pumpkins and me
you know what that bold title means... a special blog about one topic. today, ill talk about how the pumpkins came from being just a blip on my musical radar to being my favorite and most obsessed over band. also, many major parts in my pumpkins story will be explained. so gather 'round, kiddies.
ok, lets start from the beginning. my first ever contact with the pumpkins is when i went on vacation with my family to daytona beach, i think it was the summer before high school, or maybe 8th grade. me and b watched mtv, hoping to see some good black videos, since we both listened to b96 back then. a couple videos that i remember seeing a lot from then were "i swear" by all 4 one (who i hated) and "sweet potato pie" from domino (which i liked). anyways, every so often, i would see this video with these kids building a rocket, then flying to some other planet, where they saw the smashing pumpkins as old people playing. i thought it was a cool video, but i didnt like white music back then, so i didnt think much of it after a while.
fast forward to high school (yes, a whole year). i think it was freshman year, where i started listening to q101, when it was good (remind me to tell you guys about how i got started with white music). a bunch of pumpkins songs i liked, such as cherub rock and today were played a lot on the radio, but i just thought of them as another song i liked. then, when bullet with butterfly wings came out (sophomore year i think), i was obsessed with that song. every day i would listen to top 5 at 5 on q101 to hear it, because it would always be #1. it was number one for like 3 weeks, and finally unseated by "wonderwall" by oasis, bumping "bullet" to #2. i remember that day clearly. i was pissed, and having "wonderwall" (or was it champagne supernova) beating it was like salting the wound. anyways, then "1979" came out next, i think. i was like, "what the hell is this?". i hated that song (yes blasphemy), probably because i wasnt used to it. now, i think the many styles of the pumpkins is what makes them so good. anyways, after that, i kinda ignored the pumpkins for a while.
ok fast forward to sophomore year in college. i see the video for everlasting gaze. "hey, thats that girl from hole. wow, shes hot. oh yeah, she replaced d'arcy." then i look up pumpkins to see more info about her. then i started downloading some pumpkins mp3s, cause i didnt have any on my comp. songs like today, cherub rock, etc. i forgot how good those songs were. so then i tapped into the huge online pumpkins community. the main reason i started liking them was because of melissa auf der maur. i started following them more for a couple weeks. then, i find out the pumpkins were doing this tour where they didnt announce the date untile like a week before. guess what, somehow i found out champaign was one of the dates. YAY, i get to see melissa auf der maur in person! so me and vic wait in line on a friday night from 11 pm at night to noon the next day and got tickets to the show on sunday. (ps, i was glad vic was there, i wouldve gone nuts) it was very cold, but oh well, i was in college, i didnt have anything to do. also, the pumpkins were doing an in-store signing at record service (indie record store), so me, vic, and chinners waited in line at record service starting at 8am (signing at 5pm). then, at about 9am, billy shows up and takes everyone to IHOP. we took over the whole restaurant and ate (billy paid) and listened to him talk. (of course everyone else just orders juice, and me, vic, and chinners order like omelettes). billy had eggs, pancakes, and sausage or something. with ketchup. so that was very cool. and, we get on a list where we dont have to wait in line for the rest of the day. yay! so then we come back later and get stuff signed. first was melissa:
me: hi, i really liked you in hole.
her: well, im ever better with the pumpkins! (smiles)
me: laughs
then i got pushed past james, so i didnt talk to him. then, i got to jimmy. the guy in front of me talked to billy for like 3 minutes, so i was kinda waiting around, trying to think of something to say:
me: hi, im glad youre back with the pumpkins.
him: thanks. its good to be back.
interesting, isnt it. then, i get to billy. i had all this stuff that i wanted to say, like how i like his music, but this is what i said:
me: .............um, thanks for buying breakfast today.
him: no problem
nice. so they weren't very interesting conversations, but they are all nice people, which i think is important in a band. then we went back to isr right before we went to go to the canopy. we offered dudo our extra ticket, but he didnt feel like it or he had hw or something (big mistake dudo). he also couldve went to IHOP with us too. if he went, i bet he'd be a big pumpkins fan now.
anyways, the show was unbelievable. it still rivals the pumpkins' final show at the metro for me. of course, we watched it from melissa's side. it was the point where the pumpkins changed from being a band that the very hot melissa was in to this awesome band that played incredible music (that the very hot melissa was in). after that, i got every pumpkins cd within a span of about 6 months. which is very short considering i had no money back then.
fast forward to winter of junior year. i find out the pumpkins are going to play their last shows at the uc and the metro (announced the week before). i call chico and say "we're going". he says "ok", since in the summer we always said we were going to see the pumpkins last show. so basically, living near chicago paid off huge for me. so i go to chicago friday after school, pick up chico, eat sushi with him and oiy (tm always has to eat sushi), then go to the uc to camp out at about 8 pm. and my parents didnt know, since they probably wouldnt like me spending the night on pavement outside in the west side of chicago. we get our tickets. yay. oh yeah, one interesting thing from that night was seeing 20 black homeless guys get tossed out of line by the police because they cut in line (buying tix for scalpers). anyways, then a month later or so we went to see the show at the uc, which had an awesome set, and then the metro a few days later, which was even more awesome. they played for four hours. it was good. anyways, this is just a (relatively) short summary of my experience with the pumpkins, and i just by writing this, it gave me a chance to relive those moments. ah. pumpkins are good.
posted by mcpheeny 12:14 AM
hello, here is a short blog to tide you over. i have a couple good blog ideas coming up, but i dont have time today to do them. so here:
first of all, thanks to dennis and his parents for holding a barbeque in g-view. it was good, and good seeing everyone. hopefully i will be able to visit all of you that are going to the big u of i again. except for b.
anyways, yesterday when i was driving home from work, i was doing my usual station surfing. i heard the last half of 1979 by pumpkins on queer101, which included my favorite part, when the music speeds up and he goes "faaaaaster than... the spppeeeee.speeeed of sound..., etc." so then i turn to 94.7, which is playing bullet with butterfly wings. after this song is over, i turn to 96.7, where after the song that was playing ends, "today" started, which took me right up to when i pulled up to my driveway. "today" is a good song to listen to coming home from work. if you hear it going to work, you'd probably get pissed and shut it off. anyways, its hard to find those radio miracles nowadays, and i thought i would document it.
also, today came the best news i've heard in a long time. STEVE STONE is back. yes, steve stone, the best color man i've ever heard is coming back. he will dull the searing pain that is chip caray's voice in my ears. now the cubs will start being good again. wait, i mean: now the cubs will start being good. can't wait till next season, when undoubtedly steve stone will be making many corrections to chip's ridiculous comments. also, it never fails to hear him say "now here's a good place to see a strike 'em out, throw 'em out" and seeing it happen on the next pitch. him and pat foley (blackhawks) are my favorite sports announcers.
ok laters.
posted by mcpheeny 11:53 PM