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Cover of Green Thoughts by The Smithereens
Cover: Green Thoughts

Song · The Smithereens

“Only A Memory” by The Smithereens

From the album Green Thoughts (1988)

“Only A Memory” by The Smithereens appears on 22 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 1988 and 2023. It was first released in 1988 on the album Green Thoughts. Its best result is #13 on the Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1988. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #43 alternative song of 1988, #1,009 alternative song of all time and #275 of the '80s.

22countdowns
6stations
#13best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1988–2023years charted

Watch

The Smithereens - Only A Memory

Video from YouTube (TheSmithereensVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Only a Memory" was the first single from Green Thoughts, the Smithereens' second album, out on Capitol in 1988. Pat DiNizio found the intro riff during a soundcheck in Madrid in January 1987, on the band's European tour, and it survived only because he yelled at the band's roadie, Chopper, to catch it on his pocket tape recorder. Don Dixon produced, and the song is prime power pop: a hard, ringing riff, drums that punch like a jukebox with a grudge, and DiNizio brooding in the middle of it all.

It was their most successful single yet, topping the US Mainstream Rock chart and giving them their first Hot 100 entry. The song also turned up in the 1988 baseball film Bull Durham.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 32 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1988 107
1988 13 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1988 106

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 266 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1989 225 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1991 210 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1999 1135 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1137 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1138 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1137 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 284 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1122 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 943 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1122 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1122 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 1117 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1049 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1062 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1104 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1142 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1172 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1199 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2023 838 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850

Also listed as: Only a Memory.

Charting alongside it in 1988

Best songs of 1988 →
  1. 1SuedeheadMorrissey
  2. 2DesireU2
  3. 3Beds are BurningMidnight Oil
  4. 4Route 66Depeche Mode
  5. 5Peek-A-BooSiouxsie and the Banshees
  6. 6Chains of LoveErasure

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