" 1979 " is the Smashing Pumpkins ' highest-charting single , reaching number 12 on the '' Billboard '' Hot 100 and number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and on the Modern Rock Tracks charts . Virgin credited the inclusion of the single 's bonus tracks for driving sales . The song was nominated for the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 1997 Grammy Awards . Pitchfork Media included the song at number 21 on their '' Top 200 Tracks of the 90s '' and said " ' 1979 ' was Billy Corgan asking , ' You know this feeling ? ' and the second you heard that guitar line the immediate answer was , ' I do -- tell me more . ' " In a 1996 '' Spin '' interview , Corgan indicated that " 1979 " was probably the only indication he had for what the next Pumpkins album would sound like , " something that combines technology , and a rock sensibility , and pop , and whatever , and hopefully clicks . Between ' Bullet with Butterfly Wings ' and ' 1979 ' you have the bookends of '' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness '' . You 've literally heard the end of the rock thing , and the beginning of the new thing "
1997 Grammy Awards
39th Annual Grammy Awards
1979 (song)