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Corgan, whose father is a guitarist, grew up in a Chicago suburb and moved to Florida at age 19 as leader of a goth band, the Marked. Returning home, he formed Smashing Pumpkins, at first simply a duo (D�arcy, Corgan, and a drum machine). A local-label single, "I Am One," led to the release of "Tristessa" on Sub Pop; in 1991, the band�s debut album, with Butch Vig producing, became a college-radio favorite, eventually selling more than 350,000 copies (and going gold in 1994). The major-label followup fared even better, debuting at #10 in 1993 and making the group alternative-rock stars. Emphasizing both the virtuosic interplay of Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain and Corgan�s confessional lyrics, the Pumpkins employed Mellotron and strings and multiple guitar parts on Siamese Dream and continued to edge closer to progressive rock than to punk or grunge. Pisces Iscariot (#4,1994), a compillation of earlier recordings, was the Pumpkins� version of Nirvana�s Incesticide. Formed 1989, Chicago, Illinois
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Smashing Pumpkins� music is distinguished from most other grunge rock in its incorporation of the high production values, ornate arrangements, and melodicism of such Seventies bands as Boston and ELO.
