The Smithereens, 11, 1989 on Enigma/Capitol

Third studio full-length from New Jersey’s own The Smithereens: Pat DiNizio, Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, and Mike Mesaros. Belinda Carlisle guests on “Blue Period” and Maria Vidal adds background vocals on “A Girl Like You.”

Apparently the title is inspired by Spinal Tap and Ocean’s 11, but there are only 10 songs. These 10 go to 11? This is the same band that named a song “Especially For You” on their second album, after their first album was called Especially for You. I love all of them.

My copy—via the Worcester Record Riot—is a Speciality Pressing on Capital rainbow-edge labels from the 80s, with original inner liner.

#1980s #1989 #Capitol #Enigma #JimBabjak #MikeMesaros #PatDiNizio #TheSmithereens #vinyl #vinylcollection #vinylfinds #WorcesterMA #WorcesterRecordRiot

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