THE PIXIES
Black francis - vocals, guitar*
Kim Deal - bass, vocals
Joey Santiago - guitar
David Lovering - drums

MY TOP TEN

1. Where is My mind?
2. Holiday Song
3. The Happening
4. Gigantic
5. Here Comes Your Man
6. Dig for Fire
7. Letter To Memphis
8. Hey
9. Nimrod's Son
10. Down To The Well

InterView With Black Francis
"The Pixies were probably the most influential band in the last 20 years," said Everclear leader Art Alexakis.


Frank Black is definitely not the sentimental type. He's on the phone talking about the Pixies, the band that gave new meaning to pop rock and made a name, or two, or three for him. Still he might as well be talking about an old job.

"It's hard for me to embrace any of it," Black says. "Of course, there are certain songs which are special to me. People see all of this negative stuff about my attitude toward music... but that's OK. I don't have a 'this is my baby' outlook to it. It's not a holy thing. It's more practical to me, a work ethic."

Whatever his opinion, the Pixies -- which in addition to Black included bassist/vocalist Kim Deal, guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering -- did change rock music and, most likely, some lives in the process. Though they passed somewhat quietly through the hallowed halls of late-1980s rock 'n' roll, Black and his band still became the stuff of legend.

There were no smash singles -- though songs such as "Monkey Gone To Heaven," "Nimrod's Son" and "Here Comes Your Man" became cornerstones on alternative radio. No huge videos, although Black's post-Pixies' solo clip for "Los Angeles" (off his 1993 solo debut, Frank Black -- with its bobbing hovercraft and They Might Be Giants cohort John Flansberg at the director's chair -- got a fair amount of MTV rotation. Not even a big album at the time -- though now, how many people tack Surfer Rosa onto their desert-island disc list?

"The Pixies were probably the most influential band in the last 20 years," said Everclear leader Art Alexakis.

Over a decade after the band blew out of Boston, 4AD Records, the label which signed the Pixies nine years ago, is releasing Death To The Pixies 1987-1991 (Oct. 7), a two-CD set that includes one 17 song "best-of" collection of demos and Pixies' standards such as "Monkey Gone To Heaven," "Here Comes Your Man," "Dig For Fire," "Wave Of Mutilation," "Debaser" and "Alison," and a second CD of live recordings.

Still for Black, now is not the time to get nostalgic. The Pixies were what they were, he says. And that's all. "The Pixies never tried to represent anything but ourselves, and for that, I'm proud. Fuckin- A... I was a college dropout thinking I knew everything. I wasn't paying my dues. I was trying to make some smart decisions. Lo and behold, I made records. But I personally don't feel strongly about any records. I don't want to tell people 'Please, listen to my music, it'll change your life.' "

And though he may never have told anyone to take heed of the Pixies, it's what happened nonetheless. From their hometown in Boston straight to Seattle, the band's impact is clear.

"They were the original grunge band," said Bruce McDonald, who, as music director at Boston modern rock outlet WFNX from 1985 until 1991, watched the Pixies' ascension to indie nation stardom. "They were one of those bands who made a sound that launched 1,000 others like them. There was something super special about them, and they quickly became the standard by which other Boston bands became measured."

To some bands they were even heroes, a guiding force, helping open the minds of many musicians and music fans and, subsequently, the doors to many record label offices. "The Pixies were probably the most influential band in the last 20 years," said Everclear leader Art Alexakis. "Doolittle changed my life. When Doolittle came out, I almost quit my job that day. I was working in downtown San Francisco. At lunch time I bought the tape and started listening to it on my Walkman, walking back to work in my suit and my little ponytail, got to a phone, called in sick.

"I got on a city bus, rode around for four hours listening to that," Alexakis continued. "I went home that night, told my first wife I was gonna start a new band. And then I started a country band. But it wasn't the matter of doing that type of music. It was just...man, there's still viable music coming out now, music that has its own voice. And if they can do it, I can do it too."

The Pixies began their life in Boston in the mid-'80s, where a loud music phase was afire, and guitar bands such as Dogzilla and The Neighborhoods ruled the scene. From the jagged, melodic edge of "Debaser" to the clean cuts of pop guitar on "Here Comes Your Man," the Pixies were different . In contrast to the meandering punk scene of the time, they constructed the musical bridge between early-1980s post punk and the late-1980s resurgence of a more aggressively melodic sound. *

HISTORY OF PIXIES

Band created in 1986 by Charles Michael Thomson Kitteridge (alias Black Francis) and Joey Santiago, joined by means of an ad by Kim Deal and David Lovering, the Pixies were built on the remains of Punk and Surf music...

From 1987 to 1993 this small student band will become, against all odds, the most fashionable alternative rock band without ever reaching a real commercial success... Brought to an end by their well-rounded leader and his dictatorial impulses, the Pixies'll let behind them lots of 'college rock bands' and clear the path for Kurt Cobain & Nirvana...







THE BANDS BANDS THAT YOU MAY KNOW WHO HAVE STOLEN FROM THE PIXIES

WEEZER
Among all silly Power-Pop bands born from the Pixies rocket's remains, Weezer may be the most gifted (their smash hit 'Buddy Holly')...
Willingly futile, speed and melodic, it may just lack the strange darkness of the Pixies' first songs. Volontairement futile, speedé et mélodique, il lui manque peut-être l'étrange noirceur qui marquait les premiers morceaux des Pixies...



NIRVANA
Very impressed by the Pixies and their leader, Kurt Cobain won't hesitate to steal them some recipes to build most songs in "Nevermind"...
Thus, broken-up intros (drums, then bass, then guitar (Lithium)) without forgetting the melodic verses/saturated chorus formula, -Nirvana's mark- and Joey Santiago's fuzzy guitar sound...









ALBUMS

Come On Pilgrim - 1987

Surfer Rosa - 1988

Doolittle - 1989

Bossanova - 1990

Trompe le Monde - 1991

Death to the Pixies - 1997

Pixies at the BBC - 1998


SINGLES
Gigantic / River Euphrates - 1988

Monkey Gone to Heaven - 1989

Here Comes Your Man - 1989

Velouria - 1990

Dig for Fire - 1990

Planet of Sound - 1991




THE PIXIES ARE...........

BLACK FRANCIS

(A.k.a. Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, a.k.a Frank Black) This guy is something else. One moment singing about U.F.O.s and the next screaming lyrics in Spanish. He is one of a kind. His head strong approach and eccentric antics are what endeared him to many Pixies fans.


KIM DEAL

(A.k.a. Mrs John Murphy) Kim was the one that showed us that women can play kick arse rock too! Her breathy lyrical style complimented Black Francis' high pitched shrills, coming together to give the Pixies a distinctive lyrical style that is their signature.


JOEY SANTIAGO

Kim and Black Francis can't be given all the credit for formulating the signature sound of the Pixies, Joey Santiago's wailing guitar is in there too. The quirky solos and screaming riffs that Joey played also set the band apart and inspired so many to "take up arms".


DAVID LOVERING


Up the back of the stage, there in every song that they released, David Lovering was laying down a beat that connected with Kim's bass and really made this band rock! The song "Cactus" from the album Surfer Rosa was just one example of this union.