Blood and Roses – The Smithereens

The Smithereens are a rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio (vocals & guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar & vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar & vocals), and Dennis Diken (drums & percussion) . This lineup continued until 2006, when Mesaros left the band and Severo Jornacion took over on bass guitar.

Babjak, Diken, and Mesaros are all from Carteret, New Jersey and graduated from Carteret High School in 1975. In 1980, they formed the band with DiNizio, who is from Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

The Smithereens are known for writing and playing catchy 1960s-influenced power pop. The group gained publicity when a single from its first album, “Blood and Roses”, was included on the soundtrack for, and as the theme song of the 1986 Albert Pyun movie, Dangerously Close, and the video got some moderately heavy rotation on MTV.

The group spent some time in its initial semi-celebrity phase defending itself in Rolling Stone against thinly-veiled accusations of sounding too much like The Byrds and The Beatles, pointing out that its Marshall Amplifier-heavy live sound was closer to heavy metal than it was to The Beatles. The Smithereens have always worn their inspirations proudly, but the band also influenced other musicians, most notably Kurt Cobain during the period he was writing Nevermind. Ironically, some feel the Smithereens (like many early 1990s bands) were hurt by the rise of grunge.

Along with a basic Eastern-coast roots-rock sound that owed much to the inspirations of DiNizio, including Buddy Holly, The Who, The Clash, Elvis Costello, and Nick Lowe, the Smithereens deployed a uniquely retro obsession with Mod, the late British Invasion pop of John’s Children and The Move, and other artifacts of fifties and sixties culture that lent its music substance. The title and lyrics of their song, “In a Lonely Place,” appear to be based on the 1950 Humphrey Bogart film of the same name, including the lyrics, “I was born the day I met you, lived a while when you loved me, died a little when we broke apart.” The title and artwork for the album 11 were a nod to the original 1960 Ocean’s Eleven film.

The name Smithereens comes from a Yosemite Sam catchphrase, “Varmint, I’m a-gonna blow you to smithereens!”

Their next studio album is scheduled to be released January 5, 2010.

Blood and Roses

http://djallyn.org/media/blood_and_roses.flv

It was long ago
Seems like yesterday
Saw you standing in the rain
Then I heard you say

I want to love but it comes out wrong
I want to live but I don’t belong
I close my eyes and I see
Blood and roses

Love flowers in the springtime
October we were wed
In wintertime the roses died
The blood ran cold
And then she said

I want to love but it comes out wrong
I want to live but I don’t belong
I close my eyes and I see
Blood and roses

It was long ago
Seems like yesterday
Saw you standing in the rain
Then I heard you say

I need your love but it comes out wrong
I try to live but I don’t belong
I close my eyes and I see
Blood and roses

• Audio from the 1986 album, Especially For You:

Other Songs Posted for this Artist

• August 4, 2008 -- A Girl Like You ~ The Smithereens

Tagged as: The Smithereens