Charity Auctioning Off Chance to Buy Pumpkins' Billy Corgan Lunch

Wondering if Billy Corgan really replaced longtime Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain with a 19-year-old rocker? Ask him yourself ... over a nice lunch. Charity Buzz is auctioning off the chance to dine with Corgan in Los Angeles or Chicago. The catch: the "winner" gets to foot the bill. The meal is "Valid for 2 people at a mutually convenient time. Restaurant TBD," according to the official listing, which was confirmed by a post on Smashing Pumpkins' Website. The auction ends in five days and three hours (as of this posting), on June 30th at 1:17 p.m. ET. Eight bids so far have driven the price up to $950.

Proceeds from the bidding benefit the Songwriters Hall of Fame, which is raising money to build a museum in New York "to highlight the achievements of songwriting greats and acknowledge their rightful place in our culture," per their listing on Charity Buzz. Last week, Jon Bon Jovi and Crosby, Stills and Nash were inducted into the Hall at a ceremony in New York.

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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.

More Song Stories entries »

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