"Strangers When We Meet" is a song by the American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

group

The Smithereens The Smithereens are an American 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 & ...

, released as a European-only single in 1987. It is the fourth single released in support of their debut album ''

Especially for You "Especially for You" is a song performed by Australian recording artists Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan from Donovan's debut album, '' Ten Good Reasons'' (1989). The song was released as his album's second single on 28 November 1988 and was ...

''.

Background

According to songwriter

Pat DiNizio Patrick Michael DiNizio (October 12, 1955 – December 12, 2017) was the lead singer, songwriter, and founding member of the band The Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, and Mike Mesaros, from Carteret, New Jersey ...

, the song was his attempt to rewrite

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

' "

Don't Worry Baby "Don't Worry Baby" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their March 1964 album ''Shut Down Volume 2''. Written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, Wilson's lead vocal on the track is considered one of his defining performances, ...

", "but in the end it turned into something else altogether", he said. The title was taken from the 1960 film of the same name and the lyrics were directly inspired by the plot. Written in 1984, the song was considered by the band as the main "pop hit single" candidate on the album.

Release

In Europe, "Strangers When We Meet" was released as the fourth single from the band's debut album ''

''. The single reached number 21 on the UK Indie Charts.

Formats and track listing

;UK 7" single (Enig 3) #"Strangers When We Meet" (

) – 3:35 #" The Seeker" (

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

) – 3:08 ;UK 12" single (Enig 31) #"Strangers When We Meet" (DiNizio) – 3:35 #"The Seeker" (Townshend) – 3:08 #" Hang Ten High" (

Dominic Frontiere Dominic Carmen Frontiere (June 17, 1931 – December 21, 2017) was an American composer, arranger, and jazz accordionist. He composed the theme and much of the music for the first season of the television series '' The Outer Limits'', as wel ...

) – 2:14

Charts

Personnel

;The Smithereens *

Jim Babjak Jim Babjak (born November 17, 1957) is an American guitarist and ex-banker. He is the lead guitar player and co-founder of The Smithereens. Babjak has written and sung several songs for the band. He also is the leader of the band ''Buzzed Meg''. ...

– guitar *

Dennis Diken Dennis Diken (born February 25, 1957) is an American drummer, DJ, author, music historian, and founding member of the band the Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Pat DiNizio, Jim Babjak, and Mike Mesaros in Carteret, New Jersey. Besides ...

– drums, percussion, backing vocals *

– vocals, guitar *Mike Mesaros – bass guitar, backing vocals ;Additional musicians *

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway," a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl," and "Whenever You're on My Mind." He i ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, piano on "Strangers When We Meet" ;Technical * Don Dixon – production on "Strangers When We Meet" *

– production on "The Seeker" *

Andy Shernoff Andy Shernoff (born April 19, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member of The Dictators, one of the original New York punk bands, in which he wrote nearly all of the songs, played bass guitar and k ...

– production on "Hang Ten High" ;Notes *"Strangers When We Meet" recorded 1985 at the

Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blon ...

, New York City *"The Seeker" recorded spring 1987 at the Record Plant, New York City *"Hang Ten High" recorded summer 1982 at Rock Bite Studios, New York City

References

External links

*
The Smithereens Discography at 45cat
Retrieved on 20 August 2018. {{The Smithereens 1986 songs 1986 singles The Smithereens songs Song recordings produced by Don Dixon (musician) Songs written by Pat DiNizio Enigma Records singles