There was a buzz in the air that was purely the result of Dino's presence

Hey pallies, likes today's post is gonna be one of the most, indeed, if not the most, provocative posts ever shared at ilovedinomartin. And, 'cause of the extremely provocative nature of this Dino-piece, I am likes sure that it oughta provide some very very evocative comments from the ilovedinomartin faithful. So, likes know in advance that we are expectin' your cards and letters comin' in on this very revealin' Dino-tale.

Today's Dino-prose originated as a comment to the MOG Dino-post by Masoo, " random friday, 1964 edition: dean martin, "everybody loves somebody" that was published here on Monday of this very Dino-week under the tag, "my dad watched Dean Martin's TV show religiously." Masoo's Dino-reflections generated a bunch of comments when it was first posted, includin' the one we are sharin' this day at ilovedinomartin.

A dude tagged Jonh Ingham, shares a first-person report of a Dino-encounter he observed at one of our most beloved Dino's fav hangouts, Hamburger Hamlet. It is sometime in the year 1984 and our Dino, perhaps somewhat stoned, is makin' the scene with his latest blond amore, when a Dino-devotee spots his idol and heads to Dino's table, pen in hand, to ask our amazin' man to sign his name. And, likes as you read below, you will find out what happens when fan and our King of Cool meet.

As I soaks in this story, likes I find myself havin' likes a ton of feelin's evoked. Likes who can blame the adorin' fan for seekin' even the briefest of brief moments with our Dino? Likes who can blame our Dino for bein' upset havin' his amorin' interfered with? So, as I turn this Dino-tale over and over...I simply can't take one side or the other. So, likes I am wonderin' pallies likes what are your takes on this very very evocative Dino-prose? Will so be lookin' forward to your Dino-reflections.

ilovedinomartin expresses our very very deep Dino-appreciato to Mr. Jonh Ingham, for sharin' his Dino-report with the world through Masoo's blog post. I simply loves to read every single true Dino-encounter that I can gets my hands on! To view this in it's original format, just clicks on the tag of this Dino-message. Dino-psyched, DMP




Jonh Ingham says

This is a fascinating story. It's always been a casual mystery for me as to why Dino was so popular and I can remember being a bit stunned when I saw that Nick Tosches had written a biography - why spend all that time summing up such a lightweight?? Obviously he had deeper currents within, as you make clear.

Towards the end of his life the public drunk ceased to be a myth. I know I'm always coming with the stories and I do try to stop, but I can't help myself on this one.

In 1984 I saw one of the most amazing vignettes on fame and its consequences. I was in the Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset, a very upscale hamburger restaurant about 100 yards outside the Beverly Hills city limits. They made a fantastic Bloody Mary - and probably still do. The very cool stars of the Dino era all lived in the streets above this place, so it was common to see the likes of Andy Williams, Don Rickles et al in there. On this night, Dino was sitting about 30 feet away, chatting up a very pneumatic blonde with her hair piled up in the style popular in the mid-60s. They're sitting with their back to the wall and it's clear even from my distance that Dean was really, really smashed. There was a buzz in the air that was purely the result of Dino's presence - you just could not help being aware of the man. So he's leaning in close to her face and hustling her and she's pulling on the cigarette and then from the left a guy starts approaching them. He was so obviously a fan - his face was radiant with joy at seeing Dean and he was moving with reasonable speed, pen out and going to ask for an autograph. What special nervous system does a star have that even when he is so drunk he probably has no peripheral vision he can sense a fan coming at him from 20 paces? Dino's head jerked away from the girl and turned to the fan. The guy was still some distance away and Dean just lit up with an amazing flow of invective - brutally swearing at the guy, telling him to fuck off and who the hell did he think he was - in a voice so filled with rage and a face of pure anger. How many times had he been bothered by guys like this, wanting a piece of his soul? The fan's face was amazing to see - from a big grin to absolute shock in a millisecond. He actually faltered in his step. Then he stopped, stared at Dino, unable to assimilate the reality in front of him to the guy in his mind, then turned and kind of sloped away. Dino just turned back to the woman and resumed the conversation.

I can remember feeling quite sad for Dean. Not just for the state of him, but for the rage within him. It really made me reevaluate the meaning of fame.