BUDDY HOLLY'S TAPE RECORDER MISSING

BUDDY HOLLY'S TAPE RECORDER MISSING

NEW YORK (Wireless Flash) -- Smithereens singer Pat DiNizio is looking for a prized possession that's missing: an old tape recorder that once belonged to Buddy Holly. In 1990, DiNizio paid $15,000 for a reel-to-reel recorder used by Holly to record "That'll Be The Day" and "Peggy Sue." Six years later, he decided to auction it off at Sotheby's auction house but there were no buyers. Now for the mystery: Instead of sending back Holly's reel- to-reel, DiNizio claims Sotheby's sent a different tape recorder. It took two years before Sotheby's finally admitted the tape recorder was lost, and offered him a $10,000 insurance settlement. Now DiNizio is suing Sotheby's, but he says he will gladly drop the suit if the real Buddy Holly tape recorder is returned to him. A spokesman for Sotheby's says the company regrets losing the tape recorder, but DiNizio signed a contract prior to the auction agreeing to accept $10,000 if the recorder was lost. Meanwhile, DiNizio says he's more concerned with history than money.