“Flood said, ‘Finish the song or it’s off the record’”: the near-miss story of Smashing Pumpkins’ classic hit 1979

Smashing Pumpkins in 1993
(Image credit: Paul Bergen/Redferns)

1979 was a song that sent the Smashing Pumpkins into a whole new realm, one that joined the worlds of alt-rock, mainsteam pop and 80s electronic grooves, but it nearly never was. As documented in the sleeve notes to the 2012 deluxe box set edition of the Chicago quartet’s third album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, the song was almost discarded and it was down to an ultimatum from producer Flood that it finally found it’s form.

Frontman and band leader Billy Corgan explains that it went through numerous, less successful incarnations to get there. “Every time we tried to play it, it sounded like The Rolling Stones – and not a good way,” he says in the sleeve notes. “It came out too bluesy. We were running out of time. Finally, Flood said, “what’s going on with this song? Tomorrow is D-Day, we either finish this song or it’s off the record’.”

Corgan says that he went home that night, finished the lyrics and came in the next day with a demo version that was remarkably close to the finished song – this take can be heard on disc one of box set’s bonus material, titled 1979 (Sadlands demo)

You may like

“Flood said, ‘I love it. Now make it happen’,” Corgan says. “We went in the room and cut it one day. There are all sorts of weird influences on that track: there’s a little Can, obviously some Europop, New Order, there’s even something Sonic Youth-y in the riff. And Flood added that percolating Tangerine Dream thing in the back too. There’s all sorts of weird little pieces of influence that somehow come together and create one of those beautiful synchronicities where everything lined up perfectly.”

It was the last song the Pumpkins recorded for their 1995 double-disc opus, the record that made them 90s megastars. 1979 was released as Mellon Collie...'s second single in January 1996, becoming one of the Pumpkins’ most successful hits. Praise be to Flood for cracking the whip. Watch the video for 1979 below.

Niall Doherty

Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleagues Ted Kessler and Chris Catchpole. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more. Radiohead was only for eight minutes but he still counts it.

Read more
Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan live in 2000
“It has pissed me off over and over again through the years that most fans who are real fans don’t really get the record”: the story of the album that was meant to be Smashing Pumpkins' fantastic farewell until it all went wrong
Billy Corgan in the video for Smashing Pumpkins' Stand Inside Your Love
“It’s one of the only love songs I’ve ever written”: inside Stand Inside Your Love, the last classic Smashing Pumpkins single
Smashing Pumpkins in 1993.
The 10 best Smashing Pumpkins B-sides and outtakes
Depeche Mode in the late 80s
“I was dead against it… I have to say I was sulking for no reason”: the Depeche Mode classic that Martin Gore was opposed to, despite the fact he wrote it
Blink-182 in 1999
“We have a lot of cool songs in Blink, it’s weird to me that’s the one!”: Blink-182 on the making of the “pretty little ballad” that became their biggest ever hit
Radiohead in 1995
“I was sitting in the studio, thinking, ‘I don’t think we can pull this together, we’re just going to have to split up’”: how Radiohead pulled themselves out of the depths to make The Bends
Latest in
Steven Wilson in 2015 and Playboi Carti in 2025
“I’ve been touring around indie record stores, and I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s even heard of Playboi Carti”: Steven Wilson comments on chart battle with superstar rapper
Hayley Williams performing with Paramore in 2024 and Chino Moreno performing with Deftones in 2024
Watch Paramore’s Hayley Williams join Deftones to sing Minerva in Nashville
Gong
Daevid Allen's final album with Gong to be reissued
Rick Astley and Rick Wakeman
“Rick Wakeman’s solo albums were just brilliant… when I heard he was doing Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace, I bought 12 tickets”: Prog is the reason Rick Astley became a singer
Ozzy Osbourne, Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Jim Morrison and Joe Strummer onstage
The greatest gig I've ever seen: 24 writers pick the most memorable live show of their lives
Marillion in 1984
From debauched prog revivalists to pioneers of the internet age: The Marillion albums you should definitely listen to
Latest in Features
Rick Astley and Rick Wakeman
“Rick Wakeman’s solo albums were just brilliant… when I heard he was doing Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace, I bought 12 tickets”: Prog is the reason Rick Astley became a singer
Ozzy Osbourne, Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Jim Morrison and Joe Strummer onstage
The greatest gig I've ever seen: 24 writers pick the most memorable live show of their lives
Marillion in 1984
From debauched prog revivalists to pioneers of the internet age: The Marillion albums you should definitely listen to
Mogwai
“The concept of cool and uncool is completely gone, which is good and bad… people are unashamedly listening to Rick Astley. You’ve got to draw a line somewhere!” Mogwai and the making of prog-curious album The Bad Fire
The Mars Volta
“My totalitarian rule might not be cool, but at least we’ve made interesting records. At least we polarise people”: It took The Mars Volta three years and several arguments to make Noctourniquet
Alice Cooper headshot
What Alice Cooper has in common with Hannibal Lecter: Shock rock's foremost practising Christian on snakes, guns, alcohol and Bible study