Behind the wall of sleep...

Nostra Dam
Dec 29, 2023
7 min read

Updated: Jan 2, 2024

The Smithereens is an American group trained in 1980 and composed at the origin of Pat Dinizio, Jim Babjak, Mike Mesaros and Dennis Diken. A group name which would actually be a reference to the character of cartoons Yosemite Sam, character present in the series of Looney Tunes, one of the favorite sentence is 'I'm-a-gonna blow Ya to smithereens…'.

We will have to wait 6 years and the year 1986 to see the group release a first official Single named "Blood and Roses", title which offers him a first major success and that will be found on their first album "Espetially or you you ». Album that will also be released the same year and will be talked about on both sides of the Atlantic.

New album "Green Thoughts" two years later in 1988, album with success almost equivalent to its predecessor and which confirms the obvious rise of the group in particular thanks to the Single "Only a Memory".

But it is above all the following album "11" which will bring the following year in 1989 a semblance of consecration to the group. An album which will remain as the best classified of all their discography and which will produce no less than 3 top hits including the huge "A Girl Like You", a Single which will remain as their reference title on the charts side.

We will have to wait 3 years and the year 1991 to see their new album "Blow Up", a lower success album but from which will still be extracted from the Singles of big caliber "Top of the Pops" and "Too Much Passion" .

They will know in the last success on the albums side with "A date with the Smithereens", album with a modest success and which will just get out of it thanks to the title "Miles from Nowhere".

The adventure will not stop there and the group will produce other albums and other Singles even if they will pass a little more unnoticed.

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

80s Decade :

Girl don't tell me 1980
Much too much 1983
Tracey's world 1983
Blood and roses 1986
Behind the wall of sleep 1986
In a lonely place 1986
Strangers when we meet 1987
Only a memory 1988
House we used to live in 1988
Down in my own tears 1988
A girl like you 1989

90s Decade :

Blues before and after 1990
Yesterday girl 1990
Blue period 1990
Top of the pops 1991
Tell me when did things go so wrong 1991
Too much passion 1991
Girl in room 12 1991
Get a hold of my heart 1992
Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer 1992
Miles from nowhere 1994
Sick of Seattle 1994
Everything I have is blue 1994
Time won't let me 1994
Downbound train 1997
She's got a way 1999
Someday 1999
Even if I never get back home 1999

2000s Decade :

I want to hold your hand 2007
This boy 2007
It won't be long 2007
Waking up on Christmas morning 2007
Merry Christmas, Baby 2007
Christmas (I remember) 2007
Thank you girl 2008
Ask me why 2008
P.S. I love you 2008
Amazing journey 2009
Eyesight to the blind 2009
Christmas 2009

2010s Decade :

Sorry 2011
A world of our own 2011
Keep on running 2011

2020s Decade :

Don't look down 2022
A world apart 2022
All trough the night 2022

Tracks :

1980...you have to start well one day as they say and for them it will be like this. It is clear that there is still some work to be done...

1983...the style and sound have evolved but this overspeed will not help them break through at the highest level. Copy to review as they say...

1983...the style is refined title after title and it becomes obvious that the group now has everything it takes to hope to eventually join the big leagues...

1986...they will have to wait 3 more years to finally access it but it is now done with this title in any case...

1986...of course we are not talking about a clear and massive take-off but the success is definitely there in any case and especially on both sides of the Atlantic...

1986...three titles will be released during this year 1986 and the three will be classified which is a very positive result to say the least...

1987...as much as the year 1986 will have been provided with titles, the year 1987 will be, to say the least, one of the most restricted in this area. The years follow each other but are not necessarily the same...

1988...business resumes in this new year 1988 with a level of productivity which is rising sharply again. Phew...

1988...the only downside in the matter is that the success is now limited exclusively to the United States. On the other hand, it's always better than nothing...

1988...in just 3 years they will have become a sure value of the American music scene it is clear. Now it remains to last as they say...

1989...an 80s decade which ends in the best possible way with this title which will remain as one of their highest ranked. All is well in the best of all possible worlds...

1990...a change of decade which sees them at their best with the production of most of their best titles...

1990...the group is racking up top hits in an impressive way to say the least from now on and they certainly don't intend to stop there, that's clear...

1990...the 'little' hit of the year. Afterwards, this does not call into question the excellent dynamic of success on which the group has been riding for several years...

1991...another one of their most emblematic titles. The group perfectly masters its art and it shows, above all it can be heard !

1991...quantity and quality are there so everything is going in an ideal way to say the least. Now it remains to maintain the same level for years to come...

1991...for the moment there is no need to worry about them. Things are going as planned and the sky seems clear for the moment. For the moment...

1991...a title which will not be released via traditional distribution channels, hence its influence is necessarily limited to say the least...

1992...same for this one. Not easy in these cases to appear in the light as it should be, hence the almost non-existent results in the Charts...

1992...this one will suffer the same fate unfortunately. It is difficult to understand the group's strategy at this stage of the adventure...

1994...return to traditional distribution channels for this one, hence a result in the Charts that is already a little more flattering. We really came close to leaving the road definitively...

1994...and here we go again for the confidential releases, to say the least. It's not easy to retain an audience under these conditions, to say the least...

1994...fortunately the basic fans are still there to buy the albums because on the Singles side it's a rout, there are no other words...

1994...they will appear in the soundtrack of the film 'Timecop' but that will not be enough to bring them back to the forefront. Times are really getting harder and harder for the group...

1997...we lost sight of them for almost 3 years and here they are again in luxury cover mode with this revisited version of Bruce Springsteen's title dating from 1984. A daring bet and above all a lost bet on the Charts side...

1999...as much as the beginning of the decade saw them reach the summit of the mountain, the end of the decade saw them descend from it at a speed that was impressive to say the least...

1999...that won't stop them from continuing the adventure whatever happens. Because we know that in music everything is always possible...

1999...that's what they tell themselves and in principle they are absolutely right. As long as they continue to enjoy what they do, why throw in the towel prematurely...

2007...we will still lose sight of them for almost 8 years but here they are again in any case. And this to the delight of their core fans obviously...

2007...they decided with this new opus to pay homage to the Beatles and even if it won't earn them more than that in the Charts at least they will have had fun...

2007...especially since their luxury covers are far from being devoid of interest, it must be noted. We will be largely satisfied with it in any case...

2007...two albums in the same year, who would have thought it ? And yet this will indeed be the case with this new special Christmas opus...

2007...we know that when business is no longer going well for a group, the good old Christmas album is always there...

2007...and they're not doing so badly with titles that avoid the good old Christmas covers that we've heard thousands of times...

2008...it took them a while to come back but they decided in any case to pull out all the stops in this second part of the 2000s...

2008...new tribute to the Beatles, this time with covers of the B sides of some of their 45s. Pieces that we necessarily know less...

2008...and suddenly these covers had less of the merit of originality. Because these are Beatles songs that we rarely get used to hearing...

2009...after the Beatles they decided to pay homage to the Who through their legendary album 'Tommy'. And as for the Beatles, the result won't be that bad...

2009...afterwards a little originality and novelty wouldn't hurt, quite the contrary. It might be for the next decade...

2009...we will therefore end this 2000 decade in revival mode. It would be difficult to blame them because they still provided quality work...

2011...new decade and new titles, finally. Certainly in terms of style and sound there is nothing very new about them but all the same...

2011...in any case it is the core fans who are once again extremely happy to see their group continue the adventure year after year, decade after decade...

2011...certainly there will be no return to the front of the stage but their desire to believe in it until the end undoubtedly commands respect...

2022... on the other hand, we will lose sight of them for almost 11 years, which is no small thing. Besides, we wondered if we would really see each other again one day or another...

2022...and yet they are indeed back. Especially since they will feel less and less alone because more and more groups from the 80s are also coming back...