"Headache" | ||||
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Single by Frank Black | ||||
from the album Teenager of the Year | ||||
A-side | "Headache" | |||
B-side |
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Released | 1994 | |||
Studio | The Clubhouse (Burbank), American (Calabasas) | |||
Length | 2:56 | |||
Label | 4AD/Elektra | |||
Songwriter(s) | Frank Black | |||
Producer(s) | Eric Drew Feldman, Frank Black | |||
Frank Black singles chronology | ||||
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"Headache" is a single written and performed by Frank Black. It was the sole single released from his second solo album, Teenager of the Year , released in 1994. It reached number 53 on the UK charts [1] and number 10 on Billboard 's Modern Rock Tracks. [2]
Co-produced by Black and Eric Drew Feldman (who had contributed to the Pixies' Trompe le Monde ), the "blissfully anthemic" song would later appear on greatest hits compilations for Black. [3]
The A.V. Club said the song "embodies all of the off-kilter charm and undeniable catchiness that's made Thompson's work so timeless." Interviewer Sean O'Neal described it as, "one of the greatest pop songs ever written." [4] The Quietus said, "The tune is as deliciously catchy and Orbinsonesque [sic] as anything he'd previously written, but underlaid throughout the verse with a bassline that keeps ascending to denote pressure, it culminates in a remarkable chorus that sounds like pop's most mellifluous migraine." [5]
The black and white video for the song was directed by Adam Bernstein, [6] famous at the time for his work with They Might Be Giants.
The Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal and David Lovering (drums). They disbanded acrimoniously in 1993 but reunited in 2004. After Deal left in 2013, the Pixies hired Kim Shattuck as a touring bassist. She was replaced that year by Paz Lenchantin. She became a full member in 2016, and recorded three studio albums with the band before departing in 2024.
Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black. After releasing two albums with record label 4AD and one with American Recordings, he left the label and formed a new band, Frank Black and the Catholics. He re-adopted the name Black Francis in 2007.
Doolittle is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in April 1989 on 4AD. Doolittle was the Pixies' first international release. Vocalist and main songwriter Black Francis's lyrics contain allusions to biblical violence, surrealist imagery, and descriptions of torture and death.
Bossanova is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Pixies. It was released on August 13, 1990, by English independent record label 4AD in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Because of 4AD's independent status, major label Elektra handled distribution in the US.
Trompe le Monde is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released on September 23, 1991 on 4AD in the United Kingdom and on September 24, 1991, on Elektra Records in the United States. Recorded in Burbank, California, Paris and London, the album was produced by Gil Norton, and was Pixies' final studio album before their break-up two years later. There would be no Pixies' albums of new material for 23 years after Trompe le Monde.
Eric Drew Feldman is an American musician. Feldman has worked with Captain Beefheart, Fear, Snakefinger, The Residents, Pere Ubu, Pixies, dEUS, Katell Keineg, Frank Black, The Polyphonic Spree, Tripping Daisy, Reid Paley, Charlotte Hatherley, Custard and PJ Harvey.
Frank Black is the debut solo album by American alternative rock musician Frank Black. The album was recorded in 1992 and released on March 8, 1993, via 4AD and Elektra Records, after the breakup of Black's band Pixies.
Teenager of the Year is the second solo studio album by American musician Frank Black. The album was released in 1994 by 4AD in the United Kingdom and Elektra Records in the United States. It was co-produced by Eric Drew Feldman, who also played keyboards and bass guitar on the album. Teenager also features work by several backing musicians, including Lyle Workman, Moris Tepper and Black's Pixies bandmate Joey Santiago.
Dog in the Sand is Frank Black's third album with backing group the Catholics. It was released in 2001 by Cooking Vinyl in Europe and What Are Records? in the United States, and was produced by Nick Vincent. The album was generally met with favorable reviews. Though retaining the live-to-two-track method of recording of the previous two albums, this album found the band branching away from purely electric rock to incorporate acoustic guitar, pedal steel, and Rhodes Piano and Wurlitzer organ into the sonic template.
The Cult of Ray is the third solo studio album by American musician Frank Black. Black opted to produce The Cult of Ray himself, after Eric Drew Feldman produced his first two albums.
"Here Comes Your Man" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis. Produced by Gil Norton, it was released as the second single from the group's second album Doolittle in June 1989.
"Causing a Commotion" is a song by American singer Madonna from the soundtrack album to the 1987 film Who's That Girl. It was released as the album's second single on August 25, 1987, by Sire Records. Its Silver Screen Single Mix later appeared on the EP The Holiday Collection (1991). Written and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray, the song was inspired by her relationship with then-husband Sean Penn, and his abusive and violent nature. Containing a dance-oriented, up-tempo groove, the song begins with the chorus and is accompanied by a four-note descending bassline and staccato chords in the verses.
"Velouria" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis. The song was written as a love song rooted in Francis's experience with a girl associated with the Rosicrucians of Northern California. The lyrics also touched on Francis's interest in UFOs. Musically, the song features surf rock elements as well as a prominent theremin part.
"Head On" is a song written by Jim Reid and William Reid of the Scottish alternative rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain. It was originally recorded for the group's 1989 album Automatic and was released as a single in November 1989.
Show Me Your Tears is the sixth and final studio album to be released to date by Frank Black and the Catholics. Released in September 2003 by SpinART in the US and Cooking Vinyl in the UK, the album employs a wide range of guests, including piano and an arrangement by Van Dyke Parks on the final track, "Manitoba". Within months of the album's release, it was announced that Black would be participating in a Pixies reunion, and since that time, the Catholics have effectively been defunct.
"Here It Goes Again" is a song by American rock band OK Go, the fifth single released from their second studio album, Oh No (2005). It was the band's only single to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 until "I Won't Let You Down" in November 2014 and peaked at number 36 on the UK Singles Chart, giving the band their second UK top-40 hit. The music video, featuring the band dancing on treadmills, became a staple on YouTube, at one time being one of their most-watched videos, with over 61 million views.
Frank Black 93–03 is a compilation album by Frank Black, released in June 2007 by Cooking Vinyl. It highlights the 10 years of his solo career after disbanding the influential alternative rock band, the Pixies in 1993, as well as songs from the many albums he created with backing band "the Catholics". Included also is material from his next solo album, Bluefinger, in the form of a hidden track, "Threshold Apprehension". Each release comes with a second disc of live recordings, which varies depending on the region the album was released in. All live tracks were recorded during Black's fall 2006 North American tour.
NonStopErotik is the sixteenth and most recent solo studio album by Black Francis released by Cooking Vinyl on March 30, 2010, in the US, and April 5 elsewhere.
Oddballs is a compilation album by Frank Black, released in 2000. The album includes various B-sides and outtakes that were recorded between 1994 and 1997. The album was only available for sale at Frank Black & the Catholics shows or on eMusic. It was out of print until July 2013 when the album became available on compact disc through Black's own label the Bureau. The vinyl record was released in October 2013.
"Kiss the Stars" is a song by English singer Pixie Lott from her second studio album, Young Foolish Happy (2011). The song was released digitally in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2012 as the album's third and final single. The dance-pop song was written by Lott in collaboration with its producers Mads Hauge and Phil Thornalley. "Kiss the Stars" received mainly negative reviews from contemporary critics who criticised the song's lyrics and close similarities to Katy Perry's "Firework" but praised its catchiness and dance-pop rhythms. The song peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.