Los Angeles

Album: Frank Black (1993)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In our interview with Frank Black, he described this song as, "Loosely a sci-fi poem with a kind of Blade Runner outlook, i.e., futuristic Los Angeles."

    Black filled the song with disjointed images of Los Angeles, including the "pouring sun" and a popular LA pastime: counting helicopters.
  • This was the first single Black released as a solo artist; his group the Pixies broke up earlier in 1993.
  • Frank Black had a specific motivation for writing this song: An executive from his record company 4AD was flying in for a listen, and Black needed something to play him.
  • Black is from Boston, but he spent plenty of time in Los Angeles. Where would his apocalyptic visions of the city come from? Well, while the Pixies were making their Bossanova album, they were in Los Angeles on October 17, 1989 when a massive earthquake struck, sending the band scampering out of the studio.
  • Black's Pixies bandmate Joey Santiago played guitar on this track. Other musicians included Nick Vincent on drums and Eric Drew Feldman on bass.
  • Black made a video for this song that through low-budget digital magic, showed him riding a hovercraft on land. The clip got some airplay on MTV's alternative music show 120 Minutes.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?

AC/DC

AC/DCFact or Fiction

Does Angus really drink himself silly? Did their name come from a sewing machine? See if you can spot the real stories about AC/DC.