Pat DiNizio, lead singer of the Smithereens, dies at 62

[Fansome]

Pat DiNizio, lead singer of the Smithereens, dies at 62

December 13 at 3:41 PM

Pat DiNizio, who as lead singer and songwriter for the New Jersey band the Smithereens blended pop, rock and New Wave music for such hits as “Blood and Roses” and “A Girl Like You,” died Dec. 12. He was 62.

The band announced the death on Facebook but did not disclose any other details. Mr. DiNizio posted several days ago that he was hopeful of getting back on tour as he continued physical therapy for neck and back injuries at the Victorian farmhouse he was restoring in Scotch Plains, N.J.

The Smithereens peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s but continued to tour and record. Their more recent albums included “2011” and “The Smithereens Play Tommy,” a tribute to the Who’s rock opera. Mr. DiNizio also released an album of Beatles covers “Meet the Smithereens!,” in 2007.

Mr. DiNizio was born in Scotch Plains on Oct. 12, 1955. He helped form the Smithereens in 1980 after placing an ad looking for a drummer to help him on a demo tape. Dennis Diken responded and with him brought Carteret High School classmates guitarist Jim Babjak and bassist Mike Mesaros. They named themselves after a favorite word of cartoon character Yosemite Sam.

“We all happened to love the same music and also as importantly be fans of the same pop culture things,” Mr. DiNizio told SugarBuzz Magazine in 2007. “We grew up watching Soupy Sales, Chuck McCann and The Monkees. We all grew up reading Mad Magazine and there was a shared background. So we agreed upon all of that.”

Influenced by everyone from Buddy Holly to the Clash, the Smithereens blended catchy melodies and grinding guitars on “A Girl Like You,” “Only a Memory” and other songs. Their breakthrough came in 1986 when “Blood and Roses” was featured in the movie “Dangerously Close” and the song’s video was aired on MTV.

Mr. DiNizio was a movie fan whose stylish ballad “In a Lonely Place,” featuring Suzanne Vega on backing vocals, included lines from the Humphrey Bogart movie of the same name. His unsuccessful bid as the Reform Party candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in 2000 was chronicled in the documentary “Mr. Smithereen Goes to Washington” (2001).

His opponents included Rep. Robert D. Franks (R) and the millionaire Goldman Sachs co-chief executive Jon S. Corzine (D), who eventually prevailed. On the hustings, Mr. DiNizio criticized them both as ill-suited to looking out for the interests of average citizens. “As Jerry Garcia said, ‘Voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil,’ “ he told the New York Times.

[Pigmeat]

I post a few good things about them on YouTube and the guy keels over dead from the praise. There are times I don't know the extent of my own powers.

The Smithreens got heavy rotation on all my ops. RIP Pat.

Did I ever tell you how highly I think of all the things you do here, Al?

[Josh]

The election of people like Mr MFGlobal Rehypothecation (Corzine) over more sincere candidates makes me feel that not just justice is bought and sold in this country.


"I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date. I do not know which accounts are unreconciled or whether the unreconciled accounts were or were not subject to the segregation rules. Moreover, there were an extraordinary number of transactions during MF Global\'s last few days, and I do not know, for example, whether there were operational errors at MF Global or elsewhere, or whether banks and counterparties have held onto funds that should rightfully have been returned to MF Global."
- Testimony of Jon Corzine before the House Agricultural Committee Dec. 8, 2011





RIP Mr Smithereens.

[Fansome]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SECAMHq3RY

[Pigmeat]

Al, it's amazing what modern video software can do. It made Belinda look a half-ton lighter without affecting the look of her surroundings.