The Smashing Pumpkins are the only original founders of the Alternative Music Revolution left to stand amongst other bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, and Soundgarden. The band first started out in Chicago, Illinois before they won recognition from the music industry and started extensive world and national touring.
The band's composed of four original members, William Patrick Corgan Jr, James Yoshinoba Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin, and D'Arcy Wretzky-Brown. Billy Corgan, the son of a Chicago blues-guitarist, first set out to Florida with The Marked, his first band that he now describes as "Hindu-influenced gloom music." Returning to Chicago after the band failed, he began performing in small clubs with James Iha, whom he'd met in a record store. Iha, a graphic arts student, played the guitar. D'Arcy, a classical violin and oboe player, had been playing the bass for 5 years and joined the band as bassist and backup singer after she met Billy at a club show. The band coined the name the Smashing Pumpkins and gained a local following, leading up for them to open a Jane's Addiction show. Before the concert, they hired jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin as their full-time drummer.
After this, they released their debut album, Gish, on the Virgin Record subsidiary, Caroline Records. They signed a 7-year contract that would obligate them to produce 1 album a year with Virgin Records. Named after silent film star Lillian Gish, Gish was produced by Billy Corgan and Butch Vig, a rising hand in the field of music production. Gish immediately became a college modern-rock favourite. After its spring of 1991 release, it went Gold, selling over 500,000 units. Its release, however, was overshadowed by the huge Nirvana hit Nevermind, released the same year and also produced by Butch Vig.
At the beginning of the recording of their 2nd album, the Pumpkins were given much exposure to the Grunge-worthy masses through the inclusion of their song "Drown," on the Singles movie soundtrack. Their 2nd album, Siamese Dream, was produced and written by Billy Corgan and almost instantly went multiplatinum on its July of 1993 release and its Number 10 chart debut. Its singles, "Disarm," "Today," and "Cherub Rock" established the group as superstars while being enthusiastically embraced by the music critics.
The band began experiencing problems before recording Siamese Dream as Corgan entered a heavy depression, Iha and D'Arcy went through a strenuous breakup, and Chamberlin became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Corgan relieved himself of his depression by writing a surplus of songs, and worked heavily by playing most of the guitar and bass parts on each track of Siamese Dream.
They were nominated for two Grammies; their new stardom led to them becoming the headliner's for the 1994 rock festival, "Lollapalooza." After Corgan announced that their next record would be a double conceptual album, the band released the B-sides and rarities album Pisces Iscariot to tide fans over until the anticipated release.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double disk set, was released in 1995 and debuted at Number 1 on the charts, went multiplatinum and eventually sold 7 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling double album in history. Earning 7 Grammy nominations in one evening, they took home Best Rock Song for "Bullet With Butterfly Wings". But things started to go wrong when on July 12, Chamberlin and John Melvoin, the group's touring keyboardist, both suffered heroin overdoses before 2 scheduled shows in New York. Chamberlin recovered, but Melvoin died. The rest of the Pumpkins fired Chamberlin and spent two months on hiatus while they searched for a temporary drummer as a trio. A little into August, they announced that Matt Walker and Dennis Flemion would substitute for Chamberlin and Melvoin for the rest of their tour.
In 1996 Corgan and Frank Olinsky had the box-set concept that was named The Aeroplane Flies High after an included track. This set consisted of previously unreleased pictures of the band, 33 songs made up of b-sides, unreleased tracks, and the five singles from Mellon Collie. This set was originally only intended for serious fans, but the sales rate exceeded what was expected and more were issued. While they were on a five-month tour at the end of 1996, Corgan contributed some music to the film, Ransom. At the end of their tour, early in 1997, D'Arcy and Iha launched their record label, Scratchie Records, off of Mercury Records. Then, in the spring, the Pumpkins recorded some tracks for the movie, Batman and Robin.
On March 1998, Iha released his debut solo album on Virgin Records. This 11-track album blasted many critics opinions with its laid-back acoustic style much different from that of Pumpkins' songs.
On June 2, 1998, their 4th consecutive album, Adore, was released. Adore made it's way to the Number 2 spot on the charts, and stayed there for a few weeks. Adore's progressive art-rock style was dedicated to Billy's mother, who had died not long before. The band embraced new, synthetic sounds, a drum machine that they had used before Chamberlin joined, and created soft, 8-minute confessional songs that paved the way for their new style.
the four original members: billy, james, d'arcy, & jimmy
