Frank Black

I had always known Frank Black as the song writer and front man of the Pixies, the immediate forebearer of the alternative rock boom of the early 1990s. They folded in acrimonious circumstances in 1993.

Early in the new millennium I bought a Ferrari and drove from Prague to Germany to take ownership and to move it into short-term storage there. On my MP3 player I had a number of tracks that I had downloaded but not listened to. On the road, three tracks made an impression - Tenacious-D's "Tribute", Murder Dolls "Dead In Hollywood" and "Los Angeles" by Frank Black and the Catholics.



I drove back from Munich to Prague with Gerhard & Liana Schröder...and "Los Angeles" was playing as we went through a speed trap at high speed just inside the Czech border at Rosvadov. But that's another story! Since then I've delved deeper into Black's cryptic lyrics and unconventional subjects (eg. incest, collapsing dams, surrealism, Biblical violence, science fiction and surf culture) but have not had the opportunity to see him live. I was up to my ears in work when he toured passed through London on July 15, 2007, but here's his concert at the Paradiso in Amsterdam two weeks earlier on July 4.



"Los Angeles" is the third track from the end. Also take a listen to the brilliant "Robert Onion" right after that. I hope you enjoy.

Cheers, MAlfaRK