THE SMITHEREENS

From the beginning, I had it in my head that this site's focus would be the New Brunswick scene, and that the Smithereens were decidedly outside of it. Loved by Brunswick, absolutely. But as they achieved national success, less was made of their ties to the Brunswick area, and as best as I can remember (though my brain isn't ironclad), there was no national talk of New Brunswick having a music scene in the wake of their stardom. But this was the doing of the media, not the band. The Smithereens often played Brunswick in the 1980s, and there was the on-site presence of the Flamin Groovies record shop, owned by Smithereens guitarist Jim Babjak. I quickly realized my error in judgement after launching the site; if Tiny Lights were an honorary New Brunswick band, then for the Smithereens it was doubly so. That being said, I really don't have to tell their story, do I? The stable lineup of Pat DiNizio, Babjak, Severo Jornacion (preceeded by Mike Mesaros), and Dennis Diken made classic guitar rock not dissimilar to those other Jersey guys in Dramarama, but unlike the latter, they found success during a time period when guitars were driven underground. There was a small panic every time they came to Brunswick, and to their credit, they continued to visit long after getting famous, and never stopped referring to themselves as a Jersey band.

These great flyers were lovingly posted by Denise Glover on a Facebook page honoring the lamented Court Tavern (which shut its doors in early 2012; it has since reopened under new management), where the Smithereens remained a welcome presence into the 21st century.

[CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE]