SMASHING PUMPKINS - MASHED POTATOES FAQ Updated 10/01/99 Created 02/07/99 compiled and maintained by: Jesse Miller - mije9801@stcloudstate.edu This is the Frequently Asked Questions concerning the Mashed Potatoes Box Set and is intended to answer any questions pertaining to the Mashed Potatoes Box Set. Any questions, corrections or comments, mail to: Jesse Miller The latest version of this document can be found at: http://www.tcinternet.net/users/butlers/mashed.txt -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Disclaimer 2. General Information 3. Tracklisting 4. The Stolen Copy 5. Availability A. Original Pressings B. The Coyle Tape C. MP3s and Real Audio -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. DISCLAIMER I do NOT have the Mashed Potatoes box set. All of the information presented in this file has been compiled from a number of sources, most of whom also do not have Mashed Potatoes; I apologize that they are not credited, but anonymity is used because of the nature of Mashed Potatoes. Eternal and god-like thanks to Simon Coyle, Eric Agnew, and Dave Asselin for providing the information that allowed me to finish this FAQ. 2. GENERAL INFORMATION Mashed Potatoes is a 5-disc box set containing many rare and unreleased Smashing Pumpkins songs, including: early compositions from 1988-90, Gish and Siamese Dream outtakes and demos, live covers and originals, a couple interviews, and live stage banter. Billy gave Mashed Potatoes to a few of his friends, band members, and management as gifts--allegedly for Christmas 1994. The number of copies pressed range anywhere from 5 to 10, depending on the source; 9 is the number most mentioned. 3. TRACKLISTING Here is the tracklist, provided by Eric Agnew and verified by Dave Asselin. It is unknown if this is the correct running order: - Happy Fucking Valentines (stage banter 2/14/92) - Tristessa (live 92) - There it Goes (demo 88) - With You (demo 89) - Jesus Loves His Babies (outtake 91) - Stray Cat Blues (live Rolling Stones cover 90) - Snail (radio 91) - Bob Speaks (stage banter) - Window Paine (live 90) - Wave Song (demo 91) - Blue (acoustic 91) - Lie I Lie (live 89) - My Eternity (radio 88) - Jesus is the Sun (demo 90) - Sookie Sookie (live Steppenwolf cover 91) - Chump (live 92) - Rocket (acoustic 7/26/93) - Under Your Spell (demo 88) - Honeyspider (live 90) - STP (demo 91) - Snap (demo 89) - Rhinoceros (live 93) - Let's meet the band (stage banter) - Bleed (live 88) - Opal Worship (live 90) - Drown (live 92) - Fat Man Blues (live acoustic 89) - Try to Try (live 90) - Venus in Furs (radio Velvet Underground cover 88) - WNUR interview (radio 88) - And from the westside... (stage intro) - Girl Named Sandoz (live Animals cover 92) - 365 (live 90) - Spaceboy (outtake 93) - The Joker (live Steve Miller cover 92) - Suffer (live 92) - Coming attractions (radio advertisement) - Egg (live demo 89) - Bury Me (live 92) - Moleasskiss (demo 92) - I Am My End (live 90) - My Dahlia (demo 88) - Vanilla (demo acoustic 89) - East (demo 88) - Kill your parents (stage banter) - Terrapin (live Syd Barret cover 91) - Luna (acoustic 91) - Interview a go-go (European radio ?) - Morning Jam (live 90) - I'm Free (live cover [?] 90) - Jennifer Ever (demo 88) - Plume (live 92) - Disarm (live 93) - Siva (live 92) - Translucent (demo 90) - Not Worth Asking (live 89) - Over You (live 90) - Where's Vince? (outtake 93) - Smiley (acoustic 91) - Geek USA (live 93) - Crush (live 92) - C'mon (live 90) - Hello Kitty Kat (demo 92) - Nothing and Everything (demo 88) - Mayonaise (outtake 93) - Out of Focus (live 92) - Offer Up (live 92) - Silverfuck (live 92) - Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (live 12/12/93) - Stars Fall In (demo 89) - Godzilla (live 90) - Bye June (live 92) - Spiteface (demo 88) - Daydream (demo 89) - I'll Never Change (live 90) - Mellon Collie (outtake 93) 4. THE STOLEN COPY As the story goes, D'Arcy's copy of the box set was stolen around February 1995, and the thief attempted to sell it to a local record store. Even though the thief originally asked for $500, it was eventually sold to the store owner for $50, for the owner said he wouldn't pay that much for "home made shit." Judging from the short amount of time the store owner had possession of Mashed Potatoes (about 24-48 hours) and the fact that he did not realize what it was, it is believed that the store owner did not make any copies. At the this point in time (Feb 95), rumors were circulating that 10 demo CDs were stolen. But the official press release (which was later published in Spin magazine) claimed the discs as "worthless practice demos containing scratchy bass lines and D'Arcy telling jokes." If only someone knew it was really Mashed Potatoes! Although this has yet to be confirmed, it has been suggested that the thief split the set up and sold the separate CDs to a number of record stores. My source says that only 3 out of the 5 discs were recovered; could it be that there are still 2 discs floating around somewhere? 5. AVAILABILITY A. ORIGINAL PRESSINGS To put it simply: YOU CAN'T GET IT!! The original pressings of Mashed Potatoes were personally given to a few select people by Billy himself. It is extremely unlikely that they would give away or sell the box set, or that they would betray Billy by distributing copies. B. THE COYLE TAPE One person who publicly claims to have a tape with 24 randomly selected songs from Mashed Potatoes is Simon Coyle. The songs on his tape were incorporated in his legendary website, which was the first to have a complete and accurate Smashing Pumpkins songlist. The Coyle Tape contained the following songs: Side A: 1. There it Goes (demo 1988) 2. Wave Song (demo 1991) 3. Jesus is the Sun (demo 1990) 4. Egg (live demo 1989) 5. Vanilla (acoustic demo 1989) 6. Luna (acoustic 1991) 7. Translucent (demo 1990) 8. Smiley (acoustic 1991) 9. Mayonaise (outtake 1993) 10. Daydream (demo 1989) 11. Mellon Collie (outtake 1993) 12. Rocket (acoustic 1993) Side B: 1. 365 (live 1990) 2. Moleasskiss (demo 1992) 3. I Am My End (live 1990) 4. Cinder (live 1991) 5. Morning Jam (live 1990) 6. Over You (live 1990) 7. I'll Never Change (live 1990) 8. Stray Cat Blues (live 1990) 9. Lie I Lie (live 1989) 10. Under Your Spell (demo 1988) 11. Try to Try (live 1990) 12. Fat Man Blues (live acoustic 1989) Simon Coyle: "I have copies of some of the songs from Mashed Potatoes. I've had them for over a year and a half now. They're perfect copies, and I got them under the promise that I would not copy them for anyone, and I never have" (alt.music.smash-pumpkins, 1/25/98). As you can see from his honorable quote, it is highly unlikely that you will obtain a copy of the Coyle Tape. Note that Egg and Daydream are the same recordings as on Moon; Mellon Collie is the same recording released as Infinite Sadness; and Rocket is the acoustic Tower Records 7/26/93 performance. C. MP3s AND REAL AUDIO A website was recently revealed to contain 18 selected tracks from Mashed Potatoes originally in RealAudio format. They are, in alphabetical order: - 365 - Cinder - Fat Man Blues - I'll Never Change - Jesus is the Sun - Kill Your Parents - Lie I Lie - Luna - Mayonaise - Moleasskiss - Morning Jam - Over You - Stray Cat Blues - There It Goes - Translucent - Under Your Spell - Vanilla - Wave Song One must note that these 18 mp3s are not of the greatest soundquality. This is due to the extensive lineage of the tracks: Originally given to SP trader John Mulhausen, they were posted on his Geocities web space for 24 hours, encoded as streaming RealAudio files. They were then downloaded by SP MP3 FTP maintainer Jeroen who, using a utility called RA2WAV, converted the .ra files into .wav, and finally encoding them into MP3s. Confused? The lineage is, in a nutshell: cassette (2nd or 3rd gen) -> .ra -> .wav -> .mp3 And the currently-circulating RealAudio: cassette (2nd or 3rd gen) -> .ra -> .wav -> .mp3 -> .ra And if you burned a CD-R out of the mp3s: cassette (2nd or 3rd gen) -> .ra -> .wav -> .mp3 -> .wav -> CD Even though the soundqulaity may not meet one's expectations, note that this is the only circulating copy of a few Mashed Potatoes tracks. Beggars can't be choosers, as the saying goes. The MP3s can still be found at: http://hoserland.simplenet.com/mp/ http://www.angelfire.com/il/sinphony/index.html http://www.pumpkins.org/mp/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Drift all you want from ocean to ocean search the whole world But drunken confessions and hijacked affairs will just make you more alone EOF