In 1997, when the Smashing Pumpkins were arguably the world’s top alternative-rock band, they released a promotional single, “The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning,” in conjunction with one of the year’s bestselling films, Batman & Robin.
The stars seemed aligned for a hit. Joel Schumacher’s movie had an A-list cast — George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Uma Thurman — and it was a financial success, taking home an estimated $240 million at the box office worldwide. Yet the song bombed.
“It was a disaster,” Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan said in a recent appearance on the podcast And the Writer Is. “Nobody cared. No fans said they loved the song, nothing.”
POLITICS SHOULDN’T BLOCK PARAMOUNT-WARNER BROS. DEAL THAT HELPS STREAMING CONSUMERS
If the story ended there, it wouldn’t be much of a story. Many bands have written songs for movies that crash and burn. Yet something remarkable happened. About 15 years
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