The Smithereens - Blown To Smithereens: Best Of The Smithereens (1995)

I woke up this morning with this group's song A Girl Like You stuck in my head, so I thought listening to this CD might help get it out. Not that it is a bad song, it's just that I'd rather not have earworms. I originally thought this group sounded like R.E.M. (with a better singer) based on the first Smithereens song I heard, House We Used To Live In. At that time, I missed The Beatles influence on the band completely - now I can't get away from it. This CD starts off with Beauty & Sadness which sounds a lot like a cross between The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows and She Said She Said. In other words, 1966 Revolver-era stuff. (For a more obvious rip-off, er, I mean tribute, compare the harpsichord solos from The Smithereen's Blue Period to that of The Beatles' In My Life.)

I purchased three of the group's albums on cassette: Green Thoughts (1988), 11 (1989), and Blow Up (1991). 9 of this compilation's 16 tracks are taken from those albums. I purchased the band's 1994 CD, A Date With The Smithereens when it was released, but thought the band had lost a step and gave up on them until they released some new material last year. I keep meaning to give their Beatles tribute albums a listen. The group only had 2 Top 40 hits in their career, but consistently charted in the "US Mainstream Rock" category. This is one of those bands who cause fans and critics (myself included) to ask, "Why isn't this group more well-known?"

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Overall, a great CD as greatest hits compilations should be. Of course, I prefer the songs I already knew from the late '80s/early '90s. My favorites are still House We Used To Live In, A Girl Like You, Yesterday Girl, Too Much Passion, and Top Of The Pops. I'm not a fan of some of the band's contribution to the 1994 movie Timecop, a cover of The Outsiders' 1966 hit, Time Won't Let Me.

Song	Album	Year	Hot 100	Rock
Beauty & Sadness	Beauty & Sadness (EP)	1983	-	-
Strangers When We Meet	Especially For You	1986	-	-
Blood & Sadness	Especially For You	1986	-	14
In A Lonely Place	Especially For You	1986	-	-
Behind The Wall Of Sleep	Especially For You	1986	-	23
Only A Memory	Green Thoughts	1988	92	1
House We Used To Live In	Green Thoughts	1988	-	14
Drown In My Own Tears	Green Thoughts	1988	-	34
A Girl Like You	11	1989	38	2
Blue Period	11	1989	-	-
Blues Before & After	11	1989	94	7
Yesterday Girl	Blow Up	1991	-	20
Top Of The Pops	Blow Up	1991	-	19
Too Much Passion	Blow Up	1991	37	-
Miles From Nowhere	A Date With The Smithereens	1994	-	17
Time Won't Let Me	single-only	1994	-	-

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The group's brand of rock is well-suited to the road, so I listened to the band often in my 1985 Oldsmobile Firenza, especially during the years 1988 and 1989. What a difference a year makes: in 1988, I was in a bad place; let's just say I was "in transition." By the end of 1989, I had a college degree, my first 'real' job, my first lease in my name, and had married my wife. The difference between those two consecutive years is night and day.

Speaking of my 1985 Oldsmobile Firenza, here's a photo of it being towed away by my brother-in-law in the spring of 1990. I've selected this photo specifically because that's how I remember that car: it was a piece of crap that was always leaving me stranded on the side of the road.

...and A Girl Like You is still stuck in my head.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Green Thoughts (1988)