Behind The Wall of Sheep

I love the Smithereens and I always have, since the first time I heard the "Especially for You"LP back in the summer of 1986. WHOT played the living crap out of that album and kept it in heavy rotation for the better part of two years. It deserved it - it's a fantastic piece of work.


Mon and I saw the Smithereens live back in 2007 and it was one of the best shows I have even been to. I also saw them at Beatlefest a few years back and got to interact with some of the band afterwards. Good guys all around.

So imagine my joy when I saw Part One of an interview with Smithereens front man Pat DiNizio today over at Parbench:

The Smithereens’ Pat DiNizio Pt 1

Pat DiNizio, songwriter and vocalist for the successful rock band The Smithereens (“A Girl Like You,” “Blood and Roses,” “Only A Memory”), has long faced alienation from the liberal entertainment industry because of his semi-conservative views.

He says, “People who are extremely left wing, who think it’s an artist’s obligation to be extremely liberal and espouse that philosophy and they don’t get it from me, they hate me. I’m a traitor and they want to burn my records."

Now, keep in mind when you are reading this that we're talking about one of the nicest people you'll probably ever meet. When you are on the "wrong" side, none of that matters. I have seen some of the nicest people I know called horrible things just because they refuse to march off the cliff with the rest of the lemmings.

That's what I always like about the "free speech" crowd: they love the concept...until someone disagrees with them.

I'll link Part Two when it becomes available.