Black Francis

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Black Francis is the stage name of Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, born on 6 April 1965 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a singer, songwriter and guitarist and the lead singer of the alternative rock band Pixies. His father ran a bar and his parents introduced him early to the folk rock of the 1960s. His first guitar was a classical Yamaha belonging to his mother. When he was twelve, his mother and stepfather joined an evangelical church, and you can see that in the biblical references in many Pixies songs. He studied anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and lived there with Joey Santiago, the later guitarist of Pixies.

Music and breakthrough

After Pixies split up in 1993 he began a solo career under the name Frank Black, with fifteen albums and his own band The Catholics. Pixies got back together in 2004, and in 2013 he declared his solo career over. Later albums under the name Black Francis are Bluefinger in 2007 and NonStopErotik in 2010.

Influence

His voice sounded shrieking and wailing with Pixies, and more restrained and melodic in his solo work. His enigmatic lyrics deal with surrealism, UFOs, biblical violence, science fiction and surf culture. Notable are the unusual time signatures, the switching between soft and loud and, with The Catholics, recording live to two tracks. In this way he gave alternative rock a style of its own, on which many bands later built.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 2007Bluefinger
• 2008Svn Fngrs
• 2010NonStopErotik
• 2010The Golem
• 2011Paley & Francis

Mentioned in other articles

• Doolittle AlbumBlack Francis wrote lyrics with surreal imagery, biblical violence and torture.

See also

• Doolittle
• Svn Fngrs