Jim Babjak

Jim Babjak
Background information
Birth name Jim Babjak
Born (1957-11-17) November 17, 1957
Origin Carteret, New Jersey, U.S
Genres Rock, power pop
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 1980–present
Labels Koch
d-tone
Enigma
Capitol
RCA
Associated acts The Smithereens
Website JimBabjak.com

Jim Babjak (born November 17, 1957) is an American guitarist and banker.[1] 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.

Babjak, from Carteret, New Jersey, formed The Smithereens together with fellow Carteret High School alumni Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros, together with Pat DiNizio of Scotch Plains, New Jersey.[2]

Babjak's music can be heard in the films Bull Durham, Backdraft, Encino Man, Time Cop, Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, Boys Don't Cry, The Burglar, Cruel Intentions 2, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. The band made a cameo appearance in the film Class of Nuke 'Em High.

Other accomplishments include musical compositions and performances for the soap operas Passions and The Guiding Light, as well as television and radio commercials for Dairy Queen and Nissan Maxima.

Television credits include Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, MTV's Unplugged, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Uncle Floyd Show, CBS's This Morning, The Dennis Miller Show, and The Arsenio Hall Show.

Babjak now lives with his family in Manalapan Township, New Jersey.[3] When he is not performing music, Babjak has a day job working at a bank.[4]

There currently is a GoFundMe site to raise funds for his ailing wife.[5]

References

  1. http://www.livinginmedia.com/article/jim_babjak_blow_to_smithereens.html
  2. Cahillane, Kevin. "Not Fade Away: The Smithereens' Monument to Persistence", The New York Times, October 10, 2004. Accessed November 3, 2007. "The band formed in 1980 when three Carteret High School graduates (class of 1975) and childhood friends (Mr. Babjak, Dennis Diken on drums and Mike Mesaros on bass) met Pat DiNizio, a Scotch Plains singer-songwriter-garbage man."
  3. Cahillane, Kevin. "Not Fade Away: The Smithereens' Monument to Persistence", The New York Times, October 10, 2004. Accessed November 15, 2008. "We have the same mentality as the old blues singers, said the lead guitarist, Jim Babjak, who lives in Manalapan with his wife and three sons."
  4. http://www.livinginmedia.com/article/jim_babjak_blow_to_smithereens.html
  5. http://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/getarticle.php?ID=6637


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