BILLY CORGAN On Opera Version Of ‘Mellon Collie’ Album: ‘We’re Not Trying To Do ‘Rock And Roll Goes Opera”<\/p>\n
SMASHING PUMPKINS\u00a0frontman\u00a0Billy Corgan\u00a0spoke to\u00a0WGN News\u00a0about his decision to team up with Lyric Opera of Chicago, his hometown company, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band’s massive, decade-defining double album\u00a0“Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness”. Regarding how the collaboration came about,\u00a0Billy\u00a0said\u00a0“A mutual friend put us together with the Lyric. And I kept saying for years, ’cause it kept coming up, ‘I think they wanna work with you,’ and I kept thinking, ‘There’s no way they’re gonna wanna work with me.’ So when we finally did have the meeting, I pitched them on this idea, and they loved it. And now we’re doing seven nights. It’s almost completely sold out. Full orchestra, full chorus, operatic interpretations of the\u00a0‘Mellon Collie’\u00a0album. And I’m singing too. And I was in rehearsals yesterday with the great opera singers, and it’s amazing to hear your music sung with incredible artists like themselves. So it’s really emotional. And if you know the album, it’s an emotional experience. If you don’t know the album, then it’s made so if you’re an operatic fan or a classical fan, it’s interpreted that way. So we’re not trying to do ‘rock and roll goes opera.’ It’s actually \u2014 we’re taking rock and roll into the opera.”<\/p>\n
Read More HERE<\/a><\/p>\n Did You Know That There’s a Song Featuring Vocals by Madonna and Ozzy Osbourne?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0An\u00a0Ozzy Osbourne\u00a0\/\u00a0Madonna\u00a0collaboration would have been interesting, right?\u00a0Well, what if I told you it already sort of happened?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Remember that group\u00a0Was (Not Was)?\u00a0They’re best known for the song\u00a0“Walk the Dinosaur”.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Well, in the early ’80s, they recorded a song called\u00a0“Shake Your Head”, featuring vocals from Ozzy and Madonna BEFORE SHE WAS FAMOUS.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But then she blew up and either she or her people refused to let them release it.\u00a0So they replaced Madonna with\u00a0Kim Basinger, who was apparently trying her hand at pop stardom.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n That version ended up on the 1983 Was (Not Was) album\u00a0“Born to Laugh at Tornadoes”.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Madonna version squeaked out three decades ago on a compilation album called\u00a0“Now Dance 92”.\u00a0It was also uploaded to YouTube two years ago, but people are just starting to discover it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Read More HERE<\/a><\/p>\n These Are the “Big 4” of Yacht Rock<\/p>\n If you had to create the “Mount Rushmore” of Yacht Rock, who would you put on it?\u00a0\u00a0UltimateClassicRock.com\u00a0might’ve nailed it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n They say the Big 4 of Yacht Rock are:\u00a0\u00a0Kenny Loggins\u00a0. . .\u00a0Steely Dan\u00a0. . .\u00a0Boz Scaggs\u00a0. . . and\u00a0Michael McDonald.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n No love to\u00a0Christopher Cross?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Steely Dan fans might not like seeing them on this list, and Ultimate Classic Rock acknowledges that they have plenty of songs that AREN’T yacht rock.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But they add, quote, “When they downshifted into silky smooth gems like\u00a0‘Peg’,\u00a0‘Dirty Work’, and\u00a0‘Hey Nineteen’, Steely Dan set the studio standard.\u00a0It’s the kind of ageless yacht rock that no iceberg could ever sink.”<\/p>\n