Where did the Smashing Pumpkins get their name from?

Question

Is it just random or is there a meaning behind it?

Answer 1

Most answers to this question are only semi-serious, as they've heard it way too often. The March '93 fan club newsletter gave the following story:

"Gene Simmons came to us in a dream and said: 'Joe Strummer is a pumpkin, drunken and smashed.'"

On Vieuphoria, they simply said "It's a joke." However, the most serious answer comes from an interview with D'Arcy by the Washington Post(11/19/93):

"The name of the band is a stupid name, a dumb bad joke and a bad idea, OK?" she says. "Billy named the band before there even was a band. He was like, 'I'm gonna have a band and it's gonna be called this.' 'Smashing' is not a verb, it's an adjective. It's not like we like to smash pumpkins or anything. And we are not amused by pumpkin jokes anymore."

So, there you have it. "Smashing" is an adjective, not a verb (think British here if you're still having trouble). :-)

Answer 2

I had always heard it was from teh he great pumpkin in Charley Brown's holloween special and they wanted to smash it.

I looked it up and the leader stated as follows:
Billy told them that when he was younger, he heard a friend say during Halloween that he was going out and would be 'smashing pumpkins'. Billy just thought that it was a cool name for a band. He even told friends that he was in a band called Smashing Pumpkins long before he was ever in one. Finally Billy started his own band, which of course, he called 'Smashing Pumpkins'. After the band became famous, however, Billy realized that the fans were bringing pumpkins to the shows and were literally smashing them everywhere. So he decided to add 'The' to the band name, so that 'Smashing' would be read like the British adjective, as he had intended it to be.

Answer 3

On a KROQ Radio Interview:

Caller: "Ok, my name is Tyla. Hi BIlly, I'm a really big fan. Ok, my friend told me that she heard the Smashing Pumpkins, the name of your band was based on a joke."

Billy: "Um."

Caller: "I want to know... what is the joke?"

*a few people laugh*

Billy: "Well, I mean thats a slight misrepresentation. The joke was like...I came up with the name, kind of like a... telling some jokes with some friends & I thought oh that would be a stupid band name to have. There was no band, I hadn't even met anybody in the band and people would say, I would say, 'Oh I'm going to start a band.' And they would say, 'Oh what's the name oh it?' I'd say, 'Oh, The Smashing Pumpkins, ha ha.' There was no band. Then when I met the band, they were like, 'What are we going to call it, I was like, 'Why don't we just call it this funny name for a while and we'll just figure out a real name eventually.' Then people would come up, 6 months later. 'Hey how is your band, The Smashing Pumpkins?' It just... people wouldn't forget it. So that was the #1 thing to happen, which is recognition."

KROQ: "Do you plan on changing it to a real one? Or does it suit you just find."

Billy: "On a interesting side note, there was a women in Chicago who used to be like a booker, and she used to book some of our very first shows, and she pulled me to the side and said, 'You know I really like you guys, I think you really need to change the name, because your never going to get anywhere with it.' " [???]

Source(s):
http://www.thepumpkins.net

Answer 4

They were smashing pumpkins after thanksgiving.
just a gues.

Answer 5

can't someone just love to smash pumpkins and not be questioned about it? gee wizz

Answer 6

Billy Corgan make jokes about stupid girls that likes pop music and lives like kardashians, thats it

Answer 7

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