The Smithereens were one of the first bands I found all on my own, no record reviews, no press coverage...nothing. I was at my fave record store, just walking around, when this sound from the speakers reached out and demanded my attention: "Behind the Wall of Sleep" was the tune, so I asked my bud Jack, who worked there, who that was. He told me it was a New Jersey band called The Smithereens and explained that he was gonna recommend them to me, knowing how much I loved all things Brit Invasion, but thought I would be put off by the darkness in some of the songs. I asked if he could let that disc spin a bit longer and, before I left the store that day, Pat Dinizio and his band had a brand new fan.
Fast forward to several years later, I got a call from my sister in Barnesville GA telling me about her next door neighbor who's hosting a backyard concert in a few days. They knew I was a musician, so they wondered if I'd be interested in attending. I almost dropped the phone when she told me who was coming to play for us: Pat Dinizio! We got down there quite early, understandably, and were there before he got there. When he arrived, alone, I might add, I introduced myself by saying he had the greatest first name ever (my first name is Pat, for those of you who don't know). He got a good laugh at that and then I offered to help set up his equipment, which he accepted. While we worked, I got a chance to tell him my story, which I recounted above, which I am very sure isn't the first time he'd heard a story like that, but he really seemed to appreciate that. He gave me two autographed copies of his first solo CD, one for me and one for my buddy Doug, who couldn't be there. I asked him why he was doing these backyard shows and he told me a bit about his upbringing in New Jersey, and in his old neighborhood, how friendships and community were built centered on the backyards there. Also, he thought that something had been lost in the US when we stopped knowing our neighbors and how he hoped that, in a small way, these little shows might help that. He was feeling under the weather that day, but entertained us for a couple of hours and we all went home knowing more folks than we did before.
All in all, he seemed a fine gentle man who had a craftsman's touch at writing great pop-rock songs....and the world is richer for his having been here.
