THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! The Smithereens, "Face The World With Pride"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of records can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

THE SMITHEREENS: Face The World With Pride

Written by Pat DiNizio and Jim Babjak 

Produced by The Smithereens 

Recorded 1993, originally unreleased; subsequently released on The Lost Album, Sunset Blvd, 2022

Face the world with pride.

That's good advice at any time. It's certainly a sentiment to embrace as we enter another new year. I mean, we all have some miles on us. Our paths involve turns to navigate, debris to circumvent, ground to cover. It ain't easy. We move ahead with whatever level of determination and pride we can muster. That's our intent, anyway. 

"Face The World With Pride" is also the title of a song recorded by the Smithereens in 1993, a track which remained unreleased for decades. But our pal Rich Firestone heard it way back when, loved it, and wished others could also hear it and love it. Rich thought it sounded like a hit.

The song was finally released to the public in 2022, on an archival Smithereens set called The Lost Album. Rich directed everyone with ears to listen to the song, and play it often. Hey! WE have ears! So we played it, and we played it a lot. "Face The World With Pride" was This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio's # 1 most-played track in 2022.

And "Face The World With Pride" sure does sound like a hit, a beguiling cross between the Monkees' "Last Train To Clarksville" and Elvis Costello and the Attractions' "You Belong To Me," with maybe a hint of the Records' "I Don't Remember Your Name" and a bunch of others playing indistinctly at the edge of our mental radio's infinite signal. Every power pop or rock 'n' roll radio show should be playing this one, again and again. With pride. Rich is right. This is a freakin' hit.

The song also works as rock 'n' roll resistance. I often play it when I feel like I have to dig in my heels and hold on to what's right. There are dark forces everywhere, forces who insist that discrimination is okay, that diversity is wrong, that compassion and empathy are misguided, even stupid. We reject these notions. Love is love is love. We stand with our brothers and sisters. We stand tall. And together:

We face the world. If pride's a sin, we confess it. Hell, we proclaim it.

Years come and years go. Some years are better than others. The magic of music is its ability to help us get through. You can say the same of love, of friendship, of art, and of belief. It certainly applies to the songs that enrich our lives. Music. Radio is made for music. Music is made for radio.

Face the world with pride. Sing it, Smithereens. With pride and determination, we face forward, and we march on.

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My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio. You can read about our history here.