RIP Pat DiNizio

This week Pat DiNizio passed away. He wasn't a big rock star that many of you may know. If I trust the Google analytics, you fellow reader in Europe won't know him. DiNizio fronted a band called The Smithereens. 

I first heard the band when I was 15 years old. They had just released a song called "Blood and Roses." It wasn't something you would imagine hearing in 1986. It was dark, moody and had a killer guitar solo. The song starts with a bass, then explodes with a jangling guitar riff. Not the typical poppy 1980s song. For all its grey-ness, it's a song to play loud. There was being an outsider, possibly a death in the song. 

I bought the album the song came on. With an opening like that, how could the whole album not be great? Especially For You was on the little label, Enigma. 

I was right, there are no bad songs on that album.

That summer they played a midnight concert on 102.7Fm radio live from Asbury Park. I stayed up to listen. He described the band as the Beatles meet AC/DC.

Over the years, I saw The Smithereens in concert, bought several albums, and followed their career. Pat DiNizio was so underground popular that I thought he sold more records than he really did. 

I saw on Wikipedia, that Pat DiNizio ran for a Senate seat, I thought he ran for governor too. Because he had money, but played clubs like The Dirt Club in Bloomfield, I thought he knew the state better than the politicians running. 

There are pop culture references that few New Jerseyans know just as Jersey. Uncle Floyd Vivino is one. Pat DiNizio was another. He could pop in a club or you heard their songs on New Jersey radio stations. I remember when 106.3FM was THE New Jersey radio station, they played Pat's songs. 

Sadly, his passing didn't make the front pages of our lame newspapers. It's odd when you follow a person's career for so long. It seems natural that they are out there jamming or something interesting. When I read of Pat DiNizio's passing, I felt part of a loss too. For those who followed his career and knew of him, his passing is a big loss for the state and music.

RIP Pat DiNizio.