Did You Know...

And while the haunting, interlacing vocals of front man Black Francis (more recently known as Frank Black) and bassist Kim Deal, along with innovative guitar work, brought the band to the cusp of success, the group disbanded just before alterna-rock hit the mainstream. In 2004, however, the band reunited for a series of shows at festivals and a fall tour, playing in sold-out venues to crowds who included The White Stripes, Mike White and Gwen Stefani.

Formed in 1986 by Boston roommates Charles Thompson (aka Black Francis) on guitar/vocals and Joey Santiago, also on guitar, the duo quickly found bassist Kim Deal and drummer David Lovering through a newspaper ad. Originally performing under the moniker Pixies In Panapoly, the group secured a UK recording contract with label 4AD after the label's founder saw them opening for Throwing Muses in Boston. 4AD issued the Pixies first release in 1987, a 7-song EP entitled Come On Pilgrim. In 1988 the group released their first full length album, Surfer Rosa, produced by Chicagoan Steve Albini, of Big Black renown. The album, which sold more in the UK than the US, also garnered the praise of UK critics, who named it Album of the Year.

The band quickly followed Surfer Rosa with the record Doolittle in 1989. Doolittle had higher production values (a cleaner sound) than the previous record and spawned the college rock hits "Monkey Gone to Heaven", "Here Comes Your Man", "Debaser" and "Wave Of Mutilation." The album reached number 98 on the US Top 100, and went all the way to number 8 in the UK. However, the band was beginning to splinter, and went on hiatus after the briefly touring the record. During this time, Kim Deal joined another band with Tanya Donnely from the Throwing Muses and bassist Josephine Wiggs of Perfect Disaster. They were called The Breeders. The break from The Pixies was brief, however, and by the end of 1990, the Pixies had released their third full-length, Bossanova. The new album contained no Deal-written songs, and was the first Pixies effort to receive half-hearted praise. However, the record became a smash college hit, and the two tracks "Velouria" and "Dig for Fire" went onto to become early nineties college anthems.