Combining a love of 1960s melodies with intense, searing guitars and a natural
fascination for the perverse and weird, Black Francis's gang of staunch
outsiders, the Pixies, formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts, and became cult
heroes in the late 1980s against a backdrop of spandex-clad metal bands and
manufactured pop. With Kurt Cobain admitting, "I was basically trying to rip off
the Pixies," and a host of Britpop bands—from Blur to Suede to Radiohead—all
paying homage to the band, their legacy has gone on to define them as one of the
most influential bands of their era, wit...