6.4 The Frogs

The Frogs are a Milwaukee-based band that Billy is both a fan of and close 
friends with.  Consisting of brothers Jimmy and Dennis Flemion, and bassist
Damian Strigens, The Frogs can best be described as satirical. Though largely
underground, The Frogs have developed a sort of cult following, with celebrity
fans including Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain.

The Frogs have opened for the Pumpkins and Pearl Jam, and played second stage 
at Lollapalooza in 1994, with Billy coming out on a few occasions. Dennis was 
chosen as the replacement keyboardist for the Pumpkins' MCIS tour, and appeared 
with them from August '96 on.  Jimmy took a roadie job with the tour, and came 
out on stage in his green-sequined, winged costume to play along for 1979 and 
choose audience members to dance on stage. 

The Frogs have released several albums ("It's Only Right And Natural",
"My Daughter the Broad", "Bananimals", "The Frogs", "Racially Yours", and
"Hopscotch Lollipop Sunday Surprise"), several 7" singles ("Now You Know
You're Black", "Here Comes Santa's Pussy", and a split 7" with Wesley
Willis), a cover of Pearl Jam's "rearviewmirror" (found on PJ's "Immortality"
CDS), and an EP "Starjob" on Scratchie Records [314 534 838-2], produced by
Billy Corgan.  Frogs member Jimmy Flemion also appears in and wrote many of
the songs for The Last Hard Men, which included Jimmy Chamberlin, Kelly Deal,
and Sebastian Bach. He's continued to join the Pumpkins on stage as an
occasional guest performer, appearing with the band in 2007 and 2012.

The Pumpkins' first video release, Vieuphoria, includes a brief "Meet the
Frogs" segment, including bits of live shows, and featuring excerpts of "Homos"
and "I Only Play 4 Money" (found on "It's Only Right And Natural" and
"Starjob", respectively).

Dennis Flemion died on July 7, 2012. His service was attended by Billy Corgan,
who wrote and performed a new song in his honor.