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).
Sometimes YouTube does you right. Reminded me of this song from the 'Born Again Pagans' EP Coil did in 1995, when they felt they were communicating with a spiritual entity named ELpH as they made it. Wild, huh?
GREAT song, too - the whole EP is killer. Hearing this right after it came out when I was in my mid teens was wiiiild
This week's #TuneTuesday is #TheOpener, the first song you remember hearing live. That's an easy one for me - my first show was Foo Fighters at UMBC in 1996, I was 16. They opened with "Enough Space", but the song I vividly remember was "This is a Call" - still an incredible song all these years later. I had the album, loved it, and was floored to hear it live. RIPPER of a set, too - and it's online here: https://youtu.be/uQncL1LfPYQ
I remember using a Flightstick Pro for the family Mac Performa in the mid 1990s. My dad had the Chuck Yeager flight simulator (which was pretty cool at the time), and that was the game he had gotten the stick for.
I have another one for #TuneTuesday and #SameTitleDifferentSong. This one often comes to mind for me, too. The third one is missing the 'ing' but I'm still counting it, especially since Dave played for Tom and they were friends. I love the SHIT outta all THREE of these songs.