A GIRL LIKE YOU - THE SMITHEREENS
One of the most under-rated bands of the 80’s-90’s, The Smithereens are a rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States.
The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio (vocals & guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar & vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar & vocals), and Dennis Diken (drums & percussion). This lineup continued until 2006, when Mesaros left the band and Severo Jornacion took over on bass guitar.
Along with a basic Eastern-coast roots-rock sound that owed much to the inspirations of DiNizio, including Buddy Holly, The Who, The Clash, Elvis Costello, and Nick Lowe, the Smithereens deployed a uniquely retro obsession with Mod, the late British Invasion pop of John’s Children and The Move, and other artifacts of fifties and sixties culture that lent its music substance.
The Smithereens starred as themselves and were featured as the entertainment in the indoor beach party scene of the Troma film Class of Nuke ‘Em High, playing the song “Much Too Much”.
The highest position an album by The Smithereens attained on the Billboard pop charts was in 1990, when 11 peaked at #41 on the strength of the single “A Girl Like You” (which hit #38). “A Girl Like You” was originally written to be the title track for the 1989 Cameron Crowe film Say Anything….
