The Smashing Pumpkins, pt. 2: BILLY CORGAN WTF

What the fuck is this?

I'll tell you what the fuck it is.  It's Billy Corgan reciting the lyrics to "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" for a pro wrestling commercial - some steel cage match, or whatever.  He accordingly changes "rat in a cage" to "rat in a six-sided steel cage."  I can see how the song itself might fit well with wrestling-type things because it's all loud and angry and stuff, but reciting the lyrics?  A tall, pale, bald guy with a wimpy, high-pitched voice is speaking over a pro wrestling commercial?  WHAT THE FUCK, BILLY CORGAN?  Also WTF to pro wrestling, while I'm dishing out the WTFs.  

As it happens, this isn't the first time Billy Corgan has done something wrestling-related.  He appeared in a WWE match a few years ago as part of an elaborate introductory skit.  (I think it was WWE - I get the names confused because I absolutely don't give a fuck about wrestling).  In a deeply bizarre and depressing scene, Billy smashed a guitar over some wrestler's head and the two exchanged insults related to the recently-broken-up Smashing Pumpkins.  The wrestler said stuff like, "Your band broke up because of your big ego," and "Your solo project sucked."  Both of which are completely true.  (Note: Warner Entertainment took this video off of youtube.  If someone finds it somewhere, please let me know).

If only Billy Corgan would listen to the things wrestlers told him in fake, choreographed skits, he might get his career back on track again.  Instead he has sworn off album-making altogether, started fighting with his fans during concerts, publicly insulted his former band mates, and kicked out the last remaining Pumpkin (and an essential part of his sound), Jimmy Chamberlin.  Oh, and apparently he's dating Tila Tequila. 

In my last post on the Pumpkins, I directed everyone to an excellent bootleg website that offers free concert downloads from the band's full run.  The first thing that became clear to me, as I listened to the pre-reunion shows, was just how much Billy Corgan benefitted from the input of his other band mates.  The guitar interplay between him and James Iha is absolutely killer, and his chemistry with Jimmy Chamberlin borders on sublime.  Corgan's worst output has been his more solo-oriented material, like Machina I and II, The Future Embrace, and Zeitgeist.  The short-lived Zwan, on the other hand, was a return to form - great guitar work and song craft, all within the context of three-guitarist supergroup.  (Check out this song and skip to 6:00 for the guitar goods).  

I wouldn't say Corgan's transition into a giant shitfuck has made me sad, because I stopped expecting good music from him a long time ago.  At this point it makes me angry.  Angry at him for assuming all the credit for an excellent corpus of work with the Pumpkins.  The Pumpkins were a band, not Corgan's solo project.  As much as he may have been their driving force, he's also the one who fucked them up and is ruining their legacy.