Pixies
| Pixies | |
|---|---|
.png) |
|
 The Pixies performing in Kansas City in 2004 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Boston , United States |
| Genre (s) | Alternative rock , indie rock |
| founding | 1986, 2004 |
| resolution | 1993 |
| Website | pixiesmusic.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Black Francis | |
| Joey Santiago | |
| David Lovering | |
| Paz Lenchantin (since 2014) | |
| former members | |
| Kim Deal (until 2013) | |
| Kim Shattuck (2013--2019) | |
The Pixies are an American rock band formed in Boston in 1986 . Current members are Black Francis (actually Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV; later solo as Frank Black ), Joey Santiago , David Lovering and Paz Lenchantin .
history
1986-1993
The Pixies were formed in 1986 after Black Francis and Joey Santiago met at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and decided to form a band. Through an advertisement (wanted a bass player who should like both the hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü and the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary ), the bassist Kim Deal and the drummer Dave Lovering joined. During a concert in the opening act of the Throwing Muses they caught their future manager Gary Smith, who produced a demo tape with them with seventeen tracks ( The Purple Tape ).
This demo tape also fell into the hands of the record company 4AD , which they then signed. Eight pieces from the demo resulted in the Pixies' first release, the EP Come On Pilgrim , in 1987 . In 1988 the band's first album, Surfer Rosa , was produced by Steve Albini . Surfer Rosa contains the band's most famous song, Where Is My Mind? , and in retrospect is considered one of the most important rock records of the 1980s. Both albums were combined on one CD in later releases.
In 1989 the album Doolittle was released , which had a less raw sound than its predecessor and had a relatively large commercial success. With the included singles Here Comes Your Man and Monkey Gone to Heaven , the band scored their first top 10 hits in Great Britain. After Doolittle , however, increased solo activities of the band members took the field: Black Francis played solo concerts, and Kim Deal founded with Tanya Donelly of the Throwing Muses band The Breeders . There were more and more conflicts due to the increasing influence of Francis on the songwriting. He released a song for the film Pump up the Volume , Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf) , which is also included on the soundtrack.
The following 1990 Pixies album, Bossanova , was written entirely by Black Francis. The conflicts in the band grew steadily, and after Trompe Le Monde had been released in 1991 , the band took an indefinite break after a grueling tour as opening act for U2 , during which the respective solo projects should be in the foreground. In 1993 Black Francis declared the end of the Pixies in an interview without the knowledge of the other band members. He was later to repeatedly say that this decision was a mistake, since the heyday of grunge began - of all things, when the pixies initially disappeared from the stage - a musical style for which the pixies are an important pioneer of but initially they could not benefit from its success.
After the separation
After the breakup, there were four more records with songs that were partly unreleased but not newly produced. Despite this small amount of material released, the Pixies had a lasting impact on the music scene of the time. The British music magazine NME has named the Pixies album Doolittle the second best album ever.
Black Francis played solo as Frank Black and with the Catholics after the split. Kim Deal focused on her two bands, Breeders and The Amps . David Lovering played for Cracker for a short time , but then changed his profession and worked as a magician under the name The Scientific Phenomenalist . Joey Santiago produced music for film and television and continued to play in his band The Martinis , which he founded with his wife Linda Mallari in 1993.
reunion
In 2003 the Pixies reunited and began touring in April 2004. The US concerts were largely sold out, although the band had not released a record for twelve years. They also performed at several European festivals in the summer of 2004. This success was also noteworthy because the musicians had not rehearsed sufficiently at this point and moreover conflicts arose again in the band. Drummer David Lovering is said to have refused to limit his alcohol consumption out of consideration for the alcoholic Kim Deal, who is struggling with her addiction. In June 2004 the Pixies released the song Bam Thwok exclusively on iTunes .
On June 14, 2013, the band announced on their Facebook page that Kim Deal had left the Pixies. She was initially represented by Kim Shattuck before Paz Lenchantin took her place.
The single Bagboy was released on June 28, 2013 . Between September 2013 and March 2014 the band released new material on the three records EP1 , EP2 and EP3 . The tracks from the three EPs were released in April 2014 on the album Indie Cindy . Two years later, on July 6, 2016, the Pixies announced the release of their next album, Head Carrier, on various social media . This was published on September 30 of the same year. In an interview with BBC Radio 6 Music , Black Francis distinguished head carrier from the last two albums. According to him, it has less smoothness than Trompe le Monde and Indie Cindy , is easier to knit and has more of the liveliness of their first albums like Doolittle . In June 2019 the song On Graveyard Hill was released as a harbinger of the album Beneath The Eyrie , which was released in September of the same year . The publication is accompanied by an extensive podcast project. During the entire production time, the band members had a separate podcast studio, where they gave impressions of the sessions.
Influence and covers
The Pixies are considered a pioneering band for grunge , indie and alternative rock . Many artists, including David Bowie , Radiohead , PJ Harvey , U2 , Nirvana , The Cardigans , The Strokes , TV on the Radio , Weezer , Spoon and Pavement , named the band as a major influence or expressed their admiration. Kurt Cobain even left one of his own concerts in London earlier so as not to miss a performance by the Pixies nearby. In an interview with Rolling Stone , he also said that Smells Like Teen Spirit was an attempt to write a Pixies song.
There are numerous cover versions of the Pixies and tribute albums : OK Go covered the song Gigantic and Mogwai Gouge Away on the Dig for Fire album , Papa Roach also recorded Gouge Away on their 2002 album Lovehatetragedy and David Bowie's album Heathen is his version of the Songs to hear Cactus . Placebo completed several appearances on their 2003 tour with the Pixies song Where Is My Mind? from. Frank Black was at the last Placebo concert in Paris and they played Where Is My Mind? .
Where is my mind? was chosen by director David Fincher for the final sequence of the film Fight Club , which made the song so popular ten years after its release. The song was finally played in the last episode of the 4400 , and the song is also played on Veronica Mars (season 2, episode 2). In the film Knock Knock with Keanu Reeves in the lead role, the song also runs in the end sequence. In the film Unbreakable with Bruce Willis , the song I've Been Tired by the Pixies can be heard, while the credits of the film Dom Hemingway (with Jude Law in the leading role) run the song Debaser .
Visa Inc. used the Pixies song Isla de Encanta for their commercial for the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa .
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1988 | Surfer pink | - | - | - |
UK-  |
US- |
4AD
|
| 1989 | Doolittle | - | - | - |
UK8th  (10 weeks)UK |
US98 (27 weeks)US |
4AD
|
| 1990 | Bossanova |
DE27 (10 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK3 (8 weeks)UK |
US70 (12 weeks) US |
4AD
|
| 1991 | Trompe le Monde |
DE35 (8 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK7th  (5 weeks)UK |
US92 (8 weeks) US |
4AD
|
| 2014 | Indie Cindy |
DE10 (2 weeks) DE |
AT11 (2 weeks) AT |
CH23 (3 weeks) CH |
UK6 (4 weeks) UK |
US23 (1 week) US |
Pixiesmusic
|
| 2016 | Head carrier |
DE32 (2 weeks) DE |
AT37 (1 week) AT |
CH32 (2 weeks) CH |
UK7 (2 weeks) UK |
US72 (1 week) US |
Pixiesmusic
|
| 2019 | Beneath the Eyrie |
DE22 (2 weeks) DE |
AT41 (1 week) AT |
CH26 (2 weeks) CH |
UK7 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
Infectious
|
Live albums
- Live 1989/1990: Souls on Fire
- 1989: Live Rote Fabrik Zurich
- 1989: Live in Heaven
- 1990: Transatlantic
- 2004: Live in Minneapolis, MN
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1997 | Death to the Pixies | - | - | - |
UK28 (3 weeks)UK |
US180 (1 week) US |
4AD
|
| Death to the Pixies - Deluxe Edition | - | - | - |
UK20 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
4AD
|
|
| 1998 | Pixies at the BBC | - | - | - |
UK45 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
4AD
|
| 2001 | The Complete B-Sides | - | - | - |
UK53 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
4AD
|
| 2004 | Wave of Mutilation - Best of Pixies | - |
AT43 (6 weeks) AT |
- |
UK16 (7 weeks)UK |
US161 (3 weeks) US |
4AD
|
EPs
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 2002 | Pixies |
DE70 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - |
Cooking vinyl; also known as "The Purple Tape"
Chart entry in DE only 2004 |
| 2014 | EP2 | - | - | - | - |
US160 (1 week) US |
Pixiesmusic
|
More EPs
- 1987: Come On Pilgrim (4AD)
- 2013: EP1 (Pixies Music)
- 2014: EP3 (Pixies Music)
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 1988 | Gigantic surfer pink |
UK93 (1 week) UK |
|
| 1989 | Monkey Gone to Heaven Doolittle |
UK60 (3 weeks) UK |
|
| Here Comes Your Man Doolittle |
UK54 (2 weeks) UK |
||
| 1990 | Velouria Bossanova |
UK28 (3 weeks) UK |
|
| Dig for Fire Bossanova |
UK62 (2 weeks) UK |
||
| 1991 | Planet of Sound Trompe le Monde |
UK27 (3 weeks) UK |
|
| 1997 | Debaser Death to the Pixies |
UK23 (2 weeks) UK |
More singles
- 2004: Bam Thwok
- 2004: Where Is My Mind? (UK:silver)
- 2013: Bagboy
- 2016: To Chagga Lagga
Video albums
- 2004: Pixies ; Contents: Live at the Town and Country Club, London, May 1st, 1988; 7 videos; On the Road - tour documentary; Gouge - Channel 4 Documentation (UK:gold)
- 2005: Pixies - Sell Out ; Content: Live in Belfort, France, 2005
- 2006: Pixies - Acoustic ; Content: Live in Newport, USA, August 2005
- 2006: Pixies - Live ; Content: Live at the Paradise in Boston, USA, 2004 + Bonus 12 Tracks Pixies live in Boston Oct. 1986
- 2006: loudQUIETloud - a film about the Pixies ; Content: Behind the scenes of the 2004 Reunion Tour
swell
- ^ Daniel Gumble: Steve Albini on the making of Pixies album Surfer Rosa 30 years on. Retrieved December 4, 2018 (American English).
- ↑ Interview: Pixie's drummer David Lovering talks new material and Kim Deal's departure. Retrieved June 23, 2014, December 4, 2018 (UK English).
- ↑ http://www.facebook.com/pixiesofficial/posts/10151715659192442 Retrieved June 21, 2013
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/pixiesofficial/photos/a.155434727441.140575.22939707441/10154289980152442/?type=3&theater
- ↑ https://twitter.com/PIXIES/status/750601697647529984
- ↑ https://www.laut.de/Pixies/Alben/Head-Carrier-100687
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0419s21
- ↑ Pixies release first single from their new album - ByteFM Blog. In: ByteFM Blog - News and reviews from our editorial team. June 4, 2019, accessed June 10, 2019 .
- ↑ The Pixies announce a new album. In: 80s80s.de. Retrieved June 13, 2019 .
- ↑ The Cardigans - THE CARDIGANS - SUPER EXTRA GRAVITY. Retrieved April 5, 2018 .
- ^ Anthony Carew: The Pixies - Artist Profile. February 4, 2017, accessed October 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Barry Egan: A gigantic influence on pop music. September 20, 2009, accessed October 30, 2017 .
- ↑ David Fricke: Kurt Cobain, The Rolling Stone Interview: Success Doesn't Suck. In: Rolling Stone. January 27, 1994. Retrieved December 4, 2018 (American English).
- ↑ imdb.com: Knock Knock (2015) Soundtracks
- ↑ imdb.com: Dom Hemingway (2013) Soundtracks
- ↑ a b c d Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ a b c Music Sales Awards: UK US
Web links
- Official website
- Pixies at 4AD
- Pixies at laut.de
- Pixies at Allmusic (English)
- Pixies at Discogs (English)
- Pixies in the Internet Movie Database (English)