Teenager of the Year (album)

Teenager of the Year is the second solo studio album by American musician Frank Black. The album was released in 1994 by 4AD in the United Kingdom and Elektra Records in the United States. It was co-produced by former Pere Ubu member Eric Drew Feldman, who also played keyboards on the album.[11] Teenager also features work by several backing musicians, including Lyle Workman, Moris Tepper and Black's Pixies bandmate Joey Santiago.

Teenager of the Year
Studio album by Frank Black
Released	May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23)
Studio	American Recording Co. (Calabasas, California) Castle Oaks (Calabasas, California) The Clubhouse (Burbank, California) The Chapel (Los Angeles, California) Can-Am (Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	62:51
Label	4AD Elektra
Producer	Eric Drew Feldman Frank Black Alistair Clay
Frank Black chronology
Frank Black (1993) Teenager of the Year (1994) The Cult of Ray (1996)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[4]
Mojo	[5]
NME	8/10[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[8]
Select	4/5[9]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	8/10[10]

The album reached number 2 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and number 131 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1994.[12][13] The single "Headache" reached number 10 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart that year.[14]

Although not originally well-received, the record is now widely praised by both critics and fans.[15] This album is often cited as the high-point of Francis' post-Pixies catalogue,[15][11][1] and was named on Pitchfork's "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s".[15]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Frank Black.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Whatever Happened to Pong?"	1:34
2.	"Thalassocracy"	1:33
3.	"(I Want to Live on an) Abstract Plain"	2:17
4.	"Calistan"	3:22
5.	"The Vanishing Spies"	3:37
6.	"Speedy Marie"	3:33
7.	"Headache"	2:52
8.	"Sir Rockaby"	2:54
9.	"Freedom Rock"	4:16
10.	"Two Reelers"	3:01
11.	"Fiddle Riddle"	3:29
12.	"Olé Mulholland"	4:41
13.	"Fazer Eyes"	3:36
14.	"I Could Stay Here Forever"	2:27
15.	"The Hostess with the Mostest"	1:56
16.	"Superabound"	3:10
17.	"Big Red"	2:41
18.	"Space Is Gonna Do Me Good"	2:22
19.	"White Noise Maker"	2:42
20.	"Pure Denizen of the Citizens Band"	2:20
21.	"Bad, Wicked World"	1:57
22.	"Pie in the Sky"	2:13

Personnel

Musicians

• Frank Black – vocals, guitar
• Eric Drew Feldman – bass, keyboards, synthetics
• Nick Vincent – drums, bass on track 11
• Lyle Workman – lead guitar
• Joey Santiago – lead guitar on tracks 8, 20, 21, 22 and second lead guitar on track 15
• Moris Tepper – lead guitar on tracks 11 and 17

Technical

• Eric Drew Feldman – producer
• Frank Black – producer
• Alistair Clay – producer (except on tracks 3, 7, 17 and 19), engineer
• David Bianco – additional engineer, mixing
• Andy Warwick – additional engineer
• Bill Cooper – additional engineer
• Efren Herrera – additional engineer
• Craig Doubet – assistant engineer
• Danny Alonso – assistant engineer
• Wolfgang Aichholz – assistant engineer
• Mike Aarvold – assistant engineer
• Matt Westfield – assistant engineer
• John Jackson – assistant engineer
• Frank Gryner – assistant engineer
• Wally Traugott – mastering
• V23 – design
• Michael Halsband – photography

Charts

Chart (1994)	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16]	45
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17]	60
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18]	35
UK Albums (OCC)[19]	21
US Billboard 200[12]	131
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[13]	2

References

1. Phares, Heather. "Teenager of the Year – Frank Black". AllMusic. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
2. Kot, Greg (June 9, 1994). "Frank Black: Teenager of the Year (4AD)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
3. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Black, Frank". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
4. Flaherty, Mike (June 3, 1994). "Teenager of the Year". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
5. Cameron, Keith (September 2019). "Perfectly Frank". Mojo. No. 310. p. 39.
6. "Frank Black: Teenager of the Year". NME. May 28, 1994. p. 34.
7. Weisel, Al (August 25, 1994). "Frank Black: Teenager of the Year". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 21, 2003. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
8. Wolk, Douglas (2004). "Frank Black". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
9. Wilkinson, Roy (June 1994). "King Tubby!". Select. No. 48. p. 87. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
10. Weisbard, Eric (1995). "Pixies". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 301–02. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
11. "Music Review: Teenager of the Year by Frank Black". All-reviews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
12. "Frank Black Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
13. "Frank Black Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
14. "Frank Black Chart History (Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
15. "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. November 17, 2003. p. 1. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Frank Black – Teenager of the Year" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Frank Black – Teenager of the Year" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
18. "Charts.nz – Frank Black – Teenager of the Year". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 6, 2020.