From Syd Barrett to Bee Gees: A collection of Billy Corgan’s favourite songs
There are few names from the 1990s alternative rock scene with as much weight behind them as Billy Corgan. The enigmatic leader of Smashing Pumpkins, the Chicagoan has always represented a generation of music lovers who prescribe avant-garde motifs, left-field design and the most discerning musical palettes. His band, his solo material and almost every interview he has ever conducted emphasise this point as they display a strong sense of critical curation. It makes finding out some of his favourite songs of all time all the more interesting.
The sad thing is, there aren’t many such lists hanging around. Beyond discovering his favourite metal albums of all time, Corgan has rarely sat down to divulge what is mot like an ever-changing list of favourite songs. However, during the lockdown of 2020, he did just that for Apple Music, as he picked out his favourite songs to be locked indoors.
“I think these times call for a different level of understanding,” Billy Corgan told the streaming platform as he noted the difficulties of living, working and creating amid a global pandemic. “A lot of people are having a hard time for a host of reasons, all of which are important. And so it’s me trying to drop in the middle of that, parachute in with music and say, ‘Okay, well, this is the closest approximation I have to what I’m dealing with, and I hope that connects with you on the other side of this wire.'”
The formation of the list arose during a conversation with legendary DJ Zane Lowe and see Corgan pick out a plethora of classic songs to dive into. During the conversation, Corgan opened up about the troubling relationship he enjoys with his guitar — how it represents both the light and dark of his life, as well as how he strives always to push himself into new musical spaces. But while many expected the introduction of synthesisers to the most recent Smashing Pumpkins record, few could predict Corgan sharing his love of bluegrass.
“For me, personally, bluegrass has been a sort of late-in-life discovery, because I ultimately figured out it was the music of my ancestry,” he says. “I’ve sort of reclaimed this music for myself as a way of understanding that these songs are very much about my family. My grandfather was a coal miner and had black lung. I mean, you can’t get any more American mythic than stuff like that. He was a bootlegger.”
This folk spin is well represented within the playlist curated below, as Corgan picks out songs from Humble Pie, legendary folkie Donovan and the sunshine vocals of The Mamas and the Papas. Elsewhere, Corgan also shows his pop side as he picks out the Bee Gees song ‘Don’t Wanna Live Inside Myself’, The Walker Brothers’ gem ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine No More’ and the utterly fantastic ‘Night and Day from Fred Astaire, which is guaranteed to lift your mood, pandemic or otherwise.
Below, you can find the full list of Billy Corgan’s favourite songs to be locked inside, as well as a perfect playlist.
A collection of Billy Corgan’s favourite songs:
- ‘Early Morning Rain’ – Bill Emerson and Cliff Waldron
- ‘Ruby’ – The Osborne Brothers
- ‘Anywhere Anytime’ – J.D. Sumner and The Stamps
- ‘Glowing’ – Phantogram
- ‘I Don’t Care’ – Webb Pierce
- ‘Baby, I Want You’ – The Blue Magoos
- ‘Colours’ – Donovan
- ‘As Safe As Yesterday’ – Humble Pie
- ‘Safe in my Garden’ – The Mamas and the Papas
- ‘Big Hearted Me’ – Don Gibson
- ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine No More’ – The Walker Brothers
- ‘Night and Day’ – Fred Astaire
- ‘No Good Trying’ – Syd Barrett
- ‘The Japanese Sandman’ – Paul Whiteman and His Ambassador Orchestra
- ‘Don’t Wanna Live Inside Myself’ – Bee Gees
