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Old 05-25-2014, 08:18 PM   #13
themadcaplaughs
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Originally Posted by fuzzyroes View Post
I don't believe Corgan ever addressed it. I believe it came out later that Ginger was pregnant and every one kinda realized that that had been the reason behind her departure. I don't believe anything was ever said regarding Lisas departure.
He made a whole announcement about how she wanted to focus on her family and that Mark Tulin would become the interim bass player until a more permanent replacement was found. As for Lisa, he has never mentioned her specifically, but there have been videos of her in the studio with Corgan, and he has stated that starting with Teargarden, he wanted the band simply to be the four members. He also mentioned that while a keyboard player was nice when needed on a particular song, more often the keyboard player just stood there or parts had to be made for them for the sole purpose of giving the keyboard player something to do.

As for the reason why the media has not picked up on Mike and Nicole being out...well it's sad to say but as mentioned above, no one really cares. Most people lost interest when it became clear D'arcy and James were not involved with the Smashing Pumpkins anymore (or at least James; I think people would have been forgiving of a new bass player). Still, the band still got some mainstream attention and press when Jimmy was still around because it was known that Jimmy was a major component of the band's sound, and having half of the original lineup still wasn't bad. People stopped caring when Chamberlin left and Teargarden by Kaleidyscope was essentially a glorified Billy Corgan solo record. Someone earlier mentioned how Pixies got a lot of attention when they lost Kim Deal, hired Kim Shattuck, and then canned her. This was big because prior to this Pixies had ALWAYS been Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal, and David Lovering. This much change in the band's almost thirty year existence was unprecedented. I guarantee that if Paz leaves or gets kicked out there will be close to no attention because it's not new anymore. With Smashing Pumpkins, we've had lineup changes, additions, and subtractions since Jimmy was first fired in 1996. Granted, in more recent years Corgan has sped up the revolving door a little more, but the idea that everyone in the band but Corgan is essentially expendable has been well established.

Billy went on and on about how Mike and Nicole were the new incarnation of the band and inspired him to reach new artistic heights, but I think 95% of us knew it was just a matter of time before they inspired Corgan's rage. Maybe if they had made it to 2014 or 2015, or even managed to get another album out, I might have been a little more ready to believe that Smashing Pumpkins had become a real bad again, but as it is, they were essentially the same as the 2007-2008 band, they just had the experience of being called in to record parts for Oceania. As for why they don't say anything, it's because staying silent benefits them no matter what happens. If Corgan never mentions them again, people will slowly forget them but at least their legacy in the band will be untarnished. If Corgan starts trashing them (which I promise you he will within the year) then silence will just make them look like yet another group of eager musicians who were unable to please Corgan the dictator.

Last edited by themadcaplaughs : 05-25-2014 at 08:25 PM.

 
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