Originally Posted by Strummer521

grammatically speaking a plural word doesn't always need to be preceeded by "the" it depends on whether you're talking about a specific group, or just a plural representation of the object in general terms. If I made potatoes, and you were eating them, I'd ask you if you liked "the" potatoes. If I wondered whether I should bother making them, I'd just ask you if you liked potatoes (in general). Black Francis (or Frank Black now...) weren't referring to a specific group of pixies when selecting their name, so it's ok for them to say "pixies" as a reference to the mythological creature in general terms. Or, they could call themselves, "The Pixies", because by taking on the name, they become a group of pixies, in a sense. The same issue arises often with bands like Eagles and Talking Heads. I think it also serves as a way to separate true fans from casual listeners. Don't semantics make your head spin sometimes?

Originally Posted by swimintheundertow

I think you might like them. I don't know, maybe. They're sort of like Pavement, almost kind of. Doolittle and Surfer Rosa are a good place to start.

Originally Posted by LedZepStu

To me saying "do you like pixies?" is asking me whether i like little mythical creatures with a mischeivous streak, if you were to say "do you like the pixies?" id consider you to be asking me about the group. "beatles" sounds wrong, however, "the beatles" sounds right, because the "the" is a way of differentiating between the actual object and the group.