2017 claims Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens

Jbird said:
Ok, I remember that song. I didn't have any idea who sang it though.
Click to expand...
I thought a lot of the other songs were way better than that "hit." My buddy at law school, who was an influence on me musically ( he got me into The Replacements, Warren Zevon, The Smithereens ) introduced them to us, and I, loving heart on the sleeve emotion, hooks, riffs, and short songs, ran with it. We ended up on stage with them in Portland, OR at The Starry Night club, with me air guitaring with Pat, and singing along with them. It was a small crowd and they ran the night pretty loose in terms of security. Super fun and great memory.

Unfortunately, he is now only a memory.

 
Damn. Always liked the Smithereens. I got to see them in their prime, and it was a very powerful performance. We were going to do a couple of their tunes in The Obscure80's, but the non-standard guitar tuning was a deal breaker. Didn't want to have extra guitars just sitting there for one or two songs, and deal with the interruption of even taking those few seconds to switch out guitars. We were always all about steady flow, no gaps.

Mojo to his family, band mates and friends.
 
OGG said:
Damn. Always liked the Smithereens. I got to see them in their prime, and it was a very powerful performance. We were going to do a couple of their tunes in The Obscure80's, but the non-standard guitar tuning was a deal breaker. Didn't want to have extra guitars just sitting there for one or two songs, and deal with the interruption of even taking those few seconds to switch out guitars. We were always all about steady flow, no gaps.

Mojo to his family, band mates and friends.
Click to expand...

Most of their stuff is just a half step down. When I play their songs, I just play them in standard. As long as you aren't playing along to the record, it isn't that drastic of a change. I do that with almost any song that is a half step down, or in the case of Social D a half step up.
 
Chad said:
Most of their stuff is just a half step down. When I play their songs, I just play them in standard. As long as you aren't playing along to the record, it isn't that drastic of a change. I do that with almost any song that is a half step down, or in the case of Social D a half step up.
Click to expand...
Had it been strictly up to me, that's what we'd have done, but... Fuckin' Democracy!

That's also why U2 had a very short shelf life in our sets. Most of that stuff is hard enough to sing in the original key, step it up even that half step, and it becomes nigh impossible. For all my vocal range, "I will follow" and "Desire" done in standard tuning pushed me to my limits and severely affected my stamina for the night.

I suppose in the case of The Smithereens it wouldn't be so much an issue as he sung in such a low key. In fact, it would probably help me out, because my voice just isn't that deep.
 
Chad said:
Most of their stuff is just a half step down. When I play their songs, I just play them in standard. As long as you aren't playing along to the record, it isn't that drastic of a change. I do that with almost any song that is a half step down, or in the case of Social D a half step up.
Click to expand...
Yah, I am too lazy to have to tune down most of the time. I do probably need some chunky sounding guitar with a bit of bite to keep tuned a full step down. :wink: One thing that is good about Smithereens tunes is that I can sing in Pat's register, so being tuned down helps for that. A half step lower wouldn't hurt.
 
I often heard Beatles influences, like this one with Belinda. Which makes sense, as they went on to make Beatles tribute albums. I thought that was cool, but, their own music was so good, it made me a little sad they felt they needed to make cover albums. Anyway, Belinda, Smithereens, and beatlesque harpsichord and strings.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top