The purpose of the MTV Newsroom blog is to take you behind the scenes of the goings-on here at MTV News and to provide a slanted look at some of the more unusual stories that come out of the worlds of music, movies and celebrity. But occasionally, it veers off into a fixation on space travel. So we're more than a little interested today in NASA's plan to crash two spacecraft into the surface of the moon on a hunt for water. When news first broke about a "moon bombing," it seemed as though the folks at mission control had lost it, but the idea of doing this level of unmanned exploration is pretty brilliant.
However, NASA certainly didn't think up the concept of crashing something into the moon's surface — Billy Corgan thought of it first.
Okay, so Corgan actually borrowed the concept of the video for Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight" (a Video of the Year winner at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards) from pioneering French silent film director Georges Méliès' movie "A Trip to the Moon." The story follows two turn-of-the-century explorers on a dreamy excursion to the surface of the moon (as well as the bottom of the sea). In their escape from the planet (and it's acrobatic and threatening inhabitants), their craft ends up stuck and embedded in its crust (which, as you can see from the closing shot, doesn't make the moon very happy at all). "Tonight, Tonight" is a fantasy, but it's incredible how close reality sometimes catches up with some of humanity's wildest dreams.
Billy Corgan has always believed in the notion of "go big or go home." The Smashing Pumpkins founder and only current original member of the beloved '90s Chicago power rock group, has practically made the grandiose concept album his calling card.
And his latest mind-bender is no exception. Following in the footsteps of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, Corgan will be offering his band's latest, the cryptically titled 44-song opus Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, online for free beginning next month. Based on "The Fool's Journey," the metaphor for the journey of life in the Tarot card world, Corgan said the album "harkens back to the original psychedelic roots of the Smashing Pumpkins; atmospheric, melodic, heavy and pretty."
Still being recorded, the entire cycle is slated for completion in early 2010, to be followed by a world tour in the spring. Current plans call for the free songs to be released four at a time beginning around Halloween, with no requirements for fans to sign up for fan clubs or offer their e-mail addresses. While the songs will initially appear online, Corgan will also offer 11 limited-edition EPs that will represent the physical manifestation of the whole album.
Once the whole hot mess has unfolded, the Grand Pumpkin has also promised to compile it into a box set, which he said will be different from the limited-edition EPs. You can find out more at Corgan's official site. And if you like Corgan's take on spirituality but don't want all that silly music to get in the way, you can check out his new blog Everything From Here to There.
By Cara Alwill
Billy Corgan announced on the Smashing Pumpkins' official Web site yesterday that he has officially hired a new drummer, and today he reveals more news regarding the band's immediate future. It looks like Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro will be heading out on tour with the Pumpkins at the end of this month, along with Mark Weitz of '60s psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock. The dates are a part of Corgan's Sky Saxon tribute band, which he is calling the "Spirit in the Sky" tour.
In an official statement Corgan released on the band's site, he shares the details. "Some exciting news to add as well, as Dave Navarro and Mark Weitz have joined the tour. Dave sadly can't play San Diego with us, so hopefully we can find an Ace up our sleeve somewhere to fill in. It's gonna be crowded onstage, that's for sure with Mike and Kerry on drums, Mark on bass, Dave and I on guitar, and Mark #2 on keys. Whoa..." Corgan wrote.
Navarro began expressing his enthusiasm for the Pumpkins' song "Superchrist" via Twitter, tweeting that it is "awesome on so many levels." That message clearly stuck with Corgan, who has invited Navarro out on the road for a set of intimate club dates, taking place at the end of August in Southern California.
Could this meeting of two alt-rock icons usher in a full-on early '90s nostalgia trip? We'll have to wait and see. One thing is for sure: Corgan seems to have a lot of tricks up his sleeve. It will be interesting to see what's next for this musical three-ring circus — and whether or not those two famously cantankerous performers can actually share the same stage.
By Cara Alwill
After holding an open call to find a new drummer last March, Billy Corgan has announced that the Smashing Pumpkins have officially hired 19-year-old Portland, Oregon, native Mike Byrne to fill the position. Of note: Corgan originally formed the band in 1988, two years before Byrne was even born.
It seems like only yesterday when Corgan welcomed ex-drummer Jimmy Chamberlin back into the band, after banishing him from the group for three years due to his very public drug issues. The on-again, off-again relationship between the band mates and longtime friends showcased Corgan's notoriously difficult personality. After parting ways with original members James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky, the Pumpkins have become little more than Corgan and a revolving door of replacements.
As for his take on Byrne, Corgan is excited. "Through the open audition process, I was astounded by how many great drummers there were that wanted the chance to try out for the Pumpkins. We counted over 1,000 submissions, and what made Mike stand out was he just seemed to have that X-factor that all the great drummers have, a stunning blend of power, speed, and grace. I'm excited to work with him moving forward — he truly deserves this opportunity. I believe in my heart he will push me to be a better musician," said Corgan on the Pumpkins' official Web site.
Byrne seems equally excited about the relationship. "I've always thought that Billy's interpretation of music was a real fresh one, and that because the band was so rooted in the idea of kind of being like a musical shape-shifter, I feel that honestly it would work just perfectly," said Byrne "We're starting from scratch and just working our influences up into something totally different."
Byrne will make his debut on the band's upcoming album and tour, which kicks off in September in Visalia, California.
When you think about the biggest bands of the early '90s alt-rock boom, most of them come from the Seattle grunge scene (most notably Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden). But only Pearl Jam is still standing, and even they have spent over a decade conscientiously attempting to become a lower-profile group. So who is the only titan still standing? A little outfit from Chicago called Smashing Pumpkins. Some question whether or not the band touring and recording as Smashing Pumpkins is still actually a band (only frontman Billy Corgan remains), it was really always a one-man band anyway. In fact, it's assumed that Corgan played just about all the instruments on the group's breakout smash Siamese Dream, which was released on this day in 1993.
Though it's considered an alt-rock classic and one of the best albums of the '90s, Siamese Dream is a bizarre album to have captured the hearts and minds of indie-minded types. Though it certainly borrows heavily from the fuzzy moods of groups like the Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, the most direct influence is probably the debut album from Boston (compare "More Than a Feeling" with "Rocket"). The album spawned four massive singles, including the dark "Disarm," the effervescent "Today" and the six-string bulldozer that is "Cherub Rock." Trouble and controversy seemed to follow the Pumpkins since their colossal breakthrough: The late '90s were colored by drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's drug problems, forays into sleepy New Wave (Adore) and in-fighting that has ultimately lead to the departure of the rest of the band members. Corgan continues to produce new, interesting music but has yet to hit the highs of 16 years ago, when the video for "Cherub Rock" ruled MTV with its psychedelic imagery.
Forty years ago today, Apollo 11 touched down on the Sea of Tranquility on the moon. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins lived the "Star Trek" dream of boldly going where no man had gone before. Time has not dulled the significance of this achievement, and it remains one of the greatest scientific leaps in human history. Some people think of NASA as a huge hulking monolith wasting tax dollars on satellites that don't work, but space exploration remains the purest form of human kind's quest to find out what's next. We discovered fire and invented the wheel and perfected the microchip and went to the moon. The thrill of discovery informs not just science but also art, culture, media, business and industry (not to mention a certain music-based cable network and it's awards show trophy).
So take a moment today to contemplate the incredibly dangerous, stunning feat that occurred on July 20, 1969. Celebrate with the Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight Tonight," a sweeping epic of a song whose video borrows heavily from the 1902 Georges Melies film "A Trip to the Moon." Like the astronauts, Melies was a pioneer in his field who dared to wonder what else was out there.
Rock and roll auction items are great. They really provide a sense of exactly how much certain stars are worth. For instance, Eric Clapton-related merchandise fetches big bucks: The acoustic guitar he used in his "MTV Unplugged" performance once fetched $500,000 at an auction. Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan hasn't set that kind of precedent yet, though he may be on his way. Case in point: A Web site hosting a fundraiser for the Songwriters Hall of Fame is touting lunch with Corgan as one of its current auction items. The winner gets lunch at a mutually convenient time in either Chicago or Los Angeles. The kicker? The winner assumes the cost of the lunch. Bidding is currently up to $950 with a shade under five days to go. Also available in the auction: Meet-and-greets with Jason Mraz and Cher (the latter of which is currently going for $9,000), a bass signed by Pete Wentz and original handwritten lyrics to Matchbox Twenty's "Bent."
Where would you take Corgan to lunch if you won? After paying $950, perhaps Arby's would be the best alternative. Or if he's in Los Angeles, perhaps In-N-Out Burger?
By Melanie Wolfson
When it was announced last month that original Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin would be leaving the band, an open invitation was sent out to those who were willing to try out for his place.
With the first round of auditions held last week, there appears to be a front-runner in the race to become the newest Pumpkin: System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan. Read more...
No one can ever accuse Billy Corgan of not sharing. The Smashing Pumpkins leader (and only remaining original member) finally took to the pages of his band's official Web site last week to explain just what the hell is going on in Pumpkinland these days, what with the parting of the ways with original drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, the continuing despite being the only real Pumpkin left and the whole melting-down-on-stage thing.
His nearly 2,500-word rant offered some questions and raised a whole bunch more. Because we know you're busy, here are some highlights:
Current project: Working on a new Pumpkins album in sunny California with "some of my friends," focusing on five or six songs that he hopes to include in a "large multimedia project" he has in mind that may contain up to 44 songs. Read more...
Almost from the moment they burst out of the fertile early 1990s Chicago alt-rock scene, the whispers about the Smashing Pumpkins were that they were a one-man show. Despite guitarist James Iha's considerable chops and pop songwriting sensibility, bassist D'arcy Wretzky's charismatically stoic persona and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's jazzy yet muscular touch, the Pumpkins were and always would be singer/songwriter Billy Corgan's baby.
Now, thanks to this weekend's unexplained ouster of Billy's longtime foil and last fellow original member, Chamberlin, Corgan is truly the Axl Rose of alternative rock. He's the Trent Reznor of overblown guitar bands. The ... oh, you get the point.
Fans had already been a bit iffy about Corgan reuniting the "band" three years ago when he announced that he and Chamberlin would be touring (and recording) under the venerable group's name. But with at least 50 percent of the original members on board, many seemed willing to overlook it.
(Take a look at how the Smashing Pumpkins have changed over the years.)
Read more...
