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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’ concert at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Smithereens
The Smithereens are an American rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio (vocals & guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar & vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar & vocals), and Dennis Diken (drums & 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 are perhaps best known for a string of hits in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, including "Only a Memory", " 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 (Graham Parker and The Kinks). The band's name comes from a Yosemite Sam catchphrase, "Varmint, I'm a-gonna blow you to smithereens!" Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Smithereens
The Smithereens are an American rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio (vocals & guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar & vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar & vocals), and Dennis Diken (drums & 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 are perhaps best known for a string of hits in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, including "Only a Memory", " 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 (Graham Parker and The Kinks). The band's name comes from a Yosemite Sam catchphrase, "Varmint, I'm a-gonna blow you to smithereens!" Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belleville, New Jersey
Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "Beautiful city / town") is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 38,222, reflecting an increase of 6.4% from the 2010 Census population of 35,926, an increase that follows a decline of 2 (0.0%) from the 35,928 counted in the 2000 Census. History Originally known as "Second River" or "Washington", the inhabitants renamed the settlement "Belleville" in 1797. Belleville was originally incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 8, 1839, from portions of Bloomfield. Portions of the township were taken to create Woodside Township (March 24, 1869, now defunct) and Franklin Township (February 18, 1874, now known as Nutley). The independent municipality of Belleville city was created within the township on March 27, 1874, and was dissolved on February 22, 1876. On November 16, 1910, Belleville was reincorporated as a to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WFMU
WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, in the Hudson Valley, the Lower Catskills, western New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania from Mount Hope, New York at 90.1 WMFU, and to New York City and Rockland County at 91.9 FM. It is the longest-running freeform radio station in the U.S. The station's main terrestrial transmitter is located in West Orange, New Jersey. Philosophy and influence WFMU does not belong to any existing public broadcasting network, and nearly 100% of its programming originates at the radio station. WFMU has a stated commitment to unstructured-format broadcasting. All programming is created by each individual air personality, and is not restricted by any type of station-wide playlist or rotation schedule. Experimentation, spontaneity and humor are among the st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the United States until their touring ban in 1965. Their third single, the Ray Davies-penned "You Really Got Me", became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. The Kinks' music drew from a wide range of influences, including American R&B and rock and roll initially, and later adopting British music hall, folk, and country. The band gained a reputation for reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' wittily observational writing style, and made apparent in albums such as '' Face to Face'' (1966), '' Something Else'' (1967), ''The Village Green Preservation Society'' (1968), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carteret High School
Carteret High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Carteret in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, as the lone secondary school of the Carteret School District. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1929 and is accredited through January 2027.Carteret High School Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 23, 2022. As of the 2021–22 school ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Amels
Dave Amels (born 1960) co-founded music technology companies Voce musical instruments and Bomb Factory. Both companies are known for detailed and realistic mathematical models of complex physical systems. Amels also plays organ in The Reigning Sound, a garage rock band out of Asheville, North Carolina. Despite being an inventor of influential digital products, Dave, a garage rock fan and WFMU radio DJ, is famous for only using analog methods of recording. He designed recording studios and custom analog electronics for high end studios. As a musician and record producer, Amels has worked with Ben E. King, Lenny Kravitz, Mary Weiss of 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las, and Dennis Diken of The Smithereens. In 2002, Amels collaborated with Dennis Diken to form the band Husky Team. They released the album ''Christmas in Memphis'' on the Confidential Recording label. Dave Amels relaunched the Cryptovision Records record label in 2009. Amels worked in A&R for the label in the 198 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben E
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin (name), Benjamin, Benedict (given name), Benedict, Bennett (name), Bennett or Benson (given name), Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (Hebrew), Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, אברהם בן אברהם). Bar (Aramaic)#Aramaic, Bar-, "son of" in Aramaic language, Aramaic, is also seen, e.g. Simon bar Kokhba ( he, שמעון בר כוכבא). Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin'' (بن), ''Ibn''/''ebn'' (ابن). People with the given name * Ben Adams (born 1981), member of the British boy band A1 * Ben Affleck (born 1972), American Academy Award-winning actor and screenwriter * Ben Ashkenazy (born 1968/69), American billionaire real estate developer * Ben Askren (born 1984), American sport wrestler and mixed martial artist * Ben Banogu (born 1996), American football player ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Shangri-Las
The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit songs of theirs documented teen tragedies and melodramas. They continue to be known for their hits "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", "Give Him a Great Big Kiss", and in particular, "Leader of the Pack" which went to #1 in the US in late 1964. Early career The group was formed at Andrew Jackson High School in Cambria Heights, a neighborhood in Queens, New York City, in 1963. The group was two pairs of sisters: Mary Weiss (lead singer) (born December 28, 1948) and Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss (born November 27, 1946), and identical twins Marguerite "Marge"/"Margie" Ganser (February 4, 1948 – July 28, 1996) and Mary Ann Ganser (February 4, 1948 – March 14, 1970). They began playing school shows, talent shows, and teen hops; Artie Ripp heard about them and arranged the group's first record deal with Kama Sutra. Their first recording in December 1963 was "Simon Says", later issued ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Weiss
Mary Weiss (born December 28, 1948) is an American pop music vocalist, best known as the lead singer of the Shangri-Las in the 1960s. She then vanished from the music scene for decades, returning in 2007 to record her first solo album with Norton Records. Background Growing up in Queens, Weiss, her older sister Elizabeth (known as Betty) and her older brother George lived in Cambria Heights. She sang in school plays and church choirs. Additionally, she listened to her brother and his friends perform popular songs of the day; George being an Elvis fan. Mary appreciated such performers as Neil Sedaka and the Everly Brothers; she attended her first Everly Brothers concert in 1963 at Freedomland U.S.A. at the age of 14. Early recordings After Weiss and her sister Betty became good friends with twins Mary Ann and Margie Ganser in grammar school, the four of them sang at local dances and hops. That brought them to the attention of local producer Artie Ripp, who later signed them on to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. Nancy Sinatra began her career as a singer and actress in November 1957 with an appearance on her father's ABC-TV variety series, but initially achieved success only in Europe and Japan. In early 1966 she had a transatlantic number-one hit with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin. A TV promo clip from the era features Sinatra in high boots, accompanied by colorfully dressed go-go dancers, in what is now considered an iconic Swinging Sixties look. The song was written by Lee Hazlewood, who wrote and produced most of her hits and sang with her on several duets. As with all of Sinatra's 1960s hits, "Boots" featured Billy Strange as arranger and conductor. Between early 1966 and early 1968, Sinatra charted on ''Billboards Hot 100 with 14 titles, ten of which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 as a member of the Kinks. Davies is prolific with his innovative nature on the electric guitar, specifically in being one of the first to utilize electric guitar distortion and exposing the effect to the mainstream. His signature distorted power chord riffs on songs would heavily influence future heavy metal and punk rock acts. In 2003, Davies was ranked 91st in ''Rolling Stone'' ''Magazines list of the " 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Early life David Russell Gordon Davies was born at 6 Denmark Terrace, Muswell Hill, North London. He was born the last of eight children, including six elder sisters and an elder brother, later bandmate Ray. As children, the Davies brothers were im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
