"1979" released January 23, 1996! It is the second single from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and features loops and samples uncharacteristic of previous material. It is The Smashing Pumpkins' most successful single to date, written as a nostalgic coming of age story.
It was the last song written for Mellon Collie and it almost didn't make the album. Evolved from a demo called "Strolling", producer Flood said the song was "not good enough" and gave Corgan 24 hours to finish it or it was off the record. He finished it in just 4 hours. The next day, Flood heard it once and decided immediately to include it. Everything in the final recording except the vocals is from the same 12 hours. Corgan considered it the most personally important song on the album.
The song features a sample of Corgan's voice repeated throughout. During recording, Corgan was singing "today" as the melody line, so he and Flood decided to record him singing to a tape. The pair electronically manipulated several samples and looped them against a drumbeat, and this is the 'ooh-ahh' sound you hear at the end of every verse. Producer Alan Moulder told Tape-Op, "That's a classic Flood production: the vocal effects and the Kurzweil distortion on the drums. I think once they decided how to do it, it came together rather quickly. That was a special song."
The song was written and recorded using a 1960s-era Kimberly Bison guitar that Corgan bought for $60 at a pawn shop. Nicknamed "Kimberly Kay", this is the same 'secret weapon' guitar that was used on "Mayonaise" and "Panopticon".
"1979" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at #1 on both the US Alt Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. In Canada and Iceland it reached #2 nationally, and charted in the top 40 in at least a dozen other countries, reaching the 1996 year-end chart in four countries. It is certified Gold in the US and Italy and Silver in the UK. It was nominated for the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 1997 Grammy Awards, and was voted the #2 best SP song by Rolling Stone readers. At ~629 plays, it is the 7th most-performed song in live SP history.
https://spcodex.wiki/wiki/1979
"1979" released January 23, 1996! It is the second single from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and features loops and samples uncharacteristic of previous material. It is The Smashing Pumpkins' most successful single to date, written as a nostalgic coming of age story.
It was the last song written for Mellon Collie and it almost didn't make the album. Evolved from a demo called "Strolling", producer Flood said the song was "not good enough" and gave Corgan 24 hours to finish it or it was off the record. He finished it in just 4 hours. The next day, Flood heard it once and decided immediately to include it. Everything in the final recording except the vocals is from the same 12 hours. Corgan considered it the most personally important song on the album.
The song features a sample of Corgan's voice repeated throughout. During recording, Corgan was singing "today" as the melody line, so he and Flood decided to record him singing to a tape. The pair electronically manipulated several samples and looped them against a drumbeat, and this is the 'ooh-ahh' sound you hear at the end of every verse. Producer Alan Moulder told Tape-Op, "That's a classic Flood production: the vocal effects and the Kurzweil distortion on the drums. I think once they decided how to do it, it came together rather quickly. That was a special song."
The song was written and recorded using a 1960s-era Kimberly Bison guitar that Corgan bought for $60 at a pawn shop. Nicknamed "Kimberly Kay", this is the same 'secret weapon' guitar that was used on "Mayonaise" and "Panopticon".
"1979" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at #1 on both the US Alt Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. In Canada and Iceland it reached #2 nationally, and charted in the top 40 in at least a dozen other countries, reaching the 1996 year-end chart in four countries. It is certified Gold in the US and Italy and Silver in the UK. It was nominated for the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 1997 Grammy Awards, and was voted the #2 best SP song by Rolling Stone readers. At ~629 plays, it is the 7th most-performed song in live SP history.
https://spcodex.wiki/wiki/1979
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