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Pat DiNizio
Patrick Michael DiNizio (October 12, 1955 – December 12, 2017) was the lead singer, songwriter and founding member of the band The Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros from Carteret, New Jersey. Life and career DiNizio was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, to parents of Italian heritage, Nicholas and Antoniette, and grew up in nearby Scotch Plains, New Jersey, Scotch Plains, where he attended Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. DiNizio was a trash hauler, working for his father while trying to break into the music business. He has cited his influences as Buddy Holly and The Beatles. In addition to his work with The Smithereens, he released a number of solo albums, ''Songs and Sounds'' (1997), ''This is Pat DiNizio,'' a collection of cover songs arranged for piano and vocals (2006), ''Revolutions'' (2 CDs plus 1 DVD, limited edition of 300 copies, 2006), ''Pat DiNizio'' (2007), and ''Pat DiNizio/Buddy Holly'' (2008). An expanded 2-CD ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Smithereens
The Smithereens are an American rock music, rock band from Carteret, New Jersey. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio lead vocals, (vocals and guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar and backing vocals, vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar and backing vocals, vocals), and Dennis Diken (drums and percussion). This original lineup continued until 2006, when Mesaros left the band and Severo Jornacion took over on bass guitar until Mesaros' return in 2016. After DiNizio died in 2017, the band continued performing live shows as a trio (Babjak, Mesaros and Diken) with various guest vocalists. The band had a string of hits in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, including "Only a Memory", "A Girl Like You (The Smithereens song), A Girl Like You" and "Too Much Passion". The Smithereens have collaborated with numerous musicians, both in the studio (Belinda Carlisle, Julian Lennon, Lou Reed, Suzanne Vega) and live (Otis Blackwell, Graham Parker and The Kinks). The band named themselves afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plainfield, New Jersey
Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",About City of Plainfield. Accessed December 29, 2021. "Plainfield Is Nicknamed 'The Queen City.'" it serves as both a regional hub for Central Jersey, Central New Jersey and a bedroom suburb of the New York Metropolitan area, located in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population, majority Latino (demonym), Latino for the first time, was 54,586. This was an increase of 4,778 (+9.6%) from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census count of 49,808, which in turn reflected an increase of 1,979 (+4.1%) from the 47,829 counted in the 2000 United States ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note in the United States in 1942 by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, and Wallichs Music City, Glenn E. Wallichs. Capitol was acquired by British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary in 1955. EMI was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012, and was merged with the company a year later, making Capitol and the Capitol Music Group both distributed by UMG. The label's Capitol Records Building, circular headquarters building is a recognized landmark of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. History Founding Songwriter Johnny Mercer founded Capitol Records in 1942 with financial help from songwriter and film producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs, owner of Wallichs Music City. Mercer r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band in Western popular music and were integral to the development of Counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat music, beat and 1950s rock and roll, rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from Folk music, folk and Music of India, Indian music to Psychedelic music, psychedelia and hard rock. As Recording practices of the Beatles, pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the Baby boomers, era's youth and soc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas, during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his two siblings. Holly made his first appearance on local television in 1952, and the following year he formed the group Buddy and Bob with his friend Bob Montgomery (songwriter), Bob Montgomery. In 1955, after opening once for Elvis Presley, Holly decided to pursue a career in music. He played with Presley three times that year, and his band's style shifted from country and western to rock and roll. In October that year, when Holly opened for Bill Haley & His Comets, he was spotted by Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville scout Eddie Crandall, who helped him get a contract with Decca Records. Holly's recording sessions at Decca were produced by Owen Bradley, who ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School
Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School (or SPFHS) is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the Township of Scotch Plains and the Borough of Fanwood, operating as the lone secondary school of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District. The school is accredited until January 2031 and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1932.Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Middle States Association ...
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Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Scotch Plains is a Township (New Jersey), township in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is located on a ridge in North Jersey, northern-central Jersey, central New Jersey, within the Raritan River, Raritan Valley and Rahway River, Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 24,968, an increase of 1,458 (+6.2%) from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census count of 23,510, which in turn reflected an increase of 778 (+3.4%) from the 22,732 counted in the 2000 United States census, 2000 census. History Native settlement The Lenape are the ancestral community indigenous to a large chunk of the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region, stretching from Eastern Pennsylvania to the Atlantic Ocean, and from Delaware to Southern New York (state), New York. Scotch Plains and the Mid-Atlantic region was used by the Lenape and their ancestors for rou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carteret, New Jersey
Carteret is a borough in northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population reached 25,326, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 2,482 (+10.9%) from the 2010 census count of 22,844, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,135 (+10.3%) from the 20,709 counted in the 2000 census. History Carteret was originally created as the borough of Roosevelt on April 11, 1906, from portions of Woodbridge Township, based on the results of a referendum approved on May 22, 1906. The name was changed to Carteret as of November 7, 1922. The borough was also called Carteret during the period from December 19, 1921, to January 16, 1922.Snyder, John P''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968'', Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 169. Accessed June 17, 2012. The borough was named after Sir George Carteret, one of the first proprietors of New Jersey, and his so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Diken
Dennis Diken (born February 25, 1957) is an American drummer, DJ, author, music historian, and founding member of the band the Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Pat DiNizio, Jim Babjak, and Mike Mesaros in Carteret, New Jersey. Besides playing with the Smithereens, Diken is a fill-in DJ on WFMU as well as a liner notes author and reissue project researcher. As a musician, Diken has recorded or toured with, among others, Ronnie Spector, Dave Davies, Nancy Sinatra, Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las and Ben E. King, and worked with musicians such as Dave Amels and R. Stevie Moore. Diken graduated from Carteret High School in 1975, together with Jim Babjak. Career Diken has been a constant member of the Smithereens since 1980 but has also worked as a session drummer since the 1980s. He toured with former Shangri-La Mary Weiss in the late 2000s and has since 2014 toured with former Kinks guitarist Dave Davies' solo band. On December 18, 2015, during Dave Davies’ co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Babjak
Jim Babjak (born November 17, 1957) is an American guitarist and ex-banker. He is the lead guitar player and co-founder of The Smithereens. Babjak has written and sung several songs for the band. He also is the leader of the band ''Buzzed Meg''. Origins Babjak, from Carteret, NJ, formed The Smithereens together with fellow Carteret High School alumni Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros, along with Pat DiNizio of Scotch Plains, New Jersey.Cahillane, KevinFade Away: The Smithereens' Monument to Persistence" ''The New York Times'', October 10, 2004. Accessed August 18, 2021. "The band formed in 1980 when three Carteret High School graduates (class of 1975) and childhood friends (Mr. Babjak, Dennis Diken on drums and Mike Mesaros on bass) met Pat DiNizio, a Scotch Plains singer-songwriter-garbage man." Appearances Babjak's music can be heard in the films ''Bull Durham'', ''Backdraft'', ''Encino Man'', ''Time Cop'', '' Romy & Michele's High School Reunion'', '' Boys Don't Cry'', ''B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Singer
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ensemble as the dominant sound. In vocal group performances, notably in soul and gospel music, and early rock and roll, the lead singer takes the main vocal melody, with a chorus or harmony vocals provided by other band members as backing vocalists. Lead vocalists typically incorporate some movement or gestures into their performance, and some may participate in dance routines during the show, particularly in pop music. Some lead vocalists also play an instrument during the show, either in an accompaniment role (such as strumming a guitar part), or playing a lead instrument/instrumental solo role when they are not singing (as in the case of lead singer-guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix). The lead singer also typically guides the vocal ensem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
