Billy Corgan Sues Filmmaker Over "Unsatisfactory" Footage

Billy Corgan is suing a Chicago videographer that filmed the Smashing Pumpkins' leader's solo shows and studio sessions from 2003 to 2005. In the suit, Corgan complains that the footage that filmmaker Lester Cohn of Pure DV Productions shot was "completely unsatisfactory," that Cohn misrepresented his filmmaking expertise and that Cohn is now holding the tapes hostage. Corgan is seeking $100,000 plus all the video Cohn shot over that time and says he now wants to use the tapes to "create works in different media." The Pumpkins have been in a litigious mood lately, as former members James Iha and D'Arcy recently filed a suit against Virgin Records over royalties.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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