape) | Spin Art | | 2004 | Wave of Mutilation: The Best of the Pixies | 4AD/Elektra | | 2004 | Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren Zevon | Artemis |
Tributes to the Pixies
| 'Year' | 'Title' | 'Label' | | 1998 | Death To The Pixies, We're Better | Play It Again Sam (Netherlands) | | 1999 | Pixies Fuckin' Die! (a tribute) | LifeLike Records | | 1999 | Where Is My Mind? | Glue Factory Records | | 2000 | Tribute To The Pixies | Invisible Records (Japan) | | 2003 | Hey - A Pixies Tribute | FrankBlack.net users |
Singles
| 'Year' | 'Title' | 'Chart positions' | 'Album' | | US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK | | 1988 | "Gigantic" | - | - | - | - | Surfer Rosa | | 1989 | "Here Comes Your Man" | - | #3 | - | - | Doolittle | | 1989 | "Monkey Gone to Heaven" | - | #5 | - | - | Doolittle | | 1990 | "Dig for Fire" | - | #11 | - | - | Bossanova | | 1990 | "Allison" | - | - | - | - | Bossanova | | 1990 | "Velouria" | - | #4 | - | #28 | Bossanova | | 1991 | "Planet of Sound" | #92 | - | - | #27 | Trompe le Monde | | 1991 | "Letter to Memphis" | - | #6 | - | - | Trompe le Monde | | 1991 | "Alec Eiffel" | - | - | - | - | Trompe le Monde | | 1991 | "Head On" | - | #6 | - | - | Trompe le Monde | | 1997 | "Debaser (Studio)" | - | - | - | #23 | Doolittle | | 1997 | "Debaser (Live)" | - | - | - | - | Live Recording | | 2004 | "Bam Thwok" | - | - | - | - | iTunes Music Store Exclusive Release | |
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