Cahillane, Kevin. "Not Fade Away: The Smithereens' Monument to Persistence", The New York Times, October 10, 2004. Accessed August 18, 2021. "The band formed in 1980 when three Carteret High School graduates (class of 1975) and childhood friends (Mr. Babjak, Dennis Diken on drums and Mike Mesaros on bass) met Pat DiNizio, a Scotch Plains singer-songwriter-garbage man."