When the Pixies showed up at UMass Lowell’s student-run WJUL on a chilly Monday evening, they were just another new band out of Boston.
They retreated to the small “Fallout Shelter” studio in the basement of Lydon Library, where bands have been playing live sets on air for nearly 33 years. Tape rolled. The musicians plugged in and ripped through 15 songs. There was a brief interview. The four Pixies packed up and left. It was Dec. 15, 1986, long before they cast a huge shadow over rock music.
At the time, Pixies were “just another interesting band out of Boston that no one really knew about,” says Music Department chair Alan Williams. “They were making a sound that would earn them a place in history long before fame came their way.”
The recording made that night captured a band on the cusp of breaking through. The music was raw, spontaneous, powerful. In music circles, the notoriety of the “Fallout Shelter” tape grew. But over the years, the radio station lost track of the original recording.
Now, more than three decades later, WUML staff (the station changed its call letters in October 2003) and alums are beaming with pride as Pixies’ “Fallout Shelter” performance will be released Sept. 28 as part of Come On Pilgrim…It’s Surfer Rosa, a three-CD or –LP box set celebrating the 30th anniversaries of Pixies’ seminal Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa recordings. The recording is the result of some dogged detective work on the part of a station employee and the deep allegiance of alumni who wanted to make sure the project was done right.
“It’s really incredible,” says senior Chris Romano, WUML’s current station manager. “I mean, so, so cool. Not only did they play in this station, it’s going to be released. It’s one of the better-known moments in the station’s history….
1. Holiday Song (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (02:01)
2. I’m Amazed (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (01:37)
3. Rock a My Soul (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (01:51)
4. Isla de Encanta (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (01:48)
5. Caribou (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (03:13)
6. Broken Face (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (01:28)
7. Subbacultcha (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (03:37)
8. Build High (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (01:27)
9. Ed Is Dead (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (02:47)
10. Nimrod’s Son (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (02:22)
11. Down To the Well (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (02:00)
12. I’ve Been Tired (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (02:43)
13. Boom Chicka Boom (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (03:05)
14. Vamos (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (02:34)
15. In Heaven (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (01:42)
16. Pixies Interview (Live from the Fallout Shelter) (06:01)