The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, the band has undergone several line-up changes since their reunion in 2006, with Corgan being the sole constant member since its inception. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, and Iha.
Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwide success over time, with the success of platinum performers Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Devo, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Phil Collins, OMD, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz, the Sex Pistols, and Mike Oldfield among others, meaning that by the time it was sold, it was regarded as a major label, alongside other large international independents such as A&M and Island Records.
Gish is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on May 28, 1991 through Caroline Records. The album was produced by Butch Vig and frontman Billy Corgan, with the latter describing Gish as a "very spiritual album" and "an album about spiritual ascension".
Siamese Dream is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 27, 1993, by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Butch Vig and frontman Billy Corgan. Despite its recording sessions being fraught with difficulties and tensions, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200, and was eventually certified 4× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with the album selling over six million copies worldwide, catapulting the Smashing Pumpkins to mainstream success and cementing them as a significant group in alternative music.
Chrysalis Records is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Agency.
Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label released the work of American punk rock, thrash metal and new wave music bands. Caroline had a number of subsidiary labels, including Astralwerks, Gyroscope, Caroline Blue Plate, Beat the World, Scamp and Passenger. In 2013, the brand was relaunched by Universal Music via the Capitol Music Group.
"Today" is a song by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, written by lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan. The song, though seemingly upbeat, contains dark lyrics; Corgan wrote the song about a day in which he was having suicidal thoughts. The contrast between the grim subject matter of the song and the soft instrumental part during the verses, coupled with use of irony in the lyrics, left many listeners unaware of the song's tale of depression and desperation. The song alternates between quiet, dreamy verses and loud choruses with layered, distorted guitars.
McAlmont & Butler are an English rock/soul music duo, comprising singer David McAlmont and guitarist Bernard Butler.
A Storm in Heaven is the debut studio album by the English rock band Verve, later the Verve, released on 21 June 1993 on Hut Records. The band had formed between school friends vocalist Richard Ashcroft, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury, with guitarist Nick McCabe joining shortly after. After a show in London, they signed to the Virgin Records imprint Hut Records in 1991, which released their first three singles in 1992. Following the appointment of the company Savage and Best as their management, the band recorded their debut album at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall with producer John Leckie. Referred to mainly as a psychedelic album, A Storm in Heaven was largely written in the studio.
David Irving McAlmont is a British vocalist, essayist and art historian. He came to prominence in the 1990s as a singer, particularly through his collaboration with Bernard Butler. In the 2010s he returned to academia, working with the University of Leicester and the Architectural Association School of Architecture.
Drop Nineteens is an American shoegaze band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1990. The band was formed by Boston University classmates Greg Ackell and Chris Roof (drums), who recruited Paula Kelley, Motohiro Yasue (guitar) and Steve Zimmerman (bass). Ackell noted that the band was "the American outlier in a largely British scene."
Constantinople Records was an independent record label created by Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. Little is known about the label and no official website or company exists. The US Patent Office's website listed the label as being trademarked by Corgan. When word of the label was made public, a domain name was registered but no website ever appeared. After one year the URL had expired.
Virgin Music, known as Virgin Music Label & Artist Services until 2022 and originally as Caroline Distribution, is a music distributor of independent artists and record labels. Virgin Music operates as a subsidiary of Virgin Music Group, and is owned by Universal Music Group. The company focuses on the distribution of new or emerging partners. Virgin Music has its operation in United States, with its flagship operating in Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and across Latin America.
Thieves was a British pop duo active during the early 1990s. It was most notable for being the band on which both members – singer David McAlmont and multi-instrumentalist/producer Saul Freeman – based their subsequent musical careers.
This is the discography of Marianne Faithfull, an English singer and actress.
Revolver were a London-based guitar band in existence from 1990 until 1994, comprising Mat Flint (guitar/vocals), Hamish Brown (bass) and Nick Dewey (drums). Flint and Dewey had been in school bands together, and when the two moved to London in the autumn of 1990 met Brown who completed the line-up.
Vernon Yard Recordings was an independent label owned by Virgin Records. Vernon Yard is a small mews off the Portobello Road in Notting Hill. Although Virgin owned a controlling interest in the label, they let Vernon Yard operate as a traditional indie, and therefore very few Vernon Yard releases were distributed by Virgin. In fact, Vernon Yard used many different distributors throughout its run, primarily the aforementioned Caroline, but also competing major label Capitol Records and other willing distributors. The label had a strong relationship with Virgin's British indie, Hut Records, importing Hut bands into the US, and sending Vernon Yard-signed acts over to the UK for release on Hut.
Sumerian Records is an American record label based in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. The label was founded in 2006 by Ash Avildsen. They have signed artists such as Black Veil Brides, Crosses, Poppy, Bad Omens, Animals As Leaders, and I See Stars. In early 2022, Sumerian acquired Behemoth Entertainment, a comic book and video game publisher, in order to increase their merchandise options and further expand the brand.
An independent record label is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented by trade associations in their country or region, which in turn are represented by the international trade body, the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN).
