Song · The Pixies
“The Happening” by The Pixies
From the album Bossanova (1990)
“The Happening” by The Pixies appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1990 and 2003. It was first released in 1990 on the album Bossanova. Its best result is #24 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1990. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #143 alternative song of 1990 and #7,207 alternative song of all time.
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"The Happening" turns up on Bossanova, the third Pixies album, released on August 13, 1990, through 4AD in the UK and Elektra in the US. Black Francis wrote it and sings it with Kim Deal; Francis and Joey Santiago play electric guitar, Deal plays bass and Dave Lovering drums. Gil Norton produced it, Al Clay recorded it and Steve Haigler mixed it.
The record grew out of a move west. When the Doolittle tour wound down in January 1990, Francis, Santiago and Lovering left Boston for Los Angeles, where they planned to make the album, and Deal, who had stayed in the UK to cut the Breeders' first record with Steve Albini, eventually came out to join them. It wasn't one of Bossanova's two singles; that job went to "Velouria" and "Dig for Fire".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 24 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1990 | 50 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1876 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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