Blown To Smithereens

• As we were putting RAMP to bed on Tuesday night we received the sad news of the passing of Pat DiNizio, lead singer/songwriter of one of our favorite bands, The Smithereens, who gave us such hooky hits as “A Girl Like You,” “Blood and Roses,” “Behind the Wall of Sleep,” “House We Used To Live In” and “Only A Memory,” to name a few.

According to Deadline.com, DiNizio had been recovering from injuries sustained during a fall. He passed away just days after indicating via Facebook that he was looking forward to returning to the road.

A Facebook post from Smithereens bandmate Dennis Diken read, “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. Little did we know that we wouldn’t grow old together. Goodbye Pat. Seems like yesterday.” DiNizio was 62 years old.