Since their mid-90s heyday, every tour by The Smashing Pumpkins will have had at least one punter in the diehard crowd point at the stage and go, “Hold on, who the hell is that?!”. It’ll happen again this weekend as Billy Corgan’s alt-rock livewires embark on a UK and European tour and unveil the latest addition to their ranks in new guitarist Kiki Wong. But fans shouldn’t be surprised – Smashing Pumpkins' line-up has been a fluid, ever-evolving thing since those imperious early records, the biggest surprise being that they managed to make it all the way through , and with the same members (their classic incarnation) on board.
Here you have one handy, more-mammoth-than-I-expected-when-I-suggested-this-piece guide so you can be ready to pipe up when you hear the person behind you say, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not Jeff Schroeder...
”. Given the way the Pumpkins’ leader has run his band with such an iron fist, it’s a surprise he’s never sacked and then reinstated himself. Corgan is the sole constant presence of the band he formed with James Iha in 1999 but saying that, you can split his stint into two: Billy With Hair and Bald Billy.
Billy With Hair was a visionary dynamo who lorded over their first three records but Bald Billy is more visually iconic, except for that bit towards the end of the Mellon Collie tour when he ditched his ace Zero outfit for a shirt and a really fat 90s tie. Corgan’s foil has always been an integral part of the Pumpkins’ dynam.
