View source for Especially for You (The Smithereens album)

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{{More citations needed|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Especially for You
| type       = Studio album
| artist     = [[The Smithereens]]
| cover      = Smithereensespeciallyforyou.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = July 1986
| recorded   = {{flatlist|
* April 1985
* December 1985
}}
| venue      =
| studio     = [[Record Plant|The Record Plant]], [[New York City]]
| genre      = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| length     = 38:07
| label      = [[Enigma Records|Enigma]]
| producer   = [[Don Dixon (musician)|Don Dixon]]
| prev_title = [[Beauty and Sadness (EP)|Beauty and Sadness]]
| prev_year  = 1983
| next_title = [[Green Thoughts]]
| next_year  = 1988
| misc        = {{Singles
| name        = Especially for You
| type        = studio
| single1     = [[Blood and Roses (song)|Blood and Roses]]
| single1date = 1986
| single2     = [[Behind the Wall of Sleep (The Smithereens song)|Behind the Wall of Sleep]]
| single2date = 1986
| single3     = [[In a Lonely Place (song)|In a Lonely Place]]
| single3date = 1986
| single4     = [[Strangers When We Meet (The Smithereens song)|Strangers When We Meet]]
| single4date = 1987
}}
}}
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |first=Jason |last=Ankeny |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000191899|pure_url=yes}}|title=Especially for You  |website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=September 18, 2014}}</ref>
|rev2 = [[Robert Christgau]]
|rev2Score = B−<ref name="Christgau Review">{{cite web |first=Robert |last=Christgau |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=8394 |title=The Smithereens: Especially for You |website=Robert Christgau.com |access-date=September 18, 2014}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/113363/especially_for_you|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528090633/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/113363/especially_for_you|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 28, 2007|title=Album Reviews|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=October 9, 2017}}</ref>
}}
'''''Especially for You''''' is the first full-length [[Studio album|album]] from [[New Jersey]]–based [[rock band]] [[The Smithereens]], released in July 1986 by [[Enigma Records]].<ref name="officialsmithereens">[https://officialsmithereens.com/music/especially-for-you/ ''Especially for You'']. Officialsmithereens.com. Retrieved on November 20, 2018.</ref>
The album is notable for the hit "[[Blood and Roses (song)|Blood and Roses]]", which has been featured in multiple movie and TV productions. Producer [[Don Dixon (musician)|Don Dixon]]'s co-production work on [[R.E.M.]]'s ''[[Murmur (album)|Murmur]]'' and ''[[Reckoning (R.E.M. album)|Reckoning]]'' albums added attention to the record's initial release. Two of its songs became hits on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'''s [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|Album Rock Tracks chart]]: "Blood and Roses" reached No. 14, while "[[Behind the Wall of Sleep (The Smithereens song)|Behind the Wall of Sleep]]"  peaked at No. 23.<ref name="goldmine">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.goldminemag.com/articles/the-smithereens-are-still-rocking-after-30-years|title=The Smithereens are still rocking after 30 years|magazine=[[Goldmine (magazine)|Goldmine]]|first=Patrick|last=Prince|date=May 31, 2010|access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> The album reached No. 51 on the US [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]<ref name="billboardcharts">{{cite magazine |title=The Smithereens - Chart History |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=the smithereens|chart=all}} |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=September 18, 2014}}</ref> as well as No. 5 on the [[UK Indie Chart]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Barry |last=Lazell |url=http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/s.htm |title=Indie Hits 1980-1989 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |date=1997 |access-date=September 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606125645/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/s.htm |archive-date=June 6, 2011 }}</ref> It was certified platinum in the US for sales over 1,000,000 copies.<ref name=RS>{{cite journal|last=Desler|first=Madison|url=http://concertguidelive.com/2016/04/featured/the-smithereens-the-coach-house/|title=The Smithereens Play Songs Especially For You|journal=Concert Guide Live|date=April 21, 2016|access-date=February 17, 2018}}</ref> The album today is highly regarded by most critics, and was one of [[Kurt Cobain]]'s favorite albums, as noted in his [[Journals (Cobain)|journal]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Brett |last=Buchanan |url=https://www.alternativenation.net/one-of-kurt-cobain-musical-heroes-died/ |title=One Of Kurt Cobain's Musical Heroes Has Died |website=Alternativenation.net |date=December 14, 2017 |access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref>
==Background==
On April 5, 1985, the Smithereens booked themselves into the [[Record Plant]] in New York City and recorded five songs: "Blood and Roses", "Behind the Wall of Sleep", "Cigarette", "Crazy Mixed-Up Kid" and "Alone at Midnight". "All in one evening", according to drummer [[Dennis Diken]].<ref name="northjersey">{{cite web |first=Mark |last=Porter |url=https://eu.northjersey.com/story/news/essex/montclair/2018/05/27/smithereens-vocalist-marshall-crenshaw-play-montclair/633050002/ |title=The Smithereens, with guest vocalist Marshall Crenshaw, to play in Montclair |website=[[North Jersey Media Group|NorthJersey.com]] |date= May 27, 2018|access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> The plan was to shop the finished tapes to all the [[Record label#Major versus independent record labels|major and minor labels]] in the hope of securing a deal. Guitarist [[Jim Babjak]]: "After we completed the recordings, we submitted these songs to practically every label out there and were rejected by all except for a small label in California called [[Enigma Records|Enigma]]." [[Don Dixon (musician)|Don Dixon]], who had co-produced the first two [[R.E.M.]] albums, was selected to produce the album. "We touched up the songs that were in the can and recorded another batch to fill out the album at the Record Plant", Babjak said.<ref name="guitarworld">{{cite web |first=Jim |last=Babjak |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/features/smithereens-11-guitarist-jim-babjak-breaks-down-11-essential-smithereens |title=Smithereens 11: Guitarist Jim Babjak Breaks Down 11 Essential Smithereens Tracks |website=[[Guitarworld.com]] |date= June 20, 2012|access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> Recording and mixing took about 10 days in December 1985, with everything wrapping up on New Year's Eve. Enigma released ''Especially for You'' in July 1986.<ref name="goldmine"/> Lead vocalist [[Pat DiNizio]]: "This was like a greatest hits album from a band nobody’s heard of because we’d had those songs for five years."<ref name="officialsmithereens"/>
==Songs==
* "Strangers When We Meet" – to songwriter [[Pat DiNizio]], the song was his attempt to rewrite [[the Beach Boys]]' "[[Don't Worry Baby]]", "but in the end it turned into something else altogether", he said. The title was taken from the 1960 film [[Strangers When We Meet (film)|of the same name]] and the lyrics were directly inspired by the plot.<ref name="Smithereens2">{{cite book |title=Best of the Smithereens (Guitar Recorded Versions) |publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation]] |date=1995 |page=9 |isbn=978-0-793-54453-0}}</ref> Written in 1984 and considered by the band as the main "pop hit single" candidate on the album.<ref name=LN>{{cite AV media notes|title=Especially for You|type=CD reissue liner notes|others=[[The Smithereens]]|publisher=[[Capitol Records]] |year=1992}}</ref>
* "Groovy Tuesday" – A recently written song, co-written by DiNizio, [[Steve Forbert]] and Mark Johnson.<ref name=LN/> Forbert: "Pat DiNizio and I and Mark Johnson, we were drinking and hanging out and wanted to write something just really off the wall, kind of goofy. We were talking about psychedelic groups like [[The Flower Pot Men]] and [[The Chocolate Watchband]] and we just wanted to make up a song."<ref>{{cite web |first=Clifford |last=Meth |url=http://www.steveforbert.com/press/2004_steve_forbert_clifford_meth.pdf |title= Steve Forbert Interview  |website=SteveForbert.com |date=October 14, 2004 |access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> Inspired by a listen to ''[[The Who Sell Out]]'', the three songwriters picked up guitars and wrote the song.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Blown to Smithereens: Best of the Smithereens|type=CD liner notes|others=[[The Smithereens]]|publisher=[[Capitol Records]]|year=1995}}</ref> At one point "Groovy Tuesday" was set to be the title of the album.<ref name="huffingtonpost">{{cite web |first=Paul |last=Iorio|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/remembering-pat-dinizio_us_5a32c06fe4b02bd1c8c6050c |title= Remembering Pat DiNizio |website=HuffingtonPost.com |date=December 14, 2017 |access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref>
* "Cigarette" – Written in May 1984 on a train from [[Stockholm]] to [[Amsterdam]] the day after the Smithereens' first [[Scandinavia]]n tour ended. DiNizio: "I was feeling lonely and disoriented and homesick, looking out the train window ... This was right around the time that cigarette smoking became extremely unpopular in the [[United States]]. But everyone we met in [[Europe]] seemed to be happily smoking their brains out! I remembered seeing films that celebrated the romance of the cigarette by showing a couple in bed sharing a smoke after sleeping together, or the actor [[Charles Boyer]] putting two cigarettes in his mouth and lighting them both at the same time and then handing one to his lover. That's what the song is about, really."<ref name="Smithereens4">{{cite book |title=Best of the Smithereens (Guitar Recorded Versions) |publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation]] |date=1995 |page=11 |isbn=978-0-793-54453-0}}</ref>
* "I Don't Want to Lose You" – DiNizio: "Some of the first songs I wrote, while charming, are not great compositions. It’s someone learning how to write songs. Yet some of the songs—in fact my first composition, "I Don’t Want to Lose You" wound up on ''Especially for You'' and a lot of folks like that song."<ref>{{cite web |first=Clifford |last=Meth |url=http://thecliffordmethod.blogspot.com/2008/04/meet-smithereens.html |title= The blog of Clifford Meth - Everyone's Wrong and I'm Right: Meet the Smithereens |website=TheCliffordMethod.blogspot.com |date=April 14, 2008 |access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref>
* "Time and Time Again" – One of the first songs DiNizio wrote, "definitely under the influence of early [[Lennon-McCartney]]", he said. "The main riff obviously owes a lot to "[[Oh, Pretty Woman]]" by the great [[Roy Orbison]], although it took me years to recognize it!"<ref name="Smithereens4"/> The band's first recording of the song was a 1980 demo.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Attack of The Smithereens|type=CD liner notes|others=[[The Smithereens]]|publisher=[[Capitol Records]]|year=1995}}</ref>
* "Behind the Wall of Sleep" – Lyrics written by DiNizio on the back of a cocktail napkin on a flight home from [[Boston]] to [[New York City]]. The Smithereens had shared a bill with the Boston band The Bristols, whose bassist Kim Ernst had caught DiNizio's attention.<ref name="medium">{{cite web |first=Pete |last=Paphides |url=https://medium.com/@petepaphides/in-praise-of-the-smithereens-especially-for-you-822d7e2f3888 |title= In Praise of The Smithereens' Especially For You |website=Medium.com |date=December 13, 2017 |access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> DiNizio: "My crush on her led me to write that on a very hung-over morning after a party in Boston."<ref>{{cite web |first=Brett |last=Milano |url=http://artsfuse.org/124683/fuse-rock-interview-pat-dinizio-of-the-smithereens-practically-an-honorary-boston-band/ |title= Rock Interview: Pat DiNizio of the Smithereens, "practically an honorary Boston band" |website=ArtsFuse.org |date=March 18, 2015 |access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> The lyrics include references to 1960s model [[Jean Shrimpton]] ("She had hair like Jeannie Shrimpton back in 1965") and [[The Rolling Stones|Rolling Stone]] [[Bill Wyman]] ("She held a bass guitar and she was playing in a band/And she stood just like Bill Wyman/Now I am her biggest fan"). At the time, DiNizio didn't give a lot of thought to the pop imagery in the lyrics, but it  "seemed to create a certain interest later on", he said in 1995.<ref name="Smithereens3">{{cite book |title=Best of the Smithereens (Guitar Recorded Versions) |publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation]] |date=1995 |page=10 |isbn=978-0-793-54453-0}}</ref> The melody came to DiNizio at the same time: "I’m singing the thing to myself for the whole flight, like a mantra, so I don’t forget it. Then I get stuck in traffic for two hours and I’m nearly losing my mind, because I knew I had a good song."<ref name="medium"/>
* "In a Lonely Place" – Musically, the song is an homage to the work of [[Brazil]]ian songwriter [[Antônio Carlos Jobim]], composer of "[[The Girl from Ipanema]]".<ref name="Smithereens3"/> DiNizio tried unsuccessfully to get [[samba]] and [[bossa nova]] singer [[Astrud Gilberto]] to sing on it, but ended up recording the song with [[Suzanne Vega]], whom he knew from when they worked together at an office.<ref name="popentertainment">{{cite web |first=Jay S. |last=Jacobs |url=http://www.popentertainment.com/smithereens.htm |title=Meet the Smithereens... Again! |website=Popentertainment.com |date= September 12, 2010|access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> It was the only song on the album that hadn't yet been played live.<ref name="Smithereens1">{{cite book |title=Best of the Smithereens (Guitar Recorded Versions) |publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation]] |date=1995 |page=6 |isbn=978-0-793-54453-0}}</ref> DiNizio had brought this new song into the studio as the band were completing the basic track sessions for the album. It was recorded with no rehearsal at the 11th hour.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=From Jersey It Came! The Smithereens Anthology |type=CD liner notes|others=[[The Smithereens]]|publisher=[[Capitol Records]]|year=2004}}</ref> The song takes its title from the 1950 [[film noir]] [[In a Lonely Place|of the same name]], starring [[Humphrey Bogart]] and [[Gloria Grahame]], and its [[pre-chorus]] lyrics are largely adapted from key lines of dialogue in the film; at one point, Bogart's character says, "I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me,"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.quotes.net/mquote/46233 |title=Quotes: In a Lonely Place |website=Quotes.net |access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> while in the film's climactic scene, Grahame's character says, "Yesterday, this would've meant so much to us. Now it doesn't matter... it doesn't matter at all."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042593/quotes/qt0268162 |title=In a Lonely Place on IMDb |website=IMDb.com |access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> The relevant lyrics are: "I was born the day I met you/Lived a while when you loved me/Died a little when we broke apart//Yesterday, it would have mattered/Now today, it doesn't mean a thing/All my hopes and dreams are shattered now."
* "Blood and Roses" – DiNizio: "I was walking home from my job as soundman at NYC's legendary [[Gerde's Folk City|Folk City]] nightclub through the freezing rain at about four in the morning when the bass line came to me, the chords and melody came later built around the bass part." Lyrically, the song is about a girl DiNizio knew in highschool, who took her own life. The title was taken from a short story of the same name by the [[Japan]]ese writer [[Yukio Mishima]], a literary hero of DiNizio's. "I found out years later that ''[[Blood and Roses]]'' was also the title of an obscure early 1960s [[horror film]] directed by [[Roger Vadim]]", DiNizio said.<ref name="Smithereens3"/>
* "Hand of Glory" – Written by Jimmy Silva, a friend of the band,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/mikemesarosonbass/posts/jim-silva-at-fabulous-meat-cityits-somewhere-around-22-years-that-our-friend-jim/1312233692192182/ |title=Mike Mesaros on Bass - Facebook|website=Facebook.com |date= May 4, 2017|access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> who recorded his own version of the song on his album ''Remnants of the Empty Set'' in 1986 featuring [[Dennis Diken]] on drums.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/Jimmy-Silva-Remnants-Of-The-Empty-Set/release/4990486 |title= Jimmy Silva – Remnants Of The Empty Set on Discogs |website=Discogs.com |access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> DiNizio explained that it was "the type of song that had a lot of energy live and it always went over great, and we thought we'd give it a shot in the studio, and it wound up on the album."<ref name="joeclark">{{cite web |first=Joe |last=Clark |url=https://joeclark.org/smitherfaq.html#handofglory |title=The Second Joe Clark Tapes - The Smithereens FAQ |website=JoeClark.org |date= August 7, 1996|access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref>
* "Alone at Midnight" – DiNizio: "I couldn’t get a handle on it. It literally took three years to write the song".<ref>{{cite web |first=Stephen |last=Schnee |url=http://www.discussionsmagazine.com/2011/03/exclusive-interview-with-smithereens.html |title=An EXCLUSIVE interview with Pat DiNizio |website=DiscussionsMagazine.com |date= March 25, 2011|access-date=November 30, 2018}}</ref>
* "White Castle Blues" – Written by [[Jim Babjak]] and high school friend Bob Banta in 1977<ref>"[https://officialsmithereens.com/5385/white-castle-donates-10000-to-pat-dinizio-musical-scholarship-fund/ White Castle donates $10,000 to Pat DiNizio Musical Scholarship fund] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122215340/https://officialsmithereens.com/5385/white-castle-donates-10000-to-pat-dinizio-musical-scholarship-fund/ |date=November 22, 2018 }}". Officialsmithereens.com. Retrieved on November 20, 2018.</ref> as an ode to late night cravings for [[White Castle (restaurant)|White Castle]] hamburgers.<ref>"[http://beef2live.com/story-fun-facts-white-castle-104-104625 Fun Facts: White Castle]". beef2live.com. Retrieved on November 20, 2018.</ref> With some leftover studio time, the band decided to record "the hamburger song", as it was referred to by producer [[Don Dixon (musician)|Don Dixon]]. It was recorded live in the studio in one take, featuring Babjak on lead vocals and [[Marshall Crenshaw]] on [[Extended-range bass|six-string bass]].<ref name="peverett">{{cite web |first=Jason |last=Peverett |url=http://thepeverettphile.blogspot.com/2018/03/pheaturing-jim-babjak-from-smithereens.html |title=The Peverett Phile - Pheaturing Jim Babjak From The Smithereens |website=ThePeverettPhile.blogspot.com |date= March 25, 2018|access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Fuzek |url=http://motifri.com/dennisdiken/ |title=The Roots Report: An Interview with Dennis Diken |website=Motif Magazine|date= November 14, 2018|access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref> The band's label, [[Enigma Records|Enigma]], decided to include the song as a bonus track on the CD version of the album. Babjak: "It doesn't really belong on the record but it ended up on the record. As a result my friend Bob Banta, who wrote the lyrics and myself who wrote the music ended up in the White Castle [[List of halls and walks of fame|Hall of Fame]] because of the song."<ref name="peverett"/> The song became a concert favorite for the band, often appearing as an encore.<ref>{{cite web |first=Jay |last=Lustig |url=https://www.njarts.net/350-jersey-songs/350-jersey-songs-white-castle-blues-smithereens/ |title=350 Jersey Songs: 'White Castle Blues,' The Smithereens |work=[[Institute for Nonprofit News]]|date= February 14, 2018|access-date=November 20, 2018}}</ref>
* "Mr. Eliminator" –  Written by [[Dick Dale]]. Adapted for the band's live shows and recorded in [[Take|one take]].<ref name=LN/>
==Track listing==
{{track listing
| all_writing     = [[Pat DiNizio]] except where noted
| total_length    = 38:07
| title1          = [[Strangers When We Meet (The Smithereens song)|Strangers When We Meet]]
| length1         = 3:46
| title2          = Listen to Me Girl
| length2         = 3:00
| title3          = Groovy Tuesday
| writer3         = Pat DiNizio, [[Steve Forbert]], Mark Johnson
| length3         = 2:39
| title4          = Cigarette
| length4         = 2:31
| title5          = I Don't Want to Lose You
| length5         = 3:21
| title6          = Time and Time Again
| length6         = 3:09
| title7          = [[Behind the Wall of Sleep (The Smithereens song)|Behind the Wall of Sleep]]
| length7         = 3:23
| title8          = [[In a Lonely Place (song)|In a Lonely Place]]
| length8         = 4:10
| title9          = [[Blood and Roses (song)|Blood and Roses]]
| length9         = 3:35
| title10         = Crazy Mixed-Up Kid
| length10        = 2:06
| title11          = Hand of Glory
| writer11         = Jimmy Silva
| length11         = 2:45
| title12          = Alone at Midnight
| length12         = 3:42
}}
{{track listing
| headline        = CD bonus track
| total_length    = 42:06
| title13         = [[White Castle (restaurant)|White Castle]] Blues
| writer13        = [[Jim Babjak]], Robert Banta
| length13        = 3:59
}}
{{track listing
| extra_column     = Notes
| headline        = 1992 CD re-issue bonus tracks
| total_length    = 44:08
| title13         = White Castle Blues
| writer13        = Babjak, Banta
| length13        = 3:59
| title14         = [[Mr. Eliminator]]
| note14           = B-side to "Blood and Roses"
| writer14        = [[Dick Dale]]
| length14        = 2:02
}}
==Personnel==
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref name=LN/>
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
;The Smithereens
*[[Jim Babjak]]&nbsp;– [[guitar]], [[Singing|vocals]] <small>(13)</small>
*[[Dennis Diken]]&nbsp;– [[Drum kit|drums]], [[percussion]], [[Backing vocalist|backing vocals]]
*[[Pat DiNizio]]&nbsp;– vocals, guitar
*Mike Mesaros&nbsp;– [[bass guitar]], backing vocals
;Additional musicians
*Jeffrey Berman&nbsp;– [[vibraphone]] <small>(8)</small>
*[[Frank Christian (singer-songwriter)|Frank Christian]]&nbsp;– [[acoustic guitar]] <small>(8)</small>
*[[Marshall Crenshaw]] ''(credited as "Jerome Jerome")''&nbsp;– [[Hammond organ]] and [[piano]] <small>(1)</small>, [[Extended-range bass|six-string bass]] <small>(13)</small><ref>{{cite web |first=Ken |last=Abrams |url=http://whatsuprhodeisland.com/2018/11/whatsup-interview-dennis-diken-of-the-smithereens/ |title=WhatsUp Interview: Dennis Diken of The Smithereens |website=WhatsUpRhodeIsland.com |date= November 12, 2018|access-date=November 13, 2018}}</ref>
*[[Don Dixon (musician)|Don Dixon]]&nbsp;– piano, percussion, backing vocals
*Mark Johnson&nbsp;– [[Vocal harmony|harmony]] and backing vocals <small>(3)</small>
*Joe Kernich&nbsp;– piano <small>(7)</small>
*Kenny Margolis&nbsp;– [[accordion]] <small>(4)</small>
*John Rokosny&nbsp;– [[Vibrato systems for guitar|tremolo]] rhythm guitar <small>(2)</small>
*[[Suzanne Vega]]&nbsp;– backing vocals <small>(8)</small>
{{Col-2}}
;Technical
*Don Dixon&nbsp;– [[record producer|producer]]
*James A. Ball&nbsp;– associate producer, [[Audio engineer|engineer]]
*Gray Russell&nbsp;– engineer
*Carol Cafiero&nbsp;– assistant engineer
*Frank Pekoc&nbsp;– assistant engineer
*Paul Special&nbsp;– assistant engineer
*[[Greg Calbi]]&nbsp;– [[Audio mastering|mastering]] (Sterling Sound, NYC)
*Arthur K. Miller&nbsp;– art direction, design
*Pat DiNizio&nbsp;– cover concept
*Jan Dusing&nbsp;– photography
{{col-end}}
==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1986)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
| US [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]<ref name="billboardcharts"/>
| style="text-align:center;"|51
|-
!Chart (1987)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=279}}</ref>
|align="center"|97
|-
| [[UK Indie Chart]]<ref>{{cite book |first=Barry |last=Lazell |url=http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/s.htm |title=Indie Hits 1980-1989 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |date=1997 |access-date=September 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606125645/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/s.htm |archive-date=June 6, 2011 }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|}
{{col-2}}
===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1987)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
| US ''Billboard'' 200<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1987/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1987|magazine=Billboard|access-date=September 7, 2021}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|73
|}
{{col-end}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Discogs master |master=81544 |name=Especially for You |type=single}}
{{The Smithereens}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1986 debut albums]]
[[Category:The Smithereens albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Don Dixon (musician)]]
[[Category:Capitol Records albums]]