#80sbands — Public Fediverse posts

On this day (April 26) in 1994, my favorite band released one of my favorite albums. 'A Date with The Smithereens' features some incredible basslines, Lou Reed on two tracks, and the whole thing is a damn banger.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0IenmeCOtzOo7x_6-4rXQLabOz1xXMn&si=kEEcwhjWp_qsCIi4

At the time, my 14th birthday had just passed, I was getting even more into music, and 'A Date with The Smithereens' was MINDBLOWING then. And to me, it still hits. From the opening of 'War for My Mind' to lighter tracks to maybe one of my favorite songs of all time, 'Sleep the Night Away'. Over 30 years later, I still play this one regularly.

RIP original singer (and main songwriter) Pat DiNizio, and long live The Smithereens (who still perform and tour with other singers-- something I'm sure Pat would have loved).

#TheSmithereens #90s #1990s #90sRock #90sBands #80s #80sBands #PatDiNizio #ADateWithTheSmithereens

On this day (April 26) in 1994, my favorite band released one of my favorite albums. 'A Date with The Smithereens' features some incredible basslines, Lou Reed on two tracks, and the whole thing is a damn banger.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0IenmeCOtzOo7x_6-4rXQLabOz1xXMn&si=kEEcwhjWp_qsCIi4

At the time, my 14th birthday had just passed, I was getting even more into music, and 'A Date with The Smithereens' was MINDBLOWING then. And to me, it still hits. From the opening of 'War for My Mind' to lighter tracks to maybe one of my favorite songs of all time, 'Sleep the Night Away'. Over 30 years later, I still play this one regularly.

RIP original singer (and main songwriter) Pat DiNizio, and long live The Smithereens (who still perform and tour with other singers-- something I'm sure Pat would have loved).

#TheSmithereens #90s #1990s #90sRock #90sBands #80s #80sBands #PatDiNizio #ADateWithTheSmithereens

On this day (April 26) in 1994, my favorite band released one of my favorite albums. 'A Date with The Smithereens' features some incredible basslines, Lou Reed on two tracks, and the whole thing is a damn banger.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0IenmeCOtzOo7x_6-4rXQLabOz1xXMn&si=kEEcwhjWp_qsCIi4

At the time, my 14th birthday had just passed, I was getting even more into music, and 'A Date with The Smithereens' was MINDBLOWING then. And to me, it still hits. From the opening of 'War for My Mind' to lighter tracks to maybe one of my favorite songs of all time, 'Sleep the Night Away'. Over 30 years later, I still play this one regularly.

RIP original singer (and main songwriter) Pat DiNizio, and long live The Smithereens (who still perform and tour with other singers-- something I'm sure Pat would have loved).

#TheSmithereens #90s #1990s #90sRock #90sBands #80s #80sBands #PatDiNizio #ADateWithTheSmithereens

On this day (April 26) in 1994, my favorite band released one of my favorite albums. 'A Date with The Smithereens' features some incredible basslines, Lou Reed on two tracks, and the whole thing is a damn banger.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0IenmeCOtzOo7x_6-4rXQLabOz1xXMn&si=kEEcwhjWp_qsCIi4

At the time, my 14th birthday had just passed, I was getting even more into music, and 'A Date with The Smithereens' was MINDBLOWING then. And to me, it still hits. From the opening of 'War for My Mind' to lighter tracks to maybe one of my favorite songs of all time, 'Sleep the Night Away'. Over 30 years later, I still play this one regularly.

RIP original singer (and main songwriter) Pat DiNizio, and long live The Smithereens (who still perform and tour with other singers-- something I'm sure Pat would have loved).

#TheSmithereens #90s #1990s #90sRock #90sBands #80s #80sBands #PatDiNizio #ADateWithTheSmithereens

On this day (April 26) in 1994, my favorite band released one of my favorite albums. 'A Date with The Smithereens' features some incredible basslines, Lou Reed on two tracks, and the whole thing is a damn banger.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0IenmeCOtzOo7x_6-4rXQLabOz1xXMn&si=kEEcwhjWp_qsCIi4

At the time, my 14th birthday had just passed, I was getting even more into music, and 'A Date with The Smithereens' was MINDBLOWING then. And to me, it still hits. From the opening of 'War for My Mind' to lighter tracks to maybe one of my favorite songs of all time, 'Sleep the Night Away'. Over 30 years later, I still play this one regularly.

RIP original singer (and main songwriter) Pat DiNizio, and long live The Smithereens (who still perform and tour with other singers-- something I'm sure Pat would have loved).

#TheSmithereens #90s #1990s #90sRock #90sBands #80s #80sBands #PatDiNizio #ADateWithTheSmithereens

Just registered for this, it's tonight, Jim and Dennis of The Smithereens will be talking about their debut record Especially for You at the 'Tuesday Night Record Club' that the Springsteen Archives does via Monmouth University in New Jersey. It's free and there's an in person and Zoom option (I obviously grabbed a Zoom ticket). I've talked here before about how much I love this record - this'll be cool to hear.

https://springsteenarchives.org/event/tuesday-night-record-club-the-smithereens-especially-for-you

#Smithereens #TheSmithereens #80s #80sRock #80sBands @brian

Today (October 31) in 1980, The Smithereens released their debut 4 song EP 'Girls About Town'. The four songs were also included on 'Attack of the Smithereens', one of their compilations. Great bunch of songs here. It didn't have them in a playlist on YouTube, so I made one.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUo1OYrFf_Nq2x6sKkKOUvuOPKqGolMD2&si=gYR1e76uXqttXk7Q

#80s #1980s #TheSmithereens #80sBands #80sRock #NewJersey #NewJerseyBands #Smithereens #PowerPop

Today (October 31) in 1980, The Smithereens released their debut 4 song EP 'Girls About Town'. The four songs were also included on 'Attack of the Smithereens', one of their compilations. Great bunch of songs here. It didn't have them in a playlist on YouTube, so I made one.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUo1OYrFf_Nq2x6sKkKOUvuOPKqGolMD2&si=gYR1e76uXqttXk7Q

#80s #1980s #TheSmithereens #80sBands #80sRock #NewJersey #NewJerseyBands #Smithereens #PowerPop

Today (October 31) in 1980, The Smithereens released their debut 4 song EP 'Girls About Town'. The four songs were also included on 'Attack of the Smithereens', one of their compilations. Great bunch of songs here. It didn't have them in a playlist on YouTube, so I made one.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUo1OYrFf_Nq2x6sKkKOUvuOPKqGolMD2&si=gYR1e76uXqttXk7Q

#80s #1980s #TheSmithereens #80sBands #80sRock #NewJersey #NewJerseyBands #Smithereens #PowerPop

Today (October 31) in 1980, The Smithereens released their debut 4 song EP 'Girls About Town'. The four songs were also included on 'Attack of the Smithereens', one of their compilations. Great bunch of songs here. It didn't have them in a playlist on YouTube, so I made one.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUo1OYrFf_Nq2x6sKkKOUvuOPKqGolMD2&si=gYR1e76uXqttXk7Q

#80s #1980s #TheSmithereens #80sBands #80sRock #NewJersey #NewJerseyBands #Smithereens #PowerPop

Today (October 31) in 1980, The Smithereens released their debut 4 song EP 'Girls About Town'. The four songs were also included on 'Attack of the Smithereens', one of their compilations. Great bunch of songs here. It didn't have them in a playlist on YouTube, so I made one.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUo1OYrFf_Nq2x6sKkKOUvuOPKqGolMD2&si=gYR1e76uXqttXk7Q

#80s #1980s #TheSmithereens #80sBands #80sRock #NewJersey #NewJerseyBands #Smithereens #PowerPop

The Smithereens anthology 'From Jersey it Came' was released in September 2004. In 2004 I was 24. The Smithereens had been my favorite band for a while at that point, so this was a treat for a megafan like me. If you ignore the roughness of their super early stuff here, this is a really good primer for some of the Smithereens' best songs. It starts off with ones from their early days like their first single "Girls About Town" and it also includes basically all their later hits, a Springsteen cover, and an INCREDIBLE instrumental version of their tune 'If You Want the Sun to Shine'. The version of the song with vocals is killer, but without them is SO wild. Powerful orchestration and arrangement: https://youtu.be/e9-2KtmHpwc

#TheSmithereens #Smithereens #80sRock #80s #80sBands #90s #90sBands #NewJersey #NJ #PopRock

Seven years ago today, we lost a legend.

(This post is heavily paraphrased from one I wrote a year ago, so if we've been following each other a while, you might recognize the story - this is mostly for the newbies!)

So, here's a bit of a long post/story.

Despite all the weird music I like/listen to, my favorite band will always will be The Smithereens. They play killer British Invasion (and Sabbath/Beach Boys)-inspired rock. Pat DiNizio had the BEST voice and was an INCREDIBLE songwriter, and he passed away today (December 12) in 2017. It still hurts. I was crushed then, and he is still so missed. The Smithereens still tour with other musicians filling in on vocals, just for fun and always in Pat's honor, as he wrote a vast majority of their songs.

So here's the long (but kinda cool/funny) story about Pat, The Smithereens, and one of their biggest hits, "A Girl Like You" (video at the end of this long post!)

I actually got to meet Pat once. He was doing solo acoustic shows across the U.S. and he came to Miami to play Tobacco Road. After his AWESOME solo set (seriously, the guy could play AND sing) I went up to talk to him, my idol, my favorite songwriter ever.

You know how they say never meet your heroes? Pat was a different breed. His songs are all pretty much beautiful or badass love songs, very tight and tidy, great for radio, but the guy goes 'yeah, let's talk, but I gotta take a piss. Come in the bathroom real quick. He's standing there, pissing, and he has the foulest mouth, it's hilarious. He's like fuckin this and that, just the nicest, coolest, funniest down to Earth guy. I was blown away.

Maybe a year later or something, I went to go see The Smithereens live at a festival with my sister. They did a lot of those. (I saw them a total of like, 4 or 5 times I think.)

My sister and I are down in the crowd, and I tell her 'I'm gonna wave at him, I met him recently, maybe he'll recognize me'. And she goes, 'maybe, but I doubt it'. I wave, Pat INSTANTLY recognizes me from stage, and points down at me, and smiles. The man was a LEGEND.

So here's maybe one of their biggest hit songs, "A Girl Like You" (another big one of theirs is "Blood and Roses"). You might recognize one, or both.

The story with "A Girl Like You" is that it was written for the soundtrack to the movie Say Anything (with John Cusack, one of my favorite movies) - but the people doing the movie thought it gave away too much of the plot, so it wasn't included.

Joke was on them though, it became one of the Smithereens' biggest songs.

I'm such a huge fan. I have vinyls, press kits, I adore this band. If you've read this far, you're amazing.

And if you've never heard them, you're in for a treat:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5LwjD8z2mOg

#80smusic #Smithereens #TheSmithereens #80s #80sbands #rockmusic #80smovies #SayAnything #PatDiNizio #JohnCusack #amazingbands #celebrities #legends

This week's #TuneTuesday theme is #MyGenerationMusic. I was born in April of 1980, and there were SEVERAL great albums that came out that year.

But my top choice for that year has to be DEVO.

Devo released their third record Freedom of Choice in May 1980 with the magical song (and my favorite song on the album) 'Gates of Steel' opening up its second side.

https://youtu.be/nQMFkmi0gS8

#Devo #80s #80sMusic #80sBands #devolution #FreedomOfChoice #80sRock

30 years ago today (April 26), my favorite band released one of my favorite albums. In 1994 my 14th birthday had just passed, I was getting even more into music, and A Date with the Smithereens was MINDBLOWING then. And to me, it still is. This is a RIPPER of a fucking album. From the opening of War for My Mind to lighter tracks to maybe one of my favorite songs of all TIME, Sleep the Night Away.

A Date is also an interesting look back at peak Big Record Label as the rise of big 90s bands like Nirvana (who LOVED the Smithereens, they'd play their tape in their tour van) and kinda 80s rock like the Smithereens (despite being British Invasion flavored) taking a bit of a backseat to heavier, newer rock bands. I loved both.

And 30 years later, I STILL play this one REGULARLY. They recently put out a box set with four 45s and a bunch of extra songs - I don't have the box, but I heard the extra songs, and they are AWESOME.

RIP Pat DiNizio, and long live the Smithereens (who still perform and tour with other singers, something I'm sure Pat would have loved).

Here it is, in all its glory: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP0IenmeCOtzOo7x_6-4rXQLabOz1xXMn&si=kEEcwhjWp_qsCIi4

#TheSmithereens #90s #1990s #90sRock #90sBands #80s #80sBands #PatDiNizio #ADateWithTheSmithereens

Still blown away 30 years later at how damn cool this song is, hearing this when I was 14 when it came out in 1994 was mindblowing. The wild creeping walking bassline, the odd riffs and changes, the guitar and bass flair- just a crazy, fantastic song. What a piece of music.

There's a lot of reasons why the Smithereens are my favorite band, and songs like this are big ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgiiSiEwFb8

#TheSmithereens #ADateWithTheSmithereens #90sRock #90s #1990s #90sBands #80sBands #PatDinizio #JimBabjak #MikeMesaros #DennisDiken @wendigo

Despite all the weird music I like/listen to, my favorite band will always will be The Smithereens. Straight up killer British Invasion (and Sabbath/Beach Boys)-inspired rock. Pat DiNizio had the BEST voice and was an INCREDIBLE songwriter (RIP, he passed in 2017 and it still hurts).

Here goes a bit of a long (but kinda cool/funny) story about Pat, The Smithereens, and one of their biggest hits, "A Girl Like You" (video at the end of this long post!)

I actually got to meet Pat once. He was doing solo acoustic shows across the U.S. and he came to Miami to play Tobacco Road. After his AWESOME solo set (seriously, the guy could play AND sing) I went up to talk to him, my idol, my favorite songwriter ever.

You know how they say never meet your heroes? Pat was a different breed. His songs are all pretty much beautiful or badass love songs, very tight and tidy, great for radio, but the guy goes 'yeah, let's talk, but I gotta take a piss. Come in the bathroom real quick. He's standing there, pissing, and he has the foulest mouth, it's hilarious. He's like fuckin this and that, just the nicest, coolest, funniest down to Earth guy. I was blown away.

Maybe a year later or something, I went to go see The Smithereens live at a festival with my sister. They did a lot of those. (I saw them a total of like, 4 or 5 times I think.)

My sister and I are down in the crowd, and I tell her 'I'm gonna wave at him, I met him recently, maybe he'll recognize me'. And she goes, 'maybe, but I doubt it'. I wave, Pat INSTANTLY recognizes me from stage, and points down at me, and smiles. The man was a LEGEND.

So, for Friday, here's maybe one of their biggest hit songs, "A Girl Like You" (another big one of theirs is "Blood and Roses"). You might recognize one, or both.

The story with "A Girl Like You" is that it was written for the soundtrack to the movie Say Anything (with John Cusack, one of my favorite movies) - but the people doing the movie thought it gave away too much of the plot, so it wasn't included.

Joke was on them though, it became one of the Reens' biggest songs.

I'm such a huge fan. I have vinyls, press kits, I adore this band. If you've read this far, you're amazing.

And if you've never heard them, you're in for a treat:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5LwjD8z2mOg

#80smusic #Smithereens #TheSmithereens #80s #80sbands #rockmusic #80smovies #SayAnything #PatDiNizio #JohnCusack #amazingbands #celebrities #legends