HU Podcast #23: G.L.O.W. radio and video news and 20 years of Live Pumpkins
October 7th, 2008 by christags: G.L.O.W., podcast
/US/Poster%2019881005%20Metro%20Chicagoa.jpg)
It was the 20th anniversary of the 1st Smashing Pumpkins concert with all four band members, but we talked about both the old and the new this week.
Listen to the whole show (47:43)
(download)(iTunes)
This week’s topics:
Panelists
-Chris, Jason, Jill, and Andrew
News
-G.L.O.W. debuts on Q101 in Chicago. We discuss our impressions and do some lyrical interpretation. How well will it chart? (9:28)
-A video for G.L.O.W. is announced and filmed. Why do a music video now that TRL is cancelled? Who comes up with Smashing Pumpkins video concepts? Plus, Jason is waiting anxiously for the IKEA ferry, but he makes time to come up with a concept for the video anyway, and we give a shout out to our biggest fan. (8:55)
In-Depth Discussion:
-A columnist for the Washington Post accuses the current incarnation of the Pumpkins of no longer being anti-commercial. Were the Pumpkins ever anti-commercial? (10:05)
This Week in Pumpkins History
-Jimmy Chamberlin’s first performance as a Pumpkin on October 5th, 1988. We try to understand the obsession with Spiteface, and Jill gets to meet some attendees of this concert. (12:41)
Song of the Week
-There it Goes, October 5th, 1988
October 7th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Another good episode.
I disagree that G.L.O.W. will get as high as Tarantula though, simply because I think it’d be incredibly hard for a single to do well with no physical or digital way to buy the song. If it’s only being spread through the radio and a video game, it won’t be heard by all the iTunes and/or record store shoppers.
reCAPTCHA: 3:40 sprint (sounds like a Cure song)
October 8th, 2008 at 1:02 am
On Pumpkins and commercialism:
I don’t think releasing a song through a video game is equivalent to working with a major corporation to distribute music. In this case, their art becomes tied inextricably to another product. This feels like the equivalent of earning a free G.L.O.W download with the purchase of a Happy Meal. The dynamic shifts more towards product.
Obviously the playing field has changed since the band was last active, but I don’t think the charge that this is less “anti-commercial” is entirely without merit.
October 8th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Also, about the video… Is anyone else highly suspicious of Corgan’s little posse? i.e. Linda Strawberry, her friends I see popping up in photos, the band’s photographer, Strawberry’s videographer (apparently) boyfriend… Kooky “artist” types who wear socks on their hands. All smoke and no fire.
October 8th, 2008 at 6:25 am
oh dr.benway, you hit the nail on the head.