The Smithereens Frontman Pat DiNizio 1955 – 2017

The Smithereens frontman Pat DiNizio took his first breaths in New Jersey and never stopped calling the state home. DiNizio was born in Scotch Plains in 1955 and went on to form The Smithereens with Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros in 1980. Sadly, the band has confirmed Pat DiNizio died on Tuesday with no cause given. He was 62-years-old.

While The Smithereens were never flashy or achieved the level of success of their New Jersey brethren Bon Jovi, the band captured the sound of the Garden State in a way the newly minted Rock Hall inductees never could. Babjak, Diken and Mesaros started jamming together in Carteret, New Jersey in 1975. They teamed with DiNizio to form the Smithereens in 1980 after Dennis responded to an ad Pat placed in the alt-weekly The Aquarian.

The Smithereens mixed the influence of British Invasion bands with the hardscrabble sound of Jersey to create their signature brand of power-pop. It took the group six years to put out an album, 1986’s Especially For You. While their music found an audience, they never hit the big time. Especially For You made it to #51 on the charts, 1988’s Green Thoughts peaked at #60 and 1989’s 11 hit #41 but that would be the closest they’d come to mainstream acceptance. The success of 11 was based in part on the quartet’s catchiest single, “A Girl Like You.”

The quartet continued on with 1991’s Blow Up and the severely underrated 1994 album A Date With The Smithereens, but it would be five more years before God Save The Smithereens and the next album would be a Beatles tribute in 2007. DiNizio, Mesaros, Diken and Babjak stayed together through 2006, when Mike left the band to spend time with his family. However, Mesaros returned to the fold for a series of shows this year. DiNizio continued to make new music and was featured in the 2007 ESPN2 series 7th Inning Stretch, which documented his attempt to join the minor league Somerset Patriots following a life-threatening nervous disorder.

Pat DiNizio was recovering from back and neck injuries, but was planning to play with The Smithereens in January. Today, Jim, Dennis and Mike issued the following statement:

Today we mourn the loss of our friend, brother and bandmate Pat DiNizio. 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. Our journey with Pat was long, storied and a hell of a lot of fun. We grew up together.