Lavanya Ramanathan of the Washington Post announces the upcoming visit of the Smashing Pumpkins to that city:

Who exactly are the Pumpkins these days? Only Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin continue; gone are James Iha and D’Arcy Wretzky, replaced by performers whose faces haven’t been on the cover of Rolling Stone. And gone, too, are some of the great anti-commercial notions of 1990s rock: The upcoming Pumpkins single will be released via . . . Guitar Hero.

So releasing albums via Virgin Records and videos to MTV, playing Lollapalooza, and, yes, appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone: anti-commercial. Not being on a record label and releasing a song through a video game: commercial.

If you don’t understand that, apparently you just aren’t sophisticated enough to be reading the Washington Post, are you?

Hits Daily Double reports that Depeche Mode is leaving Warner Music Group:

Depeche now joins a prestigious crew of defectors that includes AC/DC, the Eagles, Jewel, Madonna and, most recently, Nickelback, leading many to wonder who will be the next major act to exit stage right.

Time Warner’s TMZ.com has the filing (quite readable 9-page .pdf), and they summarize the suit thusly:

James Yoshinobu Iha and D’Arcy Wretzky-Brown claims [sic] in 2005, five years after the band broke up, Virgin negotiated a deal solely with frontman Billy Corgan for electronic transmissions (ringtones, download computer files, etc), without ever getting the consent of Iha or Wretzky-Brown.

The filing argues that the 2005 negotiation violated the terms of a May 11, 1998 contract between Virgin Records and the Smashing Pumpkins.

Here is today’s article from our very own Media Militiawoman.

Well, probably not. But the Smashing Pumpkins are this weekend and next playing at “V Festival” in Australia. “V” for, yes, “Virgin”, the sizable outfit that the band is suing that no longer owns Virgin Records (wtf?). And it won’t only be the stage-flanking signage that quite visibly reps for the conglomerate, as Samantha Healy reports in the Brisbane Courier-Mail:

Today [Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson] will visit the Sunshine Coast where he is building his dream Balinese-style eco retreat on Makepeace Island on the Noosa River.

The Virgin Blue spokeswoman said Sir Richard would inspect the project before jetting off to attend the V Festival on the Gold Coast.

Today’s event at Avica Resort will feature big names like the Smashing Pumpkins, Duran Duran and Queens of the Stone Age.

The lawsuit press tour continues and the interviews get longer…this afternoon, Rolling Stone posted the text of an interview with Billy focusing on music industry issues. I think the questions are timely and important, and Billy lets it all vent out. Here’s a sample:

RS’s Evan Serpick: It seems like the last decade or so, we haven’t seen many superstars emerge. Do you think it’s because of the focus on singles or the fickle market?

Billy Corgan: Number one, I think there’s just too much. I mean, how can you ask an eighteen-year-old to sort through everything that they’re presented with? Realistically, just being hot and talented and having a good single isn’t enough anymore. You really need like the extra story, like Amy Winehouse had, or a Britney freak-out. Like, Radiohead putting out a great album is not enough of a story. Radiohead putting out a free album, and blah, blah, that’s the story. So it becomes more media-driven, event-driven, than music-driven.

I mean, if the Pumpkins were coming out as a brand-new band now I think it’d be very difficult for us to be found like we were found then. There’s no MTV like what it used to be. There’s no way to focus everybody on one thing and get everybody to agree, yeah, this is really good. And sometimes things just take time. [Now] twenty-four hours is too long. Literally a person would have to be born, live, freak-out and die in one three-year cycle for it to work. It’s sad, because there’s a whole generation of music that isn’t there that should be. I mean, I’m not crazy. We should be able to sit here and talk about the fifteen, twenty great songs that came out for the past ten years. And I think we’d be hard-pressed to do that.

Thanks to Cherub Angel for the pointer.

Smashing Pumpkins fans in America’s three largest (sorry, “global”) cities may finally be able to highlight a page on their calendars. Jonathan Cohen of Billboard.com has the news straight from bandleader Billy Corgan:

After a summer break, look for the Pumpkins to return to the road in September for shows in New York, Los Angeles and its Chicago hometown.

Cohen also explains why Corgan and his Pumpkins are taking Virgin Records to court over “Pepsi Stuff”:

The suit says Virgin breached its contract with the band by using the Pumpkins in a “Pepsi Stuff” promotion without its permission. Corgan insists the group has veto power over such deals and has turned them down several times in the past. A Virgin spokesperson said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

Corgan says he has been feuding for years with Virgin over the handling of the Pumpkins’ back catalog, but that the Pepsi/Amazon.com promotion “crosses the Rubicon. You’re going to see more of this playing fast and loose with the rules, hoping they don’t get caught. At face value, it’s not a huge deal. But in terms of precedent, it is, because there will be much more of this coming.”

Read the full Billboard article for more details on the Virgin lawsuit as well as Corgan’s tentative plans to release music from the band’s archives.

“It’s another desperate attempt,” says Jimmy Chamberlin, “by an anachronistic business to generate revenue however they can, legal or illegal. They have neither the wisdom to accept their irrelevance, nor the intelligence to do something about it.” He adds: “Just goes to show that they will do about anything for money. Seems they have long forgotten how to actually ‘work’ for a dollar.”

The Smashing Pumpkins’ official site has issued a full press release with further details about the lawsuit against Virgin (read it here). The release scathingly decries Virgin’s actions as “unauthorized exploitation” which has “”irreparably harmed the group, their reputation and goodwill with their fans.”

Phew. Billy Corgan expresses his ongoing frustration with Virgin, despite years of success with the label — that’s fully expected. However, what I found interesting are the demands they’ve outlined in the suit: “a full and complete accounting of all funds received by Virgin pursuant to the Pepsi promotion” and the band is “entitled to an award of punitive damages against Virgin in an amount according to proof.”

Now, I’ve had a law-school-roommate before, but I’m not going to event try and pretend to understand that one. With bad publicity around Virgin and Pepsi as a result of this lawsuit, what will the gains be for the promotion? How do suits of these nature work? Perhaps there is a HU reader or two out there that can posit some insight into this? I eagerly await comments.

For the *second time in a week,* fans of PerezHilton.com were treated to the Smashing Pumpkins gracing its blogroll. In today’s article, “Suing Mad,” Perez writes:

Does anyone even care about the Smashing Pumpkins anymore???

Well, check out the comments feed, folks. It appears they do. The post has only been up for a few hours and already there are 200+ comments praising the band for its contributions. Here are some choice thoughts from the site:

• mcdave71 says: “Well Smashing Pumpkins have more integrity than you… “
• Jen says: “I LOOOOOOOOVE Smashing Pumpkins! The music is classic since I grew up listening to it and Billy Corgan’s voice just brings out emotion in myself. So YES, Perez, I care and I don’t think I am the only one.”
• mandi says: “this is so hilarious. perez thinks he’s so cool by knowing up and comers, but he knows nothing of the music that probably shaped all these new losers. he did that post about how cool it was that radiohead was releasing their album online, and then posts later was like “has radiohead even done anything in 10 years?” he’s such a dumb fuck sometimes. billy corgan will always be cooler and more relevant than perez fucking hilton.”
• Ms. D says: “SP will always be relevant, especially in the landscape of modern music. Their songs will continue to resonate with people who seek out quality and truth through music. It’s a shame that, because they may not be on the current charts, an entire generation is willing eschew them based on perceived popularity.”
• jyc says: “Perez - its a miracle you are able to retain any credibility when talking about music when you make ignorant comments like that about trailblazing musicians like the pumpkins or radiohead, who still have more relevance in todays music industry than any one hit wonder up and comer you tout on here. i look forward to the day when shallow people turn on you, the way you turn on real musicians, and start asking the question “Does anyone still care about Perez Hilton?”

Affirmation comes from unexpected places. :)

Who says the Pumpkins aren’t relevant? Once they call in the lawyers, they’ve got juice!

This is the second time the Pumpkins have made Drudge, the first having been upon the release of Machina II (which predates the “Drudge Report Archives” site).

This morning brings news over the AP wire that the Smashing Pumpkins are suing their former label, Virgin Records, claiming it “has illegally used their name and music in promotional deals that hurt the band’s credibility with fans.” According to the lawsuit, Virgin’s use of the band in a “Pepsi Stuff” promotion with Amazon.com and Pepsi threatens their reputation for “artistic integrity.” The crux of the lawsuit seems to hinge on the fact that while Virgin retains the rights to sell digital downloads of Virgin released Pumpkins material, they do not have the rights to use the band’s materials in promotions with outside products.

This would seem to be a pretty straightforward case and no doubt we here at HU.com will be watching this story as it develops…

Netphoria.org poster Kahlo points us to a new album by former Pumpkin pianist and Corgan collaborator Mike Garson.

Conversations with My Family will appear in stores on April 8 on fledgling imprint Resonance Records, but limited-edition signed copies are available now through Garson’s site. And if you want to perform the new tunes yourself (good luck!), the sheet music may be available here (though at the moment, I can’t get the page to load).

On the eve of its release of Fresh Cuts Vol. 2 (featuring “Superchrist”), Guitar Center unveils a new interview with Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin. Here’s a taste:

GC: You guys have worked with many, many producers. How involved in the process of arrangements, tracking the song, producing, do you let someone come into your space to do that?

Corgan: Honestly, not so much anymore. And I don’t think it’s because we don’t want advice. We actually do want advice, but feel there are very few people that think about music the way we do. And I know that sounds incredibly pretentious, but we have a sort of philosophy. It’s like it’s asking them to think about it a totally different way, and most producers these days, honestly, they’re Pro Tools producers. They don’t think in terms of getting a great band performance or getting a great band sound. They think in terms of creating this massive wall of sound. Doesn’t matter that the band can’t play those parts.

Also: Billy affirms that the Pumpkins are now “out of a label deal – totally free agents.”

Wikipedia is always being edited, and thus there is a good chance that any given error will eventually be discovered and corrected — that is, to be discovered and corrected on the Wikipedia website, wikipedia.org. However, since Wikipedia content can be copied freely, snapshots of Wikipedia entries are often taken and posted by third-party content providers. Therefore, any given Wikipedia error will likely continue to exist, somewhere on the Internet, indefinitely (and, obviously, long after it has been corrected on the Wikipedia website itself).

For example, this sentence once was part of the Wikipedia entry for the Smashing Pumpkins:

To give them indie credibility, Virgin matched the band with Sonic Youth producer Butch Vig and released their 1991 debut album Gish on Virgin subsidiary label Caroline Records.

The first part of this sentence seems to have been entirely made up, which probably explains why it is no longer part of the entry on Wikipedia’s site.* Vig says on Vieuphoria: “The first thing I worked with [Smashing Pumpkins] on was a Sub Pop single. Jonathan [Poneman] from Sub Pop called me up and said, ‘There’s this band from Chicago that is awesome and you’ve gotta work with them.’” Vig then produced the Pumpkins’ single “Tristessa”, which Sub Pop released in December 1990. Shortly thereafter, the Pumpkins signed with Caroline. Vig first produced Sonic Youth in March 1992.

However, you can still find the erroneous sentence today on a variety of third-party sites that copied the Wikipedia entry at that time. A lot of these sites are weird and spammy, but they do find their way into search results. My guess is that they still get read, and believed, fairly often.

*It doesn’t explain, however, how the sentence came to be there in the first place. That is not the subject of this post, but, generally speaking, “where does this stuff come from?” is one of the driving questions behind this blog…