"Why Billy Corgan and Jessica Simpson make sense. Sort of."

Tweet By Sean Leary

One of the strangest couples to emerge from celeb culture in recent years has got to be Billy Corgan and Jessica Simpson, who are either on again or off again depending on which rag you read.

At first, I, like probably 99 percent of the population, thought it was one of the most bizarre pairings we'd ever seen. But the more I think about it, the more it makes a kind of sense.



Corgan has a history of reclamation projects. He seems to like women in need, so to speak. He's been linked to troubled females like Courtney Love and Winona Ryder. Simpson is in a whirlpool right now. Her celebrity has continued to dim since she broke from Nick Lachey and things don't look like they're going to turn around any time soon.

Corgan also enjoys odd collaborations with female musicians. At least one of those pairings - his work with Love on Hole's second album - produced some really good songs, “Malibu” being among them. (You can tell it's a Corgan song on first listen, just from the interesting chord structures and movements.)

So it came as no surprise that Corgan was recently in the studio with Simpson. Aside from his own history, it's got to intrigue him - Corgan being a cerebral and analytical type - to go into the studio with someone who is near his diametric opposite, at least on the surface. There's also a recent precedent for a fruitful pairing between like musicians - Mandy Moore's latest album, which is actually quite good, was collaboration between her and paramour Ryan Adams. Maybe Corgan thinks he can capture some similar magic?



The other thing to consider is that perhaps Simpson has some secret depth to her that the rest of us are hardly privy to, given our prejudices about her fed by her public persona. After all, she's led a pretty interesting life when you think about it, and she's got the fuel - terrible public heartbreaks, overbearing father, car-wreck humiliations in the public eye - for a really raw, personal album, if she has the artistic depth to realize it. Maybe Corgan sees that as well, and he's trying to help her realize that?

The other thing to consider - and Chicagoans will know that this is no small factor - is that Corgan is a Cubs fan.

To be a Cubs fan is to be an unquenchable closet optimist despite all odds to the contrary. Considering the fact that they've made losing a trademark, Cubs fans have to be an upbeat lot, constantly rooting for the underdog. Simpson could be like the Cubbies to Corgan - an incredible underdog that he can pour his optimism and energy into, rooting for her to finally come through.

Of course, being a White Sox fan, myself, I tend to be more of the cynical sort, thinking that little if anything is going to come from this coupling.

That said, it's pretty interesting and noteworthy, and definitely makes for more food for thought than Corgan hooking up with some artsy model or Simpson rebounding with John Mayer.

And maybe Simpson will surprise us all? Maybe she and Corgan will produce one of the year's best albums?

After all, stranger things have happened.

I'm sure many fans of the “Bonzo” movies never would've thought Ronald Reagan would someday be the most powerful man in the world.

Unless the world they were thinking of was the “Planet of the Apes.”

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Sean Leary's recent and current projects include the alt-rock "Spinal Tap" comedy film "Your Favorite Band" (www.yourfavoritebandthefilm.com), the award-winning short story collection "Every Number Is Lucky To Someone" (available in bookstores nationwide and on Amazon.com) and his website: www.getyourgoodnews.com.

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