Why the Pixies Never Found Their Mojo Again
People get kicked out of bands. It happens. The Beatles nixed Pete Best because Ringo was a superior drummer. Metallica got rid of Dave Mustaine because only two very low IQ rageaholic jackasses are allowed in a band and they already had James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.
But sometimes people are kicked out of bands for absolutely stupid reasons. Here are five of the most ridiculous band firings.
Remember the Pixies. The daddy of indie surf rock bands that whipped up a genre so unique and badass that without its existence, songs like "Where Is My Mind” and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" would have never existed. They were undoubtedly a fun, talented, and influential bunch. But it always felt like they were a bit…precious. Somehow a little too cool for school. They had a group aesthetic that said "Not caring is cool."
Now, I might be totally wrong. I don't know the band, but I certainly don't seem wrong. When the band disbanded in 1993, lead singer Black Francis called lead guitarist Joey Santiago to let him know the Pixies were no more. Then he sent faxes to the rhythm section, David Lovering and Kim Deal. Yeah, that sounds pretty cool, but that's not what the story's about.
The Pixies recently got back together and replaced bassist Kim Deal with bassist Kim Shattuck, formerly of the Muffs. Things were going great. The band was touring. Then, after one leg of the tour ended, Shattuck got a call from the manager that things weren't working out. Shattuck believes it might have been due to the fact that the other Pixies are more introverted, and pointed to a show at the Mayan Theater in LA where she did a stage dive.
In a Rolling Stone interview, she said, "I know they weren't thrilled about that. When I got offstage, the manager told me not to do that again. I said, 'Really, for my own safety?' And he said, 'No, because the Pixies don't do that.'"
Now maybe that's not true, but if you listen to Santiago's interview, it's not hard to believe. He claims it was impossible to fire her in person because everyone had gone home after the show. Also no one faxes anymore.










