New (to me) Smithereens

[blowtorch]

Actually an anthology . Showed up yest-

1. "Girls About Town" — 2:53
   • from Girls About Town EP (1980)
2. "Back to Balboa" (Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, DiNizio, Mike Mesaros)— 1:58
   • previously unreleased; recorded summer 1982 at Rock Bite Studio, New York City
3. "Much Too Much" (Diken, DiNizio)— 2:24
   • from Beauty and Sadness EP (1983); 1988 remix by Ed Stasium
4. "Beauty and Sadness" — 3:24
   • from Beauty and Sadness EP (1983); 1988 remix by Ed Stasium
5. "Blood and Roses" — 3:35
   • from Especially for You (1986)
6. "Strangers When We Meet" — 3:45
   • from Especially for You (1986)
7. "In a Lonely Place" — 4:04
   • from Especially for You (1986)
8. "Behind the Wall of Sleep" — 3:24
   • from Especially for You (1986)
9. "White Castle Blues" (Live) (Babjak, Robert Banta)— 7:42
   • previously unreleased; recorded live May 22, 1987 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, New Jersey; album version originally released as bonus track from Especially for You (1986)
10. "Cigarette" — 2:27
    • from Especially for You (1986)
11. "Crazy Mixed-Up Kid" — 2:07
    • from Especially for You (1986)
12. "Time and Time Again" — 3:06
    • from Especially for You (1986)
13. "Something New" — 1:56
    • from Green Thoughts (1988)
14. "Only a Memory" — 3:43
    • from Green Thoughts (1988)
15. "If the Sun Doesn't Shine" — 3:32
    • from Green Thoughts (1988)
16. "Drown in My Own Tears" — 3:12
    • from Green Thoughts (1988)
17. "Especially for You'" (Babjak, DiNizio)— 3:07
    • from Green Thoughts (1988)
18. "House We Used to Live In" — 4:03
    • from Green Thoughts (1988)
19. "Elaine" (1980 Demo) — 3:00
    • previously unreleased; recorded early 1980 at Odyssey Studio, Long Branch, New Jersey
20. "Elaine" — 2:33
    • from Green Thoughts (1988)
21. "One After 909" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)— 3:36
    • B-side to "Top of the Pops" (1991); recorded during the Green Thoughts sessions, December 1987

Disc two[edit]​

1. "A Girl Like You" — 4:42
   • from 11 (1989)
2. "Blues Before and After" — 3:15
   • from 11 (1989)
3. "Blue Period" — 2:57
   • from 11 (1989)
4. "Yesterday Girl" — 3:27
   • from 11 (1989)
5. "Cut Flowers" (Honeys Mix) (Babjak, DiNizio)— 3:00
   • previously unreleased; alternate mix – album version from 11 (1989)
6. "Baby Be Good" — 3:20
   • from 11 (1989)
7. "Now and Then" (Babjak)— 3:50
   • from Blow Up (1991)
8. "Too Much Passion" — 4:35
   • from Blow Up (1991)
9. "Tell Me When Did Things Go So Wrong" — 2:22
   • from Blow Up (1991)
10. "If You Want the Sun to Shine" (Instrumental) (DiNizio, Julian Lennon)— 5:50
    • B-side to "Too Much Passion" (1992); album version from Blow Up (1991)
11. "Top of the Pops" — 4:32
    • from Blow Up (1991)
12. "Evening Dress" — 3:12
    • from Blow Up (1991)
13. "Miles from Nowhere" — 4:18
    • from A Date with The Smithereens (1994)
14. "Love is Gone" (Babjak Studio Demo) (Babjak)— 3:38
    • previously unreleased; recorded December 1992 at Trax East Recording Studio, South River, New Jersey; album version from A Date with The Smithereens (1994)
15. "Everything I Have Is Blue" (Guitar Mix) — 4:21
    • promotional single (1994); remix by Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie; album version from A Date with The Smithereens (1994)
16. "She's Got a Way" (Babjak, Diken, DiNizio, Mesaros, Danny Tate)— 3:24
    • from God Save The Smithereens (1999)
17. "Downbound Train" (Bruce Springsteen)— 3:48
    • recorded 24 January 1997 at Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, Illinois;[5] from One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen (1997)
18. "I Believe" (Babjak, Diken, DiNizio, Mesaros, Tate)— 3:12
    • from God Save The Smithereens (1999)

If you dig the Smithereens, check it out. I'm finding plenty of great stuff on here I'd not heard previously

 

[SRBMusic]

One of the best live bands EVER.

 

[sloppychops]

Not a huge fan, but they do have some great songs. I saw them once years ago under a party tent at a carnival in Sheboygan. I was with my then 3-year-old son and WE WERE THE ONLY ONES IN THE TENT! They were so unbelievably loud I only stayed about 10 minutes because I didn't want to damage my kid's hearing.

 

[MickM]

I like them ok. In the mid-late 80s my soon to be wife and I did bookings for local bands most of whom were known as "alternative". Every single one of them had Smithereens covers in their set lists.

 

[Lawdawg]

That comp looks cool. My Smithereens knowledge is limited to their major label heyday from Green Thoughts, 11, and Blow Up, but I always enjoyed their power pop sound.

 

[blowtorch]

they are one of my very favorite bands, and the reason I own this

 

[Killing Floor]

She had hair like Jeannie Shrimpton back in 1965
She had legs that never ended
I was halfway paralyzed



They were absolutely expert songwriters and arrangers and in the right context there’s about a dozen of their tunes that could have been top 10 hits. And they were great live.

 

[Rick330man]

Green Thoughts is probably one of my top ten favorite albums of all-time. Top of the Pops and Behind the Wall of Sleep are also excellent tunes in their own right.

I wouldn't qualify as a huge fan, but I definitely acknowledge that there are some excellent tunes in their body of work.

 

[Brian J.]

they should have been gigantic, absolutely fantastic band.

 

[blowtorch]

they should have been gigantic, absolutely fantastic band.

you know, it's funny, we all of us I think build a fantasy world and then set a soundtrack to that...

in my world the smithereens are in fact gigantic, and plenty of people are just clueless

 

[Peegoo]

I know all of their stuff, and I've played it a bunch. Pick a song. You cannot go wrong.

Jimmy Babjak is a riffmeister par excellance--easily in the same league as Keef, Joe Perry, and Mike Campbell.

 

[blowtorch]

You 'reens fans who aren't aware owe it to yourself to check this out

SMITHEREENS "Lost album" to be released late Sept!!

Looks like it's legit- a bunch of prev unreleased (supposedly because they were lost!) tracks with DiNizio- super pumped!

www.tdpri.com

 

[Lou Tencodpees]

High on my list of "what was good about the 80's."