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Neonatology on the Web: Silverman 1979 neonatology.org | - Yoga Teacher Trainer since... bmswc.com | CBWCHC -- Year 1979 cbwchc.org | & young adults in England, 1979?2003 annieappleseedproject.org |
"1979" is a song by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released in 1996 as the second single from their third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, "1979" was written by frontman Billy Corgan, and features loops and samples that were uncharacteristic of previous Smashing Pumpkins songs.[1] The song was popular with critics and fans; Allmusic's Amy Hanson called it a "somewhat surprising hit".[2] The song was nominated for the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammy Awards, and won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video.
[edit] Background and musicAccording to statements in interviews, Corgan worked nonstop after the Siamese Dream tour and wrote about 56 songs for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,[3] the last of which was "1979". As the Mellon Collie sessions came to a conclusion, "1979" was just a couple of chord changes and a snippet of a melody without words. When the time came to choose the songs that were to appear on the album, producer Flood said that "1979" was "not good enough" and wanted to drop it from the record. This, however, inspired Corgan to finish it in four hours. The next day, Flood heard "1979" once and decided immediately to put it on the album.[1] Corgan considers "1979" the most personally important song on Mellon Collie.[4] The song features a sample of Corgan's voice repeated throughout. During recording, Corgan was singing "ooh" 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.[5] [edit] Reception"1979" is the Smashing Pumpkins' highest-charting single, reaching number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and on the Modern Rock Tracks charts. It peaked at number fifty-four on the U.S. Hot Digital Songs in 2005, nine years after first being released. The song was nominated for the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammy Awards. In a 1996 Spin interview, Corgan indicated that "1979" was probably the only indication he had for what the next Pumpkins album would sound like, "something that combines technology, and a rock sensibility, and pop, and whatever, and hopefully clicks. Between Bullet with Butterfly Wings and 1979 you have the bookends of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. You've literally the end of the rock thing, and the beginning of the new thing".[6] [edit] Music videoThe music video for "1979" was directed by the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who had previously directed the music video for "Rocket". Originally, the band approached another director (possibly Spike Jonze[1]) to film the video for "1979". His idea was that all the band members were residents in an alien hotel and they were all going to have specially made alien-elephant masks. This video would have cost over a million dollars.[7] The video follows a day in the life of disaffected suburban teenagers driving around in a Dodge Charger. It is based on a concept Corgan created, featuring an idealized version of teenage life, while also trying to capture the feeling of being bored as a teenager. Originally, Corgan wanted a scene of violence, in which the convenience store was trashed by the teenagers at the end of the video, but Dayton and Faris convinced him to go for something more tame. The band members had bit parts in the video; James Iha appears as a convenience store clerk, D'arcy Wretzky as an irate neighbour, and Jimmy Chamberlin as a policeman. Band manager "Gooch" plays Jimmy's partner.[7] Upon finishing the video shoot, the band flew to New York to perform. However, all tapes of the footage were accidentally left sitting on top of a car, and were lost as the driver departed. The group later flew back to reshoot the entire video again.[7]. The "1979" video was highly acclaimed. It won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video in 1996. It was one of Canadian cable television music channel MuchMusic's Countdown number-one videos of 1996. Billy Corgan considers it the Pumpkins' best video,[7] calling it "the closest we've ever come to realizing everything we wanted."[1] [edit] Track listing[edit] Single track listing
[edit] 1979 Mixes single track listing
Tracks 1, 2 and 4 are remixed by Roli Mosimann. Track 3 is remixed by Moby.[10] [edit] Chart positions
[edit] References
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