Ocean (band)

Jeff Jones (bass guitar, vocals). He then went on to form a band with Scott Boutier, Eric Drew, Rich Gilbert, David McGaffrey, and Dave Phillips called Frank Black and the Catholics. Greg Brown (vocals, keyboard). Black Francis renamed himself Frank Black, and released several solo albums. Without telling anyone, Black Francis ended the band, and it wasn't until a year later that he faxed an official notice to the other members. Trompe le Monde still featured little input from Deal and wasn't as critically regarded as their first few albums.

Break-up announcements notwithstanding, one more album was to follow. The Pixies were at the height of their popularity, however, and while headlining at the Reading Festival in 1991, they played a highly enthusiastic version of "Debaser" which has become legendary among fans. Deal was not pleased, and unilaterally announced an apparent break-up of the band on-stage during the following tour. During this time, Black Francis limited Deal's contributions to the band; the first two albums had been partly written by Deal, but when Bossanova was released in 1990, all songs were by him.

After Doolittle, Black Francis temporarily went solo, while Kim Deal formed The Breeders with Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses and Deal's sister, Kelley. Their sophomore album, Doolittle, featured three prominent singles: "Debaser," "Here Comes Your Man," and "Monkey Gone to Heaven." It was a top 10 hit in the UK and reached the top 100 in North America. For the remainder of their career, the Pixies remained large-scale stars in Britain and cult figures in the US. The band remained unsigned in the US for a while, but after a foray up the UK pop charts and some inroads into American college rock stations, they were picked up by Elektra Records.

4AD was a British music label, and the notoriously rabid British music press immediately clutched the Pixies to their collective bosoms and refused to let go. It was followed by their first full-length album, Surfer Rosa in early 1988. Eight tracks from the demo were selected for the Come on Pilgrim EP, the band's first release. The demo fell into the hands of Ivo Watts-Russell, owner of 4AD, who signed the band.

Smith became the band's manager and produced a 17 track demo (known as the "Purple Tape", publicly released in 2002). During a concert with Throwing Muses, the band was noticed by Gary Smith, a producer at Fort Apache Studios. They arrived at a name ("Pixies") by selecting an entry from the dictionary at random, and began playing shows in the Boston area. Reportedly, the ad asked for a bass player who liked The Mamas and the Papas and Husker Du.

Bassist Kim Deal joined the band after she responded to a classified ad Black Francis had placed which requested an unusual combination of musical influences. The band was formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts by Joey Santiago and Black Francis (born Charles Thompson IV). Most notable was their use of soft verses and hard choruses, which was later popularized by Nirvana. Their style of music influenced many aspects of alternative rock throughout the 1990s.

Frank Black (vocals, guitar), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals), and David Lovering (drums). The band's lineup consists of Black Francis a.k.a. The Pixies are a band which toured and recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s, then reunited in 2004 and began touring again. Download sample of "Holiday Song" from Come on Pilgrim.