The Smashing Pumpkins: 1979

[V] rewind to 1979 with Kyle Linahan

1979 was released as a single in 1996, from the album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (an album Billy Corgan also described as The Wall for Gen X-ers). Despite his delusions, the album remains an important link in the chain of this band’s history. 1979 was directed by the team of Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris who had previously also directed The Smashing Pumpkins’ video for Rocket. Corgan, being the control freak he is, was also frequently involved with the conception of his videos and has often said that he would bring this team a dark idea and they would often soften the blow. The video for 1979 follows a day in the life of a group of disaffected suburban teenagers, focusing on middle-American culture and the experience of teen angst and boredom. Apart from Corgan appearing throughout the video in the backseat of a car, the other band members have small cameos too. James Iha appears as a convenience store clerk, D’arcy Wretzky as an irate neighbour, Jimmy Chamberlain as a policeman, and all three of them perform together as the band in the party scene. 1979 even has a sequel in the video for the 1998 song Perfect and involves the same characters who are now older.