David Bowie used his own considerable influence to champion the Pixies, praising the American alternative rock band as "absolutely necessary" and "a very important band" during the 1980s despite their lack of commercial success or radio airplay. His comments highlight Bowie's long-standing habit of drawing attention to artists he felt were creatively significant but commercially overlooked, echoing his earlier support for figures such as Iggy Pop and The Velvet Underground's Lou Reed. This mattered because Bowie believed that without such advocacy from established stars, innovative but under-the-radar acts risked being forgotten entirely.

In a quote highlighted in the piece, Bowie singled out Pixies frontman Frank Black as "a fantastic songwriter" and lamented that the band "were never played on American radio, they never sold any records, then they broke up," warning that "more creative artists are going to disappear because no one's out there supporting him." Despite Bowie's efforts, Pixies' legacy was ultimately secured largely through Kurt Cobain, an avowed fan whose band Nirvana adopted the quiet-loud dynamic pioneered on albums like Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, introducing the Pixies' influence to a much wider mainstream audience.