The album "Bossanova" - The third studio album of the "Pixies" was released on August 13, 1990.
Let's count 30 facts about the album:
1. The name of the album "Bossa Nova" refers to a musical style that developed in Brazil in the 50s of the last century.
2. Musically this is the band's most "soft" album, and it marked a change of direction from the previous two albums.
3. Also lyrically the album is fundamentally different and addresses issues of space, aliens, and science fiction, compared to the heavy issues of prostitution, alcoholism, death, and drugs that characterized the previous albums.
4. The recordings of the album began after a grueling tour that accompanied the previous album "Doolittle". The intensity of the tour gave its signals in the relationship between the band members, especially between Black Francis and Kim Deal.
5. This was reflected in the fact that all the songs on the album (except for one cover version) were written by Black Francis.
6. Another expression of the rift between Kim Deal and Black Francis can be found in the fact that Kim Deal was working on the debut album of her side project "Breeders" when the rest of the band started working on the album in Los Angeles.
7. The physical and social distance from the rest of the members made Kim Deal think about leaving the band, but in the end, she decided to stay mainly due to the encouragement she received from the band's fans.
8. The person who produced the album was Gil Norton who also produced their previous album, "Doolittle".
9. The album includes 14 tracks of which 2 singles have been released. The first single released from the album "Velouria" includes the use of a very unique musical instrument called Theremin. It is an electronic musical instrument in which the playing is performed without contact but by changing the distance of the hands from a pair of antennas that affect the electromagnetic field in their environment.
10. The one who played the instrument in the song was Robert F. Brunner who also played it in the song "Is She Weird".
11. Francis noted that the lyrics of the song were influenced by the spiritual and cultural movement "Rosicrucianism".
12. This is the first "Pixies" song to enter the Top 40 in England.
13. "Weezer" performed a cover version of the song in 1999. This is Black Francis' favorite cover version of the "Pixies" song.
14. He defined the second single "Dig for Fire" as an unsuccessful imitation of the "Talking Heads". The clip released for the song also included another song from the album - "Allison".
15. The single's B-side included a cover version of Neil Young's song "Winterlong".
16. The song "Allison" was written as a tribute to American jazz musician and pianist Mose Allison.
17. This is the shortest song of the "Pixies" that is only 1:17 min long.
18. The track "Cecilia Ann" is a cover version of "The Surftones".
19. The album does indeed touch on the Surf Rock style as well.
20. The song "Ana" is also influenced by Surf Rock. The first letters of each sentence in the lyrics make up the word SURFER. So: She's my fave / Undressing in the sun / Return to sea - bye / Forgetting everyone / Eleven high / Ride a wave
21. Most of the songs on the album were written in the studio, with no early demos, with Black Francis writing the lyrics 5 minutes before the recording on napkins.
22. An exception was the song "Blown Away" which was written in June 1989 while the band was in Spain as part of a tour to promote the previous album.
23. This song alone was recorded by the band a few days later in Berlin, with producer Gil Norton being flown there specifically to record the song.
24. During the recordings of the album, the three members of the band (except for Kim Deal, who was in England at the time) lived in studio apartments for artists, together with members of the band "The White Lion". Producer Gil Norton also moved to the same apartment complex to work with the band.
25. The recordings began at Cherokee Studios in February 1990, but early on a problem arose when band members were required to vacate the studio by 6 pm to allow for pirate radio broadcasts.
(Photo: Clayton Call)
26. This was not the only problem, every connection made to the guitar amplifier in the studio caused a loud noise that made it impossible to record the album.
27. Producer Norton and guitarist Joey Santiago told producer Rick Rubin whom they met by chance in a pub, about the problems and he made sure to find them another studio where they completed the recordings.
28. The album reached number 70 on the US Billboard 200, but in the UK it was more successful when it reached the respectable 3rd place.
29. This album greatly influenced the "Mashina" band, who were inspired by the sound and style of their album "Monsters of Glory" which was released years later.
30 The album appears in the book "1001 albums you need to listen to before you die".
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music.