rowing up in the Washington D.C. area in the late eighties, it seemed like the only rock music you could find on the dial was hair metal. Not that I was complaining. I was fourteen years old back in 1989 and was enthralled by everything that was being delivered by the likes of GUNS AND ROSES and DEF LEPPARD. And of course I remember feeling slightly annoyed by the offerings by bands such as POISON and WARRANT. There was a bombastic grandeur to the music back then that can be hard to imagine now in a time where there isn't much rock n roll. The hair was big, the men in these bands were pretty and the music was thunderous. But there was also an inaccessibility to it. The rock n roll lifestyle was nothing that my mixed race, gawky, FRANK HERBERT reading fourteen year old self could relate to. The men of GUNS AND ROSES and DEF LEPPARD were rock gods. Not real people.

I have no specific memory of when I first heard A GIRL LIKE YOU from THE SMITHEREENS on the radio, but I do remember the tough yet earnest rock anthem standing out by a mile from much of what mainstream rock had to offer back in 1989. The no nonsense opening metal riff of the song grabs your attention immediately and sustains itself for the course of much of the song without growing tiresome. Doubtless, it is the hook that draws you in but the voice of front man PAT DiNIZIO is what keeps you engaged and it was something you didn't hear too much of in the crop of rock guys back then. His voice was a warm baritone with an everyman quality without screaming or histrionics – an intimate quality for sure. It should be mentioned that DiNIZIO shares the vocals on A GIRL LIKE YOU with pop singer MARIA VIDAL harmonizing on the chorus and the final verse and outro. In the age of anthems like PARADISE CITY, the earnestness of A GIRL LIKE YOU was quite a feat. It was all about winning a girl's love and not him telling her to pour sugar on him.

THE MUSiC ViDEO FOR A GiRL LiKE YOU!!!

In the months after A GIRL LIKE YOU was taken out of rotation I made a trip to my local library to check out some books for a term paper I had to write. When I examined the music section, I came across THE SMITHEREENS' album 11 on cassette featuring the song that captured my ears months ago. I wondered what a relatively recent album was doing in library available for check out. I remember being grounded around that time for my inattention to school and low grades so I checked out the cassette of 11 and camouflaged it among my books on FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT and my love of the pop rock stylings of THE SMITHEREENS began and had me wondering where this New Jersey band had been all of my life.

Well, for nine of my then fourteen years at that point, THE SMITHEREENS made a name for themselves with a catalog of punchy power pop tunes with a decided sixties influence. In the early eighties the band made their presence known with a couple of EPs GIRLS ABOUT TOWN (1980) and BEAUTY AND SADNESS (1983) but it was their 1986 LP ESPECIALLY FOR YOU (ENIGMA) where the band broke through with the single BLOOD AND ROSES – a moody, clapping rocker with the most bad ass opening bass lick brought to you by MIKE MESAROS and the positively slamming BEHIND THE WALL OF SLEEP about a bass playing chick who stands like BILL WYMAN and has hair like JEANIE SHRIMPTON back in 1965. Their debut LP reached #51 on the BILLBOARD ALBUM 200 an was certified platinum with over a million copies in US sales. In 1988, after non stop touring, the band released their follow up LP GREEN THOUGHTS powered by the driving power pop of ONLY A MEMORY.

By the time I took notice of the band in 1989, I had no idea that they were in the midst of a shake up in their sound. Having worked with producer DON DIXON on their first two albums, THE SMITHEREENS, now signed to CAPITOL RECORDS, decided to take their sixties sounding power pop and crank it up to eleven, hence the title of the album which cleverly references both SPINAL TAP and the film OCEAN'S ELEVEN with FRANK SINATRA. To achieve this upgrade into mainstream rock radio acceptance, the band worked with producer ED STASIUM who had become renowned in the business for his work with THE RAMONES, TALKING HEADS, and more recently LIVING COLOUR's 1988 breakthrough album VIVID. The power pop smarts of DiNIZIO and company combined with the studio wizardry of STASIUM made for an album that upped the ante for THE SMITHEREENS. 11 is a punchy collection of pop rock tunes both rough and sweet. The enthusiasm for the bigger sound provided by STASIUM and the RECORD PLANT studios can be felt in the performances. Even when DiNIZIO sings of being blue as he does on the songs THE BLUES BEFORE AND AFTER and the BELINDA CARLISLE duet BLUE PERIOD, there is a zeal that can't be contained despite the melancholy of the lyrics. Yes, 11 was a cassette that found its place on my cassette shelf between my copies of THE BEATLES' HELP and AC/DC's HIGHWAY TO HELL. 

BLUES BEFORE AND AFTER
It made all of the sense in the world to kick off 11 with A GIRL LIKE YOU. What an introduction! The impression made by the band's newly revved up sound is so strong that the second track THE BLUES BEFORE AND AFTER almost feels like an extension of their modern rock radio hit. However, THE BLUES... is a more raucous affair than their single and the power chord progression may not be as memorable but it's no less driving. This time around DiNIZIO no longer has the girl and the bitterness and longing conveyed in his delivery makes you feels like you are right at home with these Jersey boys.

BLUE PERIOD
DiNIZIO's humble baritone has lent itself well to duets with female singers. You couldn't say the same for AXL ROSE or ELLIOT SMITH. DiNIZIO has shared the mic with SUZANNE VEGA on the melancholy cha-cha of IN A LONELY PLACE from ESPECIALLY FOR YOU and with MARIA VIDAL on A GIRL LIKE YOU. On the string quartet led ballad BLUE PERIOD he has ex-GO-GO BELINDA CARLISLE to harmonize with. I don't want to say that the results are heaven on earth but they are, especially the harpsichord solo at the baroque pop's sweet center. BLUE PERIOD is a reminder of the band as sixties pop progenitors and gives the listener a little bit of a break from the band's newly embraced power chord heavy sound.

BABY BE GOOD
It's clear from the album's first cut that 11 is all about good vibrations. Even when DiNIZIO sings of a broken heart, it sounds more fetching than it does worrisome. But isn't that the role of good pop music? The band resumes their power chord approach with BABY BE GOOD but this time it's used to spark up the walking beat of a song about wishing an ex-girlfriend all the best. The oohs and aahs recall THE BEACH BOYS, but BABY BE GOOD is a HELP-era BEATLEsque pop confection at its finest.

YESTERDAY GIRL
The sixties inspired power pop that made THE SMITHEREENS a stand out makes a return with the joyous sounding YESTERDAY GIRL. The celebratory guitar heavy tune finds DiNIZIO making the most of a bad situation by choosing to go with the flow as opposed to making any plans or commitments. “I never think about the future I just live for today!”, declares the slacker in song as he cautions his girlfriend that he isn't the singer that she used to know. YESTERDAY GIRL went on to be another single release from the album.

WILLIAM WILSON
Not only was DiNIZIO an expert songwriter when it came to boy meets girl scenarios and the complexities that came as a result of them, he was also a fine storyteller. You could hear it in the song HOUSE WE USED TO LIVE IN from GREEN THOUGHTS about the toll of a divorce. On 11, we have WILLIAM WILSON, the story of a young man without a care in the world and a seemingly easy life until he meets his long lost father WILLIAM WILSON and a pandora's box of emotional turmoil is unleashed. However, as is characteristic of this album, the bright punchy sound is at odds with DiNIZIO's subject matter making the memorable tune all the more compelling.