| At 14, Billy was sent to psychiatrist by his stepmother who believed he suffered from a persecution complex. It was assumed that the intelligent Corgan would pursue a career in law, but after leaving school, he got a job in a record store. Billy began playing in a rock band called the Marked. Billy then met James Iha, a Japanese American who was playing in a college band called Snake Train, and the two began performing as a duo. The Smashing Pumpkins debuted in 1988 in Chicago in a Polish bar with Billy Corgan and James Iha. Later, after meeting D'arcy Wretzky by accident in an argument, they gave her a tryout and they hired her . D'Arcy learned classical violin and oboe when she was a wee little kid and she started playing bass when she was 14. As a trio, the Pumpkins performed to 50 people at the Avalon with a drum machine for back-up. The manager of Chicago's Cabaret Metro, Chicago’s biggest venue, said he’d book them as support act if they employed a human drummer. In came Jimmy Chamberlain, who completed The Smashing Pumpkins. The Smashing Pumpkins played there first show together as a band opening for Jane's Addiction at the Cabaret Metro, a popular Chicago club. The Smashing Pumpkins were being pursued in 1990 by such record companies as Sony, Warner Brothers, and Geffen. The band, however, decided to go with Caroline Records, a part of Virgin Records and immediately began recording with Butch Vig. They began their recording at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin in December 1990. After six months their first album, Gish, was completed. The name Gish actually came from the last name of a silent film star and D'arcy did the layout cover. On the inside cover is a picture of Bugg Superstar, James Iha's dog. After Gish was released in May of 1991, The Smashing Pumpkins embarked on 18 month world tour that nearly split them up. 1993 they recorded Siamese Dream that proved that Billy where among the best - and most versatile - songwriters of his generation.Siamese Dream was an MTV breakthrough, and a masterpiece of extremes. From the explosion of guitars and drums which is the opening song, "Cherub Rock," to the screaming tenderness of "Disarm," Billy and the Pumpkins had crafted a stellar expression of the psychic landscape of the times. Gish had sold 350,000 copies while Siamese Dream had reached doubleplatinum status; 1995, Mellon Collie,the Infinite Sadness the album - produced by Corgan, Flood and Alan Moulder - became their most successful to date, selling over six million copies. Yet with the success came the inevitable pressures of touring, and with that, the tragedy of Melvoin’s death. On December 2nd, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played their last show, at the Metro in Chicago, where they had also begun. Corgan’s next major project,
Zwan, was an “all-star” band comprised of Pumpkin's drummer,
Jimmy Chamberlin, guitarist Matt Sweeney (formerly of Chavez and Skunk),
guitarist David Pajo (formerly of Slint and Tortoise), and bassist Paz
Lenchantin (of A Perfect Circle fame). |
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