Pixies (band)

This article is about the band named Pixies. For pixies of folklore, see Pixie (folklore).

Pixies
Pixies, pictured early in their career – Black Francis, Kim Deal, Dave Lovering, and Joey Santiago
Background information
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts
Years active	1986–1993 2004–present
Members	Black Francis Kim Deal Dave Lovering Joey Santiago

Pixies are an American alternative rock music group formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1986. The group disbanded in 1993 but reunited in 2004. Black Francis a.k.a. Frank Black (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 draws upon elements of punk, 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).

The Pixies found only modest success in their home country, but were significantly more successful in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. Musically, it has been argued that the Pixies were 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, along with similar tributes by other alternative 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). Both had shared a room at the University of Massachusetts (the subject of a song, "U-Mass") before dropping out. 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 after Santiago selected the word randomly from a dictionary. The group was originally named 'Pixies in Panoply', but soon shortened it to 'Pixies'.

Once the Pixies had settled on a stable lineup, they started rehearsing in Lovering's father's garage in the summer of 1986. Their first gig - named as "possibly the worst gig in the history of rock" by the band - at the Rat Club, Boston, where they performed early versions of Here Comes Your Man, Dig for Fire and Build High.

The albums

The 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. The title was a lyric in the song "Levitate Me," which came from a catchphrase used by '70s Christian folk singer Larry Norman during his live concerts: 'Come on Pilgrim, you know He loves you'. (Incidentally, Black Francis would later record one of Norman's songs during his solo career as Frank Black, plus share one concert stage with Norman.) Come on Pilgrim showcased 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 refer to incest ("Nimrod's Son" and "The Holiday Song"), three songs with religious references ("Caribou", "Nimrod's Son", 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 simple, traditional melodies.

Come on Pilgrim was followed quickly by the band's first full-length album, Surfer Rosa, recorded by Steve Albini and released in early 1988. Surfer Rosa gained the Pixies 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.

The Pixies' third album, Doolittle, featured the prominent singles "Here Comes Your Man", "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and "Debaser." It was a top 10 hit in the UK and reached the top 100 in North America.

After Doolittle, the Pixies temporarily went on hiatus. Black Francis played some solo gigs, 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. The Pixies were at the height of their popularity, however, and while headlining at the Reading Festival in 1990, 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 make it seem, and Rolling Stone gave Trompe le Monde their only 5 star rating ever.

Following the release and an uncomfortable tour supporting fans U2, the 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 McCaffrey, 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. He is preparing a fifth album from the same sessions, Fastman Raiderman, 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 her sister and fellow bandmember, Kelley'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 went on to play in alt-rock band Cracker before 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

Pixies in concert in Kansas City, October 1, 2004

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.

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.

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.

In the spring of 2004, 4AD released Wave of Mutilation: The Best of the Pixies and a companion DVD which features a full concert (filmed in 1988 in London), 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 DiscLive 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 some time. 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 December 13, 2004, the band appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman, performing "Monkey Gone to Heaven" from Doolittle. Then, on January 29, 2005, a 13-song Pixies performance taped at KLRU studios in Austin, Texas in October 2004 appeared on Austin City Limits on PBS.

On May 26, 2005, Pixies began their 2005 tour in Portland, Oregon. They played two shows that day, one at 7:45 p.m. and one at 11:45 p.m. Pixiesdiscs are now recording and selling their shows. The Pixies headlined the 2005 Lollapalooza and Sasquatch music festivals on their North American Tour and also played at several European venues such as the Reading and Leeds Festivals and in Edinburgh supported by Scottish rockers Teenage Fanclub and Idlewild as part of the T on the Fringe music festival.

In late 2005, the Pixies embarked on tour with Weezer across North America. On August 4, 2005 the Pixies played their first-ever acoustic concert 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 limited-edition CD.

In July 2005, Black said that the band hopes to record a new album, their first since 1991. "We really want to make a record for the right reasons, whether it is successful commercially or not," Black said. At the moment (As of June 2006), the band has not said anything more about the possibility of a new album.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Title	Label	Billboard 200 Peak
1987	Come on Pilgrim	4AD
1988	Surfer Rosa	4AD
1988	Surfer Rosa & Come on Pilgrim	4AD (UK release)
1989	Doolittle	4AD	#98
1990	Bossanova	4AD	#70
1991	Trompe le Monde	4AD	#92

Compilations and tributes

Year	Title	Label	Billboard 200 Peak	Top Independent Album Peak
1991	I'm Your Fan: The songs of Leonard Cohen by... The track "I Can't Forget".	EastWest Records
1997	Death to the Pixies: Best of 1987–1991	#180
1998	Pixies at the BBC	4AD/Elektra
2001	Complete B-Sides	4AD/Elektra
2002	Pixies (The Purple Tape)	Spin Art		#23
2004	Wave of Mutilation: The Best of the Pixies	4AD/Elektra	#161	#11
2004	Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren Zevon The track "Ain't That Pretty at All".	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!	LifeLike Records
1999	Where Is My Mind? Tribute to the Pixies	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"	-	-	-	#93	Surfer Rosa
1989	"Here Comes Your Man"	-	#3	-	#54	Doolittle
1989	"Monkey Gone to Heaven"	-	#5	-	#60	Doolittle
1990	"Dig for Fire"	-	#11	-	#62	Bossanova
1990	"Allison"	-	-	-	-	Bossanova
1990	"Velouria"	-	#4	-	#28	Bossanova
1991	"Planet of Sound"		-	-	#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

Trivia

• On April 12, 2004, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit "woke up" to "Where Is My Mind?" after a memory reformat and software upgrade.
• The lyrics of the song "Debaser" refer to the avant-garde film Un chien andalou directed by Luis Bunuel (with contributions by Salvador Dali).
• Lyrical references to Frank Black and the song "Monkey Gone to Heaven" can be found in The Bloodhound Gang's single "Fire Water Burn".
• Some have criticized the alternative rock band End of Fashion for allegedly copying a guitar riff from "Where Is My Mind?" in their most commercially-successful song, "O Yeah".
• Guitarist Joey Santiago was known for using whatever foreign objects he could find on stage (beer bottles, cups, shoes etc that were thrown on stage) to play the wild solo in "Vamos".
• Most Pixies songs were written when the band first formed.
• the pillows' lead singer Yamanaka Sawao has a deep adoration of Kim Deal, even naming a song after, her. In the end of the song Back Seat Dog, from the album Happy Bivouac by the pillows, at the end of the song, the lyrics, "Here Comes your Man" are chanted. The song is right before the song Kim Deal on the track listing.

Usage

The Pixies' music, despite never reaching great mainstream popularity, is frequently found in pop culture. Many TV shows, movies, and video games have made use of Pixies songs. The most prominent appearance of a Pixies song is the use of "Where Is My Mind?" as the exit music to the popular movie Fight Club. There are many other examples:

• "Tame" was used in a TV advertisement by Smirnoff.
• In the movie Unbreakable, "I've Been Tired" can be heard in the background when Samuel L. Jackson's character is having an altercation with the comic shop owner.
• In the movie The United States of Leland, the opening sequences have the intro bass riff to "Gigantic" playing in the background. "Hang Wire" is also played later in the film.
• "Velouria" was recently used in a TV advertising campaign by the internet service provider Wanadoo.
• "Cecilia Ann" was featured in BBC trailers for the digital channel BBC Three.
• "Where Is My Mind?" was used in the end of the episode "Driver ED" of the TV-series Veronica Mars.
• "Monkey Gone to Heaven" can be heard in the background in the Gilmore Girls episode "Lorelai's Graduation Day" when Rory and Jess are shopping in a record store.
• In the movie Stuck on You, both "La La Love You" and "Here Comes Your Man" are played.
• "Where Is My Mind?" is used in the movie "The Weather Man".
• "Debaser" is heard in NCAA Football 06 for certain video game consoles.
• The song "Here Comes Your Man" appears in a montage in the 2005 movie Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalo.
• "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was used in the movie Grosse Pointe Blank.
• "Debaser" accompanies the opening credits of the movie Haiku Tunnel.
• "Wave Of Mutilation (U.K. Surf)" was used in the movie Pump Up The Volume.

See also

• List of alternative rock artists
• Music of Massachusetts
• Music of the United States (1980s to the present)

References

Further reading

• Matula, Theodore. "Contextualizing musical rhetoric: A critical reading of the Pixies' 'Rock Music'." Communication Studies. 51 (3, Fall), 218–237.

External links

• Pixies' Official 4AD Site
• BBC Radio Interview 01/05
• Pixies wikiquote page
• MusicMoz: Pixies - discography, reviews and links at the Open Music Project
• Debaser And Un Chien Andalou