Let's All...Meet the Smithereens
By Jennifer Vanderslice
July 15, 2009

The 80's…what can one say? It was a fun decade for all who lived it. I wanted to be a Material Girl like Madonna, and I wanted to marry Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. I was determined to spend the 80's partying like it was 1999, just like Prince told us to do!

But the decade had a dark side - the young, Goth crowd. They dressed in black, wore Dr. Martens, and heavy eyeliner; they talked about a band called The Smithereens. This strange crowd of teenagers used to love to "hang out" and work at a local record store that was managed by the man that was eventually become my husband. I had no desire to get to know these lovers of the underground music movement - the ones that cursed the day U2 or REM sold out and went mainstream. In my eyes, these kids where on their way to nowhere and knew nothing about "real music"…or did they?

Was I being a Smither-weenie?!

Flash forward to today, and I'm proud to say I love The Smithereens! No wait…these guys are hot! Have I really just discovered what those dark, Goth kids knew all along…that this band has the ability to draw you in, not just with their music but with their warmth and true appreciation of the fans that love them? Yes, I have, and yes, they do!

It was a cold, March morning earlier this year when I received an email from Scott Erickson suggesting that I make The Smithereens the Artist of the Month for my Beatles website. Sure, I had their "Meet the Smithereens" - all good Beatles fans had it, but why would The Smithereens want to be named "I-BFD Artist of the Month"? (I'd already been down this road with Beatles tribute bands who were only 10% as successful as these guys and even they turned up their noses at my so-called "award.") On the other hand, July was coming up fast, and I wanted someone special on my website as a birthday present to myself.

Sooooo, in early April, I e-mailed Jim Babjak (guitar and vocals), letting him know that I was naming The Smithereens as my website's "Artist of the Month," but instead of receiving what I thought would be a 'kind' response with a simple, "That's nice," and the obligatory "thank you," I got a very sincere e-mail letting me know that he had actually looked over my site and had read my articles!

What has remained a secret up until now is how star-struck I became. I spent the next hour pacing around! I couldn't manage to sit back down to work for at least an hour!

It was three months until I would announce The Smithereens as my "Artist of the Month." In the meantime, I began doing PR work for a gallery reception in honor of the World Famous Beatles Artist, Shannon. As time drew near for her June 11th event, we realized that she was in need of someone to unveil one of her paintings. I knew The Smithereens all resided in New Jersey, so I took a shot and e-mailed Jim Babjak to see if he would be willing to help out Shannon -someone whom he had never met.

What can you say about a guy of Jim's status and fame who replies to an e-mail within 3 hours, who reacts so quickly to a request from two people whom he's never met? Jim let us know that even though his schedule didn't allow him to make an appearance, he had just spoken to his drummer, Dennis Diken, who would be happy to unveil one of Shannon's Beatles paintings (Shannon appropriately decided to have Dennis unveil her painting of Ringo).

I would have one more encounter with Jim, Dennis, and the band before their July debut on my website. My husband I found ourselves in the Asbury Park area on June 27th, the same night The Smithereens were playing The Stone Pony. All I can say is - what the hell have I been doing for the past 30 years while these guys have been rockin'? And yeah…these guys can rock!

After the show, we hung around to say 'Hi' to Dennis and to introduce ourselves to Jim. Dennis greeted us with, "Hi Jenn. Hi Craig." There was a kiss on the cheek for me and a warm handshake for my husband. We made small talk as Dennis made his way over to the crowd of awaiting fans. Knowing we had a long drive home, I rudely stepped in front of a few fans wanting Jim's attention. I explained that I just wanted to say, "hello"…that I was the woman that had been e-mailing him. He would have no part of my quick introduction, though. He stopped what he was doing, apologized for not having answered my last email, and addressed me with his full attention. I assured him it was no problem at all, and gave him back to his fans - there were plenty of them awaiting him at that moment.

I went home feeling blessed.

Today, July 15th is my 45th birthday…"and in the end"…what started out as me giving myself the gift of The Smithereens for my 45th birthday, turned into The Smithereens giving a part of themselves to me. Happy Days to all of us that there are people in the world like these genuinely cool guys…and thanks to The Smithereens for a very happy birthday to me!

Here's a little about each member of The Smithereens:

On Jim Babjak's website (www.JimBabjak.com) you'll find an article Jim wrote about their album, "Meet the Smithereens". In the article Jim says, "I am being totally honest: I was never a big fan of the idea of recording Beatles songs because I always thought that they should be left alone. But I have to say, damn! It's so much fun to play if you're a musician. I highly recommend it. It brings back some real good feelings. Feelings I had growing up and dreaming of playing in a Rock and Roll band." You can find an article about Jim and his 1977 painting of The Beatles on his parent's business in the latest (#32) issue of Weird NJ magazine. www.weirdnj.com.

When Dennis Diken is playing the drums, he's a force to be reckoned with on stage, but you'd never get that impression when talking to him face-to-face or via e-mail. He has a heart bigger than his bass drum, a fact that becomes abundantly clear when he turns a conversation back to whomever he's speaking with at the time.

Dennis recently wrote an article for USA Today honoring Ringo Starr on Ringo's 69th birthday; Click Here to read it.

Dennis will be releasing his first solo album 'Late Music' on September 29, 2009. The release about his new album can be found at Modern Guitar.

From his animated facial expressions to his colorful vocabulary, spoken only as a true New Jersey native could speak it, Pat DiNizio will make you feel like he's performing just for you and not the thousands of screaming fans surrounding you.
Pat says on his website www.PatDiNizio.com, "One of the most remarkable and wonderful experiences of my life was the 5-month long "LIVING ROOM TOUR" that I did several years ago, performing solo acoustic concerts in the homes, living rooms, and backyards of over 70 Smithereens friends and supporters across the U.S.A., logging over 65,000 miles (FREE miles, much to the chagrin of Budget Rent-A-Car!!) in a rented, four-wheel drive vehicle.

Severo "The Thrilla" Jornacion was at the opposite end of the Stone Pony stage from where I stood. so I can't say much about his performance except that I'm not sure why they call him 'The Thrilla'? I would call him 'Boom-Boom!' because when he gets that bass guitar going along with Dennis' bass drum, audiences experience a booming feeling right in the middle of their chests with every beat! Oh what a feeling!


For more information on The Smithereens, go to: www.OfficialSmithereens.com or MySpace or on Twitter