The 500 - #227 - Doolittle - Pixies

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #227
Album Title: Doolittle
Artist: Pixies
Genre: Alternative Rock
Recorded: Downtown Recorders, Boston, MA, U.S.A.

Released: April, 1989
My age at release: 23
How familiar was I with it before this week: Two songs

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #141, moving up 86 places since the 2012 list.
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Here Comes My Man

Doolittle is the second studio record from Boston-based Alt-Rockers the Pixies. I wrote about their debut record, Surfer Rosa, in May, 2022. When I penned that post, I mentioned, erroneously it turned out, that I had only been familiar with one song from the group. It was the track Where Is My Mind? which is featured significantly in the climactic scene of the film Fight Club. There are actually two tracks from Doolittle that I had heard prior to this week – Here Comes My Man and Monkey Gone To Heaven. They are in regular rotation on my home's internet streaming station of choice, Radio Paradise.

Radio Paradise is a listener-supported, commercial-free streaming music service that features four channels (Main, Rock, Mellow & Global). Although there is no mandated charge, my wife and I support it with a modest $5 monthly subscription. The service is trying to expand and I recommend you give it a try. A new channel was recently launched - Radio 2050 - which combines music with conversations about important issues.

I was texting with a friend this week about Doolittle. He goes by the pseudonym Various Artists on social media accounts and has guest blogged for me twice. He is a huge fan of Pixies and shared his own blog entry about seeing them at the Ottawa Civic Centre in April, 2011. He began his post with a story about the moment he fell in love with the Doolittle record after being lukewarm about it for several months. 

That got me thinking about albums that didn't wow me at first, but eventually became favourites -- often dominating my stereo system, headphones and car radio for months at a time. 

Three come to mind:

• Acadie by French-Canadian musician and legendary producer Daniel Lanois.
• Trick Of The Tail from British progressive-rock band Genesis, released in 1976 following the departure of founding member and singer and theatrical front-man Peter Gabriel.
• Tommy the two-disc rock opera from The Who, #96 on The 500.

In all three cases, the records came with positive reviews and were recommended by friends whose opinions I valued. My expectations were high when I gave each one its first spin on my turntable. I was nonplussed. I didn't dislike the music, but I wasn't hooked. I was just ... "meh".

However, I stuck with each one and my perseverance was rewarded. Suddenly, each one clicked. At first, it was a single track -- an earworm that was "cloggin' my noggin". Then, song by song, the records won me over and spent hours on my audio devices.

A Technics Linear Tracking Turntable, similar to the one I owned.

I think, in part, this was due to living in a generation before digital, on-demand music. In order to hear most records, I had to purchase a physical copy. This financial commitment inspirited an obligation to justify the purchase. 

Music writer and broadcaster Alan Cross said much the same last week in an appearance at the Forked River Brewery and Pub in London, Ont. In a two-hour Q&A session, Cross posited that music today, typically released via on-demand streaming, is disadvantaged. A song, or a record, has to capture the attention of today's listener quickly or risk being clicked away into audio oblivion.

Cross, speaking at Forked Brewery Pub, Saturday, February 3, 2024

Cross, who has hosted the radio program (and now podcast) The Ongoing History Of New Music for 30 years, supported his views on audio technologies through examples. He talked about his transition from disdain to love of the mellow folk-duet Battle Of Evermore from Led Zeppelin's fourth studio release (often called Zeppelin IV- #69 on The 500).

Album cover for IV from Led Zeppelin

Zeppelin's song, a mandolin-driven track featuring lyrics inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Ring fantasy series, was nestled in between the much heavier Black Dog and Rock And Roll, and the band's best known epic, Stairway To Heaven. 

Cross admitted he begrudgingly listened to The Battle Of Evermore because he was simply too lazy to get off his bed and move the needle. However, over time, the repeated listens made him a fan and he now considers it to be one of his favourite tracks from the British rockers.

That, he suggested, is unlikely to happen today, when a quick tap on a smart phone screen would dismiss the song forever. Can you imagine a young music listener discovering U2’s masterpiece album The Joshua Tree (#27 on The 500) today? The opening track, Where The Streets Have No Name, begins with an instrumental section that fades in with a slowly building series of atmospheric synthesizer notes. The guitar comes in after 40 seconds and the bass and drums don’t appear for another 30 seconds. It is the type of song that takes its time to build to a magnificent crescendo; however, it is also the type of song that could quickly bore a new listener... especially one with a short attention span and a device that allows for a song to be instantly relegated to digital purgatory with the flick of a finger.

Album cover for The Joshua Tree by U2.

I agree with Cross' assessment and consider myself fortunate to have grown up in the heyday of vinyl records. I am also delighted to have a Spotify account and access to 100 million songs on demand. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to hear Doolittle to prepare for this post. I listened to it in its entirety (never skipping a track) and much like Tommy, Acadie or, in Cross' case, Battle Of Evermore, it won me over.

I realize that I meandered a bit from the topic of Doolittle on this post. We sometimes call this "birdwalking" in the teaching profession. It happens when you plan to teach a specific lesson but let questions from the students lead you to a meandering series of stories and anecdotes -- like the seemingly aimless sandpiper foraging on a beach.

I appreciate you taking that stroll with me today. Better information on the album can be found on the accompanying episode of The 500 Podcast. Guitarist Joey Santiago from Pixies is the surprise guest this week and, despite being flanked by comedians Josh Adam Meyers and Patton Oswalt, he provides funny and engaging commentary on his band and the making of Doolittle.

The 500 - #317 - Surfer Rosa - Pixies

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 317

Album Title: Surfer Rosa

Artist: Pixies

Genre: Alternative Rock, Art Punk, Post-Punk

Recorded: 2 Studios, Boston, Massachusettes, U.S.A.

Released: March, 1988

My age at release: 22

How familiar was I with it before this week: 1 Song

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, #390 - dropping 63 spots

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Where Is My Mind?

Surfer Rosa, the debut studio album from Boston-based, alternative rock band, Pixies, was released in the spring of 1988. I was in university and working at a local pizza joint as a bartender and server. The crew with which I worked and socialized were into more conventional rock fare. Consequently, this is not a record that made its way to my radar.

Matches - one of the few relics from my pizza gig (1988)

Surfer Rosa is not an easy listen. It can be jarring and abrasive at times. However, if I had discovered it sooner, I probably would have enjoyed it for its mix of musical styles. Some of it is raw and unbridled, while other tracks are hauntingly melodic. The lyrical content is dark and often disturbing, leaning heavily on themes of Catholic repression. They mirrored my fascination with the macabre in my late teens and early twenties.

Pixies (1988) Francis, Deal, Lovering & Santiago

Formed in the mid-80s, the Pixies comprised songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Black Francis (born: Charles Thompson IV); bassist and vocalist Kim Deal; drummer David Lovering; and lead guitarist Joey Santiago.

They emerged as part of the blossoming alternative rock scene in the northeast United States, drawing on elements of punk and surf rock. Their dynamic structure of music writing has been dubbed "loud-quiet-loud". It was an evolutionary step in soundscapes as the band took the thrashing anger found in hardcore punk and delivered it in controlled, strategic bursts, offset by more melodic sections of quiet restraint.

The album was well received by critics but sales were initially underwhelming. Now it is  widely regarded as a powerful influence, leading to the grunge music scene of the 1990s. In retrospect, it is easy to trace. Nirvana front-man Kurt Cobain admitted to "ripping it off" while writing Nevermind (which appears at position #17 on The 500). PJ Harvey, with two records on this list (#431 and #406), said Surfer Rosa "blew her mind", and David Bowie, with five records on the list, said it was "among the most compelling music of the eighties". Bowie even covered the song Cactus from this record on his 2002 release, Heathen.

Although I had heard the name of the group in conversation, I wouldn't discover the band until long after their 1993 break-up. The song, Where Is My Mind? from Surfer Rosa, brilliantly serves as the audio backdrop to the explosive final scene in the 1999 film Fight Club.

Movie Poster for Fight Club

In 2004, the band reunited for an extensive and wildly successful world tour -- with ticket sales exceeding $14 million. In 2013, Deal left the group and was replaced by bassist Paz Lenchantin. This past February, Francis revealed he had more than forty songs already written for an upcoming record.

Pixies performing live (2019)

We will return to Pixies in about two years with album #227, Doolittle. Until then, Surfer Rosa will certainly make up for lost time with many spins as gyms reopen. I suspect it will serve as motivational work-out music. Loud-quiet-loud – sounds that are perfect for interval training on the elliptical.