Frank Black Francis

This months Mojo magazine CD celebrates the great American songbook and this month it even comes in two volumes, the first concentrating on the pioneers of American music and the second hilighting some of the performers who have emerged more recently.

Frank Black was known as Charles Thompson until he formed The Pixies in Boston in 1986 when he dropped out of college and convinced his friend and college roommate Joey Santiago to do the same. The two recruited bassist Kim Deal, who had been playing in a group called the Breeders with her twin sister Kelly, and drummer David Lovering. Thompson adopted the stage name Black Francis and the group named themselves the Pixies.

The band went on to release an EP "Come On Pilgrim" in 1987 and four albums; "Surfer Rosa" in 1988, "Doolittle" in 1989, "Bossanova" in 1990 and "Trompe Le Monde" in 1991 after which they split. The Pixies could reasonably be considered to be one of the most important american bands of the alternative music scene and were frequently stated as being hugely influential on numerous bands, most famously one Kurt Cobain. The Pixies reunited for a world tour in spring of 2004 and are still happily touring together.

After breaking up the Pixies in 1993, Black Francis emerged as Frank Black and has gone on to release a huge collection of ecletic solo albums.

Pixies leader Frank recorded his latest solo LP "Honeycomb" in Nashville with seasoned session musicians from Stax and Muscle Shoals studios. A sage nod to America's roots.


Frank Black - I Burn Today