The Smithereens, five years after.
Smithereens frontman Pat DiNizio is enough of a fan to have spent the night before his big CREEM interview out at the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, but enough of a cranky skeptic to have made his exit well before that event’s idol-studded jam climax.
The Smithereens, five years after.
by
Harold DeMuir
Smithereens frontman Pat DiNizio is enough of a fan to have spent the night before his big CREEM interview out at the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, but enough of a cranky skeptic to have made his exit well before that event’s idol-studded jam climax.
“You had to sit at a table for six hours before the jam started,” explains the singer/writer/guitarist. Still, Pat admits that he got a charge when at some point during the evening, Elton John declared himself a Smithereens admirer and declined Pat’s offer of a copy of the band’s new LP, Green Thoughts. “He said he’d rather buy one.”
The Smithereens can afford to be blase about these sort of occurrences nowadays. In the year-and-a-half since their long-overdue first LP, Especially For You, elevated*the New Jersey-bred quartet from regional semi-obscurity to the AOR mainstream, the Smithereens have gotten to rub shoulders with numerous pop icons—-a job perk that’s particularly pleasing to drummer and resident popculture authority Dennis Diken.