The Smithereens' Pat DiNizio To Be Remembered At Special Concert

RED BANK, NJ - Pat DiNizio's sudden death earlier this month not only hit fellow Smithereens' band members hard but many in the music community, especially here at the Shore where he was a regular at Light of Day concerts in Asbury Park and at the Wonder Bar.

Now, the music community is returning DiNizio's charity by performing at a special Jan. 13 concert at the Count Basie Theatre. Titled "Time and Time Again: A Celebration of Pat DiNizio," tickets already are on sale and are limited to two for each billing address.

While the concert bill still is being finalizing, it already has commitments from Vocalists Little Steven Van Zandt and Patty Smyth and Scandal.

At an announcement on the theatre website, DiNizio was called one of New Jersey's "kindest and mightiest musical icons" regarded as not just a consummate performer, signer, songwriter and frontman of the Smithereens but as a son, father, bandmate and friend, the announcement indicates.

He was 62 when he died and had only days earlier spoken of his enthusiasm to return to performing and it was during the same period that the Count Basie Theatre and E-Street Band guitarist/Rock and Roll Hall Of Famer Van Zandt had announced a first-of-its-kind Smithereens performance to roll out the Basie’s new, open-floor club concert configuration – an atmosphere tailor-fit for a memorable night of rock, organizers said.

“I was set to host this Smithereens and Patty Smyth and Scandal show as part of Citi’s Underground Garage at the Basie series,” Van Zandt said in the release. “With the sudden, tragic passing of Pat DiNizio, I think it’s appropriate that we take this moment to pay tribute to him. I will be honored to sing a few of his songs with the band and I’m asking any friends of mine if they can make themselves available for a song or two. We’ll see who’s around and announce them shortly.”

The concert is not just about other musicians remembering their friend: a portion of ticket sales will go toward establishing the Pat DiNizio Musical Performance Scholarship at the Basie’s Performing Arts Academy, which is home to rock, vocal, jazz and classical music programs.

DiNizio helped form the Smithereens in 1980 after placing an ad looking for a drummer to help him on a demo tape, according to his obituary. Dennis Diken answered the ad 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," 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."

"The Smithereens' surviving members Babjak, Diken and Mesaros added in a statement on their official site, "
"Pat had the magic touch. He channeled the essence of joy and heartbreak into hook-laden three-minute pop songs infused with a life-long passion for rock and roll. 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. Goodbye Pat. Seems like yesterday."

The men came were responsible in the early 1980s with songs such as "A Girl Like You," "Only a Memory," "Blood and Roses," "Too Much Passion," "Top of the Pops" and "Miles From Nowhere," all written by DiNizio.

Over their career, the Smithereens opened for a mix of artists including Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi.
"We've played with literally everyone," DiNizio said in 2013. "It seems that if you're around long enough and if you survive long enough, you're going to wind up playing shows with everybody in every conceivable situation."

In addition to 11 albums with the Smithereens – including full album tributes to the Who's Tommy and the Beatles' Meet the Beatles and most recently 2011's 2011 – DiNizio released four solo albums. DiNizio also unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate as a member of New Jersey's Reform Party candidate in 2000, a stunt documented in the film "Mr. Smithereen Goes to Washington." In 2006, the singer appeared in the ESPN2 reality series "7th Inning Stretch," about his attempts to make a minor league baseball team, according to NJ.com. He lived in Scotch Plains where he was restoring a farmhouse.

Tickets for this event are available through theBASIE.org, 732-842-9000 and the Basie box office, located onsite at 99 Monmouth St. in Red Bank.

Tickets purchased before DiNizio's passing will be honored.

A 2007 image of Pat DiNizio in New York. Photograph by Jim Cooper/Associated Press.