Signing the band based on the quality of the recordings, 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell whittled its track-listing down to eight songs, remixing them to become Come On Pilgrim.

The resulting 17-song cassette, later dubbed "The Purple Tape", eventually found its way to Ivo Watts-Russell, president and co-founder of the influential British record label 4AD.

Goes passed Pixies' demo tape on to Watts-Russell, who walked the streets of New York listening to it on his Walkman and "absolutely adored it from day one".

"[9] Original session producer Gary Smith differed, thinking the songs "should all be served up at once because that's how you would get a sense of how colossally important this band was.

Pixies re-recorded eight of the nine remaining Purple Tape tracks for later albums and EP releases, the sole exception being "Rock a My Soul".

[13] A version of the song "Vamos" would appear on Pixies' next two releases: re-recorded with Steve Albini for their first full-length album, Surfer Rosa, and as a live B-side on their first single, "Gigantic".

"[14] Come On Pilgrim includes two songs partly sung in Spanish ("Vamos" and "Isla de Encanta"), which drew upon some of Francis's experiences in Puerto Rico.

"Ed Is Dead" is about a brain-damaged girl known to Francis[15] who rode a bicycle with a transistor radio strapped to its handlebars, so she could play music.