He Even Looks Like Humpty Dumpty

Someone desperately needs to put together a parody of Billy Corgan's full-page ad in today's Tribune, in which he announced to the world that he wants to put the Smashing Pumpkins back together again.

A commenter on Chicagoist's story astutely points out:

Doesn't the full-page ad come on the heels of his interview in Sunday's Sun-Times where he basically said no amount of money would bring the Pumpkins back together?

Good point. Sound Opinions should be fun tonight.

Then there's Chicagomusik, which helpfully translates the whole ad into "Hey! Me! Me! Look at me! Hey! Guys! Over here! Remember me? It's Billy! Guys? Hey!"

Generally, I like the notion of older "alternative" rock bands keeping at it, because there was a nasty and pervasive bit of agism in the "active rock" format across the board. Specifically, Corgan comes across remarkably self-absorbed here. There's just no getting around it.

I'm not just being bitter because I never got to audition for the band back when Jimmy Chamberlin was temporarily forced out. Although Chamberlin has seemed pretty happy with his new musical direction, so I have to wonder if he'd come back to the fold. And this is the guy in the band that Corgan didn't lay into after their "final" show. James and D'Arcy -- if Billy's even talking about the original lineup and not the final one -- are a different matter entirely.