Rocking though 40 years of blood and roses with The Smithereens

He calls The Smithereens “the Stillwater” of his Almost Famous rock and roll critic youth life at The Baltimore Sun so Nestor was thrilled to (finally) welcome drummer Dennis Diken onto the show to relive some magic of a youth at Hammerjacks and a life in rock and roll and still bringing the magic of the music to the stage. Lots of old stories and memories of Pat DiNizio, Jim Babjak and Mike Mesaros here as The Smithereens with Marshall Crenshaw as the guest singer return to Rams Head Annapolis on Friday, June 5th.

Nestor Aparicio interviews Dennis Diken, drummer of The Smithereens, ahead of their show at Rams Head Annapolis. Diken recalls their early days, including playing at Hammerjacks and opening for the Ramones. He highlights the band’s rise to fame with “Blood and Roses” and the challenge of creating their sophomore album, “Green Thoughts.” Diken discusses the band’s resilience after the loss of Pat DiNizio, their use of guest singers like Marshall Crenshaw and Robin Wilson, and their ongoing tours. Nestor shares personal anecdotes and expresses his admiration for the band’s enduring legacy.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Track down and contact ‘Miss Aeros’ (locate her and follow up; no deadline specified)
• [ ] Organize the band’s vault material and prepare archival pieces for release (locate remaining recordings, catalog them, and plan issuance of archival releases; no deadline specified)

Hammer Jacks and Early Career Memories

• Nestor Aparicio reminisces about the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and the Maryland Lottery scratch-offs.
• Nestor recalls befriending Pat DiNizio and Mike Mesaros of The Smithereens and their shared interests in baseball and hockey.
• Dennis Dyke shares memories of Hammer Jacks, describing it as a venue where it was easy to get lost but also a place with electric and enthusiastic audiences.
• Dennis recalls opening for the Ramones in 1986 and the thrill of playing at Hammer Jacks, comparing it to other memorable venues like The Ritz in Detroit.

The Smithereens’ Rise to Fame

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Smithereens’ rise to fame, their presence on MTV, and their crossover appeal to college radio and mainstream rock audiences.
• Dennis Dyke talks about the band’s influences, particularly The Who and The Beatles, and how their music resonated with people at the right time.
• Nestor and Dennis discuss the band’s journey, including the six years it took to land a record deal and the success of “Blood and Roses.”
• Dennis reflects on the band’s authenticity and how they were not trying to emulate any other bands, which contributed to their success.

The Impact of “Green Thoughts” and the Band’s Evolution

• Nestor Aparicio recalls the release of “Green Thoughts” and Pat DiNizio’s dedication to creating the best songs for the album.
• Dennis Dyke explains the pressure of creating a sophomore album and the band’s hard work in the studio.
• Nestor and Dennis discuss the band’s busy schedule during tours, including radio station visits and retail appearances.
• Dennis highlights the importance of the audience’s support and how they have stuck with the band over the years.

The Legacy of Pat DiNizio and the Band’s Continuation

• Nestor Aparicio shares personal memories of Pat DiNizio and the band, including attending shows and interviews with Pat.
• Dennis Dyke talks about the band’s resilience and how they have continued to perform despite the loss of Pat.
• Nestor and Dennis discuss the band’s unique approach of using guest singers like Marshall Crenshaw and Robin Wilson to keep the music alive.
• Dennis explains the process of selecting guest singers and how each brings something different to the table.

Upcoming Shows and Future Plans

• Nestor Aparicio promotes the Smithereens’ upcoming shows at Rams Head and Birchmere, encouraging listeners to attend.
• Dennis Dyke expresses gratitude for the audience’s support and the band’s ability to keep performing.
• Nestor and Dennis discuss the band’s plans to play with other bands like The Fix and their upcoming West Coast tour.
• Dennis shares his excitement about the band’s future shows and the energy of the audience.

Personal Anecdotes and Behind-the-Scenes Stories

• Nestor Aparicio shares a story about attending a Smithereens show with Julio Bermejo and meeting Clem Burke from Blondie.
• Dennis Dyke recounts a memorable moment with John Candy backstage at the Bottom Line, praising the band’s hard work.
• Nestor and Dennis discuss the band’s influences and how their unique style has evolved over the years.
• Dennis reflects on the band’s journey and the importance of maintaining the integrity of their music.

Final Thoughts and Gratitude

• Nestor Aparicio expresses his love and appreciation for the Smithereens and their music.
• Dennis Dyke thanks Nestor for his support over the years and shares his excitement for the band’s future shows.
• Nestor and Dennis discuss the band’s upcoming performances and the importance of keeping the music alive.
• Nestor concludes the interview by encouraging listeners to support the Smithereens and attend their shows.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

The Smithereens, Dennis Diken, Hammer Jacks, Blood and Roses, Green Thoughts, Pat DiNizio, Marshall Crenshaw, Robin Wilson, Rams Head Annapolis, Baltimore Positive, 80s rock, MTV, college radio, live shows, audience support.

SPEAKERS

Speaker 1, Speaker 2, Nestor Aparicio, Dennis Diken

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Nestor Aparicio  00:02

Welcome home. We are W N S T A M 1570 to Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positive. We get the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. Back out on the road, we’re going to be at Sorrento of Arbutus on the 10th. We’ll have the Maryland Lottery scratch-offs, as well as our friends with GBMC and Farnham and Dermer, the Comfort People. I am wearing, if you’re watching out on the YouTubes, in the videos, and not the podcast, Landia, my Smithereens, since 1980 America’s band, they’ve only been my band since 1986 or thereabouts, with especially for you, they appeared at Hammer Jack’s Blood and Roses was the big song I befriended first Pat Denisio, and then after that Mike Maceros, and we were fast friends, and baseball and hockey friends. Jim Bab Jack has been on the program many times, we’ve seen each other, but the lost friend of mine from the Smithereens Band is Dennis Dyken, the great drummer, and the man who once told me at Loyola Reits Arena, it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice. Dennis, it is a pleasure to celebrate our 40th anniversary as friends to have you on Baltimore Positive. What’s going on, brother? How are you? Welcome back to Rams Head, by the way.

Dennis Diken  01:18

Thank you. 40 years, how about that? Huh,

Nestor Aparicio  01:21

I got pictures of us on the wall and the stairs behind hammer jacks with three of my college buddies, 11 tour, so we’re probably somewhere in 8889 You’re really a big band, you’re on MTV, and we’re all standing, and it’s like a period piece, dude, like we look like babes in arms backstage at CBGB, 40 years later, you know. So, what do you remember about Hammer Jacks, man? Like, you know, that was a big deal to play Hammer Jacks, even for you guys. That was a real stepping part of your career, right?

Dennis Diken  01:55

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There’s a lot of great memories about Hammer Jacks. The one thing that always pops into mind about hammer jacks is that the way the inside was situated, it was very easy to get lost in there, you know, going from the dressing room to the stage to the lobby. What I remember having to almost, almost get out of compass, you know, just to navigate my way through, but apart from that, the great, the first great memory was the first time we played there was opening for the Ramones in 86 and what a thrill that mini tour was. I think we did five or six dates with them on the Eastern Seaboard, and it was our first time playing a number of venues, but Hammer Jack’s was, it was thrilling, though. Every time we played there, it was electric, really. The audiences were so enthusiastic, they were there to have fun, and dare I say, rock out. It was just that kind of venue. There’s a couple places throughout the country that popped into my mind that were like that. The Ritz in Detroit was another one, but man, Amber Jacks was always a gas, and yeah, just electrifying shows and great audiences, and it’s one of those early touring memories where I just, I flash on it with great fondness and great memories. I’m sure you’ve seen a million shows there,

Nestor Aparicio  03:29

yeah. And, and like, yours were so memorable, and it’s really strange how you became intertwined with the band The Alarm and the loss of the great Mike Peters last year, and there were friendships within those bands, and they were you guys were the electric bands, Tommy Conwell, I see him, those were the shows I went to, not that the Ramones weren’t, not that special nights when Kiss would show up, or the guys from Journey would show up as bad English, or Ozzie played, I mean, just it was that kind of venue, but I think my memories of you are so pure, you, Dennis, you were my still water, you were my band, you know that, and you know I saw you ever, you’re laughing at me, but you know it’s true, the contagiousness of your band, I think, at that time, even 40 years later, and I’ll let my hair out before the interview’s over, so I can let my long hair rock and roll thing go, but you had the Who thing and the Beatles thing at a time when I think college radio HFS played you and 98 rock played you and MTV played you, which crossed over to a guy who was 18 years old at the time, illicitly backstage at Hammer Jack’s, I assure you that it, it had all the appeal, and you were in a lane, and when I got to know you, you’re sort of weird pop culture vibes, and your 60s sci-fi reruns, but the way that you all loved music, the four of you, and the way that that kind of came together in New Jersey as this power. Pop thing that really played across genres, I think, spoke to your youth and what you listened to that was contagious as you put it together, because I, I would compare you to the Who and the Beatles, right? Am I.. I’m not wrong in saying that, right?

Dennis Diken  05:15

Well, there certainly are two of our biggest influences, so I guess that comes through very strongly in our performances, yeah, and just to riff on what you’re saying, when we, when you first saw us in 86 thereabouts, and Blood and Roses was firing on all cylinders, as you mentioned, all the different radio stations and MTV, nobody was more surprised than we were, because we were not a hair band, or we were not glamor boys, but I think the music just did as you said, resonated with people. It was like they’re being at the right place at the right time with the right goods. We were, we were just being ourselves, you know. We weren’t trying to emulate anything else that was going on. We stuck to our guns, and it took us a while to get a deal. It took about six years to actually land a deal. And Blood and Roses was not our first choice as a single by any stretch of the imagination, but it just had a certain purity and a certain groove to it, that it was, it was the right right thing at the right time, and we’re so grateful that people latched on to it. It was, I guess, it, you know, people, people tell me it was a breath of fresh air. I can’t even remember what were the, well, I guess what was it, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, what was the big records back?

Nestor Aparicio  06:42

Springsteen, right? Sure,

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Dennis Diken  06:45

but Bruce was, was down, you know, down, but they

Nestor Aparicio  06:48

weren’t playing him on college radio, they were playing you, and Lady REM had a crossover period where they jumped from college radio over. I don’t, I think Blood and Roses was an entry way and behind the wall of sleep, and then, of course, girl like you, I mean, that the hits that you had, they were an entryway for power pop, at a time when I think the other alternative was Hairspray, right, like to your point, those were the other bands, when you look at who’s on the docket at Hammer Jack’s in 8687 88 there were sort of the leftover ginger baker creams, the fog hats, and those kind of bands, you were in the middle of all of that, and I think that’s why the place was packed, because it wasn’t just a bunch of kids from college radio, it was wider than that.

Dennis Diken  07:34

Yeah, I think Pat’s songs that we all made our own, of course, you just couldn’t argue with them, and I think it was, it was about the songs for people, and also even to this day, we, as I said, we weren’t posers, we weren’t putting on airs, I think that our everyman persona collectively spoke to people, we were there to have a good time. We were there because we loved rock and roll, and it was the same thing with our audience. They wanted to have a good time, and they are, you mentioned contagious, and I think that’s that hits the nail on the head. We were having a great time, we were joking around on stage, and it just fed back and forth between us and the audience, and it was about the music, and it was about the spirit of what we were doing, and it’s like that to this day, you know, when Jimmy and I, Jimmy Bab, Jack and I hit the stage, and if he hits one chord and I hit a flam on the drums, that’s the sound of the band, and that, and we still play like we’re 14 years old. We really do. I’m not blowing smoke. We, when we hit the stage, we want to forget our troubles. We want our audience to forget their troubles. We want to have fun, and they want to have fun. And it’s just.. it’s really wonderful to be able to keep doing this, and have.. and also, I’ll say this, a lot of the folks that were coming to see us back in those days, in the 80s and 90s, they were going to college then, they’ve graduated, obviously had careers, families now they’re retired and empty nesters, they’re coming back to see us and reliving their youth, and they’re bringing their kids and grandchildren, it’s we’re so grateful for that.

Nestor Aparicio  09:23

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I am grateful to spend time with Dennis Dyke, and he is the drummer of the fabulous Smithereens Band guys, who have been my Stillwater from the very beginning, on tour busses on the West. I was out in Vegas the other two weeks ago, and I remember the night you guys opened drink there. It was the first time I ever went to Vegas. I stayed at the Luxor. I mean, like, just all of these memories, seeing you guys at the belly up, being in various places all over the country with you. I was with you guys the day the OJ hearing happened. You played the Aurora in Cleveland the night before. We all went to see Dick Dale at some side door basement doing. Surf Musing, so, and my fondness for Mike in the early days, my lifelong friendship with Jim, and I ran into Cindy at a Springsteen concert in Jersey a couple of weeks ago in Newark, and the loss of Pat, and like all these years later, I found all of my old tapes, then, and I, when I interviewed Mike in the day for the, for first the newspaper, and then he came in and sat in on the radio when you guys would come to town and play Johns Hopkins in the 90s and whatnot, blow up, and maybe after that I have the tapes, and I remembered vividly I loved your band so much, and especially for you was hitting it, and you had a couple of hits, and then you had to do green thoughts. Then I remember it like it was yesterday when the box came to my house on Kane Street from the record company, and I pulled the green album out, and I put the disc down, CDs, then barely I put it down, and I heard “World We Know” and I heard this, these like, like you has to be house, house, we, you know, and I heard all of that, and then I interviewed Pat, and I distinctly remember him saying, you know what, man, I did especially for you was everything in my life, this was our best songs, and Beauty and Sadness wasn’t on there, you had other hits from Girls About Town that didn’t even make your debut album, he said the hardest thing in the world is then to go into a place after you’ve been on a tour and come up with 1214, 15 with salt, more songs, and then be able to do that, that that would define him and your band. I swear to you, he said this to me 38 years ago, whenever it was that you came through that when we talk about Pat’s legacy, we will talk about those songs being really good, then

Dennis Diken  11:43

that’s true, and what you said is I’m sure he did say that, and it goes in, it’s kind of cliche, but you’re, you’re, you have your whole life to do your first album, and then you have maybe 12 months or less to do your second. In our case, we got off the road, I think it was late August or very early September of 87 That first tour, for especially for you, lasted about 1516 months. You know,

Nestor Aparicio  12:11

you were breaking the band, right? That’s what they were doing, right?

Speaker 1  12:14

That’s

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Dennis Diken  12:14

right. Yeah, we went to Europe several times, and we toured the country several times, so we got off the road early September, and by december 5 we were back in the studio working on Green Thoughts. So it’s a testament to Pat, it’s a testament to all of us to be able to rally and come up with the goods, because if you don’t have a your sophomore album isn’t up to snuff, that could really, that could kill your momentum. People might lose interest if it’s not a good record, but we were lucky that we were really gung ho, and we, we really worked very, very hard. People, people say, “Oh, what’s it like to be on the road? Well, in our case, we were going to radio stations every day, going to retail, doing phone, or so, with on one of the tours, we had a separate bus from our crew, because we had to leave separately to do all this work, and they had to go and set up while we were doing that, and do our sound checks for us, because we were so busy, so it was a ton of work, but a lot of great memories, made a lot of good friendships, you know, speaking of which, and that have lasted all these years, it’s.. I don’t even remember what your question was.

Nestor Aparicio  13:29

Well, just writing songs and how they held up, and how Pat’s legacy, that when a girl like you comes on a radio, or you guys get to sell it for a commercial, or behind the wall, like Top of the pops, just great, great songs that I think 40 years later I, for Dan, I love you, man, but I forget how freaking good you are until I trudge down to Annapolis. Come, the Ram said, know that Pat’s not with you, know that it might be a little different. Sometimes it’s Marshall, sometimes it’s John Castle, sometimes it’s Robin. I haven’t seen Robin play in the band, I wish I had it. I just, it’s hadn’t worked out on my schedule, but, like, you have really survived this in a way, in a tragedy for any band that wants to remain working and has the kind of catalog you have. You guys have really made this work, and it’s exciting every time I come out and see you play, because of what you guys and Pat left behind and Ed Stacey and a whole bunch of other people that really created great, great songs 40 years ago, man.

Dennis Diken  14:29

Thank you, and that’s very much appreciated. And yeah, like I said before, when we hit the stage, we, we go for it, but we could not have sustained it all these years, and I mean this sincerely. Without our audience, you know, they stuck with us. It’s 46 years now. They’ve stuck with us all these years, and they come out and support us, and they’re having a great time. And you know, we couldn’t help hope to do this without their love and support. We’re really. Grateful, and we’re really lucky, all

Nestor Aparicio  15:02

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right. So, look, man, Pat’s laughing at us right now. I’m sharing this up on the screen. There’s Pat, and there’s you, and somehow Mike’s missed. I cropped this, my buddies are in it, lower, and there’s Jimmy over here with a whole lot of hair, and Mike had hair. We all know that, and there’s my backstage all-access pass, but the craziest thing is, the shirt says The Lost. The Lost was a band that had a publicist that was trying to get the band over and had me wearing the shirt, and she really was pushing those guys. I was wearing the shirt, because it’s kind of fun. The Lost album, right? Like, you guys have, like, a Lost Thing, right? All these, your The Lost Picture from Backstage at Hammer Jacks. Now we have The Lost. What? How do you find an album 3540 years later? I need to know, because the Beatles keep doing it too, right?

Dennis Diken  15:46

Yeah, well, we was locked down, we were going through our cupboards, and there were these tapes that we knew we had, but we had now we had a little time to to to check them out when 1993 when we were between labels, we recorded two albums worth of material, and in short order, we, after those sessions, we did get signed to RCA, so we set our sights on other material to record for that new album, so these 12 or 13 songs, whatever it is, languished in our vaults all these years, and we played them. They sounded fresh, they sounded good. So we said, “Why don’t we just issue it? And you know what, Nestor, I gotta say, we were gobsmacked at the response it got. We thought it was good, but people were.. some people said it was our best album. I don’t go there, but we were just really happy that people latched on to it, and we’re so happy about it, so you know it’s there’s, and there’s more, there’s more in the vault, and I just have to get organized and get to those, and we have a lot of plans to issue a lot of, lot more things to a lot more our archival pieces.

Nestor Aparicio  17:02

I love your live stuff, dude. That show at the Ritz that you guys recorded, that was on CD, where the Mets were in the World Series, and Mike’s yelling, ‘Let’s go Mets. And you like, I know you know what I’m talking about. Beauty and sadness was on there. It’s like a little five-song EP back in the day, and it was a radio broadcast, like that kind of stuff to me is gold, and when I find old stuff, and Jimmy had sent me tapes during the course of our lifetime, even when he was recording commercials and doing different things. I have old tapes with his handwriting on them of stuff you guys had done, but when you find something, or even remember that, oh my god, like we had a whole album, we did, but I also think that there was a period for you, and I was at the show in Jersey at the Hungarian, yeah, oh yeah, it was the Betty Betty Bab Jack Memorial, I stole the other Smithereen shirt, I have that one, but that’s especially for you, I, I wanted to go modern here, you know, I got this one in Hershey a couple years ago, so, and it blue looks good on me, so, but like I think about your band and the music and the way you have endured, I think the singer thing for our audience, Pat passed away a number of years ago, I, it was the, in the 2017 the post that is put up was honoring him on the day he passed and left us, and we’re almost up on a decade. I mean, Rush is going out next week, and I’m going to see their show this weekend. Literally, the first show, there’s a period of mourning, there’s a period of, oh my god, my band, there’s a period of my friend, there’s like.. and Pat deteriorated physically at the end of his life, and I had a beautiful moment with him in Jersey that last night before you took the stage in that little hall where you guys grew up in New Jersey, and Jimmy’s family hall. Literally, I just.. I wondered what you were going to do, and I’ll just say this: I love you guys. I’m proud of you. I’m so proud that you continue this on and give people a chance to come see you at Ramset at Birchmere. You guys are playing West Coast, you’re running around with the fix. I’m probably going to see you with the fix in Richmond, honestly, because I love the fix, and it gives me a reason to come see both of you. But, like, you’re, you’re really, you’re working band again, and in a big way with guest singers, and it’s unique, right? Like, is this modeled after anything else? Because, God forbid, it happens to any band that they lose their founding member and singer, where you’re young enough where you really want to work, and those songs work, and you, and you need to work, you know, you, it’s what you do, you know,

Dennis Diken  19:36

that’s that’s the, that’s the answer. People say, well, you know, after all these, why do you? Well, it’s because what I do, it is what I do. Retirement is a completely abstract concept. As long as we are healthy and people want to keep, come seeing us, we keep doing this, you know. And I’m glad that you appreciate that, Nestor, because it’s. It’s, it’s our mission, I guess. You know, when we were little kids, we grew up loving rock and roll, buying records, wanting to play. I mean, I say this on stage, and I mean it. We knew that there was nothing cooler than that we could do than to play in a band together, and it’s so true. It’s a dream come true, and every time we take the stage, it’s not lost on us how special this is, and how grateful we are that the audience is there for us. And, man, they have a good time, you know what it’s like. Our crowds are, they, they’re just the best, just the best, and we’re just so glad we can keep doing it, man,

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Nestor Aparicio  20:41

peel back the onion for me on the singers, and how you guys arrange this, because I often, I keep missing Robin, I always get Marshall, we’ll get Marshall, listen, not see John yet, but I mean, I see the videos all the time, I mean, you have no idea how close I was and how bad I wanted to be there that night up in New Jersey, and I watched the stream live, and I’m still pissed at myself for not being there with Little Steven, and all the stuff that you’ve done, but I try to get to your shows whenever I can, like I’ve already told you, you’ll probably see me a couple weeks in Richmond with the fix, because I’m sort of eyeing that one up, but the Iridium in New York, anywhere you guys play in Jersey, different places, I try to come out, but it feels like throwing a dart as to who your singer’s going to be, and that’s a pretty unique band. Then you guys can pull this off, and people want to come, and not only just that, I want to come, I want to see the whole spectrum of your singers. Yeah, I want to see them all. I haven’t seen them all. And look, you ever get in a pinch, you know? I know the words, and I played Pat one night on stage at Bo Eggers, your pissed them off, but it was a lot of fun. You know, you ask, ask Jimmy and Mike, they’ll tell you.

Dennis Diken  21:41

Okay. Well, we, we landed on both Marshall and Robin at that concert at in Red Bank, the, the one that was the tribute to to Pat, the little Steven produced event in January of 2018 It was just, it wasn’t even a month, or maybe just a month after Pat had passed. We had that date on the books while Pat was still alive, and when Pat passed, Steven said, “Let’s keep the date, you guys will play, and we’ll bring up, I think it was about 20 different singers to sing with us. I

Nestor Aparicio  22:16

watched it all night long, I cranked it up on my speaker, I streamed it, I was so mad I didn’t go, but more than that, I had a great view. But the neat thing for me, I had never heard anybody other than me sing a Smithereen song, other than Pat, you know. So it was kind of like it was this wild hodgepodge of people honoring Pat, emulating Pat, maybe not emulating Pat, reinterpreting whatever it was, and I thought, wow, and I really did wonder, like, as you’re, as friends, like, what are you gonna do? Your singer died, you know, like, wow, are you gonna put this together, you know,

Dennis Diken  22:54

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we were too, you know, and that was the night that we just, we realized that we can move forward. All the vocalists were really good, but the two that just felt right were Marshall Crenshaw, who we’ve known forever, and he was really part of our extended family, and Robin Wilson from Gin Blossoms, who made it very clear to us that night that I’m a huge fan of you guys. If I can ever be of service to you as a lead singer, please let me know. And both of them just felt right, and we were hoping to find somebody that could interpret the music, not we didn’t want to look alike or a sound alike, but we wanted somebody that could maintain the integrity of the music and interpret the songs and help celebrate the music, and both of those guys do that so well, and John Cowsell, we’ve known since 1991 when we were in Los Angeles rehearsing and recording for Blow Up album, Jimmy and I went one night to a show at the Henry Fonda Theater, where McCartney recently played it was Screaming Trees, Red Cross, and the Cow Sills were on the bill, and we loved the show, but we were really knocked out by the Cows’s vocal prowess and that genetic vocal blend that they had, so much that after the show we went up to them, we sent word back that we want them to talk with them, and we asked them if they would like to sing on our album, so they sang on Jimmy’s song now and then. So we stayed in touch with them, and I was, I became really good friends with John, and he kept saying, I’d love to sing with you guys, I’d love to sing with you guys. So he did, and he does, and he’s very charismatic, he’s a great front man, and he, man, does he have fun with us, and we have fun with him, so that, that’s that’s the story, and we’re going to be doing some shows with Wesley Stace singing with us, also known as John Wesley Harding, so that’s coming up too, and he’s another. Real talented guy, so a

Nestor Aparicio  25:02

guy I interviewed back in the 80s when he was trying to break and had albums, absolutely like you guys, and you were very much in the same genre of like getting played on HFS, and you know, being one of those sort of gym blossoms were the same thing, they played, they got played on both of those formats, and the Robin story is just a beautiful thing that he worked at a record store in Phoenix, and fell in love with you, and it’s, it’s very clear when I’ve seen all of them sing that they love your band as much as I love your band, you know what I mean, and and I don’t know that if you wanted to really have a permanent thing that the fact that you’ve gone in this really, you know, a different kind of esoteric direction to have guest vocalist is really kind of, I think, kind of neat as this thing is evolved over a decade. Then,

Dennis Diken  25:52

thank you. And, yeah, it’s, it’s unusual, isn’t it? But

Nestor Aparicio  25:57

it’s really weird,

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Dennis Diken  26:00

I every and each, each guy brings something different to the table, but bottom line is, it all, it all seems to work, so it’s, it’s a beautiful thing, man.

Nestor Aparicio  26:15

Dennis, thank you. It’s been my friend for four decades. The Smithereens band is coming back to Hot Annapolis on Friday night, they will be down at Rams Head on stage, also playing Birchmere. Just go to their website, find all the dates, find it here. It’s on the T-shirt to find the Google thing, the artificial intelligence. They’ll give you some real intelligence. That dude, you guys are going out with the fix, you’re going West Coast, and you’re going to, you know, like this. You’re about to get real active here. I mean, I hope the chops are together. We’re adding any songs, either to say anything like, and you mentioned now and then. That’s one of my favorites, those cut flowers and stuff that Jimmy wrote. But I think if people know they’re going to come out and see your band, they’re going to see a pretty kick-ass rock and roll show for a nice little sit-down cafe that you guys put together in an app. But sometimes I’m worried about the roof catching on fire when Jimmy starts licking a little bit, you know.

Dennis Diken  27:02

Well, hopefully not. But yeah, that’s the other thing about Ram. Said it’s another venue where it’s always a good show. Maybe it’s because it’s intimate and the people really feed off the energy, and we can see their faces, we could laugh together. We just, it.. I, we just love playing Rams Head, and I think we started.. boy, I think our first tour, maybe second tour. So we’ve been playing there forever. I can’t even count how many times we’ve played there, but it’s the great venue, and Birchmere is really out of sight, too. I hopefully, uh, folks are around for that one, but what it’s a comfortable venue to play and to see a show. They always treat us real well there. So those are two shows we’re really looking forward to. I’m

Nestor Aparicio  27:54

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looking forward to it as well. All right. Last question for Dennis Dykin. Um, and I wrote this one down not to be coy or anything, and not to give you, like, to stump you in any way, but I know a lot about your band, right? I mean, I love your band. I probably, of all the people in the world that would ever interview you, I, you know, I’m up there with some of the Jersey guys that you know who are better at it than me, and been there a little longer, but you know, I got invited to Kenny’s castaways, I just never went, I, but you know, I know about that, and all that. What do I not know about the Smithereens that I should know?

Speaker 2  28:30

God,

Dennis Diken  28:36

well, here’s a.. you want to just a funny little story?

Nestor Aparicio  28:40

Sure, whatever you want to give me, man. I just.. I want to fanboy out with you, dude, because, like, I never really had that opportunity, because, like, I went from media guy to sort of beer buddy to sort of, hey, Nestor’s on the boss, and then Denizio’s killing me with you, I think, about the Nestor in the movie, The Battle of the War for the Worlds, or whatever the hell you remember this? Dennis used to.. oh, I thought you were in on that sci-fi movie. The Nestor was like the bad guy, and anyway, but I never got the fan boy with you and say, ‘Dennis, tell me about your band or whatever. But I’m thinking, like, there must be something that would be in the book that you haven’t told or hasn’t been told in the most significant way that I wouldn’t know, that I would be like, I didn’t know that.

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Dennis Diken  29:25

Well, I don’t know if I have anything really revelatory or deep, but I have a funny thing that just popped into mine. And this is, are this is, this is going out on AM radio?

Nestor Aparicio  29:36

Absolutely, will be on AM radio, 100%

Dennis Diken  29:40

All right, then I’ll have to have to amend this a little bit, but speaking of

Nestor Aparicio  29:46

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dropping F bomb if you need to, just do whatever you need to do, Dan. It’s okay,

Dennis Diken  29:49

you could, you could bleep it out, or what?

Nestor Aparicio  29:51

Yeah, I will be happy to not bleep it out, but go ahead, bleep it, go ahead.

Dennis Diken  29:54

Otis Blackwell was a very important songwriter. Back in the 50s and 60s, he wrote a lot of hits for Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis. He wrote Fever, he wrote Handyman, on and on and on. Anyway, we got to be his band for a year in 1983 84 and our first gig with him was in Pasadena, Maryland, at the Desert Lounge. I don’t think it’s there anymore, but anyway, we played a bunch of gigs with him, and one of the shows was at the bottom line in New York, and we opened for NRB Q, so this is 1983 84 and we’re backstage, and lo and behold, who comes to see NRBQ at John Candy of Saturday Night Live, or SNL, it’s a lot of people call it these days.

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Nestor Aparicio  30:48

Well, NRQ, NRBQ, they were a big hipster band, right? I mean, yeah,

Dennis Diken  30:51

and they still, they’re still around, you know, and they’re still playing, and we were really happy to be opening for them, and it was a great bill, we were on first, and between shows, between sets, between our set and NRBQ set, John Candy comes into our dressing room. He was there to see them. He was friends with NRBQ, and we, excuse me, we did a pretty good show. We were rocking pretty good with Otis, you know. We’re talking, don’t be cruel, all shook up, great balls of fire, all these great songs that he wrote, and we were doing it, and so Candy comes back into our tiny dressing rooms at the bottom line. He just comes in to say hello, and he goes, “Okay, so this is where I’ll drop the F bombs, and this is verbatim. He says, “Hey, fucking guys are fucking working fucking hard up there, man. You guys are fucking sweating.

Nestor Aparicio  31:45

Uncle Buck, there he is, right there, right.

Dennis Diken  31:48

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But that was, that was a funny moment. He was very sweet, you know. But a memorable quote.

Nestor Aparicio  31:57

I was backstage with you guys with Julio Bermejo, the great tequila maven, one of my dearest friends in life, just talked to him the other day. If you’re in San Francisco, look up Tommy’s Mexican restaurant, you’ll find him. I was introduced to him by Mike Maceros. I went to San Francisco in 1994 to see the Maryland Chirps play a March Madness game in Oakland, and I called Mike, who was living in San Francisco, he said, ‘Just go to Tommy’s Mexican, ask for Julio, and tell him I sent you. So, couple, two, three years later, you guys were playing the House of Blues, maybe on 11 or blow up somewhere in there, and maybe 9091 and I’m backstage, and there’s some celebrities there, and this and that, and there was one dude hanging out, and I didn’t know who he was at all, but he was really close with you guys, and I knew he was very close with you, because I was backstage, and there were eight of us, and I was annoying the hell out of you, and this guy was here, and we were all in LA on the strip at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip, and somebody came with the idea to go to Pink’s Hot Dogs, and this fella’s like, ‘Hey, I’ll take you guys to Pink’s hot dog, I’m in the mood, I know where it is, and I’m like, well, I’m going with this guy. So at that time, I think he may have had a car and had been there, or maybe I had a car rental car and had been in. Maybe it was when you guys played drink in Vegas. I think it maybe was. I was driving over in the desert, so we got in the car with a guy who was backstage with you and Julio, the three of us, and we drove to Pink’s, which maybe, if it was an Uber ride now, might be 12 bucks. I mean, maybe, maybe a mile and a half, two miles. If it was a cab ride, then it would have been six bucks, but you couldn’t get a cab, and it was two in the morning, and Pink’s is open all night, and they were like, this is where Bruce Willis and Demi Moore had their first hot.. this is what the things we’re talking about in 1991 So the dude’s with us, and I don’t.. we go get hot dogs, chili dogs. We didn’t have selfies to take pictures or anything. We go back to the club later on. You guys are packing up, getting on the bus, doing whatever the hell you’re doing. I think we had a room adjacent by the Riot Hyatt there, and then like later on it was Clem Burke, it was Clem Burke, so the whole night I’m like Clem, Clem, Clem, and Miss Arrows gets a hold of me and I’m like, “Hey, did you get your hot dogs? and I’m like, “Yeah, we went to Pink’s. He’s like, “Hey, you went with Clem, right? I’m like, “Yeah, and I’m like, “He’s like, you know, that’s Clem Burke from Blondie, right? And I’m like, what? So I hung out with Clem Burke all night, and I didn’t even know he was a rock and roll Hall of Famer, with because of you. So there’s a story you didn’t know. How about that?

Dennis Diken  34:35

That’s great. I, you know, Clem was a really good friend, and he was a swell guy.

Speaker 1  34:40

What a

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Nestor Aparicio  34:41

great guy he was. Dennis, what a wonderful man. And when he passed, I mean, I just.. I text Julio at the night he died, and was recent. There have been so many tributes to Clem, but I know he loved you guys, man. He was just real close with you, and I had no idea who he was, but. Yeah, that’s so funny. Those are the best things, though, aren’t those? Oh man, I, you know, I wish you.. Dennis Dyken is here. He plays the drums sort of like Clem Burke, but sort of like Dennis Dyken. Do you play the drums like anyone, by the way? Do you think..

Dennis Diken  35:14

well, you know, I have a lot of different influences. So some people after our show says, ‘Oh, I really see the Keith Boone influence, and what, what you’re playing at this stage in my life. I mean, I’ve listened to so many different drummers, so much, so many different records, that it’s, it’s all kind of a, it’s all mixed up in there, and it comes out in my own style, you know. But I don’t know that there’s any one drummer that you can say I play light, yeah. I don’t know. Are you a crazy mixed-up

Nestor Aparicio  35:44

kid at this point? Yeah, crazy, mixed-up kid. Yeah, all right. Don’t want to lose you. Still, one of my apps lean I put especially for you on, and from strangers where we meet. From the first chords of that, it takes me back to being in my car outside of Hammer Jack’s, when I got your first tape, you guys were on one side, and Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers, their EP was in the other side, and dude, I still have it, I’m sure I wore it out. I love your band, I love you guys, I’m glad you’re healthy and alive and doing well. I miss Pat tremendously. The last thing I ever said to Pat, you know, he and I busted a lot of balls over years, right. He was struggling physically that evening in New Jersey to get on stage. He had had some physical things, but he was in a good.. he saw me and he lit up when he saw me and my wife, and I saw him backstage at that little thing, and I said to him, “This is so me and him. The last thing I ever said to him, “Make me cry if I, if I think about it too much, but I grabbed him by the cheek, like Jersey style, and I said I drove 188 miles for this, is better be good, that’s what I said to him, and he gave me a hug, and, and we took a selfie, he was wearing his funny little campagnoli hat, or whatever it was, and, but I love Pat, I miss Pat, but I love that you guys come out and allow me to shake it to what you guys do, and so thank you for that. Keep playing, thanks for your time tonight, thanks for being the last Smithereen. 40 years it took me to get you on the show, Dennis.

Dennis Diken  37:15

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I’m sorry,

Nestor Aparicio  37:18

that’s all you got for me. We’ll do

Speaker 1  37:19

it again.

Nestor Aparicio  37:21

Listen, just do what Pat did one night, pissed everybody in the band off. Take my request, like at the 1000 Center, when I was standing on the chair, yell ‘But in Sadness, and he played it for me. And then afterwards, Jim’s like, ‘What are you nuts? Don’t be calling that stuff out in the middle of the show. But it might be me, I might be yelling for world we know, or like something you don’t play.

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Dennis Diken  37:40

Okay, you never know, you never know,

Nestor Aparicio  37:44

my love, especially for you, you know.

Dennis Diken  37:46

Thank you, Nestor. Thanks for being there all these years. For

Nestor Aparicio  37:49

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Dennis Dyken, everybody’s there for the fabulous Smithereens band. Get on down, support them. Since 1980 America’s Band, since 1986 my personal Stillwater, Dennis Dyke, and Jim Bab Jack, The Great Severo, a gathering. I’m gonna track down Miss Aeros at some point. I think if the Knicks win the title, he’ll want to talk to me again, maybe The Range or something like that. But the Life is Good in the Smith Readiness Band. Get down and see them, find them out on the website, and maybe find them with The Fix Dan of Virginia in a couple of weeks as well. Yeah, I gotta get my fix, man. That’s a great, that’s worth the night at the Holiday Inn in Richmond, you know. Because I, as I said to Pat, I know it’s worth it. I am Nestor. We are WNSD AM 15 70,000 Baltimore. Thanks to Jimmy and Mike and Pat and Dennis and Severo and all the managers and band and roadies and even guys from other bands that put up with me over the years. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with

Speaker 1  38:45

us.