Search Results for: smashing pumpkins

On the heels of last year’s smash No. 1 hit, the JXL remix of Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation,” BMG/RCA is set to release a remix of Presley’s Rubberneckin’ as a commercial single on September 9 and to radio August 25. The single has been remixed by DJ and producer Paul Oakenfold – one of the most acclaimed remixers in the music business – and will appear on ELVIS 2ND TO NONE, a follow-up to last year’s highly successful “ELV1S 30 #1 HITS.” This newest compilation, scheduled for release on October 7, will also include five additional Presley #1… Read more »

When former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha got an email a month ago from A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel asking if he’d like to audition for the group, the last thing on Iha’s mind was joining another band. “I really didn’t see myself joining another band too soon after the Pumpkins broke up,” said Iha, who has kept a low profile since the Pumpkins’ December 2000 split. “I was recently saying to someone that it would have to be a pretty good band to bring me back – this is the band.” Iha was also reluctant to hit the road… Read more »

With little pomp and no showboating, A Perfect Circle were all about the music in the first headlining performance in support of their upcoming album, Thirteenth Step. That shouldn’t surprise any APC fans or those familiar with shows by singer Maynard James Keenan’s other band, Tool. Never once did he holler, “Hello, New York” – in fact, he jokingly made a reference to New Jersey – nor did he ask if fans were ready to rock. It didn’t matter. He obviously was. And so were his bandmates, who took the stage in formation: guitarist Billy Howerdel at the front of… Read more »

Zwan has canceled its entire world tour, due to what the band termed “family reasons” on its official website, zwan.com. The canceled tour was to start in Imola, Italy on June 15, and end at the famed Fuji Festival in Japan on January 25. Glastonbury, T In The Park, and the Witnness Festival were among the European festivals Zwan will miss. The band is touring in support of its debut album, Mary Star Of The Sea, and it features former Smashing Pumpkins members Billy Corgan on guitar and vocals and Jimmy Chamberlin on drums. Also in the band are ex-Tortoise… Read more »

The reasons why longtime underground rock act AFI signed with major label DreamWorks aren’t surprising – bigger video budgets, global distribution, press machine. However, drummer Adam Carson tells Billboard.com it’s what the band doesn’t partake in that defines the musically intense outfit. “We wanted to make sure we were in bed with a company we felt good about, to make sure there were no surprises, make sure that everyone was working for us, and we approved of the way they go about doing their work,” says Carson. “And maybe, more so than other bands, instead of taking the free drinks… Read more »

From rampaging bikers at the Rolling Stones’ infamous Altamont show in 1969 to deadly stampedes by fans of the Who and Pearl Jam, the most notorious rock concert tragedies have generally been linked to the biggest names in the business. That is, until Great White took the stage of a tiny Rhode Island nightclub Thursday night. The heavy metal “hair” band, which reached the brief apex of its career in the 1980s, will now be forever remembered for a devastating fire that stands in a class by itself as the deadliest episode in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll mayhem.… Read more »

Kelly Osbourne stoked hostilities between the Osbourne family and former Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan at the New York City area radio show, Claus Fest, in Uniondale, New York on Thursday night (December 12). Corgan and Sharon Osbourne had a tiff several years ago, after she quit as the Pumpkins manager. The feud came alive again at the Almost Acoustic Christmas in Los Angeles on December 7. At that show, Kelly’s boyfriend, Bert McCracken of the Used, allegedly tried to trip Corgan, who performed with his new band Zwan. Corgan allegedly struck back by kicking McCracken in the stomach, according… Read more »

Dashboard Confessional and Jack Johnson played acoustic, and Beck and Coldplay celebrated Christmas, but otherwise KROQ-FM’s annual Almost Acoustic Christmas was a two-day, 20-act festival all about rocking. And the sold-out event was certainly crammed with rock and roll moments, particularly the announced live debut of Audioslave (they played a secret club show the night before), and an amusing rendition of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” orchestrated by Beck and the Flaming Lips and featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba, Johnson and a horribly off-key Juliette Lewis. (Click here for photos from the show.) Audioslave were the talk… Read more »

Billy Corgan’s post-Smashing Pumpkins group Zwan has signed to Reprise and will release its debut album in late January or early February, a spokesperson confirms. The group features Corgan on guitar and vocals, former Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, former Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney, ex-Slint guitarist David Pajo, and bassist Paz Lenchantin, previously a member of A Perfect Circle. Before the release of the as-yet-untitled album, Zwan has lined up several performances at radio station-sponsored holiday concerts, as well as a Dec. 5 club date at the Joint in Las Vegas. The group will then play Dec. 11 in Boston with… Read more »

“I’m a pervert, I like watching,” Terri Nunn says, laughing, succinctly explaining Voyeur, the title of Berlin’s first album of new material in sixteen years. “There’s a song that was a bonus track on the live record [Berlin Live: Sacred and Profane] called ‘X Girl’ that had a line, “I’m the one standing on the sidelines/I’m the voyeur on your side,’ and that line really stuck with me.” With that, Nunn and Berlin are back, continuing what they started twenty years ago with the breakout singles “Sex (I’m A…)” and “Metro,” from the gold-selling debut EP Pleasure Victim. They continued… Read more »