June 1988, Cameo Theatre, Miami Beach, Fla.
You know how some people follow film directors, and will see a movie made by that person because they made it? Of course you do, I do it myself. If David Fincher or the Coen Brothers direct a movie, I’m watching it because the work before it shows its worth.
I do this with record producers as well, and will give an album an extra look if the producer has done albums I admired. I was in the record store in the University of Maryland Stamp Union when I came across a new release from The Smithereens, it was called Especially for You and it was produced by Don Dixon.
Don Dixon, if you aren’t aware, co-produced Murmur and Reckoning with Mitch Easter. Anyone who can produce two of my favorite albums (with the former considered one of the best of any time), will have my attention for more. And let me tell you, Especially for You is a damn good record.
Sure everyone knows “Blood and Roses” and “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” but “Cigarette,” “I Don’t Want to Lose You” and “Time and Time Again” are just as good, perhaps better (the whole first side, when there were first sides, is one great song after another). Singer and guitarist Pat DiNizio has an engaging voice with lyrics to pull you in, and the music surrounding it is pure rock ‘n’ roll. If you haven’t listened to it, or haven’t recently, take time to — the album is timeless even at 28 years old.
I didn’t get to see them the first time around, but after Green Thoughts came out in 1988 (also produced by Dixon and includes the song Especially for You, oddly enough), the band was on tour to promote it and avoid the sophomore slump (which they did).
It was a summer show at the Cameo, which on this Miami Beach night had no A/C, and I went with my friend Sarah (her of the Hall & Oates incident — see it all worked out). Adding to the excitement of the night was a high school friend of ours was playing guitar for the opening band, which called itself Coral Gables (we all went to Coral Gables High). The band was getting good reviews around town, and was seeking to find its way outside the city’s borders.
And Coral Gables was good. Our friend Jay (a Peter Buck fan who wrote about Athens, Ga. in my senior high school yearbook) was a skilled guitarist who worked his way through the band’s songs with aplomb. There was an alternative vibe, but also some reggae and hints of punk — I used to have a tape of some of their songs but it’s been long gone for years. Sitting on the back ends of theater chairs in front of a large fan, Sarah and I watched Coral Gables happily work for their big break, and they made the most of it.
What I admire about The Smithereens is it’s a band that never puts on airs — making good music and being in a band people enjoy is enough. Some bands, confronted with a hot room and a sweaty mess of an audience would be pissed off. But I remember the band taking the stage and ripping into “Only a Memory,” the opening song from Green Thoughts, without a care in the world. One of the benefits of seeing a band on its sophomore album tour is you’re assured to hear all the top songs from the debut album as well as top selections from the new one — and this happened on this night. Of course with Especially for You, just about every song was a top song, so it made for a happy night of music.
So on came “Strangers When We Meet” and “Groovy Tuesday,” “In a Lonely Place” as well as “Behind the Wall of Sleep” and “Blood and Roses” (how great is that opening bass line). But “Cigarette” is a constant favorite — with acoustic guitar in hand DiNizio opens the song alone, spotlight center stage — and plays a perfect two-and-a-half-minute song. The band offered a backing percussion, but otherwise it was simple and clean. To write something so elegant has to be sustainable for the rest of your days.
The Smithereens made the humid mess of a Miami Beach night into a strong, steady memory.
