Singer, writer for rock band the Smithereens
Pat DiNizio, who as lead singer and songwriter for the Smithereens blended pop, rock and New Wave music for such hits as “Blood and Roses” and “A Girl Like You,” has died. He was 62.
The New Jersey band announced on its website that DiNizio died Dec. 12. The cause of death was not announced.
Several days earlier, DiNizio had posted on Facebook 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 ’90s but continued to tour and record, their more recent albums including “2011” and “The Smithereens Play Tommy,” a tribute to the Who’s rock opera.
DiNizio was a lifelong Beatles fan, awed as a boy the first time he heard “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and the band in 2007 released an album of Beatles covers: “Meet the Smithereens.”
“Pat had the magic touch. He channeled the essence of joy and heartbreak into hook-laden three-minute pop songs, infused with a lifelong passion for rock & roll,” surviving band members said in their Facebook statement.
“Our journey with Pat was long, storied and a hell of a lot of fun. We grew up together. Little did we know that we wouldn’t grow old together.”
The Smithereens formed in 1980 after DiNizio placed an ad looking for a drummer to help him on a demo tape. Dennis Diken responded and brought along 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,” 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.
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. The Smithereens also made a cameo appearance in the 1980s cult film “Class of Nuke ’Em High.”