I lost all respect for Billy Corgan and it’s not because he dresses like a Sprocket and turns halogen bulbs into crucifixes. I lost it after reading love poems he wrote via email to a chick I was friends with in Chicago. I vividly remember looking at her email account over her shoulder at work as she clicked on a few different electronic love letters.
I don’t want my rock stars writing sappy emails to random girls they meet on the street in Chicago no matter how attractive they are. It’s desperate. You don’t see Bret Michaels pulling that move, do you? To this day, my friend keeps Billy’s emails tucked away in a little folder in her Hotmail account.
Billy somehow recovered from her rejection and The Smashing Pumpkins just premiered the video for their latest single “G.L.O.W.” yesterday. The video features some frosted cupcakes and hot ass, but it’s still not enough to overcome the trite, ultra-cheesy song.
It begs the question - Are the Smashing Pumpkins finished for good?
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
My take - GLOW doesn’t have a lot to offer, and Zeitgeist is a failed experiment featuring lyrics that have fallen into the abyss of Corgan’s profound arrogance. But at least it was an experiment. At a time when no mainstream bands seem to want to put an edge on their sound, he put together a very aggressive album that actually rocks hard. It is not a good album, but it’s ambitious enough that I can’t quite write the band off yet, no matter how tired Billy’s vocals sound at this point. Histrionics aside, they’re apparently still putting on a pretty blistering live show. If they make to Argentina, I’ll certainly go and judge for myself.
Re: Love Poems - how hot is your friend?
gish is one of the best albums of the 1990s.
So was Siamese Dream, that’s what makes it all the more painful. Corgan wrote inspired songs back then. He must have wasted his lyrical prowess on email poetry.
Two very important things to consider:
1. i’ve hated on those ass clowns since they headlined ‘Palooza back in what, 94 or there abouts? Who devotes countless minutes to hating on Harry Carrey IN CHICAGO? i don’t care about their local ties, f****that noise. As a bald man, i am insulted by Corgan in a way not unlike the Dixie Chicks feel about Bush. Or something like that.
2. i think anyone who is anyone fully realizes there is only one true G.L.O.W., and that’s the Glorious Women of Wrestling.
Nevermind that.
Let’s see some pics of your friend in Chicago!
I remember seeing them in ‘91 opening up for the Peppers. I was tripping. Darcy was tripping. I thought they were unreal. Now they are a joke.
Very well played, oddbodkins. I believe you meant the Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling, as those women were classy ladies all the way down to their Aquanet drenched hair.
Damnation, i wrote too quickly, DB. You are correct.
Billy Corgan is a bombastic prick. (And that’s coming from a woman.) Their death is 10 years overdue. Never liked them to begin with.
I’m not a Billy fan. I think he’s a pompous prima donna. But I’m a huge Jimmy Chamberlain fan.
Here’s why the Pumpkins are not irrelevant: Billy is constantly challenging himself. They are not the band they used to be, but that’s not a bad thing. You don’t have to like it, nor Billy, but you have to acknowledge that there’s no attempt to revive their old sound, only move forward, even if it’s only his idea of music. Keep in mind that the “old” Pumpkins created an entirely new sound - and there’s no telling when they will do it again. I think Billy said it before and it’s how I feel about the band: “The Smashing Pumkins is not a band, it’s an idea.” Something like that.
You don’t have to like Corgan to like the band.
I am really believing that Billy Corgan wrote love poems via email to ‘a chick you are friends with’ he met in Chicago. Even more far out if she believed they were from him as well.
LMAO
Come on, get real!
Its you that are pathetic not Billy Corgan!!!
She, in fact, went on multiple dates with Billy and went to his house once. It’s a credible story.
Mmmmm I am sure it is.
Speaking with no facts to back this credible story up. Only speaking in random terms, no dates, no specifics. But, I am sure with complete predictability, you cannot divulge the kind of information, that would make this believable instead of a teen beat gossip snip.
It was circa 2001, maybe 2002. It was humid that summer night, but the skies were clear. Oh wait, who really gives a shit.
Exactly the response I expected.
Since this article is a supposedly a question of Billy Corgan’s relevance, I think my responses are quite valid as well as the request of factual information instead of hearsay.
seeing as there are 16 comments here, perhaps billy is indeed still relevant ; ) mmm maybe not relevant, more like, still worth commenting on..
thanks for the giggles
Roxanna - are you Billy Corgan’s little sister? Stop playing around and go clean up your room.
Since the question we posed asks if the Smashing Pumpkins are still relevant after releasing such a god awful single, I’d say your responses are not valid and completely missing the point. The part about Billy Corgan, which you seem to be oddly concerned with, was just a personal anecdote.
Personal attacks do not make up for a factual, intellectual article, nor does your personal opinions or anecdotes. Seeing that the only reason this was ever even found online because of Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins, not you or your writing ability speaks volumes in itself to the validity of this article at all.
sounds like no one caught the Pumpkins’ recent shows in Chicago..?
ps.Roxanna, make sure to get a good command over the English language before you post again. it was painful to read what you wrote.
Oz’s complete lack of writing ability aside, not to mention the fact that he hung out with women of questionable moral fiber, it is of my opinion that their best work is very much behind them. I am sure that they still have a loyal fanbase but then so does Menudo.
As for the steady stream of comments, it is because the Pumpkins hold a place in many people’s memory. For anyone that was music fan in the nineties or subsequently became a fan of that music post 90s, they were an integral part of that. So with their new direction, some people are going to be dissapointed. I feel that after Mellon Collie, Billy’s self-indulgence became bigger than the band. And thus Corgan and the Pumpkins lost relevance to me as a band.
So let’s get back to the question at hand. Relevant or not?
if interested, Greg Kot just did an interview with Corgan…
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2008/12/billy-corgan-di.html
“I’ve had a bad marriage and seven bad girlfriends in a row.” - B.C.
Oz-Looks like your friend contributed to Corgan’s irrelevance
Roxxxxxxaaannnnnaaaaa…you dont have to put on the red light!
Yeah I know it’s not the same exact name, but it was still fun and random, which is what I do.
People that are serious all the time and try to be more intellectual sounding then the next person disgust me.
Oz and all you drunk bastids on HearYa!…keep it going with the great blogginess. (yeah I make up words, you wanna fight about it?!)
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