#227 - Pixies - Doolittle (1989)
MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:
BACKGROUND – PIXIES
The Boston-based Pixies formed in 1986 ,and consists of Charles “Black Francis” Thompson IV (vocals, guitar; also known as ‘’Frank Black’‘), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), David Lovering (drums) and currently Paz Lenchantin (bass and backup vocals). Until 2013, the band’s bassist was Kim Deal, also of The Breeders. The band officially split in 1993 and reunited in 2004. The band’s style of alternative rock music is heavily influenced by punk and surf rock, and while highly melodic, is capable of being tremendously abrasive at the same time. Francis is the Pixies’ primary songwriter and singer and has a distinctly desperate, yowling delivery. He has typically written cryptic songs about offbeat subjects, such as UFOs and surrealism. References to mental instability, violent Biblical imagery, and physical injury feature in many of the band’s songs.
Francis and Santiago met while attending UMass-Amherst, and Kim was the only person to respond for an ad looking for a bassist that liked Peter, Paul & Mary and Husker Du. They got their band name after Santiago selected the word "pixies" randomly from a dictionary, liking how it looked and its definition as "mischievous little elves". After recording a demo tape known as the Purple Tape, it found it's way to an independent label. A mini-LP called "Come on Pilgrim" was then released with 8 of the tracks. The religious lyrics on this and later albums came from Francis parents' being born-again Christians in the Pentecostal Church. Their next release was their first real album, Surfer Rosa (in 1988), which included experimental recording techniques and a distinctive drum sound. The album was well received in England but not in the United States, and the band embarked on a European tour. During the Summer, versions of the songs that would appear on Doolittle—including "Dead", "Hey", "Tame" and "There Goes My Gun"—were recorded during several sessions for John Peel's radio show in 1988, and "Hey" appeared on a free EP circulated with a 1988 edition of Sounds. The Pixies began to record demo sessions while on breaks from touring. During the recording of Doolittle, tensions between Francis and Deal became visible to band members and the production team. Bickering and standoffs between the two marred the recording sessions and led to increased stress among the band members. John Murphy, Deal's husband at the time, later recalled that, with Doolittle, the band dynamic "went from just all fun to work". Exhaustion from touring and from releasing three records in two years contributed to the friction. It came to a head on the last night of the "Fuck or Fight" Tour in support of the album, and Francis and Deal did not attend their end-of-tour party. Soon afterwards, the band announced that they were going on hiatus.
After the Doolittle release in 1989, tensions between Deal and Francis became too much, and Kim formed her own band, "The Breeders" and went on to have success with them. The rest of the band broke up in 1993, but the original members reunited for a worldwide tour in 2004 and grossed over $14 million in ticket sales. In 2013, Deal left the band for good again.
The Pixies totaled 7 official album releases, starting with Surfer Rosa in 1988. Doolittle came out in 1989, Bossanova in 1990, Trompe le Monde in 1991, Indie Cindy in 2014, Head Carrier in 2016, and Beneath the Eyrie in 2019. Pixies have won several awards throughout their career, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Q Inspiration Award.
The Pixies incorporate elements of surf rock and punk rock, with an emphasis on contrasting volume dynamics. Spin described them as "surf music-meets-Stooges spikiness. They are characterized by Black's bristling lyrics and hackle-raising vocals, Deal's whispered harmonies and waspy basslines, Joey Santiago's fragile guitar, and the persistent flush of David Lovering's drums. The band's music incorporates extreme dynamic shifts; which Francis explained in 1991, "Those are the two basic components of rock music .. the dreamy side and the rockin' side. It's always been either sweaty or laid back and cool. We do try to be dynamic, but it's dumbo dynamics, because we don't know how to do anything else. We can play loud or quiet—that's it." The Pixies are influenced by a range of artists and genres; each member came from a different musical background. When he first started writing songs for the Pixies, Francis says he was listening to nothing but Hüsker Dü, Captain Beefheart, and Iggy Pop; whilst in the run up to recording Come on Pilgrim he listened to R.E.M.'s Murmur a lot, which he described as "hugely influential" on his songwriting. During the making of Doolittle he listened heavily to the Beatles' White Album, and has cited Buddy Holly as a model for his compressed songwriting. Francis did not discover punk rock until he was 16, saying "it was good I didn't listen to these hip records". As a child, he listened mainly to 1960s songs, religious music and Emerson Lake and Palmer, and Talking Heads, who he says "weren't punk either". Santiago was influenced by Black Flag, David Bowie, T. Rex, Jimi Hendrix, Lou Reed, and George Harrison. Deal's musical background was folk music and country; she had formed a country-folk band with her sister in her teenage years, and played covers of artists such as the Everly Brothers and Hank Williams. Lovering is a fan of the band Rush.
The Pixies are associated with the 1990s alternative rock boom, and draw on elements including punk rock and surf rock. Their music is known for dynamic "loud-quiet-loud" shifts and song structures. Francis is the Pixies' primary songwriter; his often surreal lyrics cover offbeat subjects such as extraterrestrials, incest, and biblical violence. Artists including David Bowie, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, U2, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, the Strokes, Alice in Chains, Weezer, Bush and Arcade Firehave cited admiration of or influence by the Pixies. Bonoof U2 called the Pixies "one of America's greatest bands ever", and Radiohead's Thom Yorkesaid that the Pixies "changed my life". David Bowie, whose own music had inspired Francis and Santiago while they were at university, has said that the Pixies made "just about the most compelling music of the entire 80s." The Pixies' popularity grew in the years after their breakup, leading to a 2004 reunion, sold-out world tours and four further albums: Indie Cindy (2014), Head Carrier (2016), Beneath the Eyrie (2019) and Doggerel (2022).
ALBUM BACKGROUND – DOOLITTLE
Doolittle is the second album from alternative/indie rock band The Pixies. The album was very influential among the Alternative Rock scene in the ‘90s, most notably influencing bands like Nirvana and the The Smashing Pumpkins. The sudden loud to soft dynamic shift present on songs such as “Tame” became a staple of the ‘90s Alternative sound. The album masterfully mixes Noise Rock and Punk tendencies with catchy Pop tunes, to create a unique, surreal experience. Since the release of the record, it has been acclaimed by many critics and has been included on many “Best Albums of the 80s” lists. It has been said about the band that “In 1988, the Pixies sounded like no other band. By 1991, every band sounded like the Pixies.”
Doolittle" is considered one of the quintessential albums of the 1980s, and has sold consistently since its release. It reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold in 1995 and Platinum in 2018. The Pixies released two singles from the album: "Here Comes Your Man" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven", while tracks such as "Debaser" and "Hey" remain fan and critical favorites. The Doolittle album made many "best of" lists, but the Pixies went on hiatus after touring to promote the album, and never achieved great commercial success.
Their record label, 4AD allotted the Pixies a budget of $40,000 (approximately $98,976 today), excluding producer's fees. This was a modest sum for a 1980s major label album; however, it quadrupled the amount spent on the band's previous album, Surfer Rosa
Album Producer Gil Norton's (also produced for the Foo Fighters, Echo & The Bunnymen, Counting Crows, among others) suggestions were not always welcome, and several instances of advice to add verses and increase track length contributed to the Francis's building frustration. Once, he took Norton to a record store and handed him a copy of a Buddy Hollygreatest hits album in which most of the songs are around two minutes or three minutes long, justifying why his songs should be kept short.