Now, friends o' mine...is it just me...or do youse worry 'bout Summer flyin' by?
I must be crazy!
Haha!!
It just stared & I'm already afraid of it slippin' through my Dino-diggin' fingers!
Haha!!
I thinks its 'cause Spring was kinda damp this year...SO SO much damn rain!
Oh well, pals...we'll hold onto these long, muggy days...extra tight!
OK, pallies...let's jump right into the tunes!
I'm thinkin' we'll kick off the season with one of Dean's FUN FUN "Latin type" tunes, mi amici.
Just the way we likes it...REAL bouncy!
GREAT way to keep our "The Day That Coolness Came To Earth" vibe flowin' too!
Now who says "Summer fun" better than Dino?
No one!
He's the party-master!
Ha!
Well...I guess the best place to start is ALWAYS with one of my FAVE summery Dino-al b ums..."Cha Cha De Amor".
Yes, pals...this little vinyl Frisbee is JAM-PACKED with HOT HOT & yet VERY VERY COOL Dino-tunes.
Let's grab the title track..."Cha Cha Cha De Amour:... for today's Serenade...& get this Summer sizzlin'!
And, yes, mi amici...there is an extra "Cha" in the tune...than in the album's title. Also...I noticed the spellin' of "Amour" in the song title & "Amor" on album title. Why?...youse asks. No clue, pals.
Hahaha!!!
OK...Now picture this, pallies…
It's a hot...
sweaty...
Summer night.
A little breeze keeps it tolerable, though.
Youse grabs some yummy...
icy...
drinky of choice.
Put the needle on the vinyl...& melt away with Dean.
Ahhhhhh.
That's good stuff, mi amici.
Cheers to 'nother Hot...but O so very COOL Summer with Dino, pals!
Hey pallies, likes welcome back on this 22nd day of our mighty month long celebration of the Day That Coolness Came To Earth for a swank second helpin' of awesome amazin' adulation of our most most beloved Dino from remarkable risin' super star Deanager Daire O'Hagan that lovin' lad from the land of the blarney stone who publicly professionally proudly proclaims this his HERO is none other then our beautifully beloved Dino.
Likes today we are totally totally thrilled to share Daire's musical facebook page offerin' on the 102 anniversary of our Dino's descent to earth. We largely loves how Deanager Daire potently professes his deepest of delight in our Dino sayin' "Hi everyone ! I want to say a heavenly birthday to my hero Dean Martin!" It brings such such delightful Dino-happiness to us to see this terrifically talented up and comin' crooner constantly keepin' the accent on our King of Cool.
We were so so hugely hopin' that Daire woulda been able to post a video of him singin' a Dino-classic on our Dino's day of birth as he has done in the past, but likes we totally totally ubberly understands that he was powerfully performin' that very Dino-night "in an original musical in the Marketplace theatre Armagh!!" Of course, we are hugely holdin' on to Daire's proud promise "to post a song next week"..... we are waitin' with bated breath to see which Dino-croon he chooses! Outghta be any Dino-day now.....
A little reminder that we have shared quite the fantastic few Dino-grams of Daire's dramatic Dino-devotion and his wonderful work of great great extraordinary emulation of our great great man that you can enjoy by simply puttin' the tag Daire O'Hagan in the search engine here at ilovedinomartin.
Likes once 'gain we solemnly salute Deanager Daire for his darin' devotion to our Dino and helpin' so so many of today's young mods get turned on to the Dino-beat and become welcomed into our Dino's wonderful world. To checks this out in it's original source, likes simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-gram.
Stay tuned Monday for a third helpin' of deeply delightful Dino-devotion from Deanager Daire!
Hi everyone ! I want to say a heavenly birthday to my hero Dean Martin! I wanted to post a video today but unfortunately I’m performing tonight in an original musical in the Marketplace theatre Armagh!! (Wish me luck) I’m going to post a song next week so comment suggestions below!! 🎤🎤🎉🎉🎉 I also had a great meeting today all will be revealed over the next few weeks😊😊😱😱😱
Hey pallies, likes on this 21st day of our continual cool celebration of the 102nd awesome anniversary of our most beloved Dino's descent to our planet on June 7, 1917...the day that we here at ilovedinomartin deeply devotedly have dedicated as The Day That Coolness Came To Earth, we hear once 'gain from Deanager Mr. Daire O'Hagen, the irrepressible Irish laddie who first made the scene here at ilovedinomartin two years 'go when we first introduced you to Daire through the original Dino-gram shared HERE on July 10, 2017. Faithful readers of our humble little Dino waterin' hole will remember that, at the tender age of 17, Daire made his first perfectly powerful profession of his deepest of deep Dino-devotion when he posted to his personal facebook account his croonin' of the Dino-classic "My Pony, My Rifle, and Me" on the 100th anniversary of our Dino's birth.
Likes since that time, we have shared numerous Dino-grams awesomely accentin' Daire's awesome amore for his hero Dino, and you can locate each of 'em by simply puttin' Daire O'Hagan in the search engine of this Dino-space. We have really reveled in this extremely talented youthful entertainer and his deepest desire to keep the Dino-light growin' ever Dino-bright through his musical efforts.
Today we begin a series of three Dino-messages highlightin' Deanager Daire's Dino-delight through recent postin's to his personal facebook page and his musical facebook page as well. Likes we keenly knew that we coulda count of Daire to shine Dino-brightly as we have entered this special season of Dino-devotion. Likes from Daire's musical page at Facebook on May 31, 2019 we share below the doubly delightful incredible image of Dino 'n Daire side by side in a powerful paintin' created for Daire's pallie Miss Anne Bradley from Epsom.
How warmly wonderful of Miss Bradley to use her artistic talents to celebrate Daire's huges of huge herodom of our one and only Dino...and how greatly grand of Daire to potently publicly share this on his musical facebook pad. We deeply desires to keeps raisin' the praise of Deanager Daire O'Hagan as he keeps raisin' the praise of his hero, our Dino. To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-report.
We Remain,
Yours In Dino,
Dino Martin Peters
Daire O'Hagan Music is feeling thankful at Northern Ireland.
May 31 at 12:45 PM ·
Check out the painting my friend Anne Bradley from Epsom painted of me and my hero Dean Martin!! She is a super talented woman, an artist and an author! Check out her book ‘Adoption to Addiction’! What an amazing present!!😱😱😎😎🎤🎤 Thanks Anne !!
Hey pallies, likes 'nother great Dino-event happened on this day, June 20, in the year of our Dino, 1965. That is the date of the great gatherin' of the Rat Pack clan at the "Keil Opera House" in St. Louis for the concert of a lifetime. The musicale was a benefit for the Teamsters Union in St. Louis and was beamed live to pallies gathered in movie theatres all 'round the country.
For incredibly insightful info on this most special event in the life of our most beloved Dino we turn once 'gain to our pallies at the "The Rat Pack Blog," who have awesomely assembled a perfect pix and profoundly powerful prose to honorably highlight this coolest of cool concert with our Dino's pallies of pallies.
Below we are perfectly pleased to share the vid of the full concert through the marvelous magic of youtube. Simply stunnin' to be able to share such important dates in the life and times of our Dino with all you pallies. Likes we are awesomely appreciate of our pallies at "The Rat Pack Blog" and to Mr. Alexander Erich Kurt Franz Fellner who posted the vid on youtube. To checks the info directly at "The Rat Pack Blog" simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-report.
We Remain,
Yours in Dino,
Dino Martin Peters
the rat pack in st. louis
On June 20th, 1965, the Rat Pack took the stage at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis for a fundraiser to benefit Dismas House, the first halfway house for ex-convicts. Frank, Dean and Sammy were joined by Johnny Carson as emcee, filling in for Joey Bishop, who was out with a bad back.
The performance that night was captured on film but was lost for over 45 years until a TV producer and vintage TV expert, Paul Brownstein tracked down a print of the show that had been sitting in a closet in St. Louis. Soon afterwards, it was released on DVD as part of the Ultimate Rat Pat Collection: Live & Swingin”.
Johnny Carson surprised the audience and his co-stars alike with some pretty good vocals during the musical finale of Birth of the Blues. Other highlights of the show include some hysterical physical moves by Dean, and some playful heckling of Frank from backstage as he tries to get through a solo. Frank customized his hit My Kind of Town by changing the lyrics to salute St. Louis instead of Chicago.
And there’s a pretty good little practical joke played on Frank by Dean. When Frank performed I’ve Got You Under My Skin, it was the second time the audience heard it that night because Dean inserted it into his set preceding Frank’s.
The lineup of solo sets by Dean, Sammy and then Frank, followed by group numbers involving all three is followed today by many Rat Pack Impersonators.
The Rat Pack’s St. Louis show is available for viewing on YouTube, including the great closing number, Birth of the Blues, at the Rat Pack Impersonators site.
Hey pallies, likes as we were doin' some Dino-blog searchin' we happened to note that today has yet 'nother great excitin' event in all of Dino-history. From the pen of Mr. Robert Benson at "Collecting Vinyl Records-for the latest vinyl record information" comes the mighty musical hugely historical note that it was on this day, June 20, in the year of our Dino 1948 that Ed Sullivan's "Toast Of The Town" premiered on CBS-TV.
The wise Sullivan chose the up and comin' comedy duo of Martin and Lewis to headline that first episode.....at the salary of $200! Television history was truly truly in the makin' that day and our Dino and his partner were a huge huge powerful part of it. Likes how totally totally thrilled the viewin' audiences musta been to see the greatest comedy duo in history perfectly performin' on the small screen.
ilovedinomartin salutes Mr. Robert Benson" and the folks at "Collecting Vinyl Records-for the latest vinyl record information" for remindin' us all of this most important event in the life, times, and teachin's of our Dino. To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this here Dino-report.
We remain,
Yours in Dino,
Dino Martin Peters
Music History - June 20
In 1948, Toast Of The Town, which would later be called the Ed Sullivan Show, premiered on CBS-TV. The first telecast was produced on a meager budget of $1,375. Only $375 was allocated for talent and $200 of that was shared by the young stars of that night's program, Dean Martin
Hey pallies, likes we largely largely loves to goes to our pallies at google and mysteriously mind the ol' world wide web for deeply delightful Dino-treasure 'cause likes Dino-philes we just never ever know where the fine folks of the google search engine will direct our Dino-attentionado! Recently we were richly richly rewarded with some richly rich Dino-gold when we landed at the new-to-ilovedinomartin pad "Hometowns To Hollywood," where Miss Annette Bochenek (pictured to the left) holds fantastically forth.
Miss Bochenek describes herself as "am a film historian and perpetual scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age." Annette states the mission of her beautiful blog as "Exploring the hometowns and legacies of Hollywood's Golden Age stars." Might we say that she does a truly truly first rate job of doin' what she loves to do.
Today we finely feature Miss Bochenek's supreme salute to our most beloved Dino and his hometown of Stuebenville, Ohio. Likes while today Dino-devotion is not directly related to our month long celebration of our Dino's arrival on our planet, the Day That Coolness Came To Earth on June 7, 1917, it certainly is terrifically timely as the later portion of the Dino-prose, simply tagged "Dean Martin" continues some potent prose and incredible images of our Dino's place of birth.
Likes we loves how Annette begins with a terrific teachin' of our Dino followed by wise words on our Dino's life and times that are fanastically filled with likes a ton of delightful Dino-images. 'Nother touchin' touch includes Bockenek's sharin' of the 1976 vid of the remarkable reunion of our most beloved Dino with his most beloved partner Mr. Jerry Lewis durin' the MDA telethon over Labor Day weekend of that year. We coulda rave on and on 'bout just how sweetly stellar this Dino-devotion is, but we wants all youse Dino-holics to eagerly enjoys it's pleasures for yourselves.
We sez our thank you very much to Miss Annette Bochenek for her wonderful work on this outstandin' Dino-presentation. To checks this out in it's original format, simply clicks on the tag of this Dino-gram.
We Remain,
Yours In Dino,
Dino Martin Peters
Dean Martin
“If people want to think I get drunk and stay out all night, let ’em. That’s how I got here, you know.” –Dean Martin
There are many fine singers who made their mark upon classic Hollywood cinema and the Great American Songbook. From working as a crooner, to acting as one-half of a popular comedy partnership, to being a member of the Rat Pack, Dean Martin was a performer who maintained an easygoing presence that was both classy and cool. Collaborating with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and an occasional Peter Lawford, Martin would soon find himself a beloved American icon.
Dino Paul Crocetti was born on June 7, 1917, to Gaetano and Angela Crocetti. His father was a barber, originally from Montesilvano, Italy, while his mother was a seamstress. The couple first had a son named William Alfonso Crocetti, followed by Dino.
Growing up, Martin’s first language was Italian. When he turned five years old and prepared for elementary school, he started to speak more English. Martin attended Grant Elementary School, where he was initially bullied for speaking broken English. As he grew, he developed an interest in drums. He would later drop out of Steubenville High School during his sophomore year because he thought he was smarter than his educators.
Rather than continuing on as a student, Martin bootlegged liquor, worked in a steel mill, boxed, and was a blackjack dealer. During his teen years as a boxer, he was billed as “Kid Crochet.” Martin wound up with many injuries, since he could not afford the tape required to wrap boxers’ hands.
After Martin gave up boxing, he spent time working several jobs at a casino. At the same time, he began to sing with local bands, billing himself as “Dino Martini.” His first major crooning opportunity occurred when he worked for the Ernie McKay Orchestra. By 1940, he started to sing for bandleader Sammy Watkins, who suggested that he work under the name Dean Martin.
In 1941, Martin married Elizabeth “Betty” Anne McDonald in Cleveland and moved to an apartment in Cleveland Heights. The couple had four children before divorcing in 1949. Throughout this time, Martin worked for various bands, thanks to his looks and personality, later developing his own style of singing. In 1943, he met Frank Sinatra at the Riobamba nightclub in New York. Martin’s performance following Sinatra’s was a flop. Shortly afterwards, Martin was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving one year in Akron, Ohio, before he was reclassified as 4-F and discharged due to a double hernia.
By the late 1940s, Martin was performing as a nightclub singer on the East coast. While doing so, he met comic Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York, where they were both performing. They quickly became friends and started to participate in each other’s acts, forming a music-comedy team. Their debut as comedic partners occurred at the 500 Club in Atlantic City, though they were not well received. After the nightclub owner threatened to fire them if they did not come up with a better act, Martin and Lewis returned to the stage with as many jokes, slapstick performances, songs, and skits as possible. The act was a success, leading to many engagements throughout the East coast.
Martin and Lewis made their television debut on the first broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show, hiring on Norman Lear and Ed Simmons to help write their skits. They began a radio series in 1949 and signed with Paramount in the same year. In addition to appearing in films, they also controlled their club, record, radio, and television appearances. The two continued to be close friends, with Lewis acting as best man when Martin remarried in 1949. However, their films became repetitive, leading Martin to become dissatisfied with the act. They broke up in 1956 after being a team for 10 years.
Martin’s first solo endeavor after ending his partnership with Lewis was in the film Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), which was a flop. With rock and roll increasing in popularity, Martin’s fame as a crooner was at risk. He wanted to develop a persona as a dramatic actor, even though he had made a name for himself in comedies. His next film was The Young Lions (1958), alongside Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Later, Martin starred with Sinatra for the first time in Some Came Running (1958).
By the mid-1960s, Martin was actively working in movies, music, television, and nightclubs. He teamed with John Wayne in Rio Bravo (1959) and The Sons of Katie Elder (1965). As a change of pace, Martin starred in the film version of Bells Are Ringing (1960) with Judy Holliday. Martin and Sinatra would team up for many more films, including Ocean’s 11 (1960), Seargeants 3 (1962), 4 for Texas (1963), Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964), and Marriage on the Rocks (1965). He would continue on to star in several comedies as well as in the successful drama, Airport (1970).
As Martin’s solo career flourished, so did his friendship with Sinatra. Like Sinatra, Martin was unable to read music, but recorded more than 600 songs. For over three decades, Martin was one of the most popular acts in Las Vegas. As part of the Rat Pack, a group of social friends, Martin would dress in a tuxedo and perform songs, in addition to partaking in improvised slapstick and conversation. Their jokes focused primarily on adult themes. Behind the scenes, Martin and Sinatra supported the civil rights movement, refusing to perform in clubs that would not allow African-American performers.
By 1965, Martin launched a variety show, called The Dean Martin Show. The series ran until 1974, showcasing the improvisational skills of Martin and his many guests. The loose format of the show caught the eye of the NBC censors, who were fielding complaints from Italian-speaking audience members noticing Martin’s use of obscene Italian phrases throughout the show. Nonetheless, the show often appeared in the Top Ten.
Though Martin maintained a persona as a drunk onstage, his drinking was far more controlled behind the scenes. He preferred working in nightclubs, as opposed to huge stadiums, and was uninterested in drinking until dawn following major performances.
Martin’s last recordings were done for Warner Brothers Records. While the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon was occurring in 1976, Sinatra shocked Lewis by bringing Martin out on stage, leading to an embrace and reconciliation. This memorable moment, along with the tragic passing of Martin’s son, helped bring Martin and Lewis together again. Though they were friends again, they only performed together once more in 1989 for Martin’s birthday.
Martin died from lung cancer, as a result of heavy smoking, on December 25, 1995. The lights of the Las Vegas Stripped were dimmed in his honor. His epitaph in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery features the title of his signature song, “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime.”
Today, Martin is remembered fondly in his hometown of Steubenville. Visitors can stop by the Steubenville Visitors Center to take a photograph with a life-sized cardboard cutout of Martin at 120 S. 3rd St. The Dean Martin Festival occurs annually, attracting Martin aficionados from all over the nation and beyond. There is also a Dino Dash 5K run for athletes looking to celebrate Martin.
In addition to these attractions, there are several locations around town that honor Martin. While his childhood home no longer stands, the site of the home is marked with a sign at 3195 S. 6th St.
Near East Elementary, one can also spot the Dean Martin Historical Marker on State Rd. 7.
There is also a stretch of Route 7 named after Martin, marked with a sign that reads “Dean Martin Boulevard”, featuring his caricature.
In town, no trip to the supermarket is complete without walking past a mural in honor of Martin, which is painted onto the side of the building. The center of the mural portrays Martin singing, while the additional panels surrounding him depict different eras in his life. One of the panels also showcases Martin’s return visit to Steubenville in 1950, where he was accompanied by his wife and Lewis. The town threw a parade in Martin’s honor. The mural is located on 350 S. Hollywood Blvd.
Not far away, the Jefferson County Historical Museum and Library contains a Dean Martin Room, featuring a wide range of memorabilia relating to Martin’s life and career. The museum is located at 426 Franklin Ave.
Martin continues to be an iconic figure who is recognized the world over. In addition to enjoying the many films and recordings Martin made throughout his lifetime, he can also be celebrated by a visit to his hometown.
This post originally appeared in Annette’s Hometowns to Hollywood column for TCM Backlot. View the original article here.
