Dean Martin was a charming star who touched the hearts of millions.

Hey pallies, likes we back 'gain with yet more intriguin' international Dino-devotion at our humble little ilovedinomartin blog.  Today we stop in to read a Brit bloke, Mr. Rob Barker's remarkable reflections on our most beloved Dino's swank song, "Memories Are Made Of This" which hit numero uno on not only the American charts, but also the Brittish charts as well in 1956.  Mr. Barker's musical blog is tagged "EVERY UK NUMBER 1 -Facts, praise, insults and videos of every UK number one single.  His Dino-centric post is tagged "42. Dean Martin – Memories Are Made of This (1956)."

Likes speakin' bout himself, Rob states, "I’m a sub editor, freelance writer and blogger from East Yorkshire, with an obsession with music and pop culture. I often complain I have no free time, yet I’ve decided here to set myself the mammoth task of reviewing every single UK number one single, in order, going all the way back to 1952."

We gotta 'fess up that we deeply digs the way Mr. Barker shares how his personal experiences of  relatin' to our most beloved Dino impacts his Dino-perspective includin' 'fessin' up that "To me, Dean Martin will always be Jamie Blake, the tipsy, priest-impersonating bad guy from the comedy The Cannonball Run" and "I loved that film as a child. So much so, I confess I used to pretend to be Jamie Blake."  This personal Dino-touch makes this a rare read in our Dino-book.  Our hearts were wonderfully warmed by Rob's wonderfully wise words on our Dino that we used as the tag of this Dino-gram, "Dean Martin was a charming star who touched the hearts of millions."

We thanks Mr. Rob Barker for this powerfully personal prose accentin' our most most beloved Dino and his numero uno croon for the Brits, "Memories Are Made Of This."  Once 'gain, to checks this out in it's original source, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-report.

We Remain,

Yours in Dino,

Dino Martin Peters


 BY ROBBARKER

42. Dean Martin – Memories Are Made of This (1956)

It’s funny how each person’s opinion of legendary artists and their music can differ depending on their age and what stage the artist’s career was at. David Bowie was any number of characters: Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke… but to me Bowie was the grown-up version of the boy from Channel 4’s version of Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman, who had been so traumatised by flying around with a snowman, he had taken to dicking about empty buildings with a blouse-wearing Mick Jagger in the video to Dancing in the Street. It was around 15 years later before he became one of my favourite artists ever, and I’m still not over his death. Anyway, back to my point. To many, Dean Martin is a bona fide musical icon, and Memories Are Made of This is one of his most popular tracks. But my opinion is clouded by two things: the film The Cannonball Run (1980), and Bisto gravy. More on that later.

As 1956 began, Dean Martin was coming to the end of his ten years as one half of a showbiz duo with Jerry Lewis. He had originally been a nightclub singer before he teamed up with the comedian to become hugely popular. However he was becoming disillusioned with the feeling he was playing second fiddle to Lewis. After all, his own music career was going from strength to strength. That’s Amore, Sway and Mambo Italiano had all been big hits in the previous few years, and Memories Are Made of This had recently topped the Billboard chart. It had been written by Terry Gilkyson, Richard Dehr, and Frank Miller. According to Gilkyson’s daughter, this sweet little number in which a man looks back on his life and loves was simply her father paying tribute to meeting his wife and starting a family. Unusually, the writing trio decided to perform the backing vocals themselves. Calling themselves The Easy Riders, their doo-wop stylings feature throughout the otherwise sparse backing, and are an important ingredient of the song. Whether you like them or not is another matter…

I can’t fault Martin’s performance of Memories Are Made of This. I’m a fan of his voice. I like the way he often sounds like he’s drunk (apparently Martin didn’t drink anywhere near as much as his reputation suggests). The Easy Riders, I can do without. I find the backing vocals irritating and distracting. They’re too catchy. I can understand the song’s popularity, but as mentioned earlier, the associations I have are problematic.

To me, Dean Martin will always be Jamie Blake, the tipsy, priest-impersonating bad guy from the comedy The Cannonball Run, who constantly ridiculed his sidekick, Morris Fenderbaum (Martin’s Rat Pack friend Sammy Davis Jr). When you read how much Davis Jr was picked on by the other Rat Pack members, their roles in the film now leave a sour taste. But I loved that film as a child. So much so, I confess I used to pretend to be Jamie Blake. Me and other kids down my street used to have pretend Cannonball Run-style races on bikes, go-karts and skateboards down my street as a child, and I’d often pretend to be Martin’s character. Strange? Absolutely. But it means I forever think of him as a comedy actor rather than a great singer. I realise this is my problem, though… 

This song was then used in a long-running advert for Bisto gravy in the mid-90s, and it ran for so long I got sick to death of it. So when I hear Memories Are Made of This, I can’t help but picture a drunken Dean Martin, in a priest outfit, pouring gravy while singing. Not the memories the writers had in mind.

Memories Are Made of This was Dean Martin’s only UK number one. Later that year he and Lewis officially split, and refused to speak to each other for 20 years. Martin became a bigger star, in movies, music and television. He became close friends with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack formed at the end of the 50s, and his most famous song, Everybody Loves Somebody was released in 1964. Although his reputation for drinking was a myth, he was a heavy smoker, and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1993. He rejected surgery and died on Christmas Day 1995. Despite my bizarre recollection of him, Dean Martin was a charming star who touched the hearts of millions. On the day he died the lights of the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honour. His crypt features the lyric ‘Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime’.

Written by: Terry Gilkyson, Richard Dehr & Frank Miller

Weeks at number one: 4 (17 Feb-15 March)

Births: 

Author Andrea Levy – 7 March