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A very hard to find Pixies collaborative merch item
2021 PIXIES X STAGE RIGHT COFFEE COMPANY "ROCK ME JOE" MUG
DETAILS:
Throwback style graphic that is pure killer!
Step right up, coffee enthusiasts and music fans, and get ready to rock your morning routine with the Stage Right Coffee Company Pixies "Rock Me Joe" Enamel Mug! This iconic enamelware piece is a true collector's item, born from a unique collaboration between the small batch coffee connoisseurs at Stage Right Coffee Company (SRCC) and the legendary alternative rock band, Pixies. It's time to bring a touch of rock 'n roll into your daily coffee ritual!
In October 2021, Pixies shook up the music and merch scene with their Fall 2021 collection, which included the SRCC "Rock Me Joe" enamel mug and a "Rock Me Joe" small batch premium whole bean coffee from SRCC. This official Pixies camp-style tin mug is a sight to behold, covered in black and white enamel, featuring the classic Pixies "Planet of Sound" graphic, and a playful nod to everyone's favorite morning pick-me-up. You can practically hear the notes of Joey Santiago's guitar solo in the song "Monkey Gone to Heaven" from the album Doolittle as Black Francis shouts, "Rock me, Joe!".
The backstory of Stage Right Coffee Company adds an extra layer of intrigue to this already awesome piece of merchandise. Founded in 2020 by music lover, coffee enthusiast, and roadie extraordinaire Robert "Noise" Ortiz - a personal bass tech for the likes of Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 - SRCC quickly made a name for itself in the coffee world. Sadly, Robert Noise's untimely passing in May 2022 marked the end of SRCC, leaving behind a legacy of unique and high-quality coffee products.
With the closure of SRCC, their limited line of exclusive collaborations has become highly sought after and difficult to come by. This Pixies "Rock Me Joe" enamel mug is a precious gem of memorabilia, embodying the spirit of collaboration, limited edition artistry, and rarity that is now synonymous with the SRCC brand. Snagging one of these mugs is like owning a piece of music history, a tribute to the creativity, passion, and talent that Robert Noise poured into every small batch of coffee.
Don't miss your chance to own a piece of rock 'n roll and coffee history with the Stage Right Coffee Company Pixies "Rock Me Joe" enamel mug. Add a splash of style and character to your morning routine, and pay tribute to the unforgettable legacy of both Pixies and SRCC.
A must-have for the Pixies fanatic!
Makes a great gift for the Pixies devotee and collector, especially those who adore coffee and go out of their way to support small businesses. The number of times SRCC manufactured the Pixies enamel mug is unknown but it's very likely there was only one production run, and likely a very limited run at that - making this mug much more rare, harder to find, and a necessity for die-hard Pixies fans.
Dimensions & Capacity:
Height: 3" (inches)
Rim Diameter: 3.5" (inches)
Length (w/ handle): 4.25" (inches)
Capacity: holds 12 fl. oz. (fluid ounces)
CONDITION:
In good, pre-owned condition. The mug has acquired some visible wear from use. Tiny bit of rust on the exterior, light scuffs inside, and what looks like water spots on the exterior. Please see photos.
To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out.
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"The Pixies are an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) 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, who became a full member in 2016, and recorded three studio albums with the band before departing in 2024.
The Pixies are associated with the 1990s alternative rock boom, and draw on elements including punk rock and surf rock. Their music is known for dynamic "loud-quiet-loud" shifts and song structures. Francis is the Pixies' primary songwriter; his often surreal lyrics cover offbeat subjects such as extraterrestrials, incest, and biblical violence. The band achieved modest popularity in the US but was more successful in Europe. Their jarring pop sound influenced acts such as Nirvana, Radiohead, the Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. The Pixies' popularity grew in the years after their breakup, leading to a 2004 reunion, sold-out world tours and four further albums: Indie Cindy (2014), Head Carrier (2016), Beneath the Eyrie (2019) and Doggerel (2022).
History
Formation (1986)
Founding member and principal songwriter Black Francis
Guitarist Joey Santiago and songwriter Black Francis (born Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV) met when they lived next to each other in a suite while attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst.[1] Although Santiago was worried about distractions, he noticed Francis played music and the pair began to jam together.[2] Francis embarked on a student exchange trip to Puerto Rico to study Spanish.[1] After six months, he returned to Amherst and dropped out of the university.[3] Francis and Santiago spent 1984 working in a Boston-area warehouse, with Francis composing songs on his acoustic guitar and writing lyrics on the subway train.[4]
The pair formed a band in January 1986.[5] Two weeks later, Francis placed an advertisement seeking a bass player who liked both the folk act Peter, Paul and Mary and the alternative rock band Hüsker Dü.[6] Kim Deal was the only respondent, and arrived at the audition without a bass, as she had never played one before.[7][8] She was invited to join as she liked the songs Francis showed her. She obtained a bass, and the trio started rehearsing in Deal's apartment.[9]
After recruiting Deal, Kim paid for her sister, Kelley Deal, to fly to Boston and audition as drummer. Though Francis approved, Kelley was not confident in her drumming, and was more interested in playing songs written by Kim; she later joined Kim's band the Breeders.[10] Kim's husband suggested they hire David Lovering, whom Kim had met at her wedding reception.[11][12] The group arrived at a name after Santiago selected the word "pixies" randomly from a dictionary, liking how it looked and its definition as "mischievous little elves".[1] The Pixies moved rehearsals to Lovering's parents' garage in mid-1986[9] and began to play shows at bars in the Boston area.[1]
Come on Pilgrim (1987)
While the Pixies were playing a concert with Throwing Muses, they were noticed by producer Gary Smith, manager of Fort Apache Studios.[5] He told the band he "could not sleep until you guys are world famous".[13] The band produced a 17-track demo at Fort Apache soon afterwards, known to fans as the Purple Tape because of the tape cover's purple background. Funded by Francis' father at the cost of $1000, the recording session was completed in three days.[14] Local promoter Ken Goes became the band's manager, and he passed the demo to Ivo Watts-Russell of the independent record label 4AD.[1] Watts-Russell nearly passed on the band, finding them too normal, "too rock 'n' roll", but signed them at the persuasion of his girlfriend.[15]
Upon signing with 4AD, eight tracks from the Purple Tape were selected for the Come on Pilgrim mini-LP, the Pixies' first release.[5] Francis drew upon his experiences in Puerto Rico, mostly in the songs "Vamos" and "Isla de Encanta", describing the poverty in Puerto Rico and singing in loose Spanish.[13] The religious lyrics in Come on Pilgrim and later albums came from his parents' born-again Christian days in the Pentecostal Church.[13] Critic Heather Phares sees themes such as sexual frustration ("I've Been Tired") and incest ("Nimrod's Son" and "The Holiday Song") on the record.[16]
Surfer Rosa and Doolittle (1988–1989)
Come on Pilgrim was followed by the Pixies' first full-length album, Surfer Rosa. The album was recorded by Steve Albini (who was hired by Watts-Russell on the advice of a 4AD colleague),[17] completed in two weeks, and released in early 1988.[13] Surfer Rosa gained the Pixies acclaim in Europe; both Melody Maker and Sounds gave Surfer Rosa their "Album of the Year" award. American critical response was also positive yet more muted, a reaction that persisted for much of the band's career.[18] The album was eventually certified Gold in the U.S. in 2005.[19] After the album was released, the band arrived in England to support Throwing Muses on the European "Sex and Death" tour—beginning at the Mean Fiddler in London.[20] The tour also took them to the Netherlands, where the Pixies had already received enough media attention to be headlining the tour. The tour became notable for the band's in-jokes, such as playing their entire set list in alphabetical order.[5]
Meanwhile, the Pixies signed an American distribution deal with major record label Elektra.[5] Around this time, the Pixies struck up a relationship with the British producer Gil Norton. Norton produced their second full album, Doolittle,[21] which was recorded in the last six weeks of 1988 and seen as a departure from the raw sound of Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa. Doolittle had a much cleaner sound, largely due to Norton and the production budget of US$40,000, which was quadruple that of Surfer Rosa.[22] Doolittle featured the single "Here Comes Your Man", which biographers Josh Frank and Caryn Ganz describe as an unusually jaunty and pop-like song for the band.[23] "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was popular on alternative radio in the US, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks,[24] and the single entered the Top 100 in the U.K.[25] Like Surfer Rosa, Doolittle was acclaimed by fans and music critics alike.[21] Doolittle was their first album to enter into the Billboard 200, peaking at 98.[26] In the UK, the album was a commercial success, reaching number 8 in the Albums Chart.[27]
Break (1989–1990)
After Doolittle, tensions between Deal and Francis came to a head (for example, Francis threw a guitar at Deal during a concert in Stuttgart),[28] and Deal was almost fired from the band when she refused to play at a concert in Frankfurt.[29] Santiago, in an interview with Mojo, described Deal as being "headstrong and want[ing] to include her own songs, to explore her own world" on the band's albums; eventually she accepted that Francis was the singer and had musical control of the band, but after the Frankfurt incident, "they kinda stopped talking".[29] The band became increasingly tired during the post-Doolittle or Fight" tour of the United States and fighting among members continued.[21] After the tour's final date in New York City, the band was too exhausted to attend the end-of-tour party the following night and soon announced a hiatus.[5]
During this time, Santiago and Lovering went on vacation[21] while Francis performed a short solo tour,[5] made up of a number of concerts to generate gas money as he traveled across the country.[1] Deal formed a new band, the Breeders, with Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses and bass player Josephine Wiggs of Perfect Disaster.[30] Their debut album, Pod, was released in 1990.
Bossanova and Trompe le Monde (1990–1992)
In 1990, all members of the group except for Deal moved to Los Angeles.[32] Lovering stated that he, Santiago, and Francis moved there "because the recording studio was there".[33] Unlike previous recordings, the band had little time to practice beforehand, and Black Francis wrote much of the album in the studio.[34] Featuring the singles "Velouria" and "Dig for Fire", Bossanova reached number 70 in the United States.[35] In contrast, the album peaked at number three in the United Kingdom.[36] Also in 1990, the Pixies released a cover of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's "Born in Chicago" on the compilation album Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary.[37]
The band continued to tour and released Trompe le Monde in 1991, their final album before their break-up. The album included "U-Mass", which has been described as being about college apathy,[38] and whose guitar riff was written years before at the University of Massachusetts before Francis and Santiago dropped out.[38] The album also featured a cover of "Head On" by the Jesus and Mary Chain.[39] Also that year, the band contributed a cover of "I Can't Forget" to the Leonard Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan,[40] and began an international tour on which they played stadiums in Europe and smaller venues in the United States. They then signed to be the support act of U2 on the lucrative US leg of the Zoo TV Tour in 1992.[41] Tensions rose among band members, and at the end of the year, the Pixies went on sabbatical and focused on separate projects.[41]
Breakup and solo projects (1993–2003)
In early 1993, Francis announced in an interview to BBC Radio 5 that the Pixies were finished, without however telling the other members of the band. He offered no explanation at the time.[5] He later called Santiago and notified Deal and Lovering via fax.[42]
After the breakup, the members embarked on separate projects. Black Francis renamed himself Frank Black,[43] and released several solo albums, including a string of releases with Frank Black and the Catholics.[44] Deal returned to the Breeders, who scored a hit with "Cannonball" from their platinum-selling Last Splash in 1993, and released more albums several years later.[30] She also formed the Amps, who released one album.[45]
Santiago played lead guitar on a number of Frank Black albums,[46][47][48] as well as on other artists' albums.[49][50] He wrote music for the television show Undeclared and theme music for the film Crime and Punishment in Suburbia.[51] He formed the Martinis with his wife Linda Mallari, and released the album Smitten in 2004.[51] In 2004, he also played lead guitar on the album Statecraft by the novelist and musician Charles Douglas.[52] Lovering became a magician and performed a style of magic he called "scientific phenomenalism".[53] He was temporarily a member of the Martinis, and later drummed with the band Cracker.[53][54]
4AD and Elektra Records continued to release Pixies material: the best-of album Death to the Pixies (1997),[55] the Peel-session compilation Pixies at the BBC (1998),[56] and the Complete 'B' Sides compilation (2001).[57] In 2002, material from the Pixies' original 17-track demo tape was released as an EP, Pixies, on Cooking Vinyl in the U.K.[58] and SpinART Records in the U.S.;[59] Black has also used these labels to release solo work[60][61] and albums with the Catholics.[44][62]
Reunion (2003–2012)
The Pixies in concert in Kansas City, October 1, 2004. From left to right, Frank Black, David Lovering (back) and Kim Deal.
The Pixies in 2009
In the years following the Pixies' breakup, Black dismissed rumors of a reunion,[1][38][63] but incorporated an increasing number of Pixies songs in his sets with the Catholics,[64] and occasionally included Santiago in his solo work and Lovering's magic show as an opening act to concerts.[1] In 2003, a series of phone calls among band members resulted in some low-key rehearsals, and soon the decision to reunite.[1] By February 2004, a full tour was announced,[65] and tickets for nearly all the initial tour dates sold out within minutes.[66]
The Pixies played their first reunion concert on April 13, 2004, at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[67] A warm-up tour through the U.S. and Canada (in which all dates were recorded and released as individual limited-edition CDs) was followed by an appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.[5][68] The band then spent much of 2004 touring in locations including Europe and the UK.[5] The group won the Act-of-the-Year award in the 2004 Boston Music Awards.[69] The 2004 reunion tour grossed over $14 million in ticket sales.[70]
In June 2004, the band released a new song, "Bam Thwok" exclusively on the iTunes Music Store; it reached number one in the UK Official Download Chart.[71] 4AD released Wave of Mutilation: The Best of Pixies, along with a companion DVD, Pixies.[72] The band also contributed a rendition of "Ain't That Pretty at All" to the Warren Zevon tribute album Enjoy Every Sandwich.[73]
The Pixies Concert, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2010
In 2005, the Pixies made appearances at festivals including Lollapalooza,[74] "T on the Fringe",[75] and the Newport Folk Festival.[76] They continued to make appearances through 2006 and 2007,[77][78] culminating in their first shows in Australia.[79] Francis suggested that a new Pixies studio album was possible,[80][81][82] or unlikely,[83] the main obstacle being Deal's reluctance.[84][85]
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Doolittle, the Pixies launched a tour in October 2009 where they performed the album track-for-track, including the associated B-sides.[86] The tour began in Europe,[86] continued in the United States in November,[87] with the South American and Australian tour following in March 2010, then New Zealand, and more European dates in spring 2010,[88][89] and back to North America in 2010.
Deal's departure and Indie Cindy (2013–2015)
On June 14, 2013, the Pixies announced that Deal had left the band. Two weeks later, the band released a new song, "Bagboy", as a free download via the Pixies' website. The song features Jeremy Dubs of Bunnies and formerly of the Bennies on vocals in place of Deal.[92] As of 2023, Deal and her former bandmates have no relationship.[93]
On July 1, 2013, the Pixies announced the addition of the Muffs and Pandoras guitarist and vocalist Kim Shattuck to replace Deal for their 2013 European tour.[94][95][96] On September 3, 2013, the Pixies released an EP of new songs, EP1. On November 29, 2013, Shattuck announced that she had been dismissed from the band.[97] In December 2013, it was announced that the Entrance Band and A Perfect Circle bassist Paz Lenchantin was joining the Pixies for the 2014 tour.[98] Lenchantin said she had been a "die-hard" Pixies fan as a teenager and that Black was the greatest artist she had worked with.[99] The Pixies released EP2 on January 3, 2014. The single released to radio was "Blue Eyed Hexe". Another new EP, EP3, was released on March 24, 2014. All the EPs were only available as downloads and limited-edition vinyl.
The three EPs were collected in LP format and released as the album, Indie Cindy, in April 2014.[100] It was the first Pixies album in over two decades.[101] In 2015, the Pixies toured in support of Robert Plant for a series of dates across North America.[102]
Head Carrier, Beneath the Eyrie and Doggerel (2016–2024)
In July 2016, the Pixies announced that Lenchantin had become a permanent member, and that their sixth album, Head Carrier, would be released on September 30, 2016.[103] Their seventh album, Beneath the Eyrie, was released on September 13, 2019, with the lead single, "On Graveyard Hill".[104] The Pixies released a podcast, It's a Pixies Podcast, documenting the recording of the album.[105] The Pixies released a non-album single, "Human Crime", in March 2022.[106] They released their eighth studio album, Doggerel, with the single "There's a Moon On" on September 30 via BMG.[107][108]
On 4 March 2024, the Pixies announced that Lenchantin had left the band "to concentrate on her own projects".[99] In a statement to Rolling Stone, Lenchantin said that the choice was not hers and that her "departure [was] a bit of a surprise to [her] as it is to many".[99] She will be replaced on the forthcoming Pixies tour by Emma Richardson, formerly of Band of Skulls.[99]
Style
The Pixies incorporate elements of surf rock and punk rock, with an emphasis on contrasting volume dynamics. Spin described them as "surf music-meets-Stooges spikiness and oft-imitated stop/start and quiet/loud dynamics".[109] Their music was described as "an unorthodox marriage of surf music and punk rock ... characterized by Black's bristling lyrics and hackle-raising caterwaul, Deal's whispered harmonies and waspy basslines, Joey Santiago's fragile guitar, and the persistent flush of David Lovering's drums."[41]
The music incorporates extreme dynamic shifts. Francis said in 1991, "Those are the two basic components of rock music ... the dreamy side and the rockin' side. It's always been either sweaty or laid back and cool. We do try to be dynamic, but it's dumbo dynamics, because we don't know how to do anything else. We can play loud or quiet—that's it."[110]
Influences
The Pixies are influenced by a range of artists and genres; each member came from a different musical background. When he first started writing songs for the Pixies, Francis says he was listening to nothing but Hüsker Dü, Captain Beefheart, and Iggy Pop;[111] whilst in the run up to recording Come on Pilgrim he listened to R.E.M.'s Murmur a lot, which he described as "hugely influential" on his songwriting.[112] During the making of Doolittle he listened heavily to the Beatles' White Album.[113] He has cited Buddy Holly as a model for his compressed songwriting.[114] Francis did not discover punk rock until he was 16, saying "it was good I didn't listen to these hip records". As a child, he listened mainly to 1960s songs, religious music and Emerson Lake and Palmer, [...] and Talking Heads, who he says "weren't punk either".[115]
Santiago listened to 1970s and 1980s punk including Black Flag, as well as David Bowie[13] and T. Rex.[116] Guitarists who influenced him include Jimi Hendrix, Les Paul, Wes Montgomery, Lou Reed[117] and George Harrison.[118] Deal's musical background was folk music and country; she had formed a country-folk band with her sister in her teenage years, and played covers of artists such as the Everly Brothers and Hank Williams.[41] Other artists Deal listened to included XTC, Gang of Four and Elvis Costello.[119] Lovering is a fan of the band Rush.[41]
Film has influenced the Pixies; Francis cites surrealist films Eraserhead and Un chien andalou (as mentioned in "Debaser") as influences.[13] He has said he "didn't have the patience to sit around reading Surrealist novels", but found it easier to watch twenty-minute films.[120]
Songwriting and vocals
Most of the Pixies' songs are composed and sung by Francis. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine has described Francis's writing as containing "bizarre, fragmented lyrics about space, religion, sex, mutilation, and pop culture".[5] Biblical violence is a theme of Doolittle's "Dead" and "Gouge Away";[1][121] Francis told a Melody Maker interviewer, "It's all those characters in the Old Testament. I'm obsessed with them. Why it comes out so much I don't know."[122] He has described Come on Pilgrim's "Caribou" as being about reincarnation,[1] and extraterrestrial themes appear in a number of songs on Bossanova.[1]
Deal co-wrote Doolittle's "Silver" with Francis,[123] and they share lead harmony vocals on the track.[14] She also co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Surfer Rosa's "Gigantic",[10][124] and wrote the 2004 single "Bam Thwok".[119][125] She was credited as Mrs. John Murphy on "Gigantic"[124]—at the time she was married, and she used this name as an ironic feminist joke.[122] She also sang lead vocals on the song "Into the White" and the Neil Young cover "Winterlong", both B-sides.[57]
Lovering sang lead vocals on Doolittle's "La La Love You"[123] and the B-side "Make Believe".[57] Lenchantin made her lead vocal debut on Head Carrier's "All I Think About Now".[126] She also provided lead vocals on "Los Surfers Muertos", from 2019's Beneath The Eyrie and the 2020 September single "Hear Me Out".
Legacy
The Pixies' first album, Surfer Rosa, is certified gold, while Doolittle is certified platinum, selling over 1 million copies. The band influenced a number of musicians associated with the alternative rock boom of the 1990s.[127][128] Gary Smith, who produced Come on Pilgrim, said in 1997:[128]
I've heard it said about the Velvet Underground that while not a lot of people bought their albums, everyone who did started a band. I think this is largely true about the Pixies as well. Charles' secret weapon turned out to be not so secret and, sooner or later, all sorts of bands were exploiting the same strategy of wide dynamics. It became a kind of new pop formula and, within a short while, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was charging up the charts and even the members of Nirvana said later that it sounded for all the world like a Pixies song.
The Pixies are credited with popularizing the extreme dynamics and stop-start timing that would become widespread in alternative rock. Their songs typically feature hushed, restrained verses, and explosive, wailing choruses.[38] Artists including David Bowie, Matt Noveskey, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, U2, Nirvana, the Strokes, Alice in Chains, Weezer, Bush, Arcade Fire, Pavement, Everclear, Kings of Leon and Matthew Good have cited admiration of or influence by the Pixies.[21][129][130][131][132] Bono of U2 called the Pixies "one of America's greatest bands ever",[129] and Radiohead's Thom Yorke said that the Pixies "changed my life".[128] Bowie, whose own music had inspired Francis and Santiago while they were at university, has said that the Pixies made "just about the most compelling music of the entire 80s."[129]
One notable citation as an influence was by Kurt Cobain, on influencing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which he admitted was a conscious attempt to co-opt the Pixies' style. In a January 1994 interview with Rolling Stone, he said, "I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it [smiles]. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band—or at least in a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard."[128][133] Cobain cited Surfer Rosa as one of his main musical influences, and particularly admired the album's natural and powerful drum sounds—a result of Steve Albini's influence on the record. Albini later produced Nirvana's 1993 In Utero at the request of Cobain.[134]
Music videos and DVDs
No music videos were released from Come on Pilgrim or Surfer Rosa, but from Doolittle onwards, the following videos were made: "Monkey Gone To Heaven", "Here Comes Your Man", "Velouria", "Dig For Fire", "Allison", "Alec Eiffel", "Head On", and "Debaser";[135] these were later released on the 2004 DVD Pixies.[135] The videos for "Here Comes Your Man" and "Allison" were also released on The Complete 'B' Sides.[57] Furthermore, a music video accompanied the release of their 2013 song, "Bagboy", as well an alternate video released on a later date. Videos were made for all the songs on both EP1 and EP2 and for "Silver Snail" and "Ring the Bell" from EP3. From Head Carrier onwards, the following videos were made: "Tenement Song", "Um Chagga Lagga", "On Graveyard Hill", "Catfish Kate", "Long Rider", "Hear Me Out", "Human Crime" and "Vault of Heaven".
By Bossanova, the band had developed a severe aversion to recording music videos, and Francis refused to lip-sync to them.[136] For example, in the "Here Comes Your Man" video, both Black and Deal open their mouths wide instead of mouthing their lyrics.[137] According to the record label, this became one of the reasons that Pixies never achieved major coverage on MTV.[136] With Bossanova's release, 4AD hoped to get the Pixies chosen to perform their single "Velouria" on the BBC's Top of the Pops.[138] To this end, the band was pressured into producing a video for the song, and made one cheaply with the band members filmed running down a quarry, shown in slow motion.[136][139] The group was ultimately not given a spot on the show.[139][140]
The 90-minute documentary loudQUIETloud: a film about the Pixies was directed by Steven Cantor and Matthew Galkin and released in 2006. The film documents their 2004 reunion and tour, and covers the years after the break-up.[141] In addition to Pixies and LoudQUIETloud, four other Pixies DVDs were released between 2004 and 2006, all featuring concert performances: Live at the Town and Country Club 1988,[142] The Pixies—Sell Out,[129] The Pixies Acoustic: Live in Newport,[143] and The Pixies Club Date: Live at the Paradise in Boston.[144]
Band members
Current members
Black Francis (Charles Thompson) – lead vocals, rhythm and acoustic guitar (1986–1993, 2004–present)
David Lovering – drums, percussion, backing and occasional lead vocals (1986–1993, 2004–present)
Joey Santiago – lead guitar, backing vocals (1986–1993, 2004–present)
Current touring members
Emma Richardson – bass, backing vocals (2024–present)[145]
Former members
Kim Deal – bass, backing and lead vocals (1986–1993, 2004–2013)
Paz Lenchantin – bass, violin, backing and lead vocals, keyboards (2016–2024; touring musician 2014–2016)[146]
Former session musicians
Simon Archer – bass (2012)[147][148]
Former touring musicians
Kim Shattuck – bass, backing vocals (2013; died 2019)
Discography
Main article: Pixies discography
Studio albums
Surfer Rosa (1988)
Doolittle (1989)
Bossanova (1990)
Trompe le Monde (1991)
Indie Cindy (2014)
Head Carrier (2016)
Beneath the Eyrie (2019)
Doggerel (2022)" (wikipedia.org)
"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. Main songwriter and vocalist Black Francis's lyrics allude to biblical violence, surrealist imagery and descriptions of torture and death.
The album is often praised for its "quiet/loud" dynamic, achieved through quiet verses based on Black's relatively subdued vocals and guitar patterns, which then reach peaks in volume and tone with the addition of crashing parts by lead guitarist Joey Santiago, and emphasis on the rhythm section of bassist Kim Deal and drummer David Lovering.
Doolittle is considered one of the quintessential albums of the 1980s, and has sold consistently since its release. It reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold in 1995 and Platinum in 2018 by the Recording Industry Association of America. The Pixies released two singles from the album: "Here Comes Your Man" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven", both of which reached the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the US, while tracks such as "Debaser" and "Hey" remain fan and critical favorites. Numerous music publications rank it as one of the top albums of the 1980s, and it has been heavily influential for many alternative rock artists.
Background
The Pixies' classic line-up in 2009. L-R: Santiago, Black, Lovering, Deal
The band's 1988 album Surfer Rosa was well received in the United Kingdom but not in the United States,[1] After its release, the band toured Europe with fellow Bostonians Throwing Muses.[2] In July 1988, versions of the songs that would appear on Doolittle—including "Dead", "Hey", "Tame" and "There Goes My Gun"—were recorded during several sessions for John Peel's radio show in 1988, and "Hey" appeared on a free EP circulated with a 1988 edition of Sounds.[3]
The first demo sessions were recorded in 1988 in the Boston recording studio Eden Sound, while they were on touring breaks. They recorded at Eden for a week, which was around the same time they spend starting and finishing the previous year's Purple Tape sessions. The group's frontman and principal songwriter Black Francis (born Charles Thompson, later Frank Black) gave the upcoming album the provisional title of Whore, which he later claimed was meant "in the more traditional...operatic...biblical sense ...as in the great whore of Babylon".[4]
After completing the demo tape, the band's manager Ken Goes suggested two producers: Liverpudlian Gil Norton and American Ed Stasium. The band had earlier worked with Norton on the single version of "Gigantic" in May 1988. Francis had no preference. Ivo Watts-Russell, head of the band's label 4AD, chose Norton to produce the next album.[5] Norton arrived in Boston in mid October 1988 and had Francis come to his temporary apartment to review the album's demos. They spent two days analyzing the song structures and arrangements, and two weeks in pre-production while Norton familiarized himself with the Pixies' sound.[6]
Recording and production
The recording sessions began on October 31, 1988, in Boston at Downtown Recorders, then a 24-track studio. 4AD gave the Pixies a budget of $40,000 (approximately $98,976 today), excluding producer's fees. This was a relatively modest sum for a large late-1980s indie label, but four times the amount spent on their debut, Surfer Rosa.[7] The three weeks sessions began on November 28 at Carriage House Studios, a residential studio in Stamford, Connecticut. Norton was assisted by two assistant recording engineers and two second assistants[8] He hired Steven Haigler as mixing engineer, having earlier worked with him at Fort Apache Studios.[9]
Francis brought a mixture of newly written and older tracks to the recording sessions.[10] Many of the newer tracks were underdeveloped, and according to Norton, consisted of sort minute or minute and half "ditties" consisting of short bursts of "verse, chorus, verse, beat-beat-beat-bang....finished". As producer and arranger, Norton says he often built tracks by suggesting the band double or repeat sections. This songwriting approach is evident in the fact that of the some 23 songs or ideas the band started with, only three of the albums final 15 tracks are longer than three-minutes.[10]
During production, Haigler and Norton added layers of guitars and vocals, including overdubbed guitars on "Debaser" and double tracked vocals on "Wave of Mutilation". During the process, Norton advised Francis to alter and lengthen several songs, including "There Goes My Gun" which was originally a much faster Hüsker Dü-style song. At Norton's advice, Francis slowed down the tempo.[11] His suggestions were not always welcome; several instances of advice to add verses and increase track length contributed to the Francis's frustration. Once, he took Norton to a record store and handed him a copy of a Buddy Holly greatest hits album in which most of the songs are around two minutes or three minutes long, justifying why his songs should be kept short.[12] Francis later expressed that Norton was trying to give the band a more commercial sound and Francis wanted to keep it more grunge-like.[11]
Tension between Francis and Deal became visible to band members and the production team during recording. Bickering and standoffs marred the recording sessions and led to increased stress among the band members.[13] John Murphy, Deal's husband at the time, recalls that the band dynamic "went from just all fun to work" during the production.[14] Production continued until December 12, 1988, while Norton and Haigler mixed the album. During this period Santiago became unhappy as he felt was adding too much reverb to his guitar parts. In response, he covered his Marshall cabinets with blankets to make that he didn't his live sound to be interfered with.[15] The final tapes were sent for mastering later that month.[16]
Music and lyrics
Norton's production is markedly different to Albini's recording of Surfer Rosa. and is far more polished than the debut's ambient and raw recordings. Albini's recording emphasised Francis's abrasive guitars that both popularized the band and sealed his reputation, leading to later work with musicians such as Nirvana and PJ Harvey. Critics continue to debate whether Norton's or Albini's production best served the Pixes.[17]
Ed Nash of The Line of Best Fit described the record as "an album steeped in sex".[18] The lyrics for "Crackity Jones" allude to Francis's roommate during a student exchange trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, whom he described as a "weird psycho gay roommate".[19]
Two of the songs are based Old Testament stories of sex and death:[20] the story of David and Bathsheba in "Dead", and Samson and Delilah in "Gouge Away".[21] Francis's fascination with Biblical themes is traced back to his teenage years; when he was twelve, he and his parents joined an evangelical church linked to the Assemblies of God. The themes also influenced the lyrics of "Monkey Gone to Heaven", the Devil being "six" and God being "seven".
Side one
The album opens with "Debaser", described as a "noisy surf-punk" song,[23] is widely considered instrumental in their crossover into the mainstream. It begins with a Deal's bass guitar pattern, which breaks into the first chorus when joined by Santiago's guitar riff and Black's shouted vocal. The track has consistently been a live favorite and contains an extended coda where the baseline is overlain with, according to the music critic Rob Hughes, Santiago's "frenzied guitar riffage...at full tilt as the song hurtles to its climax".[23] Written while Black was an anthropology student at UMass, Boston, the lyrics borrow heavily from the 1929 surrealist short film Un Chien Andalou.[23] the lyrics "slicing up eyeballs" refers to Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's 1929 film Un Chien Andalou.[15] Francis and said that he "got into avant-garde movies and Surrealism as an escape from reality...To me, Surrealism is totally artificial. I recently read an interview with the director David Lynch who said he had ideas and images but that he didn't know exactly what they meant."[24]
It is followed by "Tame", a track built from a Deal bass progression overlaid by Joey Santiago guitar parts which include what he has described as a "Hendrix chord". The guitar break in the chorus are often regarded as one of the peaks of the Pixies' signature quiet verse loud chorus dynamic,[25][26][27] In 2019 the music writer Mark Beaumont speculated that "Tame" and the album closer "Gouge Away" were among the tracks Kurt Cobain had in mind when writing "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which he said was his attempt at "writing a Pixies song".[28] "Tame" ends with Francis and Deal repeatedly grunting, mimicking the sound of two people having sex.[18]
"Here Comes Your Man" was written when Francis was a teenager. Along along with "Monkey Gone to Heaven", it was described by Rolling Stone's critic Chris Mundy as a melodic and "outright pop song".[29] It was first recorded for the Purple tapes sessions, a version described by the music writer Phil Udell as rough "around the edges".[30] The album version was rearranged by Norton.[10]
Side one closes with the album's first single, "Monkey Gone to Heaven". Written in D major, it opens with Francis playing a short chord progression backed by Deal's bass guitar.[31] The track is over-dubbed with cellos and violins, a choice Norton was nervous about, admitting in a 2005 interview that it took the band "outside [their] usual parameters", that they had earlier believed "we weren't ever going to do on a Pixies song".[10] "Monkey Gone to Heaven" describes the impact of human-caused environmental destruction on the ocean.[22] Francis said, "On one hand, it's this big organic toilet. Things get flushed and repurified or decomposed and it's this big, dark, mysterious place. It's also a very mythological place where there are octopus's gardens, the Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis, and mermaids." The song's lyrics question humanity's place in the universe.[32] "Mr. Grieves" takes the theme of destruction further, suggesting the human race is doomed to extinction.[33] Francis described "Wave of Mutilation" as being about "Japanese businessmen doing murder-suicides with their families because they'd failed in business, and they're driving off a pier into the ocean."[34] Imagery of the drowning and the sea are also used in "Mr. Grieves" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven".[35]
Side two
The second side begins with "Mr. Grieves", a song described by critic Betty Clarke as "wired folk".[36] It is followed by "Crackity Jones"; it is partly sung in Spanish and incorporates G♯ and A triads over a C♯ pedal. The rhythm guitar part, played by Francis, starts with an eighth-note downstroke reminiscent of second-wave early 1980s punk rock.[37]
The following track, th whimsical, tongue-in-cheek "La La Love You" is sung by the band's drummer David Lovering, who satirically adopts a baritone 1950s style croon.[38][29][39] Its tongue-in-cheek vocal style and simplistic lyrics (including the line "first base, second base, third base, home run") were intended as parody of a crude sex jokes.[40] Francis asked Lovering sing so it would be "a Ringo thing".[41]
The penultimate song "Silver" is written around a county music riff played on slide guitar. It is the only track not fully written by Francis, as Deal co-wrote the song; Deal performs the lead vocals on the track.[42]
Artwork and title
A black-and-white photograph of a bell attached to a machine by a hose.
"As Loud As Hell" by Simon Larbalestier, from the Doolittle booklet. The image alludes to lyrics in "I Bleed".
The artwork was designed by photographer Simon Larbalestier and graphic artist Vaughan Oliver who had worked on the Pixies' previous albums, Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa.[43] Larbalestier stated Doolittle was the first album where he and Oliver had access to the lyrics, which "made a fundamental difference".[44] Both Oliver and Francis wanted macabre and surreal images to illustrate the album. The images are placed in pairs, with each juxtaposing two principle elements such as a monkey and halo for Monkey Gone to Heaven, a pelvic bone and stiletto for "Tame", and a spoon containing hair laid across a woman's torso for "Gouge Away".[45]
Around the time Oliver decided on the cover art, Francis discarded the album's working title Whore as he "thought people were going to think I was some kind of anti-Catholic or that I'd been raised Catholic and trying to get into this Catholic naughty-boy stuff...A monkey with a halo, calling it , that would bring all kinds of that wouldn't be true. So I said I'd change the title."[46]
Release
Around October 1988, the American label Elektra Records began to take interest in the Pixies and, amid a bidding war, signed the band.[47] Elektra then negotiated with the Pixies' British label 4AD, which held their worldwide distribution rights, and released a promotional live album containing the album tracks "Debaser" and "Gouge Away" along with a selection of earlier material.[3] Two weeks before Doolittle released on April 2, 1989, Elektra and 4AD closed a deal that gave Elektra distribution rights in the US. By that time, PolyGram had already secured Canadian distribution rights.[48]
Doolittle was released in the UK on April 17, 1989, and in the US the following day. Elektra's major label status helped get retail displays for the record put up across the United States. Elektra also got "Monkey Gone to Heaven", the first single from the album, sent to major radio stations.[49]
In the first week after its release in Britain, Doolittle was number eight on the UK Albums Chart.[50] In the US, the album entered the Billboard 200 at number 171.[51] With the help of college radio-play of "Monkey Gone to Heaven", it eventually rose to number 98, spending two weeks in the Top 100.[51] Doolittle sold steadily in America, breaking sales of 100,000 after six months.[52] By early 1992, while the band were supporting U2 on their Zoo TV Tour, the album was selling 1,500 copies per week.[52] By the middle of 1993—two years after the release of the band's last album before their initial breakup, Trompe le Monde—Doolittle was selling an average of 1,200 copies per week.[52] Doolittle was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1995 and Platinum in 2018.[53]
Critical reception
Contemporary professional ratingsReview scores
Source Rating
Chicago Tribune [54]
Los Angeles Times [55]
NME 10/10[56]
Q [57]
Record Mirror 4/5[58]
Rolling Stone [59]
Sounds [60]
The Village Voice B+[61]
When Doolittle was released, it was received positively by many critics.[15] NME critic Edwin Pouncey wrote that "the songs on Doolittle have the power to make you literally jump out of your skin with excitement". He singled out "Debaser" as one of the highlights, describing it as "blessed with the kind of beefy bass hook that originally brought "Gigantic" to life".[62] Q critic Peter Kane wrote that the album's "carefully structured noise and straightforward rhythmic insistence makes perfect sense".[63] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote, "They're in love and they don't know why—with rock and roll, which is heartening in a time when so many college dropouts have lost touch with the verities." However, he concluded that "getting famous too fast could ruin them" while suggesting the lyrics reflect somewhat of a disconnection with "the outside world".[61]
Some reviewers were more critical. In a short review for Spin, Joe Levy found "the insanity less surreal and more silly, and the songs themselves more like songs and less like adventures". Rolling Stone's Chris Mundy published "a tentative endorsement", rating it three and a half stars;[64] but concluding that the "emphasis on more textured production has in no way taken away from the band's intensity. Francis is at all times in command of the album, quietly stringing us along before turning on us and screaming for attention."[59]
The album appeared on several contemporary end-of-year "Best Album" lists. Both Rolling Stone and The Village Voice placed the album tenth, and independent music magazines Sounds and Melody Maker both ranked the album as the second-best of the year.[15] NME ranked the album fourth in their end-of-year list.[65]
Accolades for Doolittle Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Hot Press Ireland Top 100 Albums[66] 2006 34
NME UK 100 Best Albums[67] 2003 2
Pitchfork US Top 100 Albums of the 1980s[68] 2002 4
Rolling Stone US The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[69] 2003 226
2012 227
2020 141
Spin US 100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005[70] 2005 36
Slant Magazine US Best Albums of the 1980s[71] 2012 34
Legacy
Retrospective professional ratingsAggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 100/100[72]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [73]
Blender [74]
The Guardian [75]
Mojo [76]
Pitchfork 10/10[77]
Q [78]
Rolling Stone [79]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide [80]
Spin A[81]
Uncut 10/10[82]
Ten years after their breakup, Doolittle continued to sell between 500 and 1,000 copies a week, and following their 2004 reunion tour sales reached 1,200 copies per week. At the end of 2005, best estimates put total US sales at between 800,000 and one million copies.[52] As of 2015, sales in the United States have exceeded 834,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[83] The band later released a number of singles from the album. In 1997, "Debaser" was re-released to promote the Death to the Pixies compilation.[84] In June 1989, 4AD released "Here Comes Your Man" as the album's second single. It reached number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 54 in the UK Singles Chart.[85][86] On May 6, 2019, "Here Comes Your Man" was certified Gold in Canada; On September 20, 2021, "Hey" was certified Gold in Canada.[87]
It has appeared in numerous lists as both one of the best albums of the 1980s and of all time. In a 2017 survey, Pitchfork ranked it as the fourth best album of the 1980s;[88] a 2003 poll of NME writers ranked Doolittle as the second-greatest album of all time;[67] and Rolling Stone placed the album at 141 on its 2020 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[89]
The album is widely regarded as one of the key alternative rock albums of the 1980s.[90] It established the Pixies' loud–quiet dynamic,[91] which became highly influential on alternative rock.[92][26] After writing "Smells Like Teen Spirit", both Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana thought: "this really sounds like the Pixies. People are really going to nail us for this."[93] Norton was frequently credited with capturing the album's dynamics and became highly sought after by bands wishing to achieve a similar sound.[94] Fellow alternative musician PJ Harvey was "in awe" of "I Bleed" and "Tame", and she described Francis's writing as "amazing".[95]
A 2002 Rolling Stone review gave it the maximum score of five stars, remarking that it laid the "groundwork for Nineties rock".[79] Critic Michael Powell called Doolittle "their most famous album".[77] It was included in critic Robert Dimery's influential book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[96] PopMatters included it in their list of the "12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums" saying, "Doolittle captured the musicians at the top of their game".[97]
Track listing
All tracks were written by Black Francis, except "Silver" written by Black Francis and Kim Deal.
Doolittle track listingNo. Title Length
1. "Debaser" 2:52
2. "Tame" 1:55
3. "Wave of Mutilation" 2:04
4. "I Bleed" 2:34
5. "Here Comes Your Man" 3:21
6. "Dead" 2:21
7. "Monkey Gone to Heaven" 2:56
8. "Mr. Grieves" 2:05
9. "Crackity Jones" 1:24
10. "La La Love You" 2:43
11. "No. 13 Baby" 3:51
12. "There Goes My Gun" 1:49
13. "Hey" 3:31
14. "Silver" 2:25
15. "Gouge Away" 2:45
Total length: 38:38...Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Doolittle.[101]
Pixies
Black Francis – vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
Kim Deal – bass guitar, vocals, acoustic slide guitar ("Silver")
Joey Santiago – lead guitar, backing vocals
David Lovering – drums, lead vocal ("La La Love You"), bass guitar ("Silver")
Additional musicians
Karen Karlsrud – violin ("Monkey Gone to Heaven")
Corine Metter – violin ("Monkey Gone to Heaven")
Arthur Fiacco – cello ("Monkey Gone to Heaven")
Ann Rorich – cello ("Monkey Gone to Heaven")
Technical
Gil Norton – producer, engineer
Dave Snider – assistant engineer
Matt Lane – assistant engineer
Steve Haigler – mixing
Vaughan Oliver – art direction, sleeve design
Simon Larbalestier – photography
Chris Bigg – calligraphy
Charts
Chart (1989) Peak
position Weeks
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[102] 53 9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[103] 18 5
UK Albums (OCC)[50] 8 11
US Billboard 200[104] 98 27
French Albums (SNEP)[105] 66 2
Certifications
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[106] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[107] Gold 100,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[108] Platinum 300,000*
United States (RIAA)[53] Platinum 1,000,000‡" (wikipedia.org)
""Monkey Gone to Heaven" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies. Recorded in November 1988 during the sessions for the band's 1989 album Doolittle, it was released as a single in March, and included as the seventh track on the album when it was released a month later in April. The song was written and sung by frontman Black Francis and was produced by Gil Norton. Referencing environmentalism and biblical numerology, the song's lyrics mirrored themes that were explored in Doolittle. "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was the first Pixies song to feature guest musicians: two cellists, Arthur Fiacco and Ann Rorich, and two violinists, Karen Karlsrud and Corine Metter.
The band had signed to Elektra Records at the end of 1988,[2] so the "Monkey Gone to Heaven" single was their first American and major label release. It was critically well-received; Rolling Stone's David Fricke said "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was "a corrosive, compelling meditation on God and garbage".[3] In the years since its release, the song has received several accolades from music publications.
Lyrics and meaning
"Monkey Gone to Heaven"'s main theme is environmentalism. The song mainly deals with humanity's destruction of the sky and ocean and "confusion of man's place in the universe". "On one hand, it's [the ocean] this big organic toilet. Things get flushed and repurified or decomposed and it's this big, dark, mysterious place", Black later said, "It's also a very mythological place where there are octopus's gardens, the Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis, and mermaids."[4] Francis came up with the song's hook, "this monkey's gone to heaven", long before the song itself was written. The line itself forms a basis for the song, which revolves around humanity's relationship with the divine and environmentalism. After Francis set the developing lyrics to music, he rushed to lead guitarist Joey Santiago's apartment to play it to him. Santiago later commented on the nascent performance: "It was early in the morning, I was still so tired. [Francis said] 'Hey Joe, I need to come over. I need to show you something.' [...] It was awesome, really good. He had the 'If man is five' part there, and he was laughing. [...] It was hilarious".[4]
"Monkey Gone to Heaven" includes references to numerology in the lyrics "If man is five/then the Devil is six/and God is seven". Francis later expanded on the significance of the lyrics in an interview to Alternative Press, saying "It's a reference from what I understand to be Hebrew numerology, and I don't know a lot about it or any of it really. I just remember someone telling me of the supposed fact that in the Hebrew language, especially in the Bible, you can find lots of references to man in the 5th and Satan in the 6th and God in the 7th. [...] I didn't go to the library and figure it out".[5] The song's numerology is alluded to on the single's cover, which features figures of five, six and seven, and also a monkey with a halo.
Ben Sisario, author of Doolittle 33⅓, offers a slightly different interpretation of the song: "Neptune, the god of this realm [in reference to Francis' ocean comment], the 'underwater guy who controlled the sea,' hung out down there, the personification of man's relationship with the earth. And what happens to Neptune? He gets 'killed by ten million pounds of sludge from New York to New Jersey.' Same thing with the "creature in the sky," who gets stuck up there in a hole in the ozone layer. Man the divine manifestation effectively dies, and what remains is his degraded animal nature; the chintzy halo stuck on the primate's head is the symbol of that unhappy fall".[6]
In February 2022, Black Francis elaborated on the song's meaning: "I guess it's loosely inspired by the so-called human dilemma of existence, our existential problem on whether we can survive as a race. But it's told without any agenda or judgment and mixes in some very loose biblical, sing-songy things because, you know, 'The devil is six and God is seven' rhymes with heaven. It's a nursery rhyme with mythological folk imagery. In oversimplified evolutionary terms, we are descended from apes and monkeys, so they are the animal we metaphorically most relate to because of this evolutionary kinship. So that's why it's not a bird or a fish gone to heaven."
Structure
The cello part for the verses of "Monkey Gone to Heaven"
"Monkey Gone to Heaven" is written in the key of D major, and opens with Francis' rhythm guitar playing a short chord progression backed by the bass guitar of Kim Deal and drums of David Lovering. The guitar intensity fades as Francis begins to sing, leaving Deal's bassline and Lovering's steady drum-beat.[8] Between each line of the verse, Francis pauses, leaving the drums and bass playing. Joey Santiago's lead guitar does not feature at all during the verses. By the end of the second line of each verse, the cello part joins in, following the bassline closely.
As the first verse finishes, the opening chord progression is repeated. This leads into the chorus (where Francis and Deal repeat "This monkey's gone to heaven") with the lead guitar of Santiago playing two notes repeatedly. The two violins play a melody throughout, accompanied by a piano in the background.[8] There is then a short solo by Santiago, who repeats the melody three times, to bridge the chorus and second verse. The second verse and chorus follow the same format. At the end of the second chorus, Francis shouts "Rock me Joe!"; Santiago then begins a guitar solo lasting seventeen seconds, with backing violins for the second half of the solo.
After the solo, Francis sings "If man is five" several times. There is no backing, apart from the lead guitar, for several seconds, but then the song's chord progression is heard again. This is repeated for "If the devil is six". At the end of the second chord progression, the song's main backing restarts again, with Francis screaming "Then God is seven" as the chorus approaches. The final repeated chorus of "This monkey's gone to heaven" ends the song as the string section becomes more prominent.
Recording and production
The band's parts were recorded at Downtown Recorders in Boston, Massachusetts. The string section of "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was recorded while Doolittle was being mixed at Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut. Gil Norton, the album's producer, was inspired to add a string section to the song after seeing Deal plucking the strings of a grand piano during recording.[10] The production team, led by Norton, asked the studio owner John Montagnese to bring in string players for one evening session. The studio was often used for recording orchestral scores for B-movies such as Missing in Action and Silver Bullet. Montagnese hired four classical musicians from a local orchestra for the recording, with the session taking place on the afternoon of December 4, 1988.[11]
Arthur Fiacco, a cellist, arrived at Carriage House first. He was dressed in formal black and white attire, having traveled from an afternoon concert. Fiacco was surprised to find there were no scores written for the musicians to play; he then wrote a part based on riffs Francis had shown him.[11] The violinists, Corinne Metter and Karen Karlsrud, also followed the directions of Francis and Norton. Another cellist, Ann Rorich, credited on the album and single, was sent home; according to Fiacco he doubled her parts.[12]
Release and music video
"Monkey Gone to Heaven", the first single from Doolittle, was released to radio stations for rotation in April 1989 in the United States. The single reached number five on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart,[13] with the help of Elektra Records' marketing. In the United Kingdom, "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was released on April 1, 1989 and spent three weeks in the UK chart, debuting at number 60.[14]
The music video, the Pixies' first, features the band playing their instruments on a stage, with the camera alternating to focus on each band member. Filmed in black-and-white, "searchlights" cross the stage and several camera effects are used, such as slow-motion. The camera switches to color for a few seconds several times during the video, before reverting to black-and-white. Halfway through the video, fog appears on-stage, covering the band. The members of the string section are not seen in the video.
The song would later be re-recorded by Black Francis and released on his 2004 album Frank Black Francis.
Reception
In general, "Monkey Gone to Heaven" received a positive critical reaction. British magazine NME, reviewing the UK 7" single in March 1989, said: "All the smart bastards are mixing strings with grunge guitars nowadays and the Pixies are no exception. Snarled vocals, sci-fi lyrics, and the usual molten lava flow of guitars burn another crater where your ears used to be. 'Monkey Gone to Heaven' pukes acid and poetry into America's AOR heartland before being splattered by the faster and more direct sting of the second track 'Manta Ray'."[1] Upon the release of Doolittle in April 1989, NME's Edwin Pouncey added: "the wonderful 'Monkey Gone to Heaven' is laced with lush but unobtrusive strings which nibble round the edge of the song and push it into a new realm of arrangement for the band. The opportunity to give 'Monkey' the full Philharmonic treatment, complete with heavenly harp, must have been a temptation to them. Wisely such a folly has been resisted."[15]
Q, in their review of Doolittle, described "Monkey Gone to Heaven": "It's not pretty, but its carefully structured noise and straight forward rhythmic insistence makes perfect sense: a gut feeling that is doubled when it gets within sniffing distance of a tune, as on 'Monkey Gone to Heaven' or 'Debaser'."[16] Rolling Stone's David Fricke, reviewing Doolittle, said "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was "a corrosive, compelling meditation on God and garbage."[3] The critical success of "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was also reflected commercially; the song reached number five on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, marking the Pixies' debut in the American charts.[17] However, the song did not perform as well in the British charts, reaching a peak position of number 60 and falling off the charts after three weeks.[18]
Track listing
All songs were written by Black Francis
UK 7" single
"Monkey Gone to Heaven" – 2:56
"Manta Ray" – 2:38
UK/US 12"/CD single
"Monkey Gone to Heaven" – 2:56
"Manta Ray" – 2:38
"Weird at My School" – 1:59
"Dancing the Manta Ray" – 2:13
Accolades
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Melody Maker UK Single of the Year 1989 #1[citation needed]
NME UK Single of the Year 1989 #22[citation needed]
Rolling Stone US Single of the Year 1989 #5[citation needed]
The Village Voice US Single of the Year 1989 #24[19]
Rolling Stone US 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 2004 #410[20]
NME UK 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever 2007 #35[21]
Robert Dimery US 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die 2010 *[22]
NME UK 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time 2014 #197[23]
* denotes an unordered list.
Charts
Chart (1989) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[24] 60
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)" (wikipedia.org)
"Mark Allan Hoppus[a] (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician, songwriter and producer who is known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist for the rock band Blink-182, being the only member to appear on every one of their albums. He is also part of the pop rock duo Simple Creatures.
Hoppus became interested in skateboarding and punk rock in junior high, and received a bass guitar from his father at the age of 15. After he moved to San Diego in 1992 to attend California State University San Marcos, his sister introduced him to Tom DeLonge, and they formed the band Blink-182 with drummer Scott Raynor. The band produced several rock recordings and toured exhaustively before signing to major label MCA to co-distribute their sophomore effort, 1997's Dude Ranch, which featured the Hoppus-penned hit "Dammit".
After replacing Raynor with Travis Barker, Blink-182 recorded Enema of the State (1999), which launched them to multi-platinum success. Two more records followed—the heavier Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) and the more experimental untitled fifth album (2003)—before the band split in 2005 following internal tension. Hoppus continued playing with Barker in +44 in the late 2000s. Blink-182 subsequently reunited in 2009 and continue to record and tour worldwide.
Aside from his musical career, Hoppus has had multiple successes behind the recording console, producing records for groups such as Idiot Pilot, New Found Glory, The Matches, Motion City Soundtrack, and PAWS. He has previously co-owned two companies, Atticus and Macbeth Footwear, and created a new clothing line in 2012 named Hi My Name is Mark. Hoppus hosted a weekly podcast in 2005 through 2006, which returned in 2015, and he hosted his own television talk show, Hoppus on Music, from 2010 to 2012 on Fuse.
Early life
Mark Allan Hoppus[a] was born on March 15, 1972, in Ridgecrest, California.[1][2] He was raised near Washington, D.C., before his family settled in Ridgecrest, a place he later described as "geniuses, scientists, physicists, and then just complete strung-out meth-heads".[4][5] His maternal great-grandparents, Aaron and Lempi Orrenmaa, were Finnish immigrants from Laihia.[6] His father Tex, like many in Ridgecrest, worked for the U.S. Department of Defense, designing missiles and bombs for the town's Navy testing center.[4][5]
Hoppus describes himself as "pretty mellow" until his parents divorced when he was eight, which had a "drastic, unsettling effect" on him.[5] He said, "When my parents argued, it was always behind closed doors. I remember sitting outside my parents' room when I was seven years old, hearing the dulled voice of anger behind the door. It upset me a lot." Following these events, he spent two years shuffling between his parents' homes with sister Anne, until he and his father moved to Monterey.[5] His father was often away earning a postgraduate degree in college. He later would describe his childhood as lonely, remarking, "[I] was living by myself in the fifth grade."[4] His father introduced him to the music of The Beatles, Elton John and Billy Joel.[7]
Hoppus describes himself as "pretty straight" until junior high, when he began skateboarding and listening to punk rock.[8] In his early high school years, he lived in Fairfax, Virginia, attending nearby Annandale High School during his second year; he received his first bass guitar during this time and attended his first concert, They Might Be Giants, at the 9:30 Club shortly before his 16th birthday.[9] He recalled, "I didn't know where I should stand or what I should do, so my friends and I bought some menthol cigarettes and smoked for the first time and tried to look as cool as we could. We probably looked like idiots."[10] He received his first bass (a Mako) as a gift from his father, purchased at a local music shop in Annandale.[11] He earned money for a set of amplifiers by helping him paint his house.[5][12] Hoppus never took bass lessons, instead teaching himself by playing to bands such as the Descendents, The Cure, and Bad Religion.[12] He has remarked that "Silly Girl" by the Descendents was the "song that made [him] fall in love with punk rock music [...] that song changed [his] life forever".[13] He borrowed a cassette tape of The Cure's album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me from his friend Wendy Franklin the summer following junior high school, and was taken with the song "Just Like Heaven".[10][14]
I was a straight A student my whole life and then I started wearing eyeliner to school, skipping classes, and smoking cigarettes ... I was a mess, just a really glorious mess.
—Hoppus on his adolescence[5]
Hoppus began to dress like Cure frontman Robert Smith, donning eyeliner and "occasionally bright red lipstick" to his high school classes; he later quipped, "This all went over exceedingly well with the faculty and staff in the small desert town where I grew up."[14][15][16] Beginning in his first year, he gained solace through music of both The Cure and The Smiths.[4][15] He played by himself and sang in the band Pier 69, primarily covering songs by The Cure, and recorded a live demo with a group named The Attic Children in 1988, featuring covers of The Cure songs. Hoppus returned to Ridgecrest in 1989, completing high school at Burroughs High School. In his teen years, a friend stole his mother's car in the middle of the night to pick him up; the two would sneak out to the desert and burn trees and any objects they could find.[15]
After graduating from Burroughs High School in 1990, he began playing in a band called of All Things he formed with two friends, covering songs by Descendents, Social Distortion, and Bad Religion, as well as writing original punk numbers.[15] The group primarily performed at friend's parties and bonfires, and once played Oasis, the local music venue.[17] Hoppus left Ridgecrest in summer 1992 to attend college and get a job at a local music store in San Diego. He continued playing gigs with of All Things, returning on weekends. Eventually, his manager became suspicious of his weekend activities, as Hoppus had told him he worked with mentally disabled children in Ridgecrest, and refused to give him any time off on weekends.[16] His "short-lived attempt" at college, studying at California State University, San Marcos, revolved around plans to become an English teacher.[18][19] He recalls he "hated" college and his reasoning behind becoming a teacher involved sights set for educational reform. He dropped out in the early 1990s after "things began to take off with Blink-182" and lived with his mother for many of the early years of the band.[19] Hoppus describes his mother as always supportive in his decisions to drop out of college and tour with Blink-182; however, he describes his father as "more realistic, [...] he said, 'Have something to fall back on.'"[8] "I'm really fortunate that my mom always completely supported me, even to the point that I dropped out of college and lived at her house for five years before our band started to catch on," said Hoppus.[8]
Music career
Blink-182
Early career
Hoppus at age 22 in 1994
After moving to San Diego in the summer of 1992, Hoppus was reunited with his sister Anne Hoppus, to whom he expressed his desire to be in a band.[4] Anne attended Rancho Bernardo High School, and had become friends with new student Tom DeLonge over the summer.[16] In August 1992, Anne introduced the two, and Hoppus and DeLonge immediately began performing music in DeLonge's garage.[4] To impress DeLonge, Hoppus climbed to the top of a streetlight outside of DeLonge's home – however, he broke both ankles on the way down, resulting in being on crutches for the next few weeks.[17] DeLonge recalled the meeting in 2000: "When I first met Mark, we were running around naked, doing weird stuff. We were up skateboarding until late hours of the morning, antagonizing security guards, and we were just always having fun."[20] DeLonge recruited old friend Scott Raynor from his days at Poway to become the drummer for the new band, named blink.[21]
Hoppus and his girlfriend at this time lived in a basement apartment, barely scraping together funds to pay rent. With money in savings, Hoppus went out and bought his first professional equipment: a new amp and bass cabinet. He came home and his girlfriend proceeded to argue with him, angry that he spent money on something they did not need. "I just kept telling her that this was what mattered to me, this was my life," Hoppus recalled. She demanded he make a choice between the band and her, which resulted in Hoppus leaving the band shortly after formation.[22] Shortly thereafter, DeLonge told Hoppus he had borrowed a four track recorder from a friend and was preparing to record a demo tape, which prompted Hoppus to break up with his girlfriend and return to the band. Flyswatter—a combination of original songs and punk covers—was recorded in Raynor's bedroom and landed the band their first shows.[23] Three more demos were recorded over the course of 1993 and the band began performing its irreverent live show at local all-ages venue SOMA, which alerted local independent label Cargo Music.[24] Cargo signed the band on a trial basis, and Hoppus was the only member to sign the contract, as DeLonge was at work at the time and Raynor was still a minor.[25] During this time, Hoppus lived at home in San Diego at his mother's, where the band would prepare cassette demos and the entire family would fold cassette inserts. Raynor, whose parents moved to Reno, Nevada, stayed with Hoppus in summer 1994.[26]
Blink's first album, Cheshire Cat (1995), was a strong seller for the independent band and would come to be regarded as iconic within the skate punk scene.[27] In 1995, the band signed on for their first national tour, which extended as far as the East Coast. The band purchased their own tour van and embarked on the GoodTimes tour with Unwritten Law, Sprung Monkey and 7 Seconds.[28] The band slowly built a young, devoted following with indie recordings and an endless series of performances and various clubs and festivals.[1] MCA Records signed the band in 1996 and would co-distribute their next release, the sophomore effort Dude Ranch. Hoppus penned the record's lead single, "Dammit", which became a nationwide rock radio hit single as the band toured on the Vans Warped Tour.[29][30]
Multi-platinum success and +44
Hoppus grew increasingly lonely on these tours, having no significant other while other band members did.[4] The exhaustive schedule created tensions within the band, who would fire Raynor in the summer of 1998 in mysterious circumstances never fully explained.[31] With new drummer Travis Barker behind the kit, the trio hit the studio with producer Jerry Finn and recorded Enema of the State, which launched the band's career, catapulting them into the "stratosphere of pop music" and solidifying them as the biggest pop punk act of the era.[27][32] Three singles were released from the record—"What's My Age Again?", "All the Small Things", and "Adam's Song"—that crossed over into Top 40 radio format and experienced major commercial success.[33] Hoppus got married in 2000 (see Personal life) just before the band prepared to record their highly anticipated follow-up, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001). Hoppus felt complacent creatively but DeLonge felt otherwise, creating post-hardcore side project Box Car Racer to experiment with ideas he deemed unsuitable for blink.[34]
Hoppus felt betrayed (Barker was also in Box Car Racer) and a rift developed between Hoppus and DeLonge that would carry on into the band's future.[35] When the band regrouped to record their next record in 2003, all of the members had become fathers (or, in the case of Barker, becoming one) and the trio took a darker, more "mature" direction with their untitled fifth studio album,[36][37] infusing experimentalist elements into their usual pop punk sound partially inspired by Box Car Racer.[38] Unresolved feelings from that project would arise in late 2004 when the band began to argue regarding their future and recording process.[35] The February 2005 breakup of blink-182 affected Hoppus greatly: "I had no idea what to do. After blink broke up I had such a loss of identity and purpose. I just had a giant sense of void."[39] Hoppus then began to work on even darker, electronic demos with Barker in his kitchen.[40][41] He also turned to producing, hitting the studio with Motion City Soundtrack to record Commit This to Memory (2005).[42] In October 2005, Hoppus and Barker purchased a studio together (named Opra Music), where they would bring together a full band to expand upon those electronic demos, creating +44's When Your Heart Stops Beating (2006).[43]
Hoppus performing in 2009
The record, by all accounts, sold poorly and received mixed reviews in the music press.[44] Hoppus and Barker continued touring on the Honda Civic Tour and commenced work on a second +44 album. The August 2008 death of friend and producer Jerry Finn deeply affected Hoppus, who referred to Finn as a lifelong friend and mentor.[45] The following month, Barker and collaborator Adam Goldstein (aka DJ AM), were involved in a plane crash that killed four people, leaving Barker and Goldstein the only survivors.[46] Hoppus immediately boarded a plane to the burn unit, and DeLonge reconnected with the duo under the tragic circumstances.[47] When the band regrouped in the studio for a day, past acrimony vanished with near immediacy.[48] Regarding these experiences, Hoppus wrote, "The events of the past two months supersede everything that happened before. Life is too short."[49] In February 2009, the band's official website was updated with a statement: "To put it simply, We're back. We mean, really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album. Preparing to tour the world yet again. Friendships reformed. 17 years deep in our legacy."[50]
Reunion and recent events
Hoppus performing with Blink-182 in 2011
The band reconnected musically and emotionally on the reunion tour, but were still "on eggshells" throughout the recording of their comeback album.[51] The recording's delay was due to the way the band chose to work – in bits and pieces, alone and together, in a pair of California studios – in addition to each member's busy schedules.[52] The band struggled to record juggling individual priorities; in the case of Hoppus, his new television show Hoppus on Music required him flying to New York once a week.[53] Hoppus moved to London with his family late in the recording process, also complicating matters.[53] The band's comeback album, Neighborhoods (2011), debuted high but undersold label expectations, and Blink-182 parted with Interscope Records in 2012, going independent for their next release, the EP Dogs Eating Dogs.[51]
The band toured Australia in February 2013 without Barker, who did not attend due to his fear of flying (Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion filled in for him).[54][55] The band toured the United States in September 2013, where they planned to begin writing songs for their seventh studio album. "We're hoping to head into the studio next year [and to have the] album out in late spring/early summer," Hoppus told Kerrang!.[56] In the interim, Hoppus began recording songs with frequent engineer and producer Chris Holmes that the duo plan to release by the end of the year. "We probably have seven or eight songs in various stages of completion," Hoppus remarked in August 2013.[56] "I still haven't chosen a name [for the project] yet; we still have to figure that out. It's like guitar mixed with electronics…. at this point." Hoppus will share lead vocals with Holmes on the tracks.[56] On April 25, 2014, Hoppus announced, via Twitter, the name of the band as Nothing and Nobody. Their first album is expected to be released in the "not-too-distant future".[57]
Hoppus performing in 2019
In 2015, blink-182 played three shows in California. With the departure of Tom DeLonge from the band, Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, filled in. It was the first time Hoppus performed under the name "blink-182" without DeLonge by his side. The shows were on March 18, March 20, and March 22.[58] Hoppus later hired Skiba full-time, and blink-182 recorded two albums with him, 2016's California and 2019's Nine before DeLonge returned to the band in 2022.[59]
Hoppus has also performed DJ sets at Emo Nite in Los Angeles on several occasions from 2015 to 2017.[60]
In non-musical endeavors, Hoppus launched his own clothing line, Hi My Name is Mark (stylized as "HiMyNameIsMark"), in July 2013.[56]
Simple Creatures
On January 24, 2019, Hoppus announced he was forming a new group with Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low called Simple Creatures. A debut song called "Drug" was released in January,[61] followed by their first EP, Strange Love, on March 29, 2019.[62] Their second EP, Everything Opposite, was released on October 11, 2019.[63]
Musical style
Songwriting
Hoppus primarily writes most of his songs on an acoustic guitar.[64] He is self-taught, "and consequently I don't have the best technique", he remarked in 2004. "I think you would learn how to paint by painting, rather than reading books about painters or painting and I think it's the same with music. You learn by doing and getting influences from other artists."[12]
Equipment
Bass guitars
For Blink-182's earliest concerts and demo recordings, Hoppus used a standard Fender Precision Bass. On the albums Cheshire Cat and Dude Ranch and their respective tours, he switched to using a Music Man StingRay as his primary bass. While recording Enema of the State, Hoppus used his StingRay as well as a Fender Precision and Jazz Bass.[64] In a 2021 livestream on Twitch, he revealed he stopped using the StingRay as he thought they sounded too "clanky".[65]
After primarily recording with the two Fender basses, Hoppus merged the designs together for the Fender Mark Hoppus Signature Jazz Bass, which debuted in 2000.[64] On the initial model, the pickup, a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound (SPB-3), was in its standard position with the E and A pole pieces on top and the D and G pole pieces on the bottom. However, when Fender updated the model in 2006, the pole pieces were reversed, giving it a fuller sound.[66]
In 2015, Hoppus switched to Fender Jaguar Basses with the same configuration as his 2006 signature model. However, he still occasionally used his original signature Jazz Basses between 2016 and 2021[67] and has used them extensively alongside his Jaguar Basses upon Tom DeLonge's return to the band on One More Time... and the 2023 tour.[68][69]
In 2022, Hoppus teamed up with Fender to release a signature Jaguar Bass sold exclusively through his website Hi My Name Is Mark. To date, it has been released in his signature hot pink color[70] as well as Daphne Blue,[71] with each color being released in limited runs based on customer demand.
Hoppus has been a longtime user of Ernie Ball strings and his instruments are strung with Super Slinky Bass strings (.45-.100).[72]
Amps
For live sound, Hoppus originally plugged his basses into three Ampeg SVT Classic bass heads running into two Ampeg 8x10 SVT bass cabs. Prior to the use of the all-tube SVT Classic heads, Hoppus used two Ampeg SVT-4 Pro heads which only feature a tube preamp.[73] After the Neighborhoods album release, Hoppus used New Vintage amplifiers and cabinets, specifically the Undertow 300 amplifier and NW 8x10 bass cabinets.[74] In 2016, he began using Kemper Profiler amps in concert....HiMyNameIsMark (2005, 2012–present)
Hoppus performing in 2007
"HiMyNameIsMark" is a podcast that was set up in the wake of the Blink-182 hiatus by Hoppus, and can be found at HiMyNameIsMark.com. Every few weeks he released a show of songs by underground bands, interviews with band members and/or friends, and reminisces about happenings in his life. He is often joined on the show by his friends Chris Holmes (+44's engineer) and James Ingram (+44's assistant engineer). Hoppus has also created various side projects including "Hopp on Popp" where he reviews one of his favorite up and coming artists, some of which have been Matt & Kim, fun., and Japandroids. In late 2014, the podcast returned from a hiatus.
In 2012, "HiMyNameIsMark" rebranded itself as a clothing company, selling apparel and accessories branded with an octopus logo.[86]
Hoppus on Music (2010–2012)
Main article: Hoppus on Music
On June 22, 2010, Fuse announced that Hoppus would be hosting his own weekly, one-hour television series entitled A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus. In relation to the press release, Hoppus stated "I am stoked to join the Fuse family and have a show where I can talk about a topic that I'm passionate about, music. More importantly, I'm excited to force millions of people to watch me on a weekly basis on national television." According to Fuse senior vice president of programming and development Sal LoCurto, "A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus was developed to complement the wide variety of music programming on Fuse – including live concerts, festival coverage and in-depth interview series with the biggest names in music. On August 5, Hoppus revealed the co-host of the show would be comedian Amy Schumer."[87]
The show focuses on music news, fun panel discussions and special reports from the show's correspondents. The show also features musical performances by both mainstream and emerging bands.[87][88] The show officially premiered on September 16, 2010, on Fuse. The show's second season premiered in March 2011 and the show was re-titled Hoppus on Music.
After School Radio (since 2020)
On August 18, 2020, the first episode of Hoppus's newest podcast entitled After School Radio would premiere on Apple Music.[89] The podcast is hosted weekly by Hoppus, where he focuses on the artists, music, and culture that have defined the alternative genre.
Most notably, the August 3, 2021, episode titled "The Mark and Tom Show" reunited Hoppus with then former bandmate Tom Delonge." (wikipedia.org)
"Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks.[2]
The seeds of the Coffea plant's fruits are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The beans are roasted and then ground into fine particles typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out, producing a cup of coffee. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, French press, caffè latte, or already-brewed canned coffee). Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.
Though coffee is now a global commodity, it has a long history tied closely to food traditions around the Red Sea. The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking as the modern beverage appears in modern-day Yemen in southern Arabia in the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines, where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed in a manner similar to how it is now prepared for drinking.[3] The coffee beans were procured by the Yemenis from the Ethiopian Highlands via coastal Somali intermediaries, and cultivated in Yemen. By the 16th century, the drink had reached the rest of the Middle East and North Africa, later spreading to Europe.
The two most commonly grown coffee bean types are C. arabica and C. robusta.[4] Coffee plants are cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in the equatorial regions of the Americas, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Africa. As of 2023, Brazil was the leading grower of coffee beans, producing 35% of the world's total. Green, unroasted coffee is traded as an agricultural commodity. Despite sales of coffee reaching billions of dollars worldwide, farmers producing coffee beans disproportionately live in poverty. Critics of the coffee industry have also pointed to its negative impact on the environment and the clearing of land for coffee-growing and water use. The global coffee industry is massive and worth $495.50 billion as of 2023.[5] Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia are the top exporters of coffee beans as of 2023.
Etymology
Green coffee describes the beans before roasting.
The word coffee entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch koffie, borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish kahve (قهوه), borrowed in turn from the Arabic qahwah (قَهْوَة).[6] Medieval Arab lexicographers traditionally held that the etymology of qahwah meant 'wine', given its distinctly dark color, and was derived from the verb qahiya (قَهِيَ), 'to have no appetite'.[7] The word qahwah most likely meant 'the dark one', referring to the brew or the bean; qahwah is not the name of the bean, which are known in Arabic as bunn and in Cushitic languages as būn. Semitic languages had the root qhh, 'dark color', which became a natural designation for the beverage. Its cognates include the Hebrew qehe(h) ('dulling') and the Aramaic qahey ('give acrid taste to').[7] Although etymologists have connected it with a word meaning "wine", it is also thought to be from the Kaffa region of Ethiopia.[8]
The terms coffee pot and coffee break originated in 1705 and 1952, respectively....Mass production
Meanwhile, coffee had been introduced to Brazil in 1727, although its cultivation did not gather momentum until independence in 1822.[35] After this time, massive tracts of rainforest were cleared for coffee plantations, first in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro and later São Paulo.[36] Brazil went from having essentially no coffee exports in 1800 to being a significant regional producer in 1830, to being the largest producer in the world by 1852. In 1910–1920, Brazil exported around 70% of the world's coffee, Colombia, Guatemala, and Venezuela exported half of the remaining 30%, and Old World production accounted for less than 5% of world exports.[37]
Many countries in Central America took up cultivation in the latter half of the 19th century, and almost all were involved in the large-scale displacement and exploitation of the indigenous people[citation needed]. Harsh conditions led to many uprisings, coups, and bloody suppression of peasants.[38] The notable exception was Costa Rica, where lack of ready labor prevented the formation of large farms. Smaller farms and more egalitarian conditions ameliorated unrest over the 19th and 20th centuries.[39]
Rapid growth in coffee production in South America during the second half of the 19th century was matched by an increase in consumption in developed countries, though nowhere has this growth been as pronounced as in the United States, where a high rate of population growth was compounded by doubling of per capita consumption between 1860 and 1920. Though the United States was not the heaviest coffee-drinking nation at the time (Belgium, the Netherlands and Nordic countries all had comparable or higher levels of per capita consumption), due to its sheer size, it was already the largest consumer of coffee in the world by 1860, and, by 1920, around half of all coffee produced worldwide was consumed in the US.[37]
Coffee has become a vital cash crop for many developing countries. Over one hundred million people in developing countries have become dependent on coffee as their primary source of income. It has become the primary export and economic backbone for African countries like Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia,[40] as well as many Central American countries....Cultivation and production
Further information: Coffee production
Map showing areas of coffee cultivation:
r Coffea canephora
m Coffea canephora and Coffea arabica
a Coffea arabica
The traditional method of planting coffee is to place 20 seeds in each hole at the beginning of the rainy season. This method loses about 50% of the seeds' potential, as about half fail to sprout. A more effective process of growing coffee, used in Brazil, is to raise seedlings in nurseries that are then planted outside after six to twelve months. Coffee is often intercropped with food crops, such as corn, beans, or rice during the first few years of cultivation as farmers become familiar with its requirements.[44] Coffee plants grow within a defined area between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, termed the bean belt or coffee belt.[50]
In 2020, the world production of green coffee beans was 175,647,000 60 kg bags, led by Brazil with 39% of the total, followed by Vietnam, Colombia, and Indonesia.[51] Brazil is the largest coffee exporting nation, accounting for 15% of all world exports in 2019.[52] As of 2021, no synthetic coffee products are publicly available but multiple bioeconomy companies have reportedly produced first batches that are highly similar on the molecular level and are close to commercialization.[53][54][55]
Species variations
Of the two main species grown, arabica coffee (from C. arabica) is generally more highly regarded than robusta coffee (from C. canephora). Robusta coffee tends to be bitter and has less flavor but a better body than arabica. For these reasons, about three-quarters of coffee cultivated worldwide is C. arabica.[41] Robusta strains also contain about 40–50% more caffeine than arabica.[56] Consequently, this species is used as an inexpensive substitute for arabica in many commercial coffee blends. Good quality robusta beans are used in traditional Italian espresso blends to provide a full-bodied taste and a better foam head (known as crema).
Additionally, Coffea canephora is less susceptible to disease than C. arabica and can be cultivated in lower altitudes and warmer climates where C. arabica will not thrive.[57] The robusta strain was first collected in 1890 from the Lomani River, a tributary of the Congo River, and was conveyed from the Congo Free State (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to Brussels to Java around 1900. From Java, further breeding resulted in the establishment of robusta plantations in many countries.[58] In particular, the spread of the devastating coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix), to which C. arabica is vulnerable, hastened the uptake of the resistant robusta. Hemileia vastatrix is a fungal pathogen[59] and results in light, rust-colored spots on the undersides of coffee plant leaves. Hemileia vastatrix grows exclusively on the leaves of coffee plants.[60] Coffee leaf rust is found in virtually all countries that produce coffee.[61]
Beans from different countries or regions can usually be distinguished by differences in flavor, aroma, body, and acidity.[62] These taste characteristics are dependent not only on the coffee's growing region but also on genetic subspecies (varietals) and processing.[63] Varietals are generally known by the region in which they are grown, such as Colombian, Java, and Kona. Arabica coffee beans are cultivated mainly in Latin America, eastern Africa or Asia, while robusta beans are grown in central Africa, southeast Asia, and Brazil.[41]
Coffee can also be blended with medicinal or functional mushrooms, of which some of the most frequently used include: lion's mane, chaga, cordyceps and reishi.[64] Mushroom coffee has about half the caffeine of standard coffee.[65] However, drinking mushroom coffee can result in digestive issues and high amounts can result in liver toxicity.[65] There is little clinical evidence for the benefits of mushroom coffee.
Roasting
Main article: Coffee roasting
Roasted coffee beans
The next step in the process is the roasting of green coffee. Coffee is usually sold in a roasted state, and with rare exceptions, such as infusions from green coffee beans,[97] coffee is roasted before it is consumed. It can be sold roasted by the supplier, or it can be home roasted.[98] The roasting process influences the taste of the beverage by changing the coffee bean both physically and chemically. The bean decreases in weight as moisture is lost and increases in volume, causing it to become less dense. The density of the bean also influences the strength of the coffee and the requirements for packaging.
The actual roasting begins when the temperature inside the bean reaches approximately 200 °C (392 °F), though different varieties of seeds differ in moisture and density and therefore roast at different rates.[99] During roasting, caramelization occurs as intense heat breaks down starches, changing them to simple sugars that begin to brown, which darkens the color of the bean.[100]
Sucrose is rapidly lost during the roasting process, and may disappear entirely in darker roasts. During roasting, aromatic oils and acids weaken, changing the flavor; at 205 °C (401 °F), other oils start to develop.[99] One of these oils, caffeol, is created at about 200 °C (392 °F), and is largely responsible for coffee's aroma and flavor.[22] The difference of caffeine content between a light roast and a dark roast is only about 0.1%.[101]
Grading roasted beans
See also: Food grading
Two men hold spoons over a row of cups filled with coffee.
Coffee "cuppers", or professional tasters, grade the coffee.
Depending on the color of the roasted beans as perceived by the human eye, they will be labeled as light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark, or very dark. A more accurate method of discerning the degree of roast involves measuring the reflected light from roasted seeds illuminated with a light source in the near-infrared spectrum. This elaborate light meter uses a process known as spectroscopy to return a number that consistently indicates the roasted coffee's relative degree of roast or flavor development. Coffee has, in many countries, been graded by size longer than it has been graded by quality. Grading is generally done with sieves, numbered to indicate the size of the perforations.[102]
Roast characteristics
The degree of roast affects coffee flavor and body. The color of coffee after brewing is also affected by the degree of roasting.[103] Darker roasts are generally bolder because they have less fiber content and a more sugary flavor. Lighter roasts have a more complex and therefore perceived stronger flavor from aromatic oils and acids otherwise destroyed by longer roasting times.[104] Roasting does not alter the amount of caffeine in the bean, but does give less caffeine when the beans are measured by volume because the beans expand during roasting.[105] A small amount of chaff is produced during roasting from the skin left on the seed after processing.[106] Chaff is usually removed from the seeds by air movement, though a small amount is added to dark roast coffees to soak up oils on the seeds.[99]
Decaffeination
Decaffeination of coffee seeds is done while the seeds are still green. Many methods can remove caffeine from coffee, but all involve either soaking the green seeds in hot water (often called the "Swiss water process")[107] or steaming them, then using a solvent to dissolve caffeine-containing oils.[22] Decaffeination is often done by processing companies, and the extracted caffeine is usually sold to the pharmaceutical industry.[22]
Storage
Main article: Coffee bean storage
Coffee container
Coffee is best stored in an airtight container made of ceramic, glass or non-reactive metal.[108] Higher quality prepackaged coffee usually has a one-way valve that prevents air from entering while allowing the coffee to release gases.[109] Coffee freshness and flavor is preserved when it is stored away from moisture, heat, and light. The tendency of coffee to absorb strong smells from food means that it should be kept away from such smells. Storage of coffee in refrigerators is not recommended due to the presence of moisture which can cause deterioration. Exterior walls of buildings that face the sun may heat the interior of a home, and this heat may damage coffee stored near such a wall. Heat from nearby ovens also harms stored coffee.[108]
In 1931, a method of packing coffee in a sealed vacuum in cans was introduced. The roasted coffee was packed and then 99% of the air was removed, allowing the coffee to be stored indefinitely until the can was opened. Today this method is in mass use for coffee in a large part of the world.[110]
Brewing
Main article: Coffee brewing
A contemporary electric automatic drip-coffee maker
Espresso is one of the most popular coffee-brewing methods
Coffee beans must be ground and brewed to create a beverage. The criteria for choosing a method include flavor and economy. Almost all methods of preparing coffee require that the beans be ground and then mixed with hot water long enough to allow the flavor to emerge but not so long as to draw out bitter compounds. The liquid can be consumed after the spent grounds are removed. Brewing considerations include the fineness of the grind, how the water is used to extract the flavor, the ratio of coffee grounds to water (the brew ratio), additional flavorings such as sugar, milk, and spices, and the technique to be used to separate spent grounds. Optimal coffee extraction occurs between 91 and 96 °C (196 and 205 °F).[111] Ideal holding temperatures range from 85 to 88 °C (185 to 190 °F) to as high as 93 °C (199 °F) and the ideal serving temperature is 68 to 79 °C (154 to 174 °F).[112]
Coffee beans may be ground in various ways. A burr grinder uses revolving elements to shear the seed; a blade grinder cuts the seeds with blades moving at high speed, and a mortar and pestle crush the seeds. For most brewing methods a burr grinder is deemed superior because the grind is more even and the grind size can be adjusted.[113] The type of grind is often named after the brewing method for which it is generally used. Turkish grind is the finest grind, while coffee percolator or French press are the coarsest grinds. The most common grinds are between these two extremes: a medium grind is used in most home coffee-brewing machines.[114]
Coffee may be brewed by several methods. It may be boiled, steeped, or pressurized.
Brewing coffee by boiling was the earliest method, and Turkish coffee is an example of this method. It is prepared by grinding or pounding the seeds to a fine powder, then adding it to water and bringing it to a boil for no more than an instant in a pot called a cezve or, in Greek, a μπρίκι: bríki (from Turkish ibrik). This produces a strong coffee with a layer of foam on the surface and sediment (which is not meant for drinking) settling at the bottom of the cup.[115]
Drip brewers and automatic coffeemakers brew coffee using gravity. In an automatic coffeemaker, hot water drips onto coffee grounds that are held in a paper, plastic, or perforated metal coffee filter, allowing the water to seep through the ground coffee while extracting its oils and essences. The liquid drips through the coffee and the filter into a carafe or pot, and the spent coffee grounds are retained in the filter.[116]
In a coffee percolator, water is pulled under a pipe by gravity, which is then forced into a chamber above a filter by steam pressure created by boiling. The water then seeps through the grounds, and the process is repeated until terminated by removing from the heat, by an internal timer,[117] or by a thermostat that turns off the heater when the entire pot reaches a certain temperature.
The espresso method forces hot pressurized water through finely-ground coffee.[114] As a result of brewing under high pressure (typically 9 bar),[118] the espresso beverage is more concentrated (as much as 10 to 15 times the quantity of coffee to water as gravity-brewing methods can produce) and has a more complex physical and chemical constitution.[119] A well-prepared espresso has a reddish-brown foam called crema that floats on the surface.[114] Other pressurized water methods include the moka pot and vacuum coffee maker. The AeroPress also works similarly, moving a column of water through a bed of coffee.
Cold brew coffee is made by steeping coarsely ground beans in cold water for several hours, then filtering them.[120] This results in a brew lower in acidity than most hot-brewing methods.
Serving
"Black coffee" redirects here. For other uses, see Black Coffee (disambiguation).
See also: List of coffee drinks
Once brewed, coffee may be served in a variety of ways. Drip-brewed, percolated, or French-pressed/cafetière coffee may be served as white coffee with a dairy product such as milk or cream, or dairy substitute, or as black coffee with no such addition. It may be sweetened with sugar or artificial sweetener. When served cold, it is called iced coffee.
Espresso-based coffee has a variety of possible presentations. In its most basic form, an espresso is served alone as a shot or short black, or with hot water added, when it is known as Caffè Americano. A long black is made by pouring a double espresso into an equal portion of water, retaining the crema, unlike Caffè Americano.[121] Milk is added in various forms to an espresso: steamed milk makes a caffè latte,[122] equal parts steamed milk and milk froth make a cappuccino,[121] and a dollop of hot foamed milk on top creates a caffè macchiato.[123] A flat white is prepared by adding steamed hot milk (microfoam) to two espresso shots.[124] It has less milk than a latte, but both are varieties of coffee to which the milk can be added in such a way as to create a decorative surface pattern. Such effects are known as latte art.[125]
Coffee is frequently served iced. Popular options include Frappés, Iced lattes, or stronger brewed coffee served with ice.[126]
Coffee can also be incorporated with alcohol to produce a variety of beverages: it is combined with whiskey in Irish coffee, and it forms the base of alcoholic coffee liqueurs such as Kahlúa and Tia Maria. Some craft beers have coffee or coffee extracts added to the beer,[127] although porter and stout beers may have a coffee-like taste solely due to roasted grains.[128]
Instant coffee
Main article: Instant coffee
Instant coffee
Many products are sold for the convenience of consumers who do not want to prepare their coffee or who do not have access to coffeemaking equipment. Instant coffee is dried into soluble powder or freeze-dried into granules that can be quickly dissolved in hot water.[129] A New Zealand invention and staple, instant coffee was originally invented in Invercargill 1890, by food chemist David Strang.[130] It rapidly gained in popularity in many countries in the post-war period, with Nescafé being the most popular product.[131] Many consumers determined that the convenience of preparing a cup of instant coffee more than made up for a perceived inferior taste,[132] although, since the late 1970s, instant coffee has been produced differently in such a way that is similar to the taste of freshly brewed coffee.[133] Paralleling (and complementing) the rapid rise of instant coffee was the coffee vending machine invented in 1947 and widely distributed since the 1950s.[134]
Canned coffee has been popular in Asian countries for many years, particularly in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Vending machines typically sell varieties of flavored canned coffee, much like brewed or percolated coffee, available both hot and cold. Japanese convenience stores and groceries also have a wide availability of bottled coffee drinks, which are typically lightly sweetened and pre-blended with milk. Bottled coffee drinks are also consumed in the United States.[135][better source needed]
Liquid coffee concentrates are sometimes used in large institutional situations where coffee needs to be produced for thousands of people at the same time. It is described as having a flavor about as good as low-grade robusta coffee and costs about 10¢ a cup to produce. The machines can process up to 500 cups an hour, or 1,000 if the water is preheated....Society and culture
Main article: Coffee culture
Coffee is often consumed alongside (or instead of) breakfast by many at home or when eating out at diners or cafeterias. It is often served at the end of a formal meal, normally with a dessert, and at times with an after-dinner mint, especially when consumed at a restaurant or dinner party.[186]
Coffeehouses
Main article: Coffeehouse
Widely known as coffeehouses or cafés, establishments serving prepared coffee or other hot beverages have existed for over five hundred years. The first coffeehouse in Constantinople was opened in 1475 by traders arriving from Damascus and Aleppo.[188]
A contemporary term for a person who makes coffee beverages, often a coffeehouse employee, is a barista. The Specialty Coffee Association of Europe and the Specialty Coffee Association of America have been influential in setting standards and providing training.[189]
Break
A coffee break in the United States and elsewhere is a short mid-morning rest period granted to employees in business and industry, corresponding with the Commonwealth terms "elevenses", "smoko" (in Australia), "morning tea", "tea break", or even just "tea". An afternoon coffee break, or afternoon tea, often occurs as well.
The coffee break originated in the late 19th century in Stoughton, Wisconsin, with the wives of Norwegian immigrants. The city celebrates this every year with the Stoughton Coffee Break Festival.[190] In 1951, Time noted that "[s]ince the war, the coffee break has been written into union contracts".[191] The term subsequently became popular through a Pan-American Coffee Bureau ad campaign of 1952 which urged consumers, "Give yourself a Coffee-Break – and Get What Coffee Gives to You."[192] John B. Watson, a behavioral psychologist who worked with Maxwell House later in his career, helped to popularize coffee breaks within the American culture." (wikipedia.org)
"A cup is an open-top container used to hold liquids for pouring or drinking. Although mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt).[1][2] Cups may be made of glass, metal, china,[3] clay, wood, stone, bone, polystyrene, plastic, aluminium or other materials, and are usually fixed with stem, handles, or other adornments. Cups are used for quenching thirst across a wide range of cultures and social classes,[4] and different styles of cups may be used for different liquids or in different situations.[5] Cups of different styles may be used for different types of liquids or other foodstuffs (e.g. teacups and measuring cups), in different situations (e.g. at water stations or in ceremonies and rituals), or for decoration." (wikipedia.org)
"Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C (1,380 and 1,560 °F). The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating. The word vitreous comes from the Latin vitreus, meaning "glassy".
Enamel can be used on metal, glass, ceramics, stone, or any material that will withstand the fusing temperature. In technical terms fired enamelware is an integrated layered composite of glass and another material (or more glass). The term "enamel" is most often restricted to work on metal, which is the subject of this article. Essentially the same technique used with other bases is known by different terms: on glass as enamelled glass, or "painted glass", and on pottery it is called overglaze decoration, "overglaze enamels" or "enamelling". The craft is called "enamelling", the artists "enamellers" and the objects produced can be called "enamels".
Enamelling is an old and widely adopted technology, for most of its history mainly used in jewellery and decorative art. Since the 18th century, enamels have also been applied to many metal consumer objects, such as some cooking vessels, steel sinks, and cast-iron bathtubs. It has also been used on some appliances, such as dishwashers, laundry machines, and refrigerators, and on marker boards and signage.
The term "enamel" has also sometimes been applied to industrial materials other than vitreous enamel, such as enamel paint and the polymers coating enameled wire; these actually are very different in materials science terms.
The word enamel comes from the Old High German word smelzan (to smelt) via the Old French esmail,[1] or from a Latin word smaltum, first found in a 9th-century Life of Leo IV.[2] Used as a noun, "an enamel" is usually a small decorative object coated with enamel. "Enamelled" and "enamelling" are the preferred spellings in British English, while "enameled" and "enameling" are preferred in American English....Vitreous enamel can be applied to most metals. Most modern industrial enamel is applied to steel in which the carbon content is controlled to prevent unwanted reactions at the firing temperatures. Enamel can also be applied to gold, silver, copper, aluminium,[21] stainless steel,[22] and cast iron.[23]
Vitreous enamel has many useful properties: it is smooth, hard, chemically resistant, durable, scratch resistant (5–6 on the Mohs scale), has long-lasting colour fastness, is easy to clean, and cannot burn. Enamel is glass, not paint, so it does not fade under ultraviolet light.[24] A disadvantage of enamel is a tendency to crack or shatter when the substrate is stressed or bent, but modern enamels are relatively chip- and impact-resistant because of good thickness control and coefficients of thermal expansion well-matched to the metal.
The Buick automobile company was founded by David Dunbar Buick with wealth earned by his development of improved enamelling processes, c. 1887, for sheet steel and cast iron. Such enameled ferrous material had, and still has, many applications: early 20th century and some modern advertising signs, interior oven walls, cooking pots, housing and interior walls of major kitchen appliances, housing and drums of clothes washers and dryers, sinks and cast iron bathtubs, farm storage silos, and processing equipment" (wikipedia.org)
"Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a bivy or tarp, or no shelter at all. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors, in pursuit of activities providing them enjoyment or in a form of educational experience. Spending the night away from home distinguishes camping from day-tripping, picnicking, and other outdoor activities.
Camping as a recreational activity became popular among elites in the early 20th century. With time, it grew in popularity among other socioeconomic classes. Modern campers frequent publicly owned natural resources such as national and state parks, wilderness areas, and commercial campgrounds. In few countries, including Sweden and Scotland, public camping is legal on privately held land as well. Camping is a key part of many youth organizations around the world, such as Scouting, which use it to teach both self-reliance and teamwork. School camping trips also have numerous benefits and can play an essential role in the personal growth and development of students....The Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary defines camping as:[2]
The act of staying and sleeping in an outside area for one or more days and nights, usually in a tent.
Camping describes a range of activities and approaches to outdoor accommodation. Survivalist and wild campers typically set off with as little as possible to get by. Other campers might use specialized camping gear designed to provide comfort, including their own power and heat sources as well as camping furniture. Camping may be combined with hiking, as in backpacking, and is often enjoyed in conjunction with other outdoor activities [3] such as canoeing, kayaking, climbing, fishing, and hunting. Fastpacking involves both running and camping.
There is no universally held definition of what is and what is not camping. Just as with motels, which serve both recreational and business guests, the same campground may serve recreational campers, school field trips, migrant workers, and the homeless at the same time. Fundamentally, it reflects a combination of intent and the nature of the activities involved. A children's summer camp with dining hall meals and bunkhouse accommodations may have "camp" in its name but fails to reflect the spirit and form of "camping" as it is broadly understood. Similarly, a homeless person's lifestyle may involve many common camping activities, such as sleeping out and preparing meals over a fire but fails to reflect the elective nature and pursuit of spirit rejuvenation that are an integral aspect of camping." (wikipedia.org)
"A mug is a type of cup typically used for drinking hot drinks, such as coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. Mugs usually have handles[1] and hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cups. Typically, a mug holds approximately 240–350 ml (8–12 US fl oz; 8.3–12.5 imp fl oz) of liquid.[2] A mug is a less formal style of drink container and is not usually used in formal place settings, where a teacup or coffee cup is preferred. Shaving mugs are used to assist in wet shaving.
Ancient mugs were usually carved in wood or bone, made of ceramic, or shaped of clay, while most modern ones are made of ceramic materials such as bone china, earthenware, porcelain, or stoneware. Some are made from strengthened glass, such as Pyrex. Other materials, including enameled metal, plastic, or steel are preferred, when reduced weight or resistance to breakage is at a premium, such as for camping. A travel mug is insulated and has a cover with a small sipping opening to prevent spills. Techniques such as silk screen printing or decals are used to apply decorations such as logos or images and fan art, which are fired onto the mug to ensure permanence.
History
Early mugs
Wooden mugs were produced probably from the earliest days of woodworking, but most of them have not survived intact.[3][4]
The first pottery was shaped by hand and was later facilitated by the invention of the potter's wheel (date unknown, between 6,500 and 3000 BCE). It was relatively easy to add a handle to a cup in the process thus producing a mug. For example, a rather advanced, decorated clay mug from 4000 to 5000 BCE was found in Greece.
The biggest disadvantage of those clay mugs was thick walls unfit for the mouth. The walls were thinned with development of metalworking techniques. Metal mugs were produced from bronze,[6] silver, gold,[7] and even lead,[8] starting from roughly 2000 BCE, but were hard to use with hot drinks.
The invention of porcelain around 600 CE in China brought a new era of thin-walled mugs suitable both for cold and hot liquids, which are enjoyed today....General design and functions
Much of the mug design aims at thermal insulation: the thick walls of a mug, as compared to the thinner walls of teacups, insulate the beverage to prevent it from cooling or warming quickly. The mug bottom is often not flat, but either concave or has an extra rim, to reduce the thermal contact with the surface on which a mug is placed. These features often leave a characteristic circular stain on the surface. Finally, the handle of a mug keeps the hand away from the hot sides of a mug. The small cross section of the handle reduces heat flow between the liquid and the hand. For the same reason of thermal insulation, mugs are usually made of materials with low thermal conductivity, such as earthenware, bone china, porcelain, or glass....Decoration
See also: Transfer printing
Smashed mug
As a ubiquitous desktop item, the mug is often used as an object of art or advertisement; some mugs are rather decorations than drinking vessels. Carving had been traditionally applied to mugs in the ancient times. Deforming a mug into an unusual shape is sometimes used. However, the most popular decoration technique nowadays is printing on mugs, which is usually performed as follows: Ceramic powder is mixed with dyes of chosen color and a plasticizer. Then it is printed on a gelatin-coated paper using a traditional screen-printing technique, which applies the mixture through a fine woven mesh, which is stretched on a frame and has a mask of desired shape. This technique produces a thin homogeneous coating; however, if smoothness is not required, the ceramic mixture is painted directly with a brush. Another, more complex alternative is to coat the paper with a photographic emulsion, photoprint the image and then cure the emulsion with ultraviolet light.[21]
After drying, the printed paper, called a litho, can be stored indefinitely. When a litho is applied to the mug, it is first softened in warm water. This detaches the gelatin cover, with the printed image, from the paper; this cover is then transferred to the mug. The mug is then fired around 700–750 °C (1,290–1,380 °F; 970–1,020 K), which softens the top surface of the glaze, thereby embedding the image into it.[21]
Storage
Mug rack on a ship
Mug tree
A popular way to store mugs is on a 'mug tree', a wooden or metal pole mounted on a round base and fitted with pegs to hang mugs by their handles.[22] There are also racks designed for hanging mugs so that they are ready to hand. Those are especially useful on ships in high waves. Mugs can often be a collectible item, making storage and display tools/strategies something important to think about for collectors." (wikipedia.org)