SMITHEREENS SPECIAL
The four original members of one of New Jersey’s finest rock bands, The Smithereens—lead singer, rhythm guitarist and songwriter Pat DiNizio, lead guitarist Jim Babjak, drummer Dennis Diken and bassist Mike Mesaros—will be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame along with other Garden State luminaries such as fellow rocker Southside Johnny Lyon, actor Jason Alexander, author Peter Benchley, author George R.R. Martin and former New York Giant Harry Carson at a ceremony to be held at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey on October 27.
The Smithereens formed in 1980 when DiNizio, from Scotch Plains, New Jersey, joined Babjak, Diken and Mesaros, who attended Carteret High School in Carteret, New Jersey together, to round out the quartet. The band recorded 11 studio albums, releasing their debut LP, Especially For You, in 1986. (Mesaros left the band for a decade, returning in 2016. He was replaced by bassist Severo Jornacion during his time away from the band.) The band made quite an impact with rock fans via their ’60s-tinged power-pop songs filled with heartbreak and hope.
Among the bands that The Smithereens influenced was as one of the albums that served as an influence to Nirvana in the exhibition , which is currently on at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture.
