The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 430

Number 430

Dean Martin

"Somewhere There's A Someone"

(1966)
.

Genre: Crooner

being a Tom Jones fan is easier

How many artist's do you know who have recorded over 600 songs in a career that were released? Well now you do. Another interesting fact about 'ole Dino is that he also has 3 Hollywood Boulevard stars to his name, one each for movies, TV and music. Not bad for a "So called B star" or whatever you think, he will always be a "A++ grader" to me and many, this man has earned his stripes [and more] in his lifetime. Question i pose is .... will we ever have a lovable, scotch drinking, womanising [yet acceptable] rogue to entertain us again? Now that Dave Allen is gone [2005] ... I highly doubt it.

Play it again sam

Enjoying great success in music, film, television, and the stage, Dean Martin was less an entertainer than an icon, the eternal essence of cool. A member of the legendary Rat Pack, he lived and died the high life of booze, broads and bright lights, always projecting a sense of utter detachment and serenity; along with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. and the other chosen few who breathed the same rarefied air, Martin -- highball and cigarette always firmly in hand -- embodied the glorious excess of a world long gone, a world without rules or consequences. Throughout it all, he remained just outside the radar of understanding, the most distant star in the firmament; as his biographer Nick Tosches once noted, Martin was what the Italians called a menefreghista -- "one who simply does not give a f***."

Say, what do you call this dance Dean?

While most onlookers predicted continued superstardom for Lewis, the general consensus was that Martin would falter as a solo act; after all, outside of the 1953 smash "That's Amore," his solo singing career had never quite hit its stride, and in light of the continued ascendancy of rock & roll, his future looked dim. After suffering a failure with Ten Thousand Bedrooms, Martin's next move was to appear in the 1958 drama The Young Lions, starring alongside Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando; that same year he also hosted The Dean Martin Show, the first of his color specials for NBC television. Both projects were successful, as were his live appearances at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas; in particular, The Young Lions proved him a highly capable dramatic actor. Combined with another hit single, "Volare," Martin was everywhere that year, and with the continued success of his many TV specials, he effectively conquered movies, music, television and the stage all at the same time -- a claim no other entertainer, not even Sinatra, could make.

Jeezus, all i want is a light!

Yet somehow Martin forged on; in 1964, at the peak of Beatlemania, he knocked the Fab Four out of the top spot on the charts with his single "Everybody Loves Somebody," and that same year starred in Billy Wilder's acrid Kiss Me, Stupid, a film which crystallized his persona as the lecherous but lovable lush. In 1965, after years of overtures from NBC, Martin finally agreed to host his own weekly variety series; The Dean Martin Show was an enormous hit, running for nine seasons before later spawning a number of hit Celebrity Roast specials during the 1970s. In films, he also remained successful, starring in a series of spy spoofs as secret agent Matt Helm. However, by the late '70s, Martin's health began to fail, and his career was primarily confined to casino club stages; in 1987, his son Dean Paul died in an airplane crash, a blow from which he never recovered. After bailing out of a 1988 reunion tour with Sinatra and Davis, Martin spent his final years in solitude; he died on Christmas Day, 1995. ~ [Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide]

For Frank Sinatra see Number 933

For more Dean Martin see Number 870

For Beatles see #489, #587, #894 & #947

What does Rolling Stone think about Mr Martin?

Of course, nothing, so lets see what the people they sleep with @ Rhapsody have to say ... The famously laid-back and unruffled Dean Martin was one of the greatest stars of the 20th century. He loomed large on stage, radio and screen (big and small), and had a parallel career in music. Martin, whose real name was Dino Crocetti, was a journeyman romantic crooner until, out of desperation, he created an anarchic nightclub show with bizarro spaz Jerry Lewis. Audiences had never before seen anything like the duo's wild performances, and they immediately became worldwide sensations. Martin was always a brilliant straight man and comic, but his singing and acting abilities improved greatly during his years with Lewis, and by the time their partnership was over, he was a major recording and movie star.

you got the tab right?

Most of Martin's best music and movies come from the 1950s and early '60s (an era he's forever associated with), but, surprisingly, such classics as "Volare," "Just In Time," and the relentless Rat Pack theme, "Ain't That A Kick In The Head," didn't perform that well in the charts.(In fact, "Ain't That A Kick In The Head" was banned in the U.S. because it mentioned a king-size bed.) Martin's career was at its peak during the swinging '60s and early '70s, when his weekly variety show was a ratings sensation and he became the first musician to knock the Beatles off the top of the pop charts with "Everybody Loves Somebody." As a vocalist, Martin excelled at Italian ballads, uptempo swing, straight pop and even country music. Elvis Presley always stated that Dean Martin was a major influence on his singing style (a quick listen to Dino's "Memories Are Made of This" illustrates this perfectly), and the driven, brooding Frank Sinatra always wished he possessed his pal's famous nonchalance. That quality explains a major part of Martin's enduring appeal.He was an intelligent performer with a beautiful voice and a knowing twinkle in his eye, a glint that told his audiences that it was all a joke and he didn't take himself, them or anything else too seriously. Ain't that the definition of "cool"? ~ [Source- Nick Dedina]

For Elvis see #443, #501 & #840

Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '430th Song of all Time' was "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" by The Clash. The Clash has appeared in The Definitive 1000 @ #999

Other songs with reference to Dean Martin #884

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (We thought he was an actor?) and the Album ranked at (We @ RS decide history .. not you)

This song has a Definitive rating of 77.6 out of 108

DEAN MARTIN
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