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 On December 18, 2015, during Dave Davies’ concert at
Islington Assembly Hall in
London, Diken was drumming while
Ray Davies joined his brother Dave on stage for "
You Really Got Me". It was the first time the two Kinks had performed together in nearly 2 decades. Diken also toured with
Ronnie Spector in the late 2010s. The album consists of
instrumental Christmas songs recorded with
Memphis soul/
R&B-style
grooves. In 1997, Diken and Amels had produced the track "
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" for
Ben E. King on the tribute album
One Step Up/Two Steps Back: the Songs of Bruce Springsteen. the 1960s influenced album features contributions from 1960s
girl group the Honeys on backing vocals, and musicians
Andy Paley and
Jason Falkner. Dennis Diken with Bell Sound recorded a version of "
Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" for a fund raising CD titled
Super Hits of the Seventies for radio station
WFMU in 2012. Diken also recorded two singles in 2014 with the
punk rock supergroup Osaka Popstar, "Hopping Ghosts" and "O Holy Night". As a liner notes author and researcher, Diken has contributed to numerous
compilation albums, including collections of
the Four Freshmen,
Louis Prima,
the Lovin' Spoonful,
the Four Seasons, and
the Beach Boys. Diken was also a judge for the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. In 1996, he guest starred in the
Cartoon Network show
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, in the episode "Surprise", playing himself. == Awards and honors ==