Billy Corgan Recalls The Hectic Making Of '1979'

The Smashing Pumpkins' iconic album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness turned 25 on Saturday (October 24) and to celebrate the band's been sharing memories about that era, and encouraging fans to do the same. After sharing a story about "Cupid De Locke," Billy Corgan recalled the chaos that went into writing their hit "1979."

“Finally, [producer] Flood said, 'What's going on with this song? Tomorrow is D-day, we either finish this song or it's off the record,'" he wrote on Instagram. "So I went home that night, finished all the lyrics, did a demo that sounds remarkably like the final record. I came in the next day with the demo, and Flood said, ‘I love it. Now make it happen.' We went in the room and cut it in one day. There are all sorts of weird influences on that track: there's a little Can, obviously some Europop, New Order, there's even something Sonic Youth-y in the riff. And Flood added that percolating Tangerine Dream thing in the back too. There's all sorts of weird little pieces of influence that somehow come together and create one of those beautiful synchronicities where everything lined up perfectly."

Corgan went on to reveal that the band's record label didn't want MCIS to be a double album and tried to talk him out of it, but he refused. "Making a double album was my idea and I was dead set on it," he said. "Virgin tried to talk me out of it, but when they realized that I couldn't be swayed, they tried to convince us to take the Guns N' Roses' strategy and release it as two different CD's. I refused and dug my heels in, and eventually, they agreed.”

See the post here.

The Smashing Pumpkins plan to commemorate the milestone anniversary with a tour and hope to announce dates in 2021. They're also working on a sequel to MCIS and MACHINA. The 33-song album will complete the conceptual trilogy and is slated to come out late next year.

While they celebrate this double album, the band is also gearing up to release a new double album, CYR, on November 27 and have released four tracks so far.

Photo: Getty Images


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