Jim Babjak is the lead guitar player

Guitar Player

Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...

 and founding member of The Smithereens

The Smithereens

The Smithereens are a rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio , Jim Babjak , Mike Mesaros , and Dennis Diken...

. He has written and sung several songs for the band. He also is the leader of the band Buzzed Meg.

Babjak, from Carteret, New Jersey

Carteret, New Jersey

Carteret is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 22,844.Carteret was created as the borough of Roosevelt on 11 April 1906, incorporating Woodbridge Township, and was a result of a referendum on 22 May 1906...

, formed The Smithereens together with fellow Carteret High School

Carteret High School

Carteret High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Carteret in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Carteret School District....

 alumni Dennis Diken

Dennis Diken

Dennis Diken co-founded the NJ band The Smithereens. Besides playing with The Smithereens, Dennis is a fill-in DJ on WFMU.As a musician and record producer, Diken has worked with The Smithereens, Ben E. King, Mary Weiss of 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las, Dave Amels, and R...

 and Mike Mesaros, together with Pat DiNizio

Pat DiNizio

Pat DiNizio , of Scotch Plains, New Jersey, is the lead singer, songwriter, and member of the band The Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros, from Carteret, New Jersey....

 of Scotch Plains, New Jersey

Scotch Plains, New Jersey

Scotch Plains is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the township population increased to a record high of 23,510.-History:...

.

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

Manalapan Township, New Jersey

Manalapan Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 38,872. The name "Manalapan" comes from the Lenape word for "land of good bread or good land to settle upon."...

.