Smashing Pumpkins
Once widely viewed as poor relations to Nirvana's major label alternative rock, Chicago, USA's Smashing Pumpkins, led by vocalist/guitarist Billy Corgan (b. 17 March 1967, Chicago, Illinois, USA) have persevered to gradually increasing acceptance and press veneration. Corgan's inspirations, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Doors and Black Sabbath, as well as a professional jazz musician father, add up to a powerful musical cocktail over which his lyrics, which frequently cross the threshold of normality and even sanity, float unsettlingly. The rest of the band comprises D'Arcy Wretzky (bass), James Iha (guitar) and Jimmy Chamberlain (drums). Smashing Pumpkins made their official debut with a drum machine at the Avalon club in Chicago. Chamberlain was then drafted in from a ten-piece showband (JP And The Cats) to fill the percussion vacancy (Corgan had previously played in another local band, the Marked). The group made its debut in early 1990 with the release of I Am The One on local label Limited Potential Records. Previously they had included two tracks on a Chicago compilation, LIGHT INTO DARK. This led the band to the attention of influential Seattle label Sub Pop, with whom they released Tristess/La Dolly Vita in September 1990, before moving to Caroline Records. GISH, produced by Butch Vig, announced the group to both indie and metal audiences, and went to number 1 on the influential Rockpool College Radio Chart. Ironically, given the Nirvana comparisons, this came before Vig had produced NEVERMIND. However, it was SIAMESE DREAM which launched the band to centre stage with its twisted metaphors and skewed rhythms. A Top 10 success in the US Billboard charts, it saw them joined by mellotron, cello and violin accompaniment to give the sound extra depth. However, these remained secondary to the pop hooks and rock atmospherics which have defined the band's sound.