Smashing Pumpkins FAQ v7.0 (June 8, 2007)
Welcome to the Smashing Pumpkins Frequently Asked Questions file
Changes/updates from the previous release are marked by a ‘*’.
Please read this entire FAQ before posting on the newsgroup or
Listessa. It contains an extremely large amount of information
compiled over several years, and reading it will save a lot of
time covering basic info.
If you’re new to the internet or simply haven’t read them yet,
*PLEASE* read the articles in the newsgroup
“news.announce.newusers”.
They contain a LOT of helpful information about Netiquette,
how newsgroups work, finding appropriate places to post, how
to create meaningful messages, where to find tons of info,
and much more.
-Every- net user should read and be familiar with these.
If you have any additions or corrections for the FAQ, please
e-mail me at faq@spfc.org. Thanks.
To be sent the full version of the FAQ via e-mail, send a blank
message to faq-me@spfc.org. Alternatively, the text is also
available on the web here: http://www.spfc.org/faq.txt
Other FAQ’s hosted on SPFC:
* The Trading FAQ - http://www.spfc.org/tradingfaq.txt
* MACHINA II/the Friends & Enemies of Modern Music FAQ -
http://www.spfc.org/feomm_faq.txt
* MACHINA II/the Friends & Enemies of Modern Music FAQ
(Italian) - http://www.spfc.org/feomm_faq.it.txt
* Mashed Potatoes FAQ - http://www.spfc.org/MPfaq.txt
* 666 FAQ - http://www.spfc.org/666faq.txt
FAQ Translations:
* Italian - http://www.spfc.org/faq_it.txt
If you want to help in the translation or language
verification of the FAQ, give us a shout!
-= Table of Contents=-
0. Legal Disclaimer
1. General
1.1 Who are these Smashing Pumpkins?
1.2 General newsgroup/list info
1.3 Getting on and off Listessa
1.4 General netiquette
1.4a Flamewars and Crossposting
1.4b Posting pictures/sounds (binaries) in Discussion Groups
1.5 Appropriate Subject lines
1.6 Acronyms, abbreviations, and common definitions
1.6a ‘Singles’ - radio vs CDS/7 inch singles etc.
1.7 ‘ObSP’ - obligatory on-topicness
1.8 Things NOT to ask or bring up/threads which go nowhere
1.9 Validity of information
2. Songs/Albums
2.1 Short discography
2.1a Adore Documentary
2.1b ‘Mashed Potatoes’ box set
2.1c Internet releases: Gravity Demos, F&EOMM , Machina II
2.2 Finding Lyrics
2.3 Guitar/bass Tablature
2.3a Piano Scores
2.4 Cover songs
2.5 Unreleased Songs
2.6 Where to find given live songs
2.7 Short guide to radio songs
2.8 Songs sung by other members
2.9 “Secret” messages/sounds
2.10 Song/album meanings
2.11 Vieuphoria/Earphoria - extra/unreleased songs
2.12 Differences between releases
2.12a Gish - original/remastered
2.12b Siamese Dream - clean/explicit version, import;
US Re-issue
2.12c Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - 3LP
2.12d Ava Adore - 7″ single
2.12e Earphoria - promo/bootleg
2.12f Import/domestic singles
2.12g Vinyl - variant B-sides
2.13 Common/recurring lyrics
2.14 Photos/Cover art
2.15 MP3s
2.16 Machina related questions and answers
3. Band Info
3.1 Origin of name
3.2 First appearance
3.3 Short Bios
3.3a Past Members
3.4 Band Management
3.5 Recording Sessions
3.6 Is Billy left-handed or right-handed?
3.7 Equipment
3.7a Special Effects
3.7b E-Bow
3.7c Mellotron
3.8 SP Fan Club; SPIFC (SP Internet Fan Club)
3.9 Contacting the band
3.10 Alternate Names Used By The Band
4. Merchandise
4.1 Pricing/finding rarities
4.2 Books
4.3 T-Shirts
4.4 Videos
4.5 Bootlegs
4.6 Trading
4.7 B&P, Tape/CDR/DAT Trees
5. News/Info/Net Resources
5.1 Brief history/landmark events
5.2 Double Door info
5.3 The keyboard/drummer events
5.4 Tour Info
5.5 IRC Info
5.6 Web links for cool stuff
6. Miscellaneous/Semi-Related
6.1 ‘666′ Bootleg video
6.2 Starchildren
6.3 Catherine
6.4 The Frogs
6.5 Scratchie Records
6.6 Cabal (…) / Junta (…)
6.7 Techniques for stealth recording live shows
6.8 What SP landmarks should I visit while in Chicago ?
7. The Afterlife
7.1 What did everyone do after the band broke up?
7.2 Re-formed??!
8. Conclusion
8.1 Acknowledgments
8.2 FAQ History
8.3 Disclaimer
0. Legal Disclaimer
The Smashing Pumpkins FAQ is copyright (c) 1995-2006 by The Smashing Pumpkins F
an
Collaboration (www.spfc.org). It is freely distributable online through Usenet,
email, and ftp. It may not be used for commercial purposes, nor may any charge
be imposed for its distribution. Mass distribution or otherwise non-personal
use is prohibited without consent. If you wish to use part of this in an
article or publication, please CONTACT SPFC first, or at least include our name
as a reference for where you found the info - it does take work to compile and
maintain this information, and we’d like to be credited as such if you decide
to use it. 
Offers for translations are welcome.
Links to the main URL are welcome, but we’d prefer that copies not be kept on
other sites, so that the most current version is always the one available.
Please just link to the main URL, http://www.spfc.org/faq.txt
Overall, though, give credit where it’s due. Thanks.
1. General
1.1 Who are these Smashing Pumpkins?
The Smashing Pumpkins were perhaps one of the most successful “alternative”
bands of the 1990’s and 2000. Chances are, if you ever watched MTV or listened
to the radio more than once or twice, you’d have seen one of their videos or
heard one of their songs.
In 1988, when the band first began, their lineup consisted of Billy Corgan on
lead vocals & guitar, James Iha on guitar, Jimmy Chamberlin on drums, and
D’Arcy Wretzky on bass. Over the years, the band’s configuration changed, with
two members leaving and one then rejoining the band. The nucleus, James Iha
and Billy Corgan (the two that originally formed the band) were always together
during that time.
As of their final tour pre-breakup, the band’s lineup looked like this:
Billy Corgan on lead vocals & guitar, James Iha on guitar, Jimmy Chamberlin on
drums and Melissa Auf der Maur (formerly of Hole) on bass. (Please see section
3.3a for more information on past members.)
After re-forming in 2006/7, the lineup include original members Billy and
Jimmy, plus new guitarist Jeff Schroeder and bassist Ginger Reyes.
The Pumpkins won many awards during their careers, went on several major tours,
appeared on a few movie soundtracks, and released a huge number of songs in a
fairly short time. Keep on reading for tons of info!
1.2 General newsgroup/list info
The Smashing Pumpkins Usenet newsgroup (alt.music.smash-pumpkins), and
mailing list (Listessa), used to be the main places to discuss the Smashing
Pumpkins online during the mid-late 1990s. However, Listessa is now defunct,
and usenet use has declined considerably since the popularity of web-based
message board sites took off in the late ’90s and early 2000’s. Currently
popular web forums may be found in the “Message Boards” links at starla.org.
Be warned that not every post/message will be about the band. Topics range from
lyrical discussions, to new song info, personal SP stories, and even more
general social interaction. Try to stay as much on-topic as possible, and if a
thread develops that you aren’t interested in, ignore it - it will die out
eventually. Complaining about certain threads usually just makes matters worse
by prolonging them and generating sub-threads.
1.3 Getting on and off Listessa
Listessa no longer operates, so this section is here purely for
historical purposes.
First, make sure the list is operational. You can do this by checking the
Official Listessa at [defunct] and checking to
see if there’s a smiley face or a sad face. A smiley face means that the list
is operational, and the sad face means that Listessa is out of action for one
reason or another. Click on the face for more info and special instructions.
Subscribing:
To subscribe to Listessa, send an email message to [defunct]
with the following message body:
subscribe smashing-pumpkins (your name)
Insert your name (omit parentheses) and leave the subject line blank. If all
goes well, you will soon get a welcome message, which will include the Listessa
FAQ, which is also available at http://www.spfc.org/online/listessa-faq.html
READ IT! It contains the rules & guidelines of the list, as well as other
special instructions.
To post a message to the list, simply reply to any of the Listessa emails, or
start a new message addressed to: [defunct]
Please quote only what is necessary, not entire digests.
Unsubscribing: (Straight from the Listessa FAQ)
To unsubscribe from the SP mailing list, send a letter to [defunct]
(*NOT* [defunct] )with the following, and *ONLY* the following, in the body
of the letter:
unsub smashing-pumpkins
Do *NOT* include your e-mail address, a signature file, the name of your pet
hamster, or any other information in the letter. Leave the subject line blank.
Please note: after you unsubscribe, you will receive a letter saying ‘Thanks
for being with us.’ You may still receive a digest or two from the list after
this. Do not be alarmed, this is normal. If, a few days later, you are still
getting digests, and you are sure you have followed the instructions correctly,
feel free to email Karl Daher for help. Karl logs in one or two
times a day to maintain the list.
Do NOT post a message to the list asking how to get off, or to be taken off.
It’s very annoying, and will not work. For more info, check the Listessa web
site or send an email message with the body “help” to [defunct]
1.4 General netiquette
First off, read the news.announce.newusers newsgroup, taking special note of
the posts dealing with Usenet and Netiquette. If you have general questions
after reading these, check in the news.newusers.questions newsgroup.
The following rules apply to both Listessa and the ams-p. Some info here is
specific to each, but all rules are easily applicable to both.
Rules that apply everywhere:
- Do not post “Make Money Fast” or any of its variants. Yes, it really is
illegal (even though some copies say it’s not, and even give a legal code to
refer to), and it’s just plain annoying. Also, do not post “funny forwards”
or chain letters (pretty much anything that says to post it everywhere)
- Do not post advertisements unless they’re clearly on-topic and posted ONCE.
See “Advertising on Usenet: How To Do It, How Not To Do It” in, once again,
news.announce.newusers
- Follow the same conventions that everyone else in the forum uses. If everyone
posts using a certain format, do the same as they do. If you don’t, arguments
will ensue, and you will be killfile’ed, only to never have your posts read
again by anyone.
- Please *READ* the *ENTIRE* message before responding. Have you misread or
misinterpreted what someone wrote?
- Not sure that what you wrote is OK to post? Leave the message unsent and come
back to it in an hour. If, when you re-read it, it’s still what you wanted to
say, then send it. If not, re-work it.
- If there’s been a recent announcement, someone’s probably already posted it.
Check the forum to see if the info is already there. If not then post it. If
it -is- already there, we don’t need to see a second copy.
- Avoid bashing new fans (aka “Newbies”). Unless you’ve been attached to
Billy’s hip since birth, there’s someone out there that’s known about them
longer than you have. Everyone has to start somewhere. A nice, polite
reference to the FAQ and appropriate web sites would suffice.
Major no, no’s:
—————
Top Posting:
When responding to a message, make sure that you include the person’s name (or
email address) to indicate who you are replying to. Please also copy the part
of the message that you are replying to (and -only- that part; we don’t need
and entire digest/10 pages in there!) and paste it *above* your response.
Putting your response above the passage that you are responding to is
called “Top Posting” and it is very tough to follow when a thread gets large.
The proper way to respond to a post/message:
—-
On January 1, 2000 Vince Horst wrote:
> I love the Smashing Pumpkins.
(Place your reply here)
—-
Any other way of responding will only aggravate people. Imagine this: if
everyone responded in a different way, for each message, then how the heck
would anyone understand what others wrote? By the 3rd message, everything would
be a jumble of incomprehensible words. The purpose of a standard is to make it
easy for everyone to communicate: use it.
Overall, keep in mind that many people read and post, and that people have
different opinions. Don’t start yelling at someone simply because they don’t
agree with you or have the same tastes and opinions.
1.4a Flamewars and Crossposting
On Usenet, be sure to check the “Newsgroups:” line if something seems unusually
strange or off-topic. Things like “What is the best alternative band of the
90s?” (usually in caps) are giveaways, and are simply posted to many newsgroups
(cross-posted) to start people arguing. Many people demand to know why a post
about another band is in “their” newsgroup without realizing that it’s in the
other as well. If you reply to a cross-post, remove the other newsgroups from
the “Newsgroups:” line, so that it doesn’t go to every other group.
Flamewars (when people start arguing with each other) erupt often, and there’s
little that can be done about it. The best thing you can possibly do is ignore
it. Some people just say something extremely rude and then leave immediately,
so they won’t even see your reply. Others will just TRY to get you pissed off
at them (AKA: trolling and generate angry replies. If you must reply, do it
over email. If it continues to bother you and won’t go away, killfile that
thread, or just don’t read it. Don’t just feed the fire.
Likewise, don’t start flames, as they’re obviously not on-topic. Sure, you can
yell “BUSH SUCKS!”* and get a lot of people to agree with you, but some people
won’t. Besides that, it’s alt.music.smash-pumpkins, not alt.flame.bush (or
N-Sync, or Spice Girls, or Hanson, etc.). If someone casually mentions liking
a band that you don’t, explain why if you must, but don’t simply yell “They
suck!” and leave it at that. Such pointless arguments go nowhere.
* (Amusingly, that example, as written when the FAQ first came out, refers to
Bush, the band, although nowadays saying “Bush sucks” will probably be
interpreted quite differently.)
1.4b Posting pictures/sounds (binaries) in Discussion Groups
This is a huge breach of netiquette. DO NOT, under any circumstances post any
form of binary file (that includes pictures, sounds, or any other such files)
into Discussion Groups such as alt.music.smash-pumpkins A binary group for the
such things has been created for that purpose. The name is
alt.binaries.smash-pumpkins. Post the picture there, then post to
alt.music.smash-pumpkins referring people to the binary group.
On web-based forums, link to files as any other URL. There are sites that will
temporarily host large files for you if you don’t have your own web space.
1.5 Appropriate Subject lines
Use appropriate subject lines whenever starting a new thread. It’s much easier
to decide whether you want to read “Wanted: Siamese Singles box set” than “Re:
Smashing Pumpkins Digest #342″. Be specific.
Also, the use of certain indicators can be quite helpful. Josh Sherman
suggested the use of “Tan:” (which has now been commonly replaced by “OT:”
for “Off Topic”) to precede any subject that doesn’t directly deal with SP (a
tangent thread), so those who don’t wish to read such messages can easily
identify and skip over them.
Other helpful headers:
FS: For Sale (for Listessa, use the marketplace- details in the List FAQ)
Lyr: New lyrics
Req: Request for info, tab, lyrics, etc. (please check the FAQ and web sites
first, as there is a LOT already out there that’s just waiting to be
found and looked up- it’s not hard to find)
Tab: Tablature
Q: Question
WTB: Wanted To Buy (indicates that you want something)
FT: For trade
ISO: In search of
Other pre-subject headers can be helpful, such as “Announcement:” (or “ANNC:”)
or “New Site:”. Just be specific in indicating what the message is about. Do
NOT use misleading subject lines just to get people to read your post,though-
messages with subjects like “Free surprise concert at Metro this weekend!”
or “Billy dies in car accident” that start out with “Now that I got you to read
this…” usually don’t get read much further and usually just tend to piss
people off.
1.6 Acronyms, abbreviations, and common definitions
Common SP-related/song acronyms:
——————————–
AA - Ava Adore (Adore song/single)
AOI - Age of Innocence (Machina song)
amsp - alt.music.smash-pumpkins, the newsgroup
ams-p - Same as previous
BC - Billy Corgan
B0lly - Billy Corgan
BSBT - Blue Skies Bring Tears (Machina song)
BwBW - Bullet with Butterfly Wings (MCIS song/single)
CR - Cherub Rock (SD song/single)
DD - Double Door, a bar in Chicago (see 5.2)
G+TGC - Glass + The Ghost Children (Machina song)
HMM - Heavy Metal Machine (Machina song)
ITAOS - In the Arms of Sleep (MCIS song)
IWNBT - A declaration: “I will not be trolled”
IOTM - I of the Mourning (Machina song/single)
JC - Jimmy Chamberlin
JI - James Iha
LMGTWTY - Let Me Give The World To You (Adore and Machina era Song)
MADM - Melissa Auf der Maur
MCIS - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (3rd studio album, 2CD/3LP)
MP - Mashed Potatoes (See section 2.5a)
MTMOG - Machina/the machines of God (5th studio album)
ng - newsgroup
NSPAA - New Smashing Pumpkins Audio Archive (After SPAA was shut down)
OIAW - Once In A While (B-side for Ava Adore single)
PI - Pisces Iscariot (B-sides compilation from 10/94)
PM - Pastichio Medley (23-minute conglomeration of 70 song snippets,
found on Zero EP)
RDSS - Rain Drops and Sun Showers (Machina song)
SD - Siamese Dream (2nd studio album, breakthrough release)
SIYL - Stand Inside Your Love (Machina Song/Single)
SP - Smashing Pumpkins (need I say more?) - also TSP (”The” added)
SPAA - Smashing Pumpkins Audio Archive (former mp3 site)
SPFC - Smashing Pumpkins Fan Collaborative (http://www.spfc.org)
SPIFC - Smashing Pumpkins Internet Fan Club (http://www.spifc.org)
SPLRA - Smashing Pumpkins Live Recording Association
(http://www.splra.org/ - tracks and arranges the recording
of upcoming concerts, organize tape trees - see 4.7)
STRTJ - Set the Ray to Jerry (1979 B-side)
TAFH - The Aeroplane Flies High (box set of MCIS CD singles)
TODAPP - Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete (song from ‘Adore’)
tEG - The Everlasting Gaze (Machina Song/Single)
TEITBITE - The End is the Beginning is the End (song from Batman and
Robin soundtrack)
TBITEITB - The Beginning is the End is the Beginning (its counterpart)
TOASE - Tales of a Scorched Earth (MCIS song)
TT - Tonight, Tonight (MCIS song, single)
TTT - Try, Try, Try (Machina Song/Single)
TTEOR - Thru the Eyes of Ruby (MCIS song)
WBFTT - Where Boys Fear to Tread (MCIS song)
Whoosh - The sound that a ams-p post makes as it flies over your head
XYU - not an acronym, as many ask about, but a homonym for “Ex, why
you?” Answered by the man himself.
YAIGT - You’re All I’ve Got Tonight (Cars cover in TAFH box set)
Other common general acronyms:
——————————
3|i+3 - (3l1+3 etc.) Alternate ‘warez’ spelling of “Elite”.
34 - Eric Agnew (a “famous” SP fan)
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
AFAIAC - As Far As I Am Concerned (Also AFAIC)
aka - Also Known As
B&P - Blanks and postage (See section 4.7)
CD - Compact Disc
CDS - CD single (i.e. BwBW)
D4 - Dave Asselin (a “famous” SP fan and trader)
FS - For Sale (helpful in subject line)
FT - For Trade (helpful in subject line)
FWIW - For What It’s Worth
HTH - Hope This Helps (usually said sarcastically)
IMHO - In My (Humble|Honest) Opinion
ISO - In Search Of
LOL - Laughing Out Loud
OT - Off Topic
NP: - Now Playing (used at end of messages to indicate what poster
was listening to at the time of posting)
ROFL - Rolling On the Floor, Laughing (also ROFLMAO, adding “My Ass
Off”)
RTFM - Read The Fine Manual (although ‘Fine’ is often replaced by
another word of the user’s choice)
TBH - To Be Honest
UCE - Unsolicited Commercial Email (aka email spam)
WTB - Wanted To Buy (helpful in subject line)
WTT - Wanted To Trade (helpful in subject line)
YHBT. HAND. - You Have Been Trolled(+). Have A Nice Day.
(+see below for definition)
Most other abbreviations are songs. If it’s not immediately recognizable, just
think & you should be able to figure it out.
Common definitions:
——————-
- a smiley face (tilt your head to the left), used to denote
humor and/or sarcasm (variants: :P” 
>:( 
etc.)
There are also “Japanese-style” smileys: ^_^ ^^; ;_; o_O; etc.
B-side - a song found on a single that isn’t the title track (i.e. “The
Last Song”). Named from the days of vinyl, when 45s had a popular
song on one side (the A-side) and another, perhaps unreleased song
on the other (the B-side). Third songs on vinyl are thus referred
to as C-sides
Bootleg - an unofficial recording, referring either to someone’s personal
tape or DAT recording of a live show, or a bootleg company’s CD
pressing of such a recording, or of unreleased studio demos (see
4.5)
EP - stands for “Extended Play”, as opposed to an LP (Long Play).
Generally shorter than a full release (LP), but usually longer
than a single. Example: Lull EP, Peel Sessions, Zero EP
Flame - a message that harshly ridicules someone else or their opinion
through the use of personal attack rather than reason & logic.
Usually feature lots of capital letters, exclamation marks,
obscene and derogatory remarks, and misspelled words.
Killfile - a feature of good newsreaders (AOL and Netscape News not
included) that allows users to specify names, subject lines, or
other patterns (even entire domains) which they don’t want to
read. Upon reading news, these patterns are automatically
“killed”, and the reader never has to see those messages. Useful
for ignoring/avoiding heavy crossposts, lame threads, or messages
from anyone you simply don’t want to read from.
(plonk) - the sound of someone being added to a killfile (i.e. if someone
plonks you, they’ve added you to their killfile, which means
they’ll never see another message from your email address again)
Promo - Short for “Promotional Release”. A CD, vinyl, cassette tape etc. that
is released to radio stations and others in the music industry in an
effort to promote the music on that recording. They are not commercially
availalble (ie: you can’t buy them at the local record shop) but they can
usually be found quite easily. The track listing is usually shorted (less
songs) than the standard release, and there are generally never any extra
songs available on a promo that are not available on the traditional
release. Note: A “Call Out Hook” (sometimes advertised as an extra track
on promotional releases) are only 10-15 second tidbits of the music of a
particular song that are used for making ads on radio stations.
.sig - short for signature, a small file automatically appended to the
end of all outgoing messages and/or posts. Generally includes
name, email address, URL, and/or a clever quote, etc. Netiquette
standards allow for 4 lines- anything longer is usually frowned
upon, and large ASCII art is almost always complained about. Keep
in mind that it’s something people are going to see every time you
write, then keep it accordingly short and sweet.
Thread - a group of messages with the same subject or subject line.
Good newsreaders will group these together so they’re read in
order of replies.
Top Posting - A reply to a newsgroup or mailing list message, in which
the person replying inserts their reply -above- the message that
they are sending a reply to. Don’t do this.
Troll - a post specifically designed to generate as many replies as
possible (usually in the form of a blatant flame, obviously
incorrect information, or (missed) sarcasm). Most likely named
after a fishing technique
Yelling - using all capital letters (usually considered rude and
annoying) Also known as shouting, screaming, etc.
1.6a ‘Singles’ - radio vs CDS/7 inch singles etc.
Most people seem to forget that there is a difference between a radio station’s
and a record store’s definition of the word “single”. A radio station will
call anything that’s been released for radio play “the new single”, regardless
of whether you can go to your local music store and buy a copy. Many more
songs are released to radio stations for airplay than are pressed on CDs that
you can buy at your local music store. If you’re lucky, have connections, or
find a cool store, you might be able to buy a radio promo, but it’s usually
only one track.
Release dates are also different- radio stations are usually allowed to play a
song several weeks before it is available for purchase on CDS format (if it
ever is). Example: on 9/29/95, radio stations started playing BwBW, “the new
single from SP.” On 10/24, you could go to the store and buy BwBW on CDS,
with “…Said Sadly” as a B-Side (see 1.5). The next year, Muzzle was on the
radio quite often, and was called “the new single” even though it was never
pressed and sold as a CDS. So, if you see a release date, or wonder why the
record store doesn’t have “the new single” that they’ve been playing on the
radio, keep this difference in mind.
1.7 ‘ObSP’ - obligatory on-topicness
Since most people prefer to read messages that are on-topic, off-topic messages
should at least include a little bit of on-topic material. The “ObSP” is short
for “Obligatory SP”, and is usually a short, on-topic blurb used to make an
otherwise off-topic message at least -somewhat- relevant to most readers.
1.8 Things NOT to ask or bring up/threads which go nowhere
The following questions should not be asked:
1) What’s that Depeche Mode cover? Where can I get it?
2) How do I get on/off the mailing list?
3) When are they touring in my city?
4) When’s the new album/single?
5) What is a true fan?
Above questions have been asked ad nauseum (to the point of sickness), and
since the answers are all in well-known locations, they shouldn’t need to
be asked. Just for your information:
Here are the answers to the above questions by the way:
1) The Smashing Pumpkins Fan Collaboration website at
http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/song.html can tell you about the DM
cover.
2) The Listessa FAQ clearly states how to get on/off the list. It can be
found at http://www.spfc.org/online/listessa-faq.html
3) All tour info can be found at http://www.spfc.org/tours/info.html
4) Release dates for singles and albums etc. are on most well-updated web
sites, as well can be easily found by reading through the newsgroup; read
it before asking yet again.
5) There is no definition for a true fan. Billy hit it right on the
money when he said (and I’m paraphrasing here), “A true fan is someone
that will give the band’s next record a chance. Not just one listen, but
a few, just to make sure they really don’t like it”. (For the true quote,
track down the 1998 Rockline interview with the band).
Useful URLs:
Smashing Pumpkins Fan Collaboration - http://www.spfc.org/
Smashing Pumpkins Internet Fan Club - http://www.spifc.org/spifc/
Starla.org - http://www.starla.org/
The following information has also been brought up countless times,
and should be regarded as common knowledge:
-”Tristessa” means “sadness” in Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, etc. (actual
spellings may vary slightly), and was the title of a book by Jack Kerouac.
-”Soma” was a drug in the book _Brave New World_, greek for “body”, a legendary
place where people sleep for a billion years, various religious entities, and
about a million other things. We’ve heard it before. Many many many times
before… :P”
-If you hold up the back of the PI CD to the light, you can see Billy through
the white thingy on the back. According to someone who worked with the band,
BC said this was a complete accident.
-The same trick works for the liner with the fish pan & the necklace-looking at
both sides through the light looks like an eyeball.
-Any thread relating a song’s meaning to drugs, Kurt Cobain, Marylin Manson…
etc. Usually those threads just start flame wars, so they’re best avoided.
-Threads bashing other bands. Two words: counter-productive. Such threads
accomplish nothing but flame wars.
-Threads about moshing. Opinions will vary, but are unlikely to change as a
result of an argument.
-”Selling Out”. People have their own definitions thereof, ranging anywhere
from simply signing a record contract to changing their own art or image purely
to make money. Sure, Billy said they sold out. Who cares? Has the integrity
of their music changed? No. Check out the text from the back of the SP Heart
shirt (section 4.3, #4), or see Tool’s song “Hooker with a Penis” on the
Toolshed at http://toolshed.down.net/lyrics/hooker.html
-Silly rumors. See 3.8.
1.9 Validity of information
Don’t believe everything you read. Especially if it involves secret concerts,
reported band members deaths, or super-special releases. Take special care on
April Fools Day (April 1st), as even reliable sources of info are known to
pull the occasional prank.
If something is true, it should have a reliable source or reference. “I heard
on the radio” does NOT count, as radios often go by rumors, and some people
just say that to spread rumors. If CD Europe says they have a special box set
for $150 with super secret, rare, unreleased tracks on it, save your money. If
someone announces a release date for something, check to see if it’s
real/correct before demanding to know why your local store/station doesn’t have
it yet. And if someone says their brother saw on MTV that Billy died, don’t
believe it for a second until you see yourself it on mtv.com.
When something IS reliable, it will come from a real source. Press releases
are released by Associated Press and/or SP’s publicist- but keep in mind that
these can be faked as well (check to see who posted it). Web zines such as ATN
are usually accurate (this can be found at
http://www.addict.com/html/lofi/MNOTW/.
MTV News and magazine interviews are -usually- accurate, although anything the
band says should often be taken with a grain of salt (i.e. not completely
seriously).
Another reliable source is the Smashing Pumpkins Internet Fanclub, at
http://www.spifc.org. Any information that is released there comes from a very
reliable source. (Heck, even the old official SP website had a link to SPIFC-
doesn’t that tell you something?)
Anything regarding the death, overdose, suicide, etc. of any band member, no
matter how official it looks (yes, these have been faked before), should NOT be
believed until you see it on MTV News every hour, you hear it on every radio
station, and you see HUNDREDS of posts about it on the list and newsgroup. See
5.3.
2. Songs/Albums
2.1 Short discography
Gish (1991) - single for “I Am One”, ‘Lull’ EP for “Rhinoceros”
Peel Sessions (1992) - Siva (different version), Girl Named Sandoz,
Smiley
Siamese Dream (1993) - singles for “Cherub Rock”, “Today”, “Disarm” and
“Rocket”
Pisces Iscariot (1994) - B-sides from previous singles, some unreleased
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) - singles for “Bullet with
Butterfly Wings”, “1979″, “Zero”, “Tonight, Tonight”, and
“Thirty-Three”. NOTE: In early pressings of the this album there are
some that have the colours of the discs reversed. ie: Disc 1/Happy face
is blue and disc 2/Sad face is red. This is NOT UNCOMMON AND THE DISCS
HAVE NO EXTRA VALUE! THEY ARE NOT RARE!
The Aeroplane Flies High (1996) - all MCIS singles & B-sides, plus 5
covers
Adore (1998) - includes singles “Ava Adore”, “Perfect”.
machina/the machines of God (2000) - includes singles “Everlasting
Gaze”, “Stand Inside Your Love” and “Try Try Try”.
machina II/the friends and enemies of modern music (2000/09/05) - a limited
release by the band under Billy Corgan’s record label. 25 LP sets were
ever made. The band encouraged fans to bootleg the LPs and put MP3s on
the internet.
Rotten Apples (Greatest Hits) (2001/11/20) - Slightly varies in EU and US
versions, but contains many of the Pumpkins most popular and radio songs.
See the discography for a track listing. This album was packaged with
Judas O for a limited time. NOTE: People have said ‘The End is the
Beginning is the End’ was a huge hit in the UK, why isn’t it on RA?
Answer: Warner Borthers owns the rights to that song and it was not
possible to put it on the album without some difficulty (read: expense).
Judas O (2001/11/19) - A “limited edition” companion to Rotten Apples. It is
a follow-up to the band’s first B-sides release, Pisces Iscariot.
Greatest Hits Video Collection 1991-2000 - A DVD with all the band’s videos
except TEITBITE. (See Rotten Apples explanation above) There are also
2 live videos of the band’s performances of Geek U.S.A. and Fuck You
respectively. Check www.spfc.org’s discography for more info.
Zeitgeist (2007/07/07) - the first release in 7 years after TSP re-formed
Several soundtracks & compilation CDs also have unique tracks.
For more discography info, check out spfc’s discography section at
http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/discog.html
2.1a Adore Documentary
It was revealed in mid May 1999 that there may be an Adore documentary that
would be released in the fall of 1999. MTV producer Jesse Ignjatovic took a
leave of absence from his job to tour with and film the band during the Adore
travels.
According to the band’s official Web site (www.smashingpumpkins.com), the
project was shot between May and September of 1998, and shows the band
“rehearsing, recording, and touring around the world,” playing “European
amusement parks, botanical gardens, ports of call, and even parking garages.”
Footage of the American tour is also included, which saw the band hit 14 cities
and raise more than $2.7 million for charity.
Since the release of the above information however, it has been revealed (early
fall 1999) by reliable sources that the Adore documentary/video project is on
hold indefinitely. This means that the band has decided to postpone the release
of the documentary until further notice. It is also possible that the video may
never be released at all.
[Added February 18, 2000]
For the past couple of months, there has been a video floating around the
internet FTP sites that is entitled “Adore Documentary”. To set the record
straight, this video is *not* the official Adore Documentary mentioned above.
The source of this video is a European television broadcast of what is thought
to be the promo video that was made about the making of the Adore album. The
video contains many clips of in-studio work on the album, and one long
interview with Billy on the making and inspiration of Adore.
Stay tuned to this section of the FAQ. If any developments arise, they will be
posted here.
2.1b ‘Mashed Potatoes’ box set
In 1998, the ‘Mashed Potatoes’ 5 CDr box set was one of the heavily discussed
topics on the newsgroup. The ‘Mashed Potatoes’ box set is a set of CDrs that
Billy gave to a select group of people circa 1994, and contains live and
unreleased songs from 1990 to 1992 or so.
In 1998, seventeen songs from the ‘Mashed Potatoes’ set were encoded in Real
Audio format and posted on a website for a few hours. These seventeen songs
are now in wide circulation. The songs that were posted were as follows:
Kill Your Parents (Onstage Banter), 365 (Live 1990), Cinder (Live 1991), There
it Goes (Demo 1988), Vanilla (Demo 1989), Morning Jam (Live 1990), Moleasskiss
(Studio Outtake 1992), Over You (Live 1990), Translucent (Demo 1990), I’ll
Never Change (Live 1990), Mayonaise (Studio Outtake 1993), Jesus is the Sun
(Demo 1990), Fat Man Blues (Demo 1989), Lie I Lie (Live 1989), Wave Song (Demo
1991), Stray Cat Blues (Live 1990), Under Your Spell (Demo 1988), Luna (Demo
1991).
As of 2007, it appears that the entire set is available in good-quality mp3
if you look for it.
There is a separate FAQ (though now outdated) dedicated to answering your
Mashed Potatoes box set. It is available here:
http://www.spfc.org/MPfaq.txt
2.1c Internet releases: Gravity Demos, F&EOMM , Machina II
Machina II/ the friends and enemies of modern music:
—————————————————-
On September 5, 2000, the band released a very limited (25 copies) set of LPs
to some of their friends. The official release was named “machina II/the
friends and enemies of modern music”. There were no plans to release the music
on pressed CDs, but the band encouraged fans, and those that could, to bootleg
the music on the internet. Since then, various people that received the albums
have taken their LPs to professional recording studios and transferred them to
digital format. While some argue that one source sounds better than another,
they are pretty much all the same quality (save Eric Agnew’s recording, which
was done at the request of the band, on his personal record player in about 6
hours).
This official release is not to be confused with a previous unofficial release
given to online fans. This release was also called “Friends and Enemies of
Modern Music”, but it contains entirely different material. Please see below
for more details.
Currently, the album can be found on many FTP sites and very likely through the
music sharing network, Napster. Please check this article on SPFC for
a list of sites that have the album for download.
There is more information available on the official release here:
http://www.spfc.org/feomm_faq.txt
Friends and Enemies of Modern Music and Billy’s Gravity Demos I:
—————————————————————-
In July and August of 2000, the band unofficially released new and unheard
music to their online fans. The mixture of live and studio material was given
to an online fan on a few analogue tapes, and told to distribute it. The
soundboard and studio sourced material was treed in August 2000 and is now
commonly available in high quality digital format.
Some of the tapes were named by the band and they are as as follows:
Friends and Enemies of Modern Music
Billy’s Gravity Demos I
Others were not named, but can be identified by their content:
Soundboard recordings of live Machina era concerts
For more information and exact track listings of each, follow these links:
Friends and Enemies of Modern Music
http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/boot.html?boot_id=165&boot_display=2|0||
Billy’s Gravity Demos I
http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/boot.html?boot_id=164&boot_display=2|0||
There is also an archive of information about all unofficial releases available
at www.spfc.org:
http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/boot.html?boot_display=2|0||
2.2 Finding Lyrics
Probably the most thorough songlist is on spfc:
http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/song.html
For a list of other sites to check out, see http://starla.org/
2.3 Guitar/bass Tablature
Guitar tablature can be found at various SP web sites. The sites with the most
tablature I’m aware of are SPFC and Obscured:
http://www.spfc.org/music/index.html
http://www.starla.org/pumpkinsoup
A how-to on guitar and amp settings can be found here:
http://www.gothicastudio.com/forever
More guitar tablature can be found at OLGA (the OnLine Guitar Archive) and its
mirrors: http://www.olga.net/
2.3a Piano Scores
Piano scores of songs like “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness”, “Thru The
Eyes of Ruby”, and several of the songs from Stigmata can be found on SPFC.
A large number of other scores can be found on moonsongs at
http://blamonetwork.com/sp/moonsongs/scores/
2.4 Cover songs
Definition: A cover song is one that was originally performed by another artist
and a second band (the cover band) decided to record their impression, or their
own version of the song.
Songs that have been covered by SP and which appear on official releases
are as follows:
Song Title Original Artist Where Found
———————— ———————- ———————-
A Night Like This The Cure TAFH box set
Autumn Leaves Kosma/Prevert/Mercer Lyric single (Zwan)
Clones (We’re All) Alice Cooper TAFH box set
Dancing in the Moonlight Thin Lizzy Disarm single (Heart)
Destination Unknown Missing Person TAFH box set
Dreamin’ Blondie TAFH box set
Girl Named Sandoz The Animals Peel Sessions, PI
Isolation Joy Division Joy Division Tribute
Jackie Blue Ozark Mtn Daredevils K-Tel compilation
Landslide Fleetwood Mac PI, Disarm (Heart)
My Blue Heaven Whiting/Donaldson 33 single, TAFH box set
Nobody ‘cept You Bob Dylan Lyric single (Zwan)
Never Let Me Down Again Depeche Mode Rocket single
Rock On David Essex Greatest Hits/Judas O
Rudolph the Red-Nosed (traditional) Kevin & Bean comp. tape
Reindeer
Sad Peter Pan Vic Chestnutt Sweet Relief II comp
Soul Power James Brown Machina II vinyl
Terrapin Syd Barrett I Am One 10″ vinyl
You’re All I’ve Got The Cars TAFH box set
Tonight
Transmission [Joy Division], Boys Don’t Cry [The Cure], Godzilla [Blue
Oyster Cult], Out of Focus [Blue Cheer], and a bit of Sunshine of Your
Love [Cream] can be found on CD bootlegs, as well as Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer. Performances of “Auf Wiedersehen”, “Baby Loves to
Rock” and “If You Want My Love” with Cheap Trick are also available on
the numerous CD boots from 10/23/95, the pre-MCIS release concert.
When the band opened for KISS on Halloween 1998, they were dressed as
the Beatles, and opened their set with a cover of the Beatles’ “Money,
(That’s What I Want)”. At the Bridge School Benefit in 1999, Billy
sang “Stay” by U2, and James sang “‘Ol 55″ by Tom Waits. During
their ‘Sacred and Profane’ tour, the band regularly played Rock On [Essex]
and Once In A Lifetime [Talking Heads].
For a more thorough list of covers, see
http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/song.html?song_type=3
2.5 Unreleased Songs
“Unreleased songs” are generally defined are those that have been played live
but never officially released on CD, tape or otherwise.
The easiest way to find unreleased songs is to use SPFC’s song search feature.
You can specify a large number of criteria to search on, in any combination.
Give it a shot:
SPFC’s Song Search:
http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/song_search.html
2.6 Where to find given live songs
The easiest ways to find a particular live song is to search for it using
SPFC’s song search feature, or to peruse SPFC’s Tour History. You may also care
to look through SPFC’s list of “professionally released” bootlegs.
Here is where to find all of these things:
SPFC Song Search: http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/song_search.html
SPFC Tour History: http://www.spfc.org/tours/index.html
SPFC Bootlist: http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/boot.html
2.7 Short guide to radio songs
The following is a short guide to songs you’re likely to hear on the radio, so
if you don’t know a song by name, this should help you out:
1979 - played semi-often. Drum loop with live drums, clean guitars.
“Shakedown, 1979…” Found on MCIS & as a single.
Ava Adore - heavy, distorted drum loop (electronic-style drums). “You’ll always
be my whore”. Played heavily before and after release of ‘Adore’.
Bullet with Butterfly Wings - played often in 95-6. Distorted. “Despite all
my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.” Found on MCIS & as a single.
Cherub Rock - played often during SD era. Opens with drum roll. “Let me out,
let me out…” Found on Siamese Dream & as a single.
Destination Unknown - very synthy Missing Persons cover found in TAFH.
Disarm - played often a few years ago, still played occasionally. Acoustic
guitar, timpani, cello and bells. “Disarm you with a smile…” “I used to be a
little boy” etc. Found on Siamese Dream & as a single.
Drown - played occasionally. Long, spacey. “No matter where you are, I can
still hear you when you drown…” Unedited version includes a long feedback
solo at the end. Found on Singles soundtrack.
The End Is The Beginning Is The End - song from Batman and Robin soundtrack,
released for radio play. Heavy distorted guitars, some synth, electronic
drums.
The Everlasting Gaze - from Machina/the machines of God; Distorted guitar
intro, first lyrics are “You know I’m not dead!”.
Eye - played occasionally. Drum kit, synth. “Turn to the gates of Heaven, to
myself be damned…” Found on Lost Highway soundtrack.
Frail & Bedazzled - used to be played often, still airs occasionally. Heavy
I/IV guitar riff, one verse drops to vocals-only. Found on PI.
Heavy Metal Machine - from Machina/the machines of God; heavy guitar, lyrics
begin “If I were alive; If I were real; Would you survive”.
Landslide - solo acoustic Fleetwood Mac cover. “And I saw my reflection in a
snow covered hill…” Found on Pisces Iscariot & Disarm Heart single.
Muzzle - played semi-often. Distorted guitars, fairly heavy. Drums cut out &
enter loudly back in several times. Starts off “I fear that I am ordinary just
like everyone.” Found on MCIS (-no- CDS single).
Never Let Me Down Again - played occasionally. Clean guitar, mellow cover of
Depeche Mode song: “I’m taking a ride with my best friend” etc. Found on Rocket
CDS or 7″ (hard to find).
Perfect - second single from ‘Adore’. Light, poppy song. “Perfect, I promise
we’ll be perfect…”. Played often. Video is the “continuation” of the 1979
video.
Rocket - played often during SD era. Layered distorted guitars. “I shall be
free…” Found on Siamese dream & as a single.
Stand Inside Your Love - from Machina/the machines of God; cymbal-roll intro,
lyrics start off “You and me, meant to be”, later “Who wouldn’t be the one you
love; who wouldn’t stand inside your love”.
Tarantula - first post-breakup/re-forming single. Starts “I don’t wanna fight/
every single night”
Thirty-Three - played semi-often. Acoustic guitar & piano, no drums. “And you
-
can make it last, forever you.” Found on MCIS & as a single.
Today - played often during SD era. Alternating clean/distorted. “To-day is
the greatest…” etc. Found on Siamese Dream & as a single.
Tonight, Tonight - played semi-often. Strings, clean guitar. Found on MCIS &
as a single.
Try, Try, Try - last Pumpkins single before the band folded; from Machina/the
machines of God. Simple piano-synth intro, lyrics begin with “Pop tart; What’s
our mission”.
Untitled - the last song that the band recorded before folding. First played on
the radio on Nov 30, 2000 around 8PM (I listened to it!). Was then made an
official single for the release of the Greatest Hits album. Pop-y, quick paced,
acousitc; “to feel love, to be in love; all around”.
You’re All I’ve Got Tonight - Cars cover. Verses are mostly drums. Found in
TAFH box set.
Zero - played semi-often. Distortion/harmonics. Found on MCIS & as a single.
2.8 Songs sung by other members
Billy doesn’t sing -every- song… Those featuring James on lead vocals are
(these do not include James’ solo album “Let It Come Down”, 1998) :
Believe, The Bells, Blew Away, The Boy, Farewell & Goodnight (1st verse, w/
Billy), A Night Like This, …Said Sadly (w/ guest Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt),
Take Me Down, Terrapin and Go.
Of course, he’s also sung a few songs live (Boys Don’t Cry, Country Girl, I
Feel You, Kooks, Germans in Leather Pants etc.)
D’Arcy sings on Daydream (Gish), Dreamin’ (TAFH box set), and in the second
verse of Farewell and Goodnight (MCIS), as well as backup on many other songs.
She’s also featured in Catherine’s “Four Leaf Clover” and “Punch Me Out”, and
on a few Fulflej songs.
Jimmy Chamberlin, the band’s drummer, sings along with D’Arcy, the band’s
former bassist in the second verse of Farewell and Goodnight.
James Iha released his first solo album in February of 1998, titled “Let It
Come Down”.
2.9 “Secret” messages/sounds
Sometimes you can hear weird noises that probably shouldn’t be there, or people
talking in the studio. Sometimes they’re obvious, sometimes you have to strain
to hear them with headphones on.
NOTE: This isn’t meant to be a complete listing of every time you hear a
strange noise, but it’s a list of the most interesting and notable noises &
extra words you can find.
Bodies
words spoken in background of second “Love is suicide” chorus- destroy /
despise / distrust / disobey / destroy / distrust / disloyal / disarm /
destroy / despise / dissect / deny / destroy / despise / distrust
Bury Me
song opens with Billy saying “Over you, like an angel”, taken from the pre-Gish
song “Over You”
Cherry
studio talk at beginning: “Listen- wanna just start it?” “Ready, Flood?”
“Yeah.” “1, 2, 3, 4…”
Dancing in the Moonlight
Billy talks at the end about choking in the middle of the song
Daydream
click of bow hitting cello at 1:10.5, jingly noises around 1:20-21
Galapogos
incomprehensible muttering from 3:16-27
Glynis
opens with synthesized “Hello”, allegedly from a Red Red Meat song
Hello Kitty Kat
ends with Billy saying “Song’s over”
Honey Spider I
Billy laughs at end & says “Aha! That’s everything…”
La Dolly Vita
strange, cartoonish “Ooh!” noise at 3:33; cuckoo at 3:44
Marquis in Spades
studio talk at beginning: “Rolling…” “I was just on another planet for a
sec.” “Run it back, Mole” (amp on) “Fucker.”
Quiet
strange, very quiet (ha ha) voices at the end of the song. Try it with
headphones.
Silverfuck
ends with BC saying “Alright, this take, don’t give a fuck” & playing a few
notes
Siva (Peel Session)
at 4:09, D’Arcy says she stepped on something; BC counts to 4 for re-entry
Soma
ends with TV evangelist clip: “and you need to resist the devil so that he will
flee”
Soothe
“you can hear the 7am buses slithering by” at 2:18-21 (PI liner notes)
Spaceboy
ends with TV talk show clip: “Now it’s, uh, kind of strange, and, uh, kinda
hard for me to talk about, but I thought maybe you could help- um, when we
start getting physical, rather than having intercourse, he ends up just
masturbating himself, and I end up feeling very alienated and unsatisfied, and
it’s really come between us-”. Some versions include the clip as the
beginning of the Silverfuck track.
Starla
“listen for the police car go by” at 5:27-30 (PI liner notes)
Transformer
starts with 4 drum clicks & Billy saying “Hit it”
Where Boys Fear to Tread
DOOM explosion mentioned in liner notes: 1:20, 1:55, 2:29, 3:01, 3:44
2.10 Song/album meanings
Discussing the meaning of songs is sometimes an interesting topic, but the band
seem to shy away from explaining them outright. On 120 Minutes, November ‘91,
Billy and D’Arcy said the following:
BC: Um, my songs are really personal… and… you, it’s like I’d have
to tell everyone the story that goes behind every song, and I just…
it’s kinda- it seems silly to me that I’d have to say “Well one day I
was walking down the street, see, and…” [shrug] it doesn’t- it
wouldn’t make any difference. I- and I don’t- I mean, that’s one of
my problems with the video medium, is- is having to attach symbolism
and specifics to songs because I think in some ways it’s the
ambiguousness of things that makes people find something in their
own… life.
D: I sometimes think that… people get more out of a song (BC nods) if
they don’t know exactly what it’s about- you can, you can listen more
to the music, and that’s mostly what we’re about is music & emotions
come from that.
BC: Freedom. Freedom of thought. I mean, we’re not here to preach or tell
you what to think, you know, if-
D: We’re here to say ‘think for yourself,’ you know…
2.11 Vieuphoria/Earphoria - extra/unreleased songs
Vieuphoria contains several songs unavailable elsewhere, which are as
follows:
Bugg Superstar - techno song playing while James talks about his dog
(repeats “Bugg, Superstar…”).
Pulseczar - distorted guitar chords, no drums, weird visual effects. Starts
with “I hear you calling from the sky”
Sinfony - 53 second EBow-driven guitar piece at beginning of tape
Why Am I So Tired? - instrumental played over ending credits. This song is
often said to be a literal question of James’ seemingly continual lack of
energy.
Note that the long jam at the end of Silverfuck also appears as a riff
called “Jackboot” in Pastichio Medley, and is available as a standalone
track on Billy’s Gravity Demos I.
2.12 Differences between releases
Most releases have several versions available. Special versions, usually
imports from central Europe or Japan, sometimes contain extra tracks not found
on the other releases. Check it out before buying to avoid having to buy
several versions of the same single to get all the songs.
For more details, consult the discography:
http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/discog.html
See also Section 2.12f for additional information and examples on this topic.
2.12a Gish - original/remastered
The original release of Gish was on Caroline Records, has the cover image on
the CD, and was released in 1991. The rerelease was on Virgin, has no picture
on the CD (just the writing), and was “remastered.” It’s hard to tell by
listening, although the bass was supposedly brought out a bit…
2.12b Siamese Dream - clean/explicit version, import; US Re-issue
Certain versions of Siamese Dream have the titles listed on the back, while
others don’t. This is the “clean version”, assumed to be produced for large
chain stores, due to the title “silverfuck”. Aside from the back cover, there
is no difference.
There are also differences in the inserts- after the initial pressing, someone
decided to save money by taking all the photographs, which were on their own
page in the first pressing, and combining them all onto 2 pages, turning the
booklet into a foldout, and rendering the handwritten lyrics quite small and
difficult to read. Canadian editions of Siamese Dream are ALL the full insert
-
with pages for every song. The repressing included an address for fan club
info and lyrics- unbeknownst to the ‘fan club’ person (read ‘mail reader’) for
some time- resulting in many returned letters, until every- thing was finally
explained…
On November 17, 1999, the Siamese Dream was re-released in the United States
with the full 20 page booklet, instead of the standard 2 pager.
The Japanese import version contains a bonus track, labelled “Hikari Express”.
This is simply “Pissant”, which can be found on Pisces Iscariot.
2.12c Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - 3LP
Mellon Collie was released on vinyl in March of 1996. This came out on 3 12″
vinyls. Here is an explanation of the availability of this, as found in the
text discography:
“The 3LP version of MCIS was originally solicited in February of 1996 as a
limited-to-5000, numbered edition. When it was finally released in April, it
was allegedly limited to 15,000. Since that time, numbers above 18,000 have
been confirmed, leaving open the question of how many copies were actually
pressed.”
In late 1998, the MCIS 3LP was repressed. The new pressing is unnumbered
(leaving the number box empty), and the sleeve is made of flimsier
material.
2.12d Ava Adore - 7″ single
The UK Ava Adore 7″ was supposed to be limited to 5000 copies. But, as with
the Mellon Collie 3-LP, many more (up to 3000 more) appeared.
2.12e Earphoria - promo/bootleg
The promo for Vieuphoria, entitled “Earphoria”, exists as a promo (rare) and as
various bootlegged/copied versions. The promo CD is light blue with pink SP-
hearts, and includes a picture of James and Bugg on the back of the liner. The
bootlegged versions are usually cheap copies- image quality on the liner is
obviously inferior, some versions are missing the picture of James & Bugg, and
some of the CDs are simply black hearts on blank CDs. Some versions also mess
up the tracks by combining French Movie Theme and Pissant onto one track, and
splitting Silverfuck into two tracks. The biggest apparent difference, though,
is price- the promo will usually cost significantly more, if you can find it
anywhere.
Also note that there’s a bootleg CD entitled “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” that is,
essentially, a copy of Earphoria.
2.12f Import/domestic singles
Differences in singles are quite common- generally US and UK singles are
limited to two or three B-sides, for chart/ratings purposes- including more
songs would change their status from ’single’ to ‘EP’, which would mean they
couldn’t be counted in certain charts. Usually, where different versions of a
single exist, the US version will simply omit certain B- sides, UK releases
will be split into two parts, and Japanese or central European releases
(Germany, Holland, etc.) will include all tracks.
Here are some examples:
CD singles for I Am One, Cherub Rock, Rocket, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, and
Zero either exist only in one form (from one country), or have the same number
of tracks on each release (except that the box set release of BwBW also
includes 5 cover songs).
Disarm is in two parts from the UK, labeled “Heart” and “Smile”. Tonight,
Tonight, Thirty-Three, and Perfect, as well as having 2-part UK singles, also
have a US counterpart with omitted B-sides.
1979, Tonight, Tonight, and Perfect have central-Europe releases with all B-
sides included. 1979 and Perfect also have US releases with omitted B-sides.
Today and Tonight, Tonight also have Japanese import versions: Today features
Hello Kitty Kat, Obscured, French Movie Theme, and Apathy’s Last Kiss (only
otherwise available on the Today 7″). Tonight, Tonight has the same tracks as
the central-Europe release (i.e. all 6 B-sides).
For detailed information on singles and the different versions, consult either
discography.
2.12g Vinyl - variant B-sides
The B-sides (and C-sides, where they exist) of vinyl releases often differ from
those of cassette and CD/CDS releases. Following is a list of songs that can
only be found on vinyl (excluding unofficial/bootleg releases):
Daughter - Reflex magazine 7″ flexi-disc (good luck)
Bullet Train to Osaka - I Am One 10″
Honey Spider I - Tristessa 12″
Honey Spider II - Pisces Iscariot bonus 7″
Infinite Sadness - MCIS triple vinyl (3×12″)
My Dahlia - Light Into Dark compilation 12″
Not Worth Asking - I Am One 7″, Pisces Iscariot bonus 7″
Purr Snickety - Cherub Rock 7″ (also in Siamese Singles box set)
Siamese Dream - Disarm 7″ (also in Siamese Singles box set)
Sun - Light Into Dark compilation 12″
Terrapin [Syd Barrett] - I Am One 10″
The original 7″ version of I Am One can be found on the Absolute Middle of
Nowhere #17 compilation CD, and the Today 7″ b-side “Apathy’s Last Kiss” can be
found on the Japanese Today import CDS.
2.13 Common/recurring lyrics
Billy has been known to use a few words or phrases several times, so to keep
people from constantly re-’discovering’ them Here’s a list:
june: 1979, Bye June, Mayonaise, Rhinoceros, Tales of a Scorched Earth, Where
Boys Fear to Tread,
my one and only: By Starlight, Lily, XYU, Zero
Boys Fear to Tread: Where Boys Fear to Tread, Cherry
On Q101 radio (Chicago), 10/95, someone actually asked about this- the reply
was that he simply did that to see if people would notice. A more likely
explanation is simply that he likes those words, and/or they rhyme well…
2.14 Photos/Cover art
Since some people wonder where all those pictures come from in all the
releases, here’s a brief synopsis:
SD insert - random pictures found by the graphic artist, not related to
the band (same goes for Cherub Rock cover)
Today cover - D’Arcy’s sisters
Pisces Iscariot cover (CD) - of continuous debate. Some say it’s James,
Courtney Love said it’s her with a cherry in her mouth, Billy said
it’s his now-ex wife, Chris, although he may have been referring to
the necklace picture on the inside liner
Bullet with Butterfly Wings insert - from an advertisement in the 1800s
for some sort of youth potion called, “Brittle’s Blood Bitters”.
Zero insert - a Giorgio Armani model (NOT Yelena Yemchuk, the
photographer)
Thirty-Three - cover painting=Rasputin, insert=Lenin
Adore cover - Amy Wesson
Adore insert- the pictures on the inside of the CD liner were taken while
the band was on tour in Poland during the Mellon Collie tour, it is
assumed
Ava Adore cover - Amy Wesson also.
Perfect single covers - unknown (so far)
MACHINA/ the machines of God - Artwork is done by Vasily Kafanov. All of
his SP related work and others can be found at his official web site:
http://www.kafanov.com/n/xpump.htm
Heavy Metal Machine - Vasily Kafanov
Stand Inside Your Love - Vasily Kafanov
2.15 MP3s
OK, everyone should know what MP3s are by now (if not, try reading the
wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3). Getting MP3s, however, is
another task.
A re-reincarnation of the Smashing Pumpkins Audio Archive hosts many MP3s at:
http://rspaa.niluje.net/data/
The new official Smashing Pumpkins site periodically releases videos via YouTub
e,
check them out here: http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/videos
2.16 Machina related questions and answers
‘The Everlasting Gaze’ : c.o.g.
In the song ‘The Everlasing Gaze’, the vocal solo towards the end of the song
contains the following line: “But underneath the wheels ie the skull of every
c.o.g.”
There are several likely explanations of the meaning of ‘cog’. The most obvious
is its dictionary definition “a subordinate but vital person or part”. ie: We
are all pions in this world, but each of us plays a role in its overall
function.
Note, however the spelling of ‘cog’. The periods between the letters suggest
that ‘cog’ could be an acronym for something else. Here are some suggestions:
1) c.o.g. - Chards of Glass (Like the official website’s ‘chards’
poems/writings by BC)
2) c.o.g. - Child of Glass
3) c.o.g. - Child of God
Pronunciation/Meaning of “Machina”
[Update: June 8, 2000]
At this point, it has become quite clear that the proper pronunciation of the
title is “Ma-she-na”. The fans, media and the band alike all use this
pronunciation.
Here are some of the ways people have said it should be pronounced (in the
past):
-Ma-she-na
-Ma-keen-a
-Maw-keen-a
-Mawk-in-a
-Mawk-en-a
-Makh-ee-na
[Historical perspective #1: February 17, 2000]
At a recent promo show in Atlanta, Georgia, the question was asked of
Billy, “How do you pronounce ‘Machina’”. His answer is transcribed below:
BC: “Umm… I say Ma-she-na. You [may] say Ma-Key-Na… To-May-To, To-Ma-To, Po
-
Tay-To, Po-Ta-To.
Q: “What does it [Machina] mean? Is it English? Latin?”
BC: “It’s Latin
Q: “What does it mean, ‘Machines of God’?”
BC: “It mean… Umm. [Snaps his fingers a few times, trying to figure out a goo
d
answer] To penetrate the rock, but not be the rock”
Q: “Did you just make that up?”
BC: “Yes I did.” [Laughter]
Explanation: Without the context of the conversation, this quote is tough to
follow. What it means is that Billy pronounces it Ma-She-Na, but anyone can
pronounce it any way they like; just like the never-ending ‘Tomato’
and ‘Potato’ debate.
The meaning of the word ‘Machina’
Here is one possibility:
Webster’s Online Dictionary:
Main Entry: deew Latin, a god from a machine, translation of Greek theos ek
mEchanEs
Date: 1697
1 : a god introduced by means of a crane in ancient Greek and Roman drama to
decide the final outcome
2 : a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced
suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an
apparently insoluble difficulty
The meaning Machina album:
The album is classified as a “concept” album, in which there is an underlying
tone or theme that guides(ed) the creation and execution of the album in its
entirety. While the band’s intended meaning of the album was only recently
divulged (January 2001), there were countless discussions on the newsgroups and
discussion boards all over the internet. If you are interested in what the band
had to say about the meaning of Machina, the story/article that Billy wrote
explaining it, can be found on the official web site (www.smashingpumpkins.com)
or in the articles area on SPFC’s web site.
What is the tour called:
There were 2 tours related to the release of Machina/the machines of God. The
first one was an autograph tour with the occasional musical stop,
called ‘Resume the Pose’. The second, main, tour was called ‘The Sacred And
Profane Tour’, which took them all over the world, from Japan to Africa, Europe
and North America.
Who is the opening act for the ‘S&P’ Tour
There is -no- opening act for this tour. Period.
3. Band Info
3.1 Origin of name
Most answers to this question are only semi-serious, as they’ve heard it way
too often. The March ‘93 fan club newsletter gave the following story:
“Gene Simmons came to us in a dream and said: ‘Joe Strummer is a pumpkin,
drunken and smashed.’”
On Vieuphoria, they simply said “It’s a joke.” However, the most serious
answer comes from an interview with D’Arcy by the Washington Post(11/19/93):
“The name of the band is a stupid name, a dumb bad joke and a bad idea, OK?”
she says. “Billy named the band before there even was a band. He was like, ‘I’m
gonna have a band and it’s gonna be called this.’ ‘Smashing’ is not a verb,
it’s an adjective. It’s not like we like to smash pumpkins or anything. And we
are not amused by pumpkin jokes anymore.”
So, there you have it. “Smashing” is an adjective, not a verb (think British
here if you’re still having trouble).
3.2 First appearance
Billy and James first appeared in a Polish bar called Track in 1988. Their
first radio broadcast was on WNUR in Evanston that year. (Info from the
March ‘93 fan club newsletter). The first gig as a complete band was on
07.09.88 (July 9, 1988) at Chicago 21. This show did not include Jimmy, as he
had not yet been hired. It consisted of James, D’arcy, and of course, Billy.
3.3 Short Bios
Brief member info with birthdates where known:
Original members:
Billy Corgan (guitar/vocals): March 17, 1967
James Iha (guitar): March 26, 1968
Jimmy Chamberlin (drums): June 10, 1964
D’Arcy (bass): May 1, 1968
Other members:
Jonathon Melvoin (keyboards, MCIS era): Unknown birth date - July 12, 1996
Dennis Flemion (keyboards, MCIS era): Unknown birth date
Kenny Aronoff (drums, Adore era): Unknown birth date
Matt Walker (drums, MCIS era): Unknown birth date
Mike Garson (keyboards, Machina era): July 29, 1945
Chris Holmes (keyboards, Machina era): Unknown birth date
Melissa Auf der Maur (bass, Machina era): March 17, 1972
Jeff Schroeder (guitar, Zeitgeist era): Unknown birth date
Ginger Reyes (bass, Zeitgeist era): Unknown birth date
Lisa Harriton (keyboards, Zeitgeist era): Unknown birth date
High schools:
Billy: Glenbard North in Carol Stream, IL
James: Elk Grove Village HS, IL
D’Arcy: L.C. Mohr High School in South Haven, MI
Melissa: FACE (Fine Arts and Creative Education) High School, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada.
3.3a Past Members
Over their years of existence, the band has not always had the same members.
The following is a list of some of the musicians that made contributions to the
music over the years:
Kenny Aronoff - Kenny joined the band for the duration of the Adore tour as a
touring drummer, in replacement of Jimmy Chamberlin.
Matt Walker - Matt replaced Jimmy Chamberlin on the drums for the rest of
the MCIS tour after Jimmy was fired (see Section 5.3). He participated on
the ‘Adore’ album and the ‘Batman and Robin’ soundtrack, as well as the
‘Ransom’ soundtrack. He also joined Billy for his solo tour in 2005.
Joey Waronker and Matt Cameron - Each of these drummers participated in the
creation of the ‘Adore’ album, while Jimmy Chamberlin was removed from the
band. Check the discography section at www.spfc.org
(http://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/discog.html?discog_id=29)
for more info.
D’Arcy Wretzky - D’Arcy is one of the band’s founding members; she played bass
guitar. She left the band on September 8, 1999 to pursue other interests.
Melissa Auf der Maur - replaced D’Arcy on bass from September 1999 until the
band’s last concert in December 2000.
James Iha - James was with the band from its beginnings in 1988 through their
breakup in 2000. He did not re-join the band when it re-formed in 2006.
Mike Garson and Chris Holmes - toured as keyboardists during the Machina tour
in 2000.
3.4 Band Management
The following is a brief history of the major events in the SP management realm
:
October 12, 1999: the Pumpkins officially announced that Sharon Osbourne
would take over the managing reins. Sharon Osbourne is Ozzy Osbourne’s wife.
January 11, 2000: Sharon Osbourne drops the Pumpkins from her roster of bands
that she manages. Her public statement reveals that she must drop the band “due
to medical reasons: Billy Corgan makes me sick.”
January 11, 2000 - December 2, 2000: The band operates without any official
management.
April 2006 - Billy and Jimmy hire Front Line Management as The Smashing Pumpkin
s’ new management.
3.5 Recording Sessions
As you may have heard, most of the recording for Siamese Dream was done by
Billy (drums excluded). His reasoning: “I was obsessed to meet a standard that
was beyond our capability. I was more concerned about technical efficiency than
heart.” The MCIS sessions were “a joy, compared to the tense Siamese Dream
recording,” and all members worked collectively.
For information pertaining to when and where particular songs and albums were
recorded, consult the Recording Sessions, by Jesse Miller, which are on SPFC:
http://www.spfc.org/band/studio.html
3.6 Is Billy left-handed or right-handed?
Billy is left-handed. He writes with his left hand. However, he plays the
guitar as if he was right-handed. This is because he felt that it was silly to
have his weak hand doing the tough fret-work. Another reason is that when Billy
and his father went to buy a guitar, Billy asked which was more common. He
went with a right-handed guitar.
3.7 Equipment
I’m not an equipment expert (I don’t even have an electric guitar), so I can’t
provide detailed lists of everything you’ll need to perfectly imitate that
pumpkin sound.
Here are some sites that have that information:
Forever Sound: http://www.gothicastudio.com/forever/
SPFC: http://www.spfc.org/band/equipment.html
The intro articles at the beginning of the tablature books for SD, MCIS and
Adore are also of interest.
3.7a Special Effects
One of the cool effects I -can- explain is the ‘reverse echo’ used on the “bang
bang” part of Silverfuck, as well as other songs. The track is recorded, then
flipped backwards, and echo/reverb is added. It’s then flipped back to
forwards, so the effect is that of echoing -into- the note. Pretty cool, eh?
This is also heavily used by the Cure (see “End” from Wish).
Once again, refer to the Equipment section: it may have what you’re looking for
.
3.7b E-Bow
An EBow (electronic/electromagnetic bow) is a small, hand-held magnetic device
that causes guitar strings to vibrate continuously, resulting in a long,
sustained tone. The band uses EBows in many studio recordings in all eras.
James uses EBows a lot live, on songs like Shame, & Porcelina. There’s even a
web site for EBows.
3.7c Mellotron
What the heck is a mellotron? Good question. A definition of this unusual
instrument is provided by an unusual website:
http://www.waltonnaze.demon.co.uk/onions/tron.html
“The Mellotron is an unusual electro-mechanical keyboard instrument which
enjoyed a certain popularity/notoriety from the mid-sixties to the mid-
seventies. It’s sound is difficult to describe since it is so varied. It works
by each key of the keyboard activating a tape recording of one note of an
instrument. This could be a flute, a choir, a whole orchestra - anything. In
the early to mid-sixties when they first emerged this was pretty staggering.
The contemporary keyboards being some cheesy electric organs and unconvincing
electric pianos. Unfortunately they cost as much as an average house and were
very heavy and unreliable. This restricted their use to the recording studio
and a few very rich or very daft bands.”
3.8 SP Fan Club; SPIFC (SP Internet Fan Club)
The “fan club” started when the Siamese Dream liner notes included the
words “smashing pumpkins fan club information” next to their PO box address
(which was different on both releases of Gish). Since then, there were a
few newsletters & t-shirt order forms, but the one person running it (Laura
Ann) was a bit more enthusiastic than the rest of the band about it, and they
never did much with it.
In April 1999, a new semi-official Smashing Pumpkins Fan Club launched: The
Smashing Pumpkins Internet Fan Club (http://www.spifc.org). SPIFC’s sources
of information were apparently very close to, if not the band itself.
With the re-launch of the band, most of the information now appears to show up
there first. Check http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/ for the latest info.
3.9 Contacting the band
Unfortunately, since the PO Box listed in the Siamese Dream liner notes has
probably long since closed, and there doesn’t seem to be any “contact” link
on the new official site, there is no reliable way to contact the band.
Those with legitimate business should probably try the band’s management.
Everyone else will have to do the usual- attend a signing or other “meet the
band” type event, try to get backstage somehow, or hang around before/after a
show and try to briefly catch them on their way in/out.
3.10 Alternate Names Used By The Band
Over the years, the Pumpkins have made a lot of music and played many shows,
but not always been under the name “The Smashing Pumpkins”. The following is a
list of other names that the band has used, along with a brief explanation of
the context in which each.
Turnips
- No information.
Audio Vanguard Association
- The band called themselves this for a secret show at the Double Door, in
Chicago, on June 23, 1997. This concert was one of the very first after
the start of the Adore recording sessions. It is likely that the band chose
this name because the first letter of each word spells out “Ava”, which of
course relates to Adore’s first single, “Ava Adore”.
Starchildren
- Please see section 6.2 of the FAQ for further info.
4. Merchandise
4.1 Pricing/finding rarities
Ain’t progress grand? Where once fans had to scour overseas web sites and
pore through collectors’ magazines, nowadays pretty much every TSP rarity that’
s
for sale pops up on eBay. Of course, this means there’s a lot more competition
for actually getting the item, which can drive up the prices quite a bit.
Someone who managed to get a copy of the Machina II on vinyl from a charity
auction a few years ago put it up on eBay, and the bids went up to $10,000
before the auction was canceled.
4.2 Books
There are several books available on SP. Here’s the info (prices are approxima
te list prices):
Title: Smashing Pumpkins - A Tear-Out Photo Book
Author: none
Pub: Oliver Books
ISBN: 1-870049-92-6
Notes: 20 full-page photos, text on opposite sides
Price: ~$12
Title: Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Author: Aaron Stang (ed)
Pub: Warner Bros. (1994/05/02)
ISBN: 0-89898-825-X
Notes: Guitar tablature book, with intro and comments on each song by
BC.
Price: ~$20 (buy [amazon.com] )
Title: Smashing Pumpkins
Author: Nick Wise
Pub: Omnibus Press/Book Sales Ltd. (1994/06)
ISBN: 0-7119-4166-1
Notes: 56 pages, color photos on each page.
Price: ~$12 (buy [amazon.com] )
Title: Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Author: Aaron Stang (ed)
Pub: Warner Bros. (1996/06)
ISBN: 1-57623-339-1
Notes: Guitar tablature book, includes ‘Guitar Geek USA’ articles written
by BC for Guitar World
Price: ~$30 (buy [amazon.com] )
Title: Smashing Pumpkins: Fully Illustrated Book & Interview Disc
Author: Jim Stapleton
Pub: Carlton Books/Music Book Services (1996/10)
ISBN: 1-5789-9007-6
Notes: 120 pages, same size as a CD
Price: ~$10 (buy [amazon.com] )
Title: Smashing Pumpkins - Adore
Author: Andy Aledort
Pub: Warner Bros. (1999/07)
ISBN: 0-7692-6396-8
Notes: Guitar tablature book, with complete solos and piano scores.
Full-page pics of each members (like the cd).
Price: ~$30 (buy [amazon.com] )
Title: Smashing Pumpkins: Tales of a Scorched Earth
Author: Amy Hanson
Pub: Helter Skelter (2004/08/01)
ISBN: 1-9009-2468-4
Notes: 256p paperback bio on the band.
Price: ~$18 (buy [amazon.com] )
Title: Blinking With Fists
Author: Billy Corgan
Pub: Faber & Faber (2004/09/09)
ISBN: 0-5712-1189-5
Notes: Book of poetry written by Billy Corgan. Hardcover.
Price: ~$18 (buy [amazon.com] )
Title: Smashing Pumpkins Anthology
Author: ?
Pub: Hal Leonard (2006/01/01)
ISBN: 0-6340-7955-7
Notes: Guitar tablature book with 19 “best” songs.
Price: ~$20 (buy [amazon.com] )
4.3 T-Shirts
NOTE: If you have any official tour shirts that are not listed here, please
send a description to faq@spfc.org. Thanks.
Here’s a text-based description of the t-shirts, roughly in order of
appearance:
1. Devil shirt - Black with red/purple devil and gold glitter. Back says
“Mission To Mars”.
2. Angel shirt - White with blue/silver angel & globe. Back says
“Altitude Not Attitude”.
3. Gish picture shirt - White with b/w picture from inside Gish liner,
with white “Smashing Pumpkins” and “gish” text from the cover.
4. SP Heart shirt - White with red/black SP heart logo. One version has
city scene on back, with SD song titles as neon signs, other version has
the following text:
this is a smashing pumpkins t-shirt. rather than ask me why i’m wearing
this ask yourself why am i reading this? the message is there is no
message. one million souls tossing down their hard earned lettuce for a
piece of the hot rock indie alternative pie. i’ve sold out. how about
you? everybody’s doing it even if they say they’re not. don’t ask me
cause i don’t know. rock saves. it’s the next big thing. have you
heard the next big thing? i’m part of the revolution. it’s all coming
down soon. hope you’re there.
5. Disarm Smile shirt - White with red/black “Smile” picture on front,
1993-4 tour dates on back.
6. Siamese Dream cover shirt - White with SD promo poster (2 girls, one
with a popsicle). Back has either tour dates for Midwest tour, or for
entire fall tour.
7. Star shirt - Black with red star & “smashing pumpkins” written in
white in the SD font. Back says “just say maybe”.
8. Clown shirt 1 - Red with green clown in blue oval, ’smashing pumpkins’
written around inside of oval.
9. Clown shirt 2 - Black with white/yellow clown, red stars, etc. Back
has partial songlist in yellow & green.
10. Spaceboy shirt - Purple, with orange cartoon astronaut. Back has
part of Starla lyrics.
11. MCIS shirt - Navy blue, MCIS cover image on front, back cover on
back. Tie-dyed version also available.
12. Blue SP Heart shirt - Navy blue with white SP heart logo outline.
13. Liner pic shirt - Black with picture of rabbits & rats smoking, white
skull on back.
14. Discs shirt - MCIS CD images on front (pink/blue circles), tour dates
on back.
15. ZERO shirt - Black with silver “ZERO” and star, small silver SP heart
on left sleeve. Short or long-sleeved. Also available with grey body,
and light blue sleeves and writing. Also available with red body,and black
sleeves and writing. Also available with tan body, and brown sleeves and
writing.
16. ‘Zero’ tank top - Women’s black tank top with silver Zero on the front
and silver heart underneath. Back has silver hart on back
17. “Leave Me Alone” shirt - White with sketched smiley faces in a spiral
with red bar codes on their foreheads. Back says “Leave Me Alone” in red
1979 font
18. Black SP Heart shirt - Black with silver SP heart logo. Back says
“Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” and includes a tracklist.
19. Vegas Logo shirt - Black with “Smashing Pumpkins” written in a
neon-like cursive, orange with yellow outline & dots. Background has
silver stars and a planet.
20. “World is a Vampire” shirt - Black with large silver frowning face
with fangs & horns, says “the world is a vampire” in MCIS liner font.
Back says “The Smashing Pumpkins Infinite Sadness Tour” in the Mellon
Collie font.
21. Baby Doll shirt - White with red SP heart logo. One size “Grrrl”
shirt.
22. Thermal heart shirt - Black long-sleeve thermal-textured shirt with
silver & white embroidered SP heart logo
23. ‘Adore’ cover shirt - cover of ‘Adore’ on front, back has tour dates
from 1998 tour, and words, “The Smashing Pumpkins World Tour”.
24. ‘Adore’ shirt #2 - trio of black & white pictures of individual
band members, with “The Smashing Pumpkins” printed in silver in center.
Back has picture of D’arcy in see-through shirt, from ‘Adore’ booklet.
25. ‘Machina’ shirt #1 - On the front it says “The Smashing Pumpkins”
along with a picture of the album cover and “MACHINA/the machines of God”.
The back says “The Sacred and Profane Tour 2000″, has the tour dates and
an image of Plate XII from the album’s artwork.
26. ‘Machina’ shirt #2 - White tee with “The Smashing Pumpkins” above
Plate IV on the front. Back has text above Plate XI.
27. ‘Machina’ shirt #3 - Black tee with “The Smashing Pumpkins” above
Plate II. Back has text above an unknown Plate.
28. ‘Machina’ shirt #4 - Black tee with “The Smashing Pumpkins” above
Plate II. Back has text “Without FOCUS Without GENERATION Without PEER”
below an unknown plate.
29. ‘Machina’ shirt #5 - Front has SP logo (cross with “s” on the left
and “p” on the right). Back, in Machina Font “The Smashing Pumpkins
Machina the Machines of God”
30. ‘The End’ - Black tee with “The Smashing Pumpkins” above a picture
of a Gish era picture of the band standing in fron of a street sign that
says “END”. Back is plain.
Older shirts are going to be somewhat difficult to track down, but they can be
found.
4.4 Videos
There are videos out for the following songs: Siva; Rhinoceros; Cherub Rock;
Disarm; Today; Rocket; Bullet with Butterfly Wings; 1979; Zero; Tonight,
Tonight; Thirty-Three; The End is the Beginning is the End; Ava Adore; Perfect;
The Everlasting Gaze; Stand Inside Your Love and Try, Try, Try.
Of course, MTV plays the most recent ones the most often (they’re usually put
into heavy rotation when they’re first released), but occasionally you can
catch one of the older ones late at night.
Brief descriptions of the videos:
Siva - band playing in a room, candles, flowers, weird makeup, etc.
Rhinoceros - band sitting & playing different instruments in a room,
D’Arcy bouncing a ball, reverse footage, ornate fountains, & shots of the
members outside
Cherub Rock - band playing outside in the dark by some trees, weird color
effects, lighting diagrams, etc.
Disarm - black & white, closeups of members playing, aerial shots of
buildings, etc.
Today - Billy drives through a desert in an ice cream truck, picks up
James (wearing a dress), stops at a gas station & finds other 2 members,
they paint the truck all funky & then drive off, leaving Billy
Rocket - a few kids build a rocket out of junk, blast off from their back
yard, and land on another planet to find SP as an elderly band
Bullet - band plays on a stage in the middle of a dry dirt field full of
dirty workers. Billy has on the infamous Zero shirt & silver pants
1979 - shows a bunch of kids driving around, going to a party (at which
SP is playing), wreaking havoc, and ransacking a convenience store
Zero - dark colors, strange-looking people in odd makeup, closeups of
band, etc. Rarely played
Tonight Tonight - made to look like an old movie (flickery lights, etc.)
includes recreation of George Melies’ 1902 film “A Trip to the Moon”, one
of the first films to use special effects
Thirty-Three - various shots done in stop-motion style, creating a jerky
effect. Includes Billy by sunset and painting, and trio in suits
TEITBITE - space-age costumes & props, members floating around, with
shots from Batman and Robin in the background.
Ava Adore - band is dressed up in Gothic costumes (Billy with long gown,
heavy red eye make-up and white face…). Camera follows them through
different rooms.
Perfect - a so-called sequel to the 1979 video. A girl gets pregnant,
some guy tapes a Pumpkin show (very cool), the tape falls off his car
when driving, then he gets in an accident.
The Everlasting Gaze - takes place in a parking-garage-like environment
with green astroturf carpeting. The band is really rocking, James is
jumping around (wow!). The video concludes with the band members smashing
their instruments into a billion pieces.
Stand Inside Your Love - The only thing that needs to be said is that all
the band members are wearing large black dresses.
Try, Try, Try - Follows the life of a teenage drug addict couple living on
the street. Available for viewing at the official site.
4.5 Bootlegs
A bootleg can refer to one of two things:
1) an audience recording, traded around by fellow fans, or
2) a CD manufactured by a company not connected to the band, containing live or
unreleased studio tracks.
In both cases, the band makes no profit from these, while in the latter case,
someone else -does-. CD boots, usually listed as “imports”, generally run for
$20-30, and can be somewhat difficult to track down (i.e. you won’t find them
at any large chain stores). Tapes recorded by fans are most often traded for
other tapes, although some traders sell their tapes for cost. For more info,
check out the FAQ for the “alt.music.bootlegs” newsgroup.
4.6 Trading
The best way to begin in the trading community is to document exactly what you
have to trade (a list) and to make it available online. Once it is there,
announce on the newsgroup or other message boards that you are looking to find
trades, and point them to your list on the web.
It is generally not a good practice to post your whole list to any discussion
group. Always point people the another location where they can find it. Another
easy thing to do is to attach the location of your list at the bottom of every
email that you send to a discussion group (in your signature). That way someone
may come across your email and check out your list without you even asking the
to.
Keeping track of what you have:
——————————-
In the trading community, it has become very common that other traders will
want to know where you got your bootleg from, and what it’s original source
was: this is called “genealogy”. While you collect new recordings, it is
highly recommended that you keep track of as much information about it as
possible.
The following is a list of the stuff that is essential:
1) The artist performing
2) The date of the show
3) The venue of the show
4) The length of the show; whether it is incomplete or songs are cut
5) The equipment used to tape the show
6) The source taped from (ie: Soundboard, audience, radio, satellite etc)
7) The sound quality rated using a consistent system (ex: 8.5/10)
The copy history of the CD, tape, DAT etc. that you have. (ex: It was
originally taped on DAT and then transferred to CDr and then copied 3 more
times from that first CDr…)
Other important things to consider:
9) The person that you got the concert from (Also keep track of their email
in your own records if someone asks for it)
10)Any special notes about your source (ex: skips, neat things during the
concert)
There are many lists of experience traders out there that you can take a look
at to see exactly how you should format your list. I recommend going to the
newsgroup and asking to look at other people’s lists and copying their format.
There is also the Trading FAQ available at SPFC that explains many of the
nuances of trading. It is available here:
http://www.spfc.org/tradingfaq.txt
4.7 B&P, Tape/CDR/DAT Trees
What the heck is a tape/CDR/DAT tree?
The primary purpose of a tree is to disseminate music and/or video to as many
traders possible so that anyone that wants a copy can get one quickly. It is
important to note that trees are FREE and no money can or should be charged by
anyone in the tree. No profiteering.
Trees: A Step by step:
————-
1) A seed source for the material to be treed is donated to the organizer of
the tree. This source is usually the master tape/CDR/DAT that the material was
recorded on.
2) An announcement is made that a tree project is starting up. The announcement
is usually made on the newsgroup (ams-p), Listessa and/or other Web based
bulletin boards.
3) There is an initial sign up period for all of those people that wish to
receive a copy of the material. Instructions on how to sign up are provided in
the announcement. There is usually a maximum number of people that are allowed
to signup. ie: if you miss the announcement you’ll likely not be able to get in
on the tree structure (but you can still get the material; see below).
4) Once the sign up period is over, the organizer of the tree decides who will
be a ‘branch’ or a ‘leaf’. The number of branches and leaves is dependent upon
the number of people that are in the tree. The criteria to decide who is a leaf
and who is a branch is roughly based on 2 things: the perceived reliability of
the people that signed up and whether or not they can make copies of the
material for their leaves. If you can’t make copies, don’t ask to be a branch.
Not everyone can be a branch.
5) When the tree structure is complete (see diagram below) it is posted to a
public place for all to see.
6) Based on the hierarchy of the tree, tree members begin to send their
media ‘up the tree’. That is to say: branches send their media to the seed
(organizer) of the tree, leaves send their media to their assigned branches
(ie: do NOT send your media to just any branch, send it to the one that you’re
assigned to only!). Once the seed makes the initial copies of the material with
the branches’ media and sends them back to the branches, the branches then make
copies using the leaves’ media and sends it back to the leaves.
(Note: Blank media means: blank tapes, CDRs, DATs or whatever)
Tree diagram: (All trees differ in shape, but here’s the idea)
______*** SEED ***
/ | \
sub-branch Branch \
/ \ / | \ \
Branch Branch L L L Branch
/ | \ | / | \
/ | \ +—-+—-+ / | \
| | | | | | / | \
Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf Leaf
Explanation: The leaves send their blanks to their assigned branches and the
branches send their blanks to the seed. As copies of the material are made, the
material starts trickling down the tree to the leaves.
Invariably, there will be people that did not get into the tree structure, did
not get the material initially, and now want to get a copy. The logical
approach here it to contact any one of the branches or leaves and ask them for
a copy. Two things to note: A leaf is not necessarily required to be able to
copy the material, so not all leaves will be -able- to make copies. Second, if
you ask a branch for a copy, their responsibility is to make copies for their
leaves first before they make yours. So expect to wait a little longer than
usual. Lastly, it is recommended that you don’t ask the seed/organizer directly
for a copy: they have more than enough to do already.
General rules of a tree: (See B&P rules below too)
————————
1) Sign up during the sign up period. If you miss it, don’t complain on the
newsgroup incessantly. Wait 3 weeks and ask a branch or leaf for a copy.
2) Wait for the tree structure to be emailed/posted to the designated site. It
takes time to organize a structure so don’t badger the organizer.
3) 1:1 blanks or trades ONLY, no 2:1s or money exchanges (except for
international: postage ONLY).
4)ONE FORMAT PER PERSON (this means CDR or DAT, NOT BOTH)
International exchange notes:
International postage:
———————-
Invariably, there will be people from all across the world that sign up for a
tree. A leaf from Country A cannot send a postage paid envelope to their branch
in Country B because the two countries use different postage. In this case,
instead of sending incorrect postage or cash, Person A will send a
predetermined number of blank media to make up for the costs that Person B will
incur for sending Person A’s package back to them.
Approximate postage rates for international exchanges (August 2000):
4 CDs in cardboard sleeves from US to FR - $3.00
4 CDs in plastic sleeves from US to NL - $3.00
4 CDs in jewel cases from US to CA - $4.09
4 CDs in jewel cases from US to BR - $5.55
4 CDs in jewel cases from US to AU - $8.15
Filling out Customs declaration forms:
————————————–
When sending packages internationally, you will almost always have to fill out
a customs form. They look different in all countries, but in the US and Canada,
they are small, square forms that you glue onto your package. You can get them
at the Post Office. The important thing when filling these forms out is that
you always check ‘gift’ (not ‘merchandise’, that is reserved for companies
sending things to you that you bought), and enter the value as the cost of the
blank media that you bought (eg: US $1 per CDR). As a general rule, make sure
that you mark an amount that is less than $15 US. Checking ‘merchandise’, or
entering a higher dollar amount will cause problems that may result in the
delay of the package, or in the recipient having to pay ridiculous taxes before
they can receive it.
Postage within the United States:
———————————
When you are buying postage for the package that is going to be returned to you
please be sure that you use either regular stamps or a printed sticker (from
the post office’s stamp printer) WITHOUT THE NAME OF THE STATE AND CITY that it
was printed in. This is VERY important! USPS does not permit the use of printed
postage with a source city and state different from the city and state that you
are sending from. For example, if I lived in St. Louis, MO and I got a label
printed with “St. Louis, MO” on it and the person sending the package back to
me lives in Chicago, IL, it will NOT WORK! The person that is sending back the
envelope will have to buy new postage and put it on the package. This is not
good.
B&P’s - Blanks and Postage:
—————————-
If you hadn’t already inferred from this discussion, the way by which a tree
operates is based on the “B&P” methodology. B&P stands for “blanks and
postage”. The idea is that Person A sends blank media to Person B. Person B
makes copies on the blank media and sends them back to Person A. Here’s how it
works:
General B&P Rules:
——————
1) Obtain the proper number of blank media.
2) Place blank media into a bubble-wrap mailer (see note below) addressed to
yourself. Do NOT seal the mailer unsealed. Note that CDs should be sent either
in paper/cardboard/plastic sleeves, or that multiple CDs should be placed in a
single jewel case. Sending multiple jewel cases only adds weight & increases
the postage.
3) Obtain proper postage and affix to the unsealed padded mailer. Please note!
This is the postage that the recipient of your package is to use to send the
finished CDRs/DATs/Tapes back to you. Please read the information on postage
written above!
4) Write a note on a piece of paper with your name, email address and the shows
that were agreed upon for the B&P. Place the note inside the inner envelope,
next to the CDRs/DATs/Tapes.
5) Place padded mailer inside another mailer (manila envelope, another padded
etc.)
6) Address the outer mailer to your corresponding tree parent & affix proper
postage. This is the postage that is used to send your package to your tree
parent.
7) Seal package & mail it.
9) Email your tree parent (the person you’re sending to - the branch or seed) &
notify that you’ve sent your blanks.
9) Wait for the music to arrive from your parent.
10) Enjoy the music!
** OR: **
2) Place blank media into a padded mailer addressed to your tree parent, and
include proper return postage and labels with your/parent’s addresses to place
over the other addresses on the same mailer for its reuse and return to you.
3) Go to step 5 above.
Note about padded envelopes:
—————————-
You may know that there are two kinds of padded envelopes: fuzz-filled ones and
bubble-wrap ones. As a universal rule in trading you should -always- use the
bubble envelopes. There are two reasons for this. The primary trouble with the
fuzz-filled ones is that the fuzz stuffing disintegrates and there are little
particles of fuzz all over everything. Before any recording or playing of the
CDrs can occur you have to clean the stuff off the discs. This is troublesome.
The second reason not to use fuzz-filled packages is that they provide less
protection (ie: you discs will get damaged more easily). However, if you must
use the fuzz-filled ones for whatever reason, wrap eveything that you’re
sending in a platic bag before you stuff it in there. Use the bubble-wrap
styled envelopes only and you’ll avoid the whole mess.
MP3′ing the treed material:
—————————
It is -not- cool to MP3 the treed material before all the members of the tree
get their uncompressed digital copies. The argument can be made that you
shouldn’t bastardize a digital gift at all by MP3′ing it, but that is another
story best discussed elsewhere.
5. News/Info/Net Resources
5.1 Brief history/landmark events
1988/89- band forms, plays around Chicago, releases demo tapes;
1990- I Am One 7″, Tristessa 7″ and 12″ released;
1991- Gish & Lull released; tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers & Pearl Jam;
1992- “Singles” soundtrack; Reading Festival;
1993- Siamese Dream released, selling millions; major tour;
1994- band headlines Lollapalooza; Pisces Iscariot released;
1995- Double Door concerts; another Reading Festival appearance;
MCIS released, outsells Siamese Dream;
1996- American Music Awards; Simpsons “Hullabalooza” appearance;
major tour; keyboardist dies, drummer fired; band
wins 7 MTV Video Music Awards; Ransom & Lost Highway soundtracks;
TAFH box set released;
1997- Batman & Robin soundtrack; European festival concerts;
1998- Adore released (June 2). Short promo tour follows;
1999- Arising Tour; D’Arcy leaves & Jimmy rejoins;
2000- Resume The Pose promotional & autograph tour; The Sacred and Profane
world tour. Billy announces the folding of the band at the end of the
year;
2002- Billy and Jimmy join up with 3 other musicians and form Zwan, which
lasts for 1 album and a couple years
2005- Billy releases a solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, and Jimmy releases an
album with his project, the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex
2006- Billy announces the reformation of The Smashing Pumpkins! The only
details known are that Billy and Jimmy are members
2007- The new TSP goes on tour; Zeitgeist released July 7
For a more detailed chronology, check out the one at spfc.org:
http://www.spfc.org/band/chronology.html
5.2 Double Door info
In February of 1995, the Pumpkins played 4 shows (21, 22, 27, and 28) at the
Double Door bar in Chicago, consisting of almost all new material that would
form MCIS and its B-sides. Some of the songs played were never released. The
shows were a big deal at the time, due to the amount of new material.
5.3 The keyboard/drummer events
In the summer of ‘95, the Chicago Reader ran an ad by the Pumpkins, seeking a
touring keyboardist. 5-minute tape auditions (with a “please, no pumpkins
songs” condition) were to be turned in by July 14th. On August 18,
Entertainment Weekly ran the following:
“…aspiring Pumpkins needn’t wait by the phone. Two months later, a
refrigerator box full of cassettes graces Chicago’s Soundworks studios, and
there’s not a listening station in sight. ‘We’ve been too busy to deal with
them,’ says Iha. ‘I don’t want to listen to a bunch of wack keyboard players.
It sounds like a nightmare to me.’”
The position was filled by Jonathan Melvoin, who played keyboards and acted as
a second drummer for Silverfuck. He also appeared with SP on the American
Music Awards.
On July 12, 1996, Jonathan was found dead from a heroin overdose. He and
drummer Jimmy Chamberlin had shot up the previous night, and Jimmy awoke to
find Jonathan dead. Jimmy was charged with misdemeanor heroin possession, and
the rest of the band were taken in for questioning, and later released. All
tour dates through July 27th were postponed. A few days later, the band
released a statement saying that Jimmy would no longer be the band’s drummer.
Private/closed auditions were held a while later to find a replacement drummer
for the remainder of the tour. Matt Walker, former touring drummer for Filter,
took over. While auditioning for Filter, he reportedly dropped a drumstick and
finished with one- he was hired immediately. Dennis Flemion, founding member
and drummer/keyboardist of The Frogs, was chosen to be the replacement
keyboardist. A press release was issued on August 8th. The band played a
surprise warmup show at the Metro on August 23rd with the two new touring
members, and resumed the MCIS tour after that.
During the recording of Adore, SP used several drummers, including Joey
Waronker (Beck), Matt Walker (MCIS tour, Cupcake), and Matt Cameron
(Soundgarden). Drum machine programming was done by Bon Harris of Nitzer Ebb.
During the Adore tour, the band hired a decent-sized backup band that consisted
of drummer Kenny Aronoff, keyboardist Mike Garson, and percussionists Stephen
Hodges and Dan Morris.
In 1999, Jimmy Chamberlin rejoined the band as the band’s drummer before the
start of the brief ‘Arising Tour’. Jimmy continued as drummer until the band’s
demise on December 2, 2000, and re-joined when the band re-formed in 2006.
5.4 Tour Info
Tour dates are kept current at several websites:
The Smashing Pumpkins Official Site (upcoming and past):
http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/tour
The Smashing Pumpkins Fan Collaborative (upcoming and past):
http://www.spfc.org/
The Smashing Pumpkins Internet Fan Club (past):
http://www.spifc.org
The Smashing Pumpkins Live Recording Association (past):
http://www.splra.org/
5.5 IRC Info
There are several IRC channels for pumpkin-heads:
#smashing_pumpkins on Undernet, EFnet, and IRCnet;
#smashing_pumpkins and #pumpkins on EFnet;
#smashing-pumpkins on DALnet.
#smashing_pumpkins on oz.org is also a popular place for Aussie SP fans.
To use IRC, you must have a client program. For more info, check out the mIRC
homepage at http://www.mirc.com/.
5.6 Web links for cool stuff
There are hundreds of web sites devoted to SP. At least, there were. Now it
seems that many of them are no longer online, and rather than try to keep track
of them, I’ll leave that to starla.org, which seems to do a much better job.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, try google.
General
- http://www.spfc.org/
- http://www.starla.org/
- http://www.netphoria.org/
Official sites
- http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/
- http://www.billycorgan.com/
- http://www.jimmychamberlincomplex.com/
If you’re creating a new site, keep in mind that simply copying someone else’s
site is NOT a good idea, as you will likely get a lot of complaints. Try to
come up with something novel and original, and remember that content is more
important than how many “hits” you get. Do -not- post your URL 10 times a day
to the newsgroup. Announcing it only once upon creation, or after a time of
extreme upgrade/change, and including the URL in your .sig is the best way to
go. If it’s good, people will visit it. If not, perhaps it could use some
improvement. 
