BILLY CORGAN Not Likely To Put Full SMASHING PUMPKINS Together Again

Launch Radio Networks reports: It's looking more and more likely that the relaunched SMASHING PUMPKINS will not include original members James Iha on guitar and D'Arcy Wretzky on bass. PUMPKINS manager Paul Geary hinted at a different formation in comments he made to MTV.com, saying, "I've been involved with bands whose members can't stand each other, and over time they run out of dough and that's why they (reunite). But Billy's (Corgan, PUMPKINS leader) making a great record, and for the sake of a younger generation that he wants to turn on to the band's music, he is doing it with a band that will more faithfully re-create the old songs than ever before."

Geary did not say anything further about the new PUMPKINS lineup. The only confirmed original member besides Corgan is drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.

Corgan often expressed irritation in the past with Iha and Wretzky's playing, and it was rumored that he recorded all of their parts himself on much of the PUMPKINS' recorded output.

Geary, who also manages GODSMACK and was formerly the drummer for '80s rockers EXTREME, added that the PUMPKINS are not being reactivated for the money. He said, "They've had some amazingly big offers — some seven-figure ones to play certain shows — and Billy has passed on several because he didn't think it was the right thing for the band."

The PUMPKINS will play their first live dates since 2000 in early June at two German festivals.

More tour dates and details on the album's title and release date are expected to be revealed shortly.