The Pixies were a shock to the system. Emerging from their first rehearsal held in a squalid Boston basement, they were soon the toast of the UK and Europe - the new saviours of rock 'n' roll. Forerunners of grunge and with a repertoire of seriously weird songs, they made a virtue out of eccentricity. Then, when mega-stardom threatened, Pixies' songwriter and singer, Charles Thompson a.k.a Black Francis ditched the band, re-christened himself Frank Black and insisted he hated the group - until deciding to reform it for a sell out tour in 2004. This definitive biography of the legendary group also examines how Charles Thompson's music forever changed the lives of Pixies fans.