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They flipped through the dictionary for a band name (and selecting "Pixies" as opposed to "The Pixies"), they began playing around Boston and were noticed by Gary Smith. Smith took on the Pixies as their manager, and as owner of a studio had them produce a demo tape. The demo fell into the hands of [4AD Records]?, who signed the band. Some of the songs on the tape were then released directly as an EP, Come on Pilgrim. Their first full-length album, Surfer Rosa was released in the first part of 1988. |
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They flipped through the dictionary for a band name (and selected "Pixies" as opposed to "The Pixies"), then began playing around Boston and were noticed by Gary Smith. Smith took on the Pixies as their manager, and as owner of a studio had them produce a demo tape. The demo fell into the hands of [4AD Records]?, who signed the band. Some of the songs on the tape were then released directly as an EP, Come on Pilgrim. Their first full-length album, Surfer Rosa was released in the first part of 1988. |
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After that album, Black Francis went solo for a little while, while Kim Deal formed [The Breeders]? with fellow Boston-ite Tanya Donnelly of [The Throwing Muses]?. During this time Black Francis appears to have decided to cut Deal's contributions to the band -- the first two albums had been partly written by Deal, but when Bossanova was released in 1990, all the songs were by him. Deal was not pleased, and announced an apparently unilateral break-up of the band on-stage during the following tour. The Pixies were at the height of their popularity, however, and a highly enthusiastic version of "Debaser" played while headlining at the Reading Festival in 1991 (and the matching highly enthusiastic audience response) has become legendary. |
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After that album, Black Francis went solo for a little while, while Kim Deal formed [The Breeders]? with fellow Boston-ite Tanya Donnelly of [The Throwing Muses]? and Deal's sister, Kelly. During this time Black Francis appears to have decided to cut Deal's contributions to the band -- the first two albums had been partly written by Deal, but when Bossanova was released in 1990, all the songs were by him. Deal was not pleased, and announced an apparently unilateral break-up of the band on-stage during the following tour. The Pixies were at the height of their popularity, however, and a highly enthusiastic version of "Debaser" played while headlining at the Reading Festival in 1991 (and the matching highly enthusiastic audience response) has become legendary. |
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He renamed himself [Frank Black]?, and has since released a series of solo albums to steadily diminishing returns. Deal returned to the Breeders, and scored a hit with "Cannonball" from that group's Last Splash in 1993 -- since then they have joined the ranks of [The Stone Roses]? and Elastica? for lengthy struggles to produce another album. Lovering and Santiago have dropped back into obscurity. |
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He renamed himself [Frank Black]?, and has since released a series of solo albums to steadily diminishing returns. Deal returned to the Breeders, and scored a hit with "Cannonball" from that group's Last Splash in 1993 -- since then they have joined the ranks of [The Stone Roses]? and Elastica? for lengthy struggles to produce another album, mainly due to Deal's sister's struggles with heroin. Deal has also recorded with "The Amps". Lovering has dropped back into obscurity, while Santiago has appeared on Frank Black's solo albums. |
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Musically, 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 big time. There are substantial parallels between the two groups' sounds and Kurt Cobain was known to have been a fan -- in fact, an admission by him in a Rolling Stone interview that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was his attempt to write a Pixies song sparked a small burst of re-interest in the band after they were gone. |
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Musically, 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 big time. There are substantial parallels between the two groups' sounds and Kurt Cobain was known to have been a fan -- in fact, an admission by him in a Rolling Stone interview that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was his attempt to write a Pixies song sparked a small burst of re-interest in the band after they were gone. |
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