The Smashing Pumpkins - 1979

What this video is

Released January 23, 1996 as the second single from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness — the best-selling double album of the 1990s — '1979' arrived at the commercial and artistic zenith of the American alternative rock movement. The song represented a striking stylistic departure from the band's guitar-heavy sound, introducing drum loops and electronic textures that foreshadowed the synth-pop direction of the…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of 1990s alternative rock's crossover moment, '1979' is historically significant for demonstrating that loop-and-sample-based electronic song construction could coexist with the emotional weight of guitar rock. The video codified a visual language for mid-90s suburban nostalgia…

The director

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are an American directing duo and married couple based in Los Angeles. They built an extensive music video résumé in the late 1980s and 1990s working with artists including R.E.M., Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros, and the…