Best show of the year(so far)! Finally a Saturday night show, attendance was great. The Cameron House is so close to my place, Paul and I hung out till it was time to go and watch the rock. At the Cameron, I ran into Nom first thing in the door. Always good to see Nim, he said Flynn was considering coming(but did not, sadly). Tasha showed up with Adrian Bendle, who I haven't seen since I lived with Nim and he was traveling around on a motorcycle. There are two parts to the Cameron House, a bar in the front with some tables and room in the back with a stage and some tables. The show was at the back of the bar, and there was a private birthday in the front room. They had huge platters of delicious looking sandwiches. Paul convinced Nim to grab us some sandwiches from the party and he did!
This really was a great day. I got to see all of my favorite people. Deidra called me and I grabbed a coffee with her. Iantxted me not far from my place Dee-Dee went to take care of some things and Ian & I went for a drive. By the time we were back, Dee was finished and I got to hang out with her a bit longer, I walked her home since she lives right next door to the gym. I ran for a half hour and watched the Simpsons, good workout. I got back to my house and Ian picked me up and we went to get Colin at the airport. Once Colin was home safe Ian drove back downtown and dropped me back at my place. Mike W is in town, HOORAY! I gave Mike a call and we went to Sneaky Dee's for a beer, then we went to check the Stormalongs jam session. It's Matt Thompson's 26th birthday. I remember his 19th, that was when he got the Shlong-Bong. So being a Birthday jam, it had a very special vibe. My brother Paul was there recording, and I got to rock my scream on Kierkegaard.
When your hot, your hot. Rolling Stone magazine thinks you should check out the Superchrist video and so do I. If you are still looking for the mp3... it's right in here: superchrist mp3.
"We fought hard for the right to be in control of how our music is used, to avoid situations like this kind of crass commercialism and exploitation. Labels like EMI are no longer running the show, and we won't be bullied by those in the 'old' music business who consider every artist to be easily expendable. Those days are over." - Billy Corgan
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS have filed a lawsuit this week against Virgin Records, their former record label, for the unauthorized exploitation of the band's musical works and image as well as for devaluing the market value of its music and deceiving its fans.
Filed in the Superior Court of the State of California in Los Angeles, the suit states that Virgin Records-without the band's knowledge or permission-endorsed and sponsored a worldwide promotional marketing campaign by Amazon.com and Pepsi for both companies to promote and sell Amazon and Pepsi products for financial profit.
The suit contends that the Pumpkins-one of alternative rock's most successful artists-have vigilantly overseen their music and likeness, which "convey a message of honesty, artistic integrity and alternative non-main stream culture" and that Virgin Records has "irreparably harmed the group, their reputation and goodwill with their fans."
The Pumpkins would never have granted such authority to Virgin, or any other entity, because they govern the use of its name, likeness, and musical works in conjunction with any commercial affiliation or sponsorship. Therefore, the suit indicates "Virgin has deceived and confused the public into believing that Plaintiff is affiliated with the promotion and/or that Plaintiff itself is participating in the promotion."
The Pumpkins are demanding, as the suit states, "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."
The suit maintains that "Virgin's action, unless and until enjoined and restrained by order of this Court, will cause great and irreparable injury to Plaintiff, as it continues to falsely attribute Plaintiff's sponsorship and/or affiliation with the promotion, and continues to provide Plaintiff's musical works at a price below the market value of the works, thereby damaging Plaintiff's reputation and reducing the market value of Plaintiff's musical works."
Says Billy Corgan: "'It's a frustrating situation honestly, to be treated so poorly by a label where we had so much success. Recently, they have ignored our pleas to give our fans special editions of our old albums, telling us they weren't interested. So there is a tremendous amount of hypocrisy involved with them turning around and using us like this."
"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 Pumpkins, who last year released the gold-certified Zeitgeist album on Martha's Music/Reprise, are currently on tour in Australia. The band has created one of the most acclaimed bodies of work in music history. Formed in Chicago in 1988, they released Gish, their influential (and platinum) debut in 1991, which was followed by more platinum and multi-platinum albums including the nine-times platinum Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness and the four-times platinum Siamese Dream. The pivotal group's many hits include "Disarm," "Today," "Cherub Rock," "1979," "Tonight, Tonight" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"-songs that defined the alternative music era and continue to resonate on modern rock radio, influencing a whole new generation.
