I recently had an idea for a theme week that was inspired by a quote from the 1977 film Star Wars.

In the movie, Luke Skywalker’s friend Ben Kenobi, a hermit living among the sand dunes on the desert planet of Tatooine, is told by Luke about a message he came across that mentions the name “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Upon hearing the reference, Ben says this:

I figured I could apply the same phrase to a number of musical artists whom I once enjoyed to one degree or another but have since fallen entirely off my radar.

This week I’ll feature songs by five of them.

First up is the band that first came to mind when I considered this theme: The Smithereens.

The New Jersey rock band formed in 1980 and released their debut album, Especially For You, in 1986. They have released 11 more studio albums since then, including a “lost album” from their archives in 2022.

My introduction to the band came through that debut album, which I bought in 1990 after seeing the band live on campus my freshman year of college. It’s a great memory — I was wandering the campus one night and came upon a large gathering around a stage, which turned out to be a Smithereens show. No ticket required.

I fell in love with that album, which is excellent from start to finish, truly as good an alternative rock album as you’ll find from that era. But I didn’t follow the band much after that. Their 1989 album 11 (which they must have been touring with when I saw them) has a couple of hits I recall, but that’s it.

Sadly, lead singer Pat DiNizio (whose voice bears a striking resemblance to Elvis Costello’s) died in 2017 at 62. The band continued to tour with guest vocalists in his place.

I haven’t listened to or thought much about The Smithereens over the last two decades, but I have to imagine there is some gold to be mined in those other 11 albums.