What is your earliest memory of the band?

[Ram27]

not when you got into the band, rather -- wisps of younger times when maybe 1979 was playing on the radio or the news was on about them breaking up. vague memories you later realized were about SP

for some reason i have a memory of my father playing me obscured, and corgan's vocals were imprinted on my brain at some point before i got into the band at 13. *out in space, days away...*. no idea why pisces, no idea why obscured.

[Shallowed]

idk probably the world is a vampire or rat in a cage or somethin

[Spaldz]

My friend played me The Everlasting Gaze video on MTV2. I didn't really enjoy it.

About a week later we were in town and he bought the Machina album. We went back to his and he put it in the CD player and pressed skip on the first song. Raindrops + Sunshowers came on and the first notes just blew my mind. I'd never heard anything like it before.

Got picked up by my mum later that day and told her to drive me back to town where I promptly bought the album. The rest is history

[Unicycle]

Asking my dad to play the "vampire song" on road trips to the coast.

[reprise85]

I don't remember exactly the first time I saw the BWBW video, but it was definitely that. I thought they were just so cool and the song was perfect for me at the time. Although that's kinda weird since I was 10.

[smashingjj]

Tonight tonight on the radioooooo

[slunken]

zero on my local radio station that was 45+ miles away that would only come in on my dad's truck

[slunken]

then it was a pool party with two rich girls that actually had the 2xCD

[Oklahoma Sexual]

Today on the radio, but also going to this girl's house in high school who was dating mt best friend. She was playing either soma or mayo after I learned they were having sex. Naturally, I associated SP with being cool

[slunken]

what else: i remember being a freshman and the cooler older alt kids adopted me so at a sleep-over i saw vieuphoria and it was a running joke that billy sounds he's singing "gimme gimme gimme CHOCOLATE"

[slunken]

man that is super stupid i love it

philip k dick was right about everything

[slunken]

i got siamese dream and pisces via trade with a kid that was more into pantera and nirvana so i exchanged for this wimpy music

[slunken]

adore was the first album i bought on release day

my two-grades-older gf drove me and another couple to a festival to see them and we listened to adore in the car. no wonder she never really let me finger her that much. that was fucking brutal now that i think about it.

[slunken]

i mean no wonder she never let me finger her. i played adore and she was into WWF. lol

[slunken]

i slipped it in a couple times though, don't worry boys.

[slunken]

guy like me?

[eviltimeban]

December 1992, some girl's flat. They were playing tapes on the stereo and Gish was on, I can remember hearing Rhinoceros and I can clearly remember Snail. I asked them the name of the band.

A week later I hear Snail again on the radio. Intrigued!

Saw a very small photo of them in Melody Maker. Odd looking! Is the singer a girl?

Bought Lull on CD a week after that. And that was it, I was on the way.

[toase]

tonight tonight video

[paranoid]

I remember when the Today video was getting played constantly on MTV, and thinking James Iha was that MTV news lady Tabitha Soren. and thinking it was funny that a band was using Tabitha Soren in their music video.

[cork_soaker]

Originally Posted by eviltimeban

December 1992, some girl's flat.

nag champa visibly emanating from the wall hangings

[slunken]

the first time i saw SP on TV my friends christian mom told us to "be careful"

i saw the tonite video b/w until it sleeps b/w singled out

[slunken]

then i knew i was a real head

[reprise85]

I saw SP in Nov 1996 as well and it blew my mind. I was 11 and it was at what was then called Miami Arena. We had fairly close seats (but not floor seats). I had seen Billy Joel and Elton John before at what was then Joe Robbie Stadium a few years before, but never something like this.

I am not sure which albums I had by this time, but I had never really gotten into the back half of MCIS, but I knew after this I would. They had some trippy ass shit going on during either Porcelina or Ruby or both and I remember being so utterly overwhelmed at how awesome it was.

It was on a Sunday and my dad made us leave during Silverfuck and I told him I hated him

first thing i bought on release day was TAFH at a Borders I later worked at. They had them stacked on the floor by a display in a triangle.

I also remember getting SD and realizing I recognized some of the songs

Actually, now that I think about it I had a walkman I used extensively during the summer going into 6th grade which was in 1996 so I definitely had SD and Gish by that point. I was on buses a lot at summer camp and brought tons of batteries with me and listened almost exclusively to SD. I think I got PI last but not sure.

[Glopaiswe]

I have a vague memory of seeing the MCIS album cover on a local music chart TV program. Sometimes they'd put on a music video from one of the albums as they went along. But most often they'd just mention the artist+album name, show the album cover and a play a few seconds of one of the singles before moving on to the next album in the weekly top album chart.

I remember thinking the album cover was weird, and the song snippet they played was heavy and scary as hell. So it was probably BWBW or Zero. Not sure of the year, most likely early 1996.

My big sis was a fan of the band by the time Adore came out, so eventually I got introduced to them thanks to her. Then by the time Machina came out, I was a big fan as well, even though I was 10

[T&T]

in grade four a classmate (who would steal his sisters music tapes) brought gish to school and i listened to it on headphones. blew my tiny 9 year old mind. I was really into music, grew up with my dad listening to Pink Floyed, and my mother classical music. But nothing I had heard sounded like that. The production and guitars were AMAZING and immersive. I loved it. I listened to it at lunch time all week until he had to return the tape. and then the band disappeared IIRC I thought they were called "smushing smashing".
I started tuning into the radio when disarm was in high circulation. I recognized billy's voice, but the "classical" cello music didn't fit with my memory of that cassette. I used to call the radio station every day to ask for the "I used to be a little boy" song. One time the DJ even recorded a little clip of me requesting it to play on air. I remember hating hearing my voice on the radio, but the DJ was nice about the 'kid that calls in', and nicely corrected my request naming the band - and offered to play their new single "Rocket". and that's when it all clicked. Smushing smashing = smashing pumpkins. they ARE the amazing guitar rock band. AND they do classical cello music.
NICE.
Now that I knew the name of the band, I bugged everyone to find someone with a cassette to dub. By the time I did, PI had come out and I got that as as gift from a friend. I spent all my allowance on getting SD, GISH, Peel sessions, all the singles. I tried to track down all the releases avaliable. I was a rabid fan at 13 - It was nuts, it was fun, they were a band worth investing in. When MCIS came out they were a band that just kept giving.

[thedeadofnight]

2007, I was 11 and heard Today on the radio and was just mesmerised at the guitar sound and vocals. Afterwards, the DJ just said "Smashing Pumpkins are back with the new album Zeitgeist", my mom had obviously heard of the band and said she'd look out for the CD as she worked beside a HMV. Soon after that I got Zeitgeist and was disappointed Today wasn't on there but I did like some stuff. Bought the Greatest Hits about a week later, found Today and I was on my way.

[run2pee]

Can remember one fine evening hearing tonite tonite playing on the radio at fantastic sams while i was getting one of these:

https://menhairstylesworld.com/wp-co...19/05/19.-.jpg

Must have been like spring ‘96. And i was like who is this utter goblin that they let sing over this unstoppable soundscape? Then (or maybe this was before that) my parents were watching the Grammys or some other music awards show and i could hear 1979 playing live, from down the hall where i sat in my bedroom playing earthbound on my Super Nintendo. And my ears perked up and i felt feelings in my parts and started down the hall to see. As we watched, my dad scoffed, “you can’t even understand any of the words!”

Then my dad got really serious about how he was probably the seventh prophet and began his campaign of relentlessly bullying and shaming me until i abandoned all my video games, fantasy books, and rock and roll, and threw myself wholly into his little mormon-adjacent apocalypse cult that worshipped him and so he was like my god for that time period and i was not allowed to investigate these scintillating sounds i’d heard, because SP was like the worst satanic music there was

Even turned down an invitation from a schoolmate to go see the machina tour, and he was like “aw man, but they’re breaking up this is the last chance to see em!” And i remember the sadness in his eyes, since he knew i liked them too, but he knew i couldnt let myself go b/c i was off on some super secret religious mission. One of my greatest regrets to this day

So, thanks dad! But oops: joke’s on u now, b/c just look at me go, living on this god damn board for the wickedest band alive!!!!!!!!!!

[House of Bread]

I remember seeing the Today video and thinking it was kind of cool, but all the people making out made me feel weird. However, when Rocket was released, that song really shook me. Fell in love immediately. Then I heard Cherub Rock on the radio and it was all fucking over. Got SD on cassette and never looked back.

[House of Bread]

...I started looking back around '05

[Big Truck05]

I stayed home from school because I had a huge zit.

I never missed school.

Down and depressed, I was watching MTV and "Today" came on.

It changed my life.

True story.