Classic or Dud? The Smithereens

i loved these guys in college, they had such a great throwback sound & goddamn i love Pat’s voice

huge fan of their 2007 Christmas album too
https://youtu.be/Y2B_v2vInLM

xxpost la lechera that’s such a nice memory <3

it was a really nice memory! we were stuck by the bathrooms and utterly crammed into a much-too-small spot for three people. the potential for bad things happening was huge, and nothing bad happened at all. he seemed like a standup guy. plus he knew harvest home and we talked about the widow fortune, and how bette davis played her in the tv miniseries (which is now available on dvd, i learned recently!)

they replayed his 1988 interview with terry gross on fresh air today https://www.npr.org/2017/12/13/570469380/remembering-smithereens-songwriter-and-lead-singer-pat-dinizio

oh nice i’ll give that a listen

Saw the smithereens outside Detroit with a cousin back in '95, and we were both impressed with how friendly and approachable DiNizio was after the show, the three of us chatting about Rickenbackers and other stuff for maybe ten minutes. Nice guy.

RIP

11 was big in my dad's cd rotation for a few years when i was growing up. i doubt i've heard it since '92 or so but damned if i couldn't summon the "girl like you" riff instantly. i'll give it a listen tomorrow. r.i.p.

"In a Lonely Place" -The Smithereens

His voice was just right for this tearjerker. Lyrics may have been cliché, but the vocal delivery, melody and instrumentation made it work

I first heard/saw them on IRS' The Cutting Edge, must've been late summer or early fall of 1986. They scratched a number of itches: loose, propulsive drumming; hooks; easy-to-play songs (I started playing guitar that year, and quickly learned "Blood & Roses," "Behind The Wall Of Sleep," and a few others); and Rickenbackers! Coming off a Jam obsession, whenever I saw a band with Rickenbackers I figured they must have something decent happening. I really dug Especially and Green Thoughts, but never kept up with them after that (and I desperately wanted to see them live in '86-'87, but going to a show alone on a school night was always a non-starter with my parents). I should probably listen to their version of Tommy.

Looking over the track listing for Especially, while I haven't listened to it in 30 years, I could hum (and/or air-drum) every one of those songs. They knew how to put some hooks together.

The Tommy stuff is so good, I forgot how good it is

I listened to "Especially For You" last night for the first time in years. So many good songs.

"Hand of Glory" made me wonder if the album was in John Squire's rotation at the time -- the verses are very "Waterfall."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_IUR6eeQ60

def saw them in the #2 spot at several shows, not as headliners i don't think

Love 'Behind the Wall of Sleep'. Opening line is one of my favourites, just such a concise and evocative image.

I got to know Pat a bit over the years. He was a great guy, and very talented.

Saw them a few times in the Green Thoughts/11 era whenever they came through LA. Never met Pat, but did talk to a super-boisterious Jim Babjak who gave me a guitar pick, revealed that the secrets to their songs was to tune the guitars down a step and play the Kinks ("tune down twice and you'll get Sabbath!") and said that playing on stage with Dave Davies was like playing baseball with Mickey Mantle.

RIP Pat. Those first four albums are master-classes in solid guitar-pop songwriting.

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