Martin vs. Lewis, Round Two (June-August 1955)

Hey pallies, and now for part duo of this stellar Dino-exposition of the life and times of Dino and the kid by Mr. Michael Hayde. From his great blog, "Better Living Through Television" comes "Round 2" of his excellent prose on some of the causes of the breakup of Martin and Lewis.

To view this in it's original format, just click on the title of this post. It is so thrillin' to find pallies like Mr. Hayde doin' their part to educate the blog sphere on the truths of our Dino. Considerin' the Dino-time that it took me just to copy this two-Dino-parter, it musta taken Hayde many, many hours to put this Dino-information together, so thank you, thank you very Dino=-much Mr. Michael Hayde for your devotion to our Dino and gettin' the Dino-message out. Dino-gratefully, DMP


Martin vs. Lewis, Round Two (June-August 1955)



June of 1955 was shaping up as a banner month for the money-making juggernaut that was Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis. On the 5th, they hosted the final Colgate Comedy Hour. Henceforth, the program would be known as the Colgate Variety Hour, and would be co-owned by NBC and the team’s own company, York Productions. Six days later, their newest film, "You’re Never Too Young" (co-owned by York Productions and Paramount Pictures), would have its gala premiere at Brown’s Hotel in the Catskills, where Lewis made his professional debut as a mere teen.



Since the accord reached in the spring of 1954, interaction between Martin and Lewis had been harmonious, if never quite as cozy as before. Arthur Penn, technical director for the latest season of Comedy Hours, could tell at least one of them was losing interest: "The only discomfort that was ever in evidence was when I would go into the dressing room, and I would see (Dean) drinking." Martin was nursing resentment along with libations, and it wasn’t long before all hell broke loose.

The team’s second, far more damaging feud began literally 48 hours after the completion of their Colgate segment, when Jerry, about to board a train that would take them to New York, was told by their press agent, "Your partner isn’t making the trip." There had been warning signs. When the Brown’s idea was first proposed, Martin rejected it on the grounds that the site played no part in his career, but wasn’t interested in suggesting an alternate venue. Eventually he told his partner, "I don’t give a ---- where we hold it," and Lewis took this as a default approval to open the film at Brown’s.



Arriving in New York, Lewis (accompanied by his wife) rode by car to the hotel, brooding and weeping as he passed billboard after billboard advertising the team’s presence for the June 11 premiere. Meanwhile, Martin was talking to his agent about lining up a solo TV show “where I can sing more than two songs in an hour.” Then, after detailing the dispute with Jerry – along with his individual aspirations – to the press, Dean took off with his wife for a Hawaii vacation.

Lewis managed to get through the premiere, surrounded by over 100 newspaper reporters, with little more than a tearful "No comment" concerning his partner’s absence, and even narrated a Paramount newsreel of the event; but once home, he spent the next several days trying to get out of every contract to which Martin & Lewis were committed, tersely repeating "No comment" to any reporter that asked what was going on.



When Dean returned from his respite, and found that not only were there no offers for his own show but also Jerry was angling for the dissolution of the team, he went into damage control mode. First, he had his attorney fire off a letter to MCA, Hal Wallis, Paramount and NBC that categorized his earlier comments as hearsay: "Gentlemen: Notwithstanding any statements or rumors which you may have heard to the contrary, please be advised that I recognize the existence of an employment contract with you dated September 1, 1954, and that I am and will continue to be and hold myself ready, willing and able to render and perform my services pursuant thereto."

Then, every reporter to which Jerry refused to comment found Dean more than willing to talk: "I don’t want to break up the team. It’s a damn fine living and I want to hold on to it." Or, "What’s the difference if we don’t chum around? To me, this isn’t a love affair; this is big business." And in every case, Martin referred to his partner as "the kid" or "the boy," never failing to point out that he was "ten years older" (actually nine). What had once been a term of endearment from his “older brother” now sounded condescending… and Lewis fumed. Their previous feud had lasted eight days. This one would exceed eight weeks.

At the beginning of August, Lloyd Shearer called on Jerry on behalf of Parade magazine, and caught him at the right – or wrong - moment. After assuring Shearer that a split was "inevitable," the cork flew out of Lewis’ bottle: "Dean was the guy who told the newspapers he was ready to do a single. Don’t forget that. I didn’t open my mouth. Now I will, and I want you should know the truth. This mess is my fault…. I made the mistake of worshipping this man. I thought more of Dean than my own wife, my own family. I accepted everything we did on his terms, his standards, his values. Now I’ve grown up. I (sic) got values of my own.



"A theatre-owner in Detroit, a guy who took care of us when we were struggling – he calls up. Business is lousy. He’s going broke. For old time’s sake, won’t we play his house? I’m ready to fly to Detroit in the morning. But I gotta turn the guy down. Why? Can I tell him my partner wants to play golf? It’s the same way with benefits. Hospitals, orphanages, worthwhile charities. They phone; will we give them a few minutes, a few hours? I’m dying to say ‘Yes’ – but I can’t unless I show up without my partner."

By now, Lewis was thoroughly lathered up: "I can’t tell you how deeply I feel about these things. Twenty-eight years old, and I’ve got ulcers and I spit blood and I can’t sleep and I lose weight. Who needs this? I don’t care if Patti and me (sic) gotta go back to a one-room apartment in Newark. I gotta live with my conscience. You can’t run a partnership, you can’t run your life without principles. And if the only principle in this setup is to make money and to hell with everything else, I’m not buying it."

Needless to say, Shearer found Martin just as eager to talk. After briefly summing up the spoils of the team’s contracts, Dino let his own cork fly: "I think the kid’s bein’ silly…. Jer is willin’ to throw (everything) out the window because I don’t love him. Who says I gotta love him? Business is business. Why can’t we have a business-like partnership?"



With that question, Dean had effectively thrown down a gauntlet toward his sentimental partner, but there was more to come: "To hear some of the gossip you’d think I was a criminal ‘cause I don’t wanna work 365 days a year. I can’t help it if I’m not built like the kid. Jer’ll work 24 hours a day if you let him. He’ll put on a benefit for the kid who sells papers on the corner. I admire, respect him for it. But Jeez! He’s ten years younger’n me. I can’t take that routine. End of the day this guy jumpin’ up and down my back, I’m tired. I’m beat. I like to go home. I gotta wife, six kids. They’re entitled to my time, my companionship. I didn’t get married so that I could spend my life on the stage doin’ benefits for the campfire boys.

"I can’t change the way I’m built to suit Jerry. They talk about my golf and all that. I never missed a show or rehearsal yet. Work is work an’ play is play, an’ a man’s gotta have time for both… for his family, his kids. A guy should be allowed to step into a church for a few minutes without playin’ a benefit."



It was a blockbuster story, but before it saw print the situation had changed. Within days of Shearer’s questioning, Jerry contacted Paramount and NBC with assurances of fulfilling his end of the deal. This sudden reconciliation was driven by an urgent need – the team had an outstanding tax debt of $650,000 that had come due. Lewis borrowed the money from the head of Paramount studios, Y. Frank Freeman, fully aware he’d need to continue working with Martin in order to pay it back. The official announcement came from Paramount on August 9 – unlike their first reconciliation, neither Dean nor Jerry was present at the press conference – and questions about the personal relationship between the two principles were answered, once again, with "No comment."

Indeed, observers recognized that nothing much had been resolved between them. Rehearing for the first Colgate Variety Hour of the season, Jerry continued to involve himself in every aspect of production, spending as little time rehearsing with Dean as he could get away with. At one point, Lewis ducked into the soundproof booth used in a sketch parodying CBS’s smash $64,000 Question to check the wiring on the floor. Martin was overheard muttering, "Maybe we’ll get a break; he’ll electrocute himself down there."



The sketch opened the show on September 18, their first appearance together since June’s Colgate program. Martin played the host of "The $64 Million Dollar Question," and Lewis the contestant, who correctly answers the 7-part, $32 million question about tobacco (in the booth that Martin fills with the smoke from six different cigarettes) by guessing. For the big money question, Lewis is forced into a huge tank of water, where he’s expected to remain submerged until ready to answer the question, which is on a scroll of paper about a half-mile long.



The sketch was well-written enough that the pair followed it almost to the letter... until Jerry got into the tank, and Dean proceeded to push him beneath the water while reading the question. After the third dunking, Martin attempts to force his partner under again, but Lewis grasps the side of the tank. "Let me catch a breath here," he calls out. Pushed down again, Lewis returns with the old code phrase, "You’re overacting!" Down he goes again, and re-emerges with, "A joke’s a joke, but I’m drowning!" Now laughing along with the audience, Dean sends him under again. Jerry immediately pops up: "READ A LITTLE FASTER, WILL YA?" After one more submerging, Lewis grabs the tank and eyes Martin with suspicion: "Haven’t you heard? The feud is over!" The line stopped the show.

Lewis’s ad-lib wasn’t the only comment on the recent situation. Sammy Cahn wrote the lyrics for a special rendition of “Side By Side” performed after the second sketch; lyrics that completely trivialized the cause and scope of the event:



Dean: Oh, the road gets a little bit bumpy.
Jerry: And our nerves get a little bit jumpy.
Dean: We beef and complain!
Jerry: But we remain...
Both: SIDE BY SIDE!

Jerry: There are times when his smile ain’t so sunny.
Dean: Times when his fun isn’t funny.
Jerry: So we fuss and we pout,
Dean: But still we come out...
Both: SIDE BY SIDE!

Dean: Life can be demandin’.
Jerry: Life isn’t always play.
Dean: We reached an understandin’:
Jerry: It’s gotta be HIS way!



Dean: There are some who had parted us neatly.
Jerry: But we have fooled them completely.
Dean: Had us both on the shelf!
Jerry: Look for yourself:
Both: SIDE BY SIDE!

Dean: Like Topsy and like Eva, we’ll always roll along!
Jerry: We had our own Geneva: He admitted that I was wrong!

Dean: So, please allow us to sum up:
Jerry: If ever a problem should come up...
Dean: We’ll fight like before,
Jerry: But after the war,
Both: SIDE BY SIDE!



The show received near-rave reviews, typical of which was Variety’s: "Except for the numerous commercials and one rock-n-roll number," wrote ‘Herm,’ "Martin & Lewis were on camera for the full hour and were socko all the way." All the critics made mention of the feud references and the special “Side by Side,” with TV Radio-Life’s noting, "As a matter of fact, the boys made it clear to viewers that their feud was a thing of the past." ‘Herm,’ on the other hand, hedged his bets on that score: "Whatever the realities in the case, the boys worked together with as much rapport as ever."

From the start of the team’s career, Lewis had touted the strength of their relationship as the key to their mass adulation. The undercurrent of mutual affection that drove their antics was such a keystone of the act, the public had no trouble carrying it over to their private lives. Seeing them on television making light of their "misunderstanding" with a special song convinced the audience that all was well again. But in truth the love affair had ended and a "business-like partnership" was exactly what Martin and Lewis would have for the next eleven months, until neither man could bear it any longer.
Labels: $64, 000 Question, Colgate Comedy Hour, Colgate Variety Hour, Dean Martin, Hal Wallis, Jerry Lewis, Martin and Lewis breakup, Martin and Lewis feud, NBC, You're Never Too Young


posted by Michael J. Hayde at 4:27 PM

Martin vs. Lewis, Round One (March 1954)

Hey pallies, likes I don't know how I let's this stellar Dino-post slips through my fingers....just don't remember gettin' a google 'lert 'bout it....but better to post it late then never...

From the pen of free lance writer Michael J. Hayde, at his great blog "Better Living Through Television" (clicks on tag of this post to goes there) comes this first of a two part post on the life, the times, the challenges of our Dino and the kid as a comedy duo.

This piece of Dino-prose is so well researched, so well written, and so well enhanced by period pixs and media clippings that I stand in awe of Mr. Hayde's retelling of Martin and Lewis history. Although I knew so of the details listed, there certainly is much in this entry that is new to this Dino-holic.

Please turn your attention to "Martin vs. Lewis, Round One" and take the time to read and soak in all these Dino-details. I say my deep thanks to Michael J. Hayde for this terrific Dino-effort. "Round Two" of this Dino-series will appear this on the Dino-'morrow. Dino-reportin', DMP



Friday, February 26, 2010
Martin vs. Lewis, Round One (March 1954)



Some 25 years ago, I was reading Phil Rosenthal, then the TV columnist for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. He mentioned catching “Living it Up” (1954) on TV over the weekend, and was puzzled as to how Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis could have been so fantastically popular during the 1950’s. I could relate, thinking back to my teen years when I'd watched “Jumping Jacks” (1952) one weekday afternoon and made the same observation.



My mother set me straight: “You never got to see them on The Colgate Comedy Hour. It was a live variety show and they were hysterically funny on it.” Ignorant of such things as kinescopes, I assumed I would never have that pleasure. Leonard Maltin could only write about their films in his book “Movie Comedy Teams” (1970, in which he labeled “Living it Up,” “probably their best”), with The Colgate Comedy Hour limited to a paragraph not much more detailed than my mom’s recollection. As late as 1985, when Rosenthal dismissed them, the only Martin & Lewis to be had were their 16 theatrical features. Today, of course, it’s a different story: the Colgates are ubiquitous on bargain-basement DVDs and as accessible as a YouTube search.

As I've written elsewhere, what made Martin & Lewis so dazzling, so captivating, is that each man made the other look positively brilliant. To discover their TV and, to a lesser extent, radio shows from the early fifties is to behold two guys in love with each other and their work, and having the time of their lives. Dean and Jerry created a symphony of slapstick that left audiences helpless with laughter – yet no matter how mad the hijinks, there was an undercurrent of mutual affection that won them a fulsome adoration other teams would never know. The two were the very definition of what we now term a bromance (although a few 1950's scandal sheets alleged the relationship veered into the forbidden zone). Watching the Colgates, you marvel at how often they keep touching each other. Laurel & Hardy, bedded down together for the night, didn't come into as much intimate contact as these two did just standing in front of the orchestra. And America adored it all; at their height, Martin & Lewis were the highest paid, most successful act in show business. The Smoothie from Steubenville and the Nebbish from Newark transcended any stage, screen or TV star you'd care to name.



Three generations have come along since Martin & Lewis went their separate ways. While a vociferous contingent of Dino fans would be horrified if their epitome of cool and suave had never parted from the screechy "Hey, La-a-a-d-y-y" guy, at the time it seemed unthinkable. The nation so loved Dean and Jerry that, even though they worked solo for 35 years, neither would ever be permitted to forget the other. During their first twenty years apart, when mutual animosity was at full strength, nothing brought a crowd to life faster than when one would mention his ex-partner.

So how and why did this partnership, seemingly beloved on all sides, self-destruct? It's a question that has spurred interest for over a half-century. Even Lewis' heartfelt account of the team, "Dean & Me: A Love Story," doesn't tell the whole story. With this entry, we'll look at the first full-blown argument between Dean and Jerry, which took place 56 years ago this month.

As late as 1952, both men were assuring Louella Parsons' readers that they'd never so much as raised their voices to one another. But apparently things had changed a short year later. Tension had been brewing between the two for several months, and by early '54, it spilled out into the open.

To begin with, when "That's Amore" became Dean's first big smash near the end of 1953, it created a strain. Martin was justifiably



proud of his accomplishment; it was something for which he'd been striving since before the team was born. Unfortunately, the insecurity within Lewis's psyche that had remained relatively under control during the glory years began to flare. Maybe Dean would decide that he didn't need Jerry anymore. Maybe Dean was beginning to listen to those hangers-on who enjoyed telling each one that he'd be an even bigger star without the other. This time, rather than talk out his feelings, Lewis began to brood - and to assert his presence in their act.

Near the start of the Colgate hour of January 10, 1954, Jerry presented Dean with a gold record for "That's Amore" with his warm congratulations. The conclusion of the show was something else again. The pair staged what appeared to be a mock argument, at which point Martin ordered his partner off the stage. Dean began singing "Amore," but Jerry returned, bribing the cameramen to move in and force Dean into a corner, whereupon Jerry climbed upon the singer's back, smacked Dean's ears



and pulled his hair while laughing manically. Dean tried to take it in stride, at one point calling out, "You're over-acting, Jerry," which was something of a code phrase used when one or the other was getting too rough. This time, Lewis didn't let up, and it's clear just before the fade-out that Martin was genuinely steamed.

In truth, Dean was growing weary of Jerry’s antics overshadowing the act, not to mention their hectic schedule, which left him little time to enjoy the fruits of success. He also couldn’t have been pleased when, in a fit of pique, Lewis dismissed their head writers, Ed Simmons and Norman Lear, shortly before the January 10 show; these were the guys who made sure he was funny, too. Additionally, Martin didn't understand Lewis' overt desire to bring pathos into their act, telling him, "Why don't you cut out this sad stuff and just be funny?" But his real bone of contention was their movies, the one element of their work destined for posterity. To the end of his days, Martin resented that most were cut from the same cloth: Jerry the innocent simpleton hero who carried the picture, and Dean the smooth sharpie who never seemed deserving of his partner's friendship, until the final reel when he suddenly became, in his words, "a right guy."



Upon conclusion of the Colgate segment, the team went to New York for a two-week stint at the Copacabana. On opening night, Hal Wallis and his partner Joe Hazen, along with their wives, enjoyed the performance from a ringside table. After the show, Wallis and Hazen met briefly with the team, setting up a luncheon meeting for the following day to discuss their next picture: "Big Top." The film had been in the planning stages for several weeks; the script written by Don McGuire, a friend and collaborator of Jerry’s since 1951.

When Wallis asked Martin if he’d be attending, Lewis kiddingly advised his partner: "You’d better let me go with him alone. I can get more out of him." Given his growing disenchantment with the status quo, perhaps that should have thrown up a red flag for Dino. Up to now, Martin had grudgingly accepted their scripts as the nature of the business, believing neither he nor Lewis were in a position to tempt the fate of the box office. But with a friend of Jerry’s as the lead writer, and with Jerry himself overseeing the results, perhaps he could expect something better this time. So Dean left the business to Jerry, who went over the script with Wallis and made several suggestions... for his own character.

On February 8, the scheduled first day of shooting, Wallis had the Clyde Beatty Circus, a fifteen-car train and eighty-five cast and crew members standing by on location in Phoenix, Arizona. All that was missing were the two stars, who refused to show up. The team’s agent, Herman Citron, told Wallis bluntly that Dean refused to do the script as written – this despite the fact that it contained several of Jerry’s suggestions - and Jerry wouldn’t do the film against Dean’s wishes.

McGuire and the team’s Colgate writers, Arthur Phillips and Harry Crane, sat down and hammered out further revisions, while Martin, Lewis and Citron met with Wallis. Lewis confessed, "I am enough of a ham that when you told me this business with the elephants and the other sequences, that I could only see what wonderful things I could do..." to the point where he completely overlooked his partner’s role, the conniving, slimy manager of the circus. It’s not recorded whether Dean opined on how well his partner was looking out for him, but he did make his objections known about the script. Wallis later wrote, "He said that he doesn’t want to play a cheat and doesn’t know what he is doing in the picture." The story had Dean singing only two songs: one to caged animals, the other to Jerry.



Lewis, Phillips and Crane spent one more long night penning revisions, with Martin once again deferring to his partner. The end result wasn’t much different, and Dean realized that it was endgame: with Jerry and their writers having turned in a final script, he’d have to go to work. But that didn’t mean he’d have to like it.

Shooting for the film, eventually titled "Three-Ring Circus," began in Phoenix on February 17. Two weeks went by before Martin was even needed for a scene, at which point some of the extras began wondering aloud about the size of his part and if he was still Jerry’s partner. (Note the attached page from TV and Movie Screen, a fan mag: a large shot of Lewis in character, a small inset of Martin waiting between takes.) Young children hired for an orphanage scene would gather around Jerry; some of them didn’t even know who Dean was. Lewis would later write, "It got pretty hairy. There were days when I thought Dean would ditch the whole package."

On March 3, Dean walked in on Jerry having his picture taken and being interviewed... alone. The easy-going Italian finally boiled over: "Hey, Jerry, what am I around here, a fifth wheel? If I’m not important to the act anymore, just let me know!" Reporters around the set got more from Martin: "I’m sick and tired of playing stooge to that crazy, mixed-up character!" Lewis retaliated with, "I’m fed up with my partner’s sensitivity. Everything I do is wrong. Anything happens he don’t (sic) like, he blames it on me. He hates me." The two stopped speaking and production nearly ground to a halt.



This particular feud, the first to be reported, lasted nine days. On March 12, in a meeting at MCA, the pair were forcibly reminded of their various commitments and coerced into a cordial reconciliation. But four days later, when Dean didn’t appear at Jerry’s birthday party – because he hadn’t been invited – the gossip columns again speculated on Martin and Lewis’s rapidly diminishing future together. The two issued a press release on the 18th, in which Lewis stated, "We had a disagreement. Well, it wasn’t exactly a disagreement, it was a fight. It started when Dean called me a dope. I got mad and told him to prove it, and that’s what we fought about. He did." Martin asserted that the team would split "on July 25, 1996 – our Golden Anniversary."



Needless to say, this lighthearted approach didn't keep reporters at bay, to the point where, on April 5, no less an authority than Groucho Marx felt compelled to write: "I've been reading in columns that there is ill feeling between you boys and that there's even a likelihood that you might go your separate ways. I hope this isn't true for you are awfully good together, and show business needs you.... If there is any ill feeling or bitterness between you, it will eventually affect your work. If that feeling does exist, sit down calmly together, alone - when I say alone, I mean no agents, no family, no one but you two - sit down alone, and talk it out."

Reportedly Marx sent the letter to both partners, but only Jerry replied, thanking Groucho profusely, noting "the sagacity of your words" and assuring him, "(I) have every intention of following your advice." And in fact Dean and Jerry did meet privately shortly thereafter, and things settled down.



Near the conclusion of shooting for "Three-Ring Circus," the two men spoke with Maurice Zolotow, Hollywood correspondent for The American Weekly, a Sunday newspaper supplement. Dean instructed Zolotow to "write down this part word-for-word just like I say it. I know that individually, going it alone, we would not be as great as we are together." Martin added, "When we shook hands on our partnership, I said in my heart, this is forever, ‘til death do us part. It still goes! Sometimes he makes mistakes. Sometimes I make mistakes. But as long as people let us alone, the team of Martin & Lewis will go on."



For his part, Lewis told Zolotow, "The closer you are to a person, the deeper the feelings. If the feelings are hard feelings, then they’re twice as hard. And if you’re emotional, like Dean and I are emotional, well, you can’t help flipping your lid sometimes. We yell at each other… and it gets in the papers. So from this they build up a story that we’re going to bust up. Never in a million years! Get this: we’re a partnership, a real partnership.

"This idea that I’m the funny guy and Dean is just a straight man is wrong. People may not notice it, but he’s got as many joke lines as straight lines. I feed him as many straight lines on our television show as he feeds me. Both of us have a different style of playing comedy, but we’re both essential to each other’s success. Anyway," continued Lewis, "Dino means more to me than a partner in a two-act. Outside of my wonderful wife, Dean is the person I’ve been closest to in my whole life. We’re so close that our minds think like one mind. There’s a very deep and profound love between Dean and me, and our act is good only because of this feeling of closeness."



A bullet had been dodged and the partnership was again on an even keel, so far as the public knew. Their next Colgate appearance, on May 3, attempted to seal it via a celebration of the team's eighth anniversary, with a highly fictionalized depiction of how the two paired up that concluded with them singing a ditty entitled "We Belong Together." But intimates knew that nothing much had changed: Lewis still controlled the act, which saw more and more "sad stuff" for Jerry, while Dean's part in their next picture, "You're Never Too Young," was no improvement over "Three Ring Circus." Another confrontation was inevitable.


When it came, things really did change... but not for the better.

More On Dean Martin's Sault Ste. Marie Song

Hey pallies, remember the Dino-post on the lesser known Dino-song 'bout Sault Ste. Marie? Well here is more on the Dino-tune from the Soo News pad. Just clicks on the tagg of this post to go there.

And, while the site just shares a generic postin' of the Dino-song....here is the postin' that our Maria did at youtube after see read and responded to the ilovedinomartin Dino-gram. Thanks to the Soo News site for sharin' more on the song....thanks to our Maria for sharin' this song through her Dino-channel at youtube! Dino-enthralled, DMP

More On Dean Martin's Sault Ste. Marie Song

SooNews Staff for SooNews.ca
Sunday, March 7, 2010, 10:17AM



We've had several viewers interested in the song recorded by the late Dean Martin since we first published the story courtesy viewer, Frank P. De Simon.

Frank wrote to SooNews.ca a few days back informing us of the song referring to Sault Ste. Marie. As a follow up Frank wrote us again

"Two of my aunts told similar but slightly different stories about the song. One said that a soldier wrote it while stationed here during WW2 and the other said that it was a woman who wrote the song. Both said that it was popular in both Soo's during the war years."

Another viewer,Steve Humeniuk did a little digging into the matter and came up with a little info on the song,The song is called "Sault Ste. Marie". It was written by a guy named Kevin Bowe. It's on an album called "The Best of The Rat Pack Vol.2"

We still think it's pretty cool that there's a song about Sault Ste. Marie!

Dean Martin's Birthday Song to Jerry

Hey pallies, here's some more from our Deanager Maria. A few ago, you will remember that ilovedinomartin told you 'bout a song that our Dino composed and recorded for the jer for his Birthday in 1953...."You Skinny Hebrew."

Well, of course our Maria already had it in her Dino-collection and durin' some Dino-patter here 'bout the song, I suggested that our creative and committed Maria oughta consider creatin' a Dino-trib set to the song. When she wrote back, she said that she was already in the Dino-process of doin' so...great Dino-minds are always thinkin' 'long the same Dino-lines!

So, here is that Birthday Song gift that our Dino presented to his partner Jer in 1953. I loves the song so very Dino-much 'cause it is so so Dino-ish...and Maria has certainly out done herself with the clips that she has chosen of our Dino and the kid to accompany the song.

Many thanks Maria for this act of Dino-love and Dino-devotion to share this long forgotten piece of Dino-lore with the entire Dino-universe! Dino-thankin', DMP btw pallies, if you click on the link to this Dino-gram you will go directly to our Maria's blog where you will find unendin' Dinopleasures....

If the tagg Deanager ever was appro, it certainly belongs to Miss Maria Jensen from Norway.

Hey pallies, as our Dino got a bit older, he got even more wiser. After cuttin' the stings with the jeanne, he more and more put the "accent on youth." From the youthful chicks he amored, the moddish threads that he wore, the swingin' discotheques that he frequented, to the golf course he planned to build for neuveau hipsters......our Dino loved youthfulness.

So, how refreshin' is it that more and more of today's youth are discoverin', lovin', and honorin' our great man. Time after time, the posts here at ilovedinomatin have been filled with stories of youthful Dino-devotees.

Today we honor, one of today's youth who has fallen head-over-heels in love with our Dino and is helpin' to bring countless other pallies to true Dino-devotion. If the tagg Deanager ever was appro, it certainly belongs to Miss Maria Jensen from Norway.




Faithful readers of this here Dino-blog know that Maria is the most faithful of the Dino-faithful....frequently sharin' Dino-patter in response to the Dino-prose found here. Many of you know that Maria also has her own blog, "Maria" where she is constantly liftin' up the name of our Dino and sharin' amazin' Dino-pixs, Dino-vids, Dino-tales, and more!

And in the last few months, our Maria has become extremely Dino-active over at youtube where she has her own Dino-channel that currently has 120 vids. To view Maria's youtube channel, just click on the tagg of this Dino-post.

Maria, at the tender age of 18 has one of the largest collections of Dino-treasure in the Dino-universe, and she is so so generous sharin' with the world at youtube and at her blog.

Not only is Maria sharin' her vast Dino-wealth of Dino DVDs and al-b-ums, she has also created a good number of Dino-tribs that are posted at her youtube pad as well...including the one below.

Today, we will be featurin' some of Maria's stellar Dino-devotion through a few Dino-posts here at ilovedinomartin. I don't often share Maria's treasures 'cause if I did, I woulda never ever be able to share anythin' else....lol. So checks out the Dino-trib below that is so so Dino-educational as well as so so Dino-pleasureable!

Hats off to Maria, the Deanager of Deanagers! Thanks for your Dino-deep and Dino-pure Dinodevotion! Dino-honorin', DMP

Daughter of legendary crooner Dean Martin on life with Rat Pack star

Hey pallies, seems that our Dino's girlpallie Gail (quickly becomin' my fav of the Dino-children) has her hands in the new Dino-anthology "That's Amore" and is helpin' to promote it by givin' Dino-reflections. From the Brit newspaper pad, "The Daily Record" comes this exclusive interview with Miss Gail by staffer Mr. Billy Sloan of the Sunday Mail.

Much of the Dino-info her are thinks that pallies likes us are familiar with...like callin' the cops to stop a party at his own pad, but there are other Dino-bits new to this pallie, so perhaps new to you as well...just hava to read for yourselves...

And, likes be sure to read to the end, to hear the coolest of cool stories 'bout Gail's grandboypallie tagged Dino (now how cool is that!) and how our great man was connected to young Dino's new skateboard!

Thanks to Mr. Billy Sloan for sharin' this interview with Miss Gail. To read this in it's original format, just click on the tagg of this Dino-gram to goes there.

As a added Dino-bonus, found this cool clip of our Dino and his girlpallie Gail makin' music together from the Dean Martin Show Oct. 23rd 1966. Enjoys pallies...always such a total Dino-pleasure to be passin' on more Dino-tales to all my beloved ilovedinomartin Dino-holics. Dino-amazed, DMP




Daughter of legendary crooner Dean Martin on life with Rat Pack star

Mar 7 2010 Exclusive by Billy Sloan, Sunday Mail

THE Beverly Hills party was in full swing - John Wayne propped up the bar, while Steve McQueen charmed the ladies and Frank Sinatra entertained with a song or two.

None of the guests noticed host Dean Martin slip upstairs to make a crucial telephone call.

The showbiz legend - who reigned supreme in Las Vegas in the '60s as a member of the notorious Rat Pack with Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop - wanted an early night.

Dean's daughter, Gail Downey, 64, revealed: "Dad wasn't a big party animal so he'd sneak upstairs at 10 o'clock, phone the local cops and say, 'Those Martins are having another wild party. Can you come round and break it up?'

"He wanted a good night's sleep so he could get up next morning to go play golf. He didn't like mixing in big company or crowds.

"He gave it all on stage so at home he didn't want to sit and chit-chat. Dad preferred to be alone."

Gail - who became a successful singer in her own right - has been reliving her father's incredible career to mark the 15th anniversary of his death in 1995.

She's helped compile That's Amore - a 40-track collection of Martin's greatest hits, including Volare, Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime and Ain't That A Kick In The Head - which is being released for Mother's Day.

"It was emotional listening to the album because it's dad. But I hear him singing all the time. My local radio station play one of his songs every hour," said Gail

"I walk into an Italian restaurant and his music is played. He's never left us so it's lucky we all liked him.He was such a natural singer. It was seemingly effortless.

"Somebody once asked him what he'd like to be remembered for and he told them: 'Just as a great entertainer and performer.'"

Gail - one of the crooner's eight children from three marriages - insists that the classic Martin boozy image was just an act. And she says the infamous Rat Pack gigs with Sinatra - or Uncle Frank to Gail - and Sammy Davis Jr were not all they seemed.

She said: "Uncle Frank would introduce Dad on stage by saying, 'Here he is straight from the bar.' But it wasn't whisky he had in his glass but apple juice.

"Dad wanted to stay healthy and have his wits about him. If he got drunk, it interfered with his golf next morning.

"They did have some wild nights together. Shirley Maclaine, Ursula Andress and Angie Dickinson would come to hang out.

"They'd drive on to the casino floor in a golf cart and Dad would sit and deal cards. He'd give gamblers the cards they needed so they could win. But he didn't like to stay up late. He was a very committed family man so he wanted to get home to us."

Martin struck a blow for race relations in Vegas when he and Sinatra refused to patronise any casino which didn't admit Davis Jr, a black Jew. Their efforts helped wipe out racism in venues which used entertainment to attract high-rollers.

Gail said: "They said, 'If Sammy doesn't play, we don't play.' As performers, it didn't matter to them whether you were white, black, red or yellow. Their attitude was if you're talented we don't care where you come from."

Gail also explodes the myth that Sinatra - nicknamed "chairman of the board" - snapped his fingers and Martin jumped.

"Dad was very much his own man. I think that's why Uncle Frank respected him so much. He had yes-men around him. They were both very on an equal par."

Martin's career included movies such as Rio Bravo, The Sons Of Katie Elder, Robin And The 7 Hoods and Ocean's 11. And his NBC TV comedy series The Dean Martin Show topped the ratings for years.

He has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in music, movies and television and has streets named in his honour in Las Vegas and Rancho Mirage.

But the singer never got over the 1987 plane deeath of his son, Dean Paul, a jet fighter pilot with the Air National Guard.

The following year, he bowed out of a nationwide tour with Sinatra and Davis Jr.

Gail said: "Uncle Frank loved going on the road but dad hated it. He'd played different clubs as a much younger man but when he reached his seventies he really wanted to cool it.

"He'd smoked cigarettes all his life but suddenly quit. I asked him why and he said, 'I woke up one day and forgot I smoked.' He just grew tired, he'd done everything he wanted to do."

Martin made his final public appearance at Sinatra's 75th birthday party in 1990 and three years later was diagnosed with lung cancer. Doctors advised that surgery could prolong his life but he refused to allow them to operate.

He died on Christmas morning 1995 and the lights were dimmed on the Vegas strip in his memory.

Gail told me: "I got the call on Christmas morning he had died. I felt sad because he was the sweetest guy... so wonderful and generous.

"After his funeral, my daughters and I drove to where he was buried, put on tapes of his music and drank a toast. I haven't met anyone who didn't like him. Not a single person. Can you imagine that?"

In 2009, Martin won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement, which Gail accepted on his behalf.

Later, she was given another reminder of his lasting popularity when her grandson Dino got a new skateboard.

"He called and said, 'You'll never guess whose picture is on it... it's Grandpa Dean with two of his friends'.

"How cool is it to have recorded your first record in 1948 and to still be so popular 60 years later your picture is on a skateboard. There's your lifetime achievement."

Pack were Bogart's best buds

The Rat Pack originally sprung up around Humphrey Bogart, whose wife Lauren Bacall named them.

Seeing Bogie, Sinatra and their cronies come straggling in after a night on the town she exclaimed "You look like a goddamned rat pack!" The name stuck.

After Bogie's death, Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr were joined by actor Peter Lawford and US comedian Joey Bishop rounded out the Pack.

The Rat Pack made their home at the Copa Room in the Sands Hotel and Casino on the famed Las Vegas Strip.

In the late 1980s, Frank, Dean, and Sammy tried to rekindle the magic with a much-hyped tour, but Dean was forced to drop out due to illness after only a few dates.

Sammy died in 1990 and Frank and Dean had little contact before the latter's death in 1995. Sinatra died in 1998.

but left Dean Martin's special booth for those making reservations.

Hey pallies, from the pages of "Entertainment Today.net" and the pen of Miss Shirley Firestone comes this reveiw of "The New Davinci".....one of the restaurante's that was a special Dino-hangout.

Thinks it is just so Dino-wonderful that in the wake of 'em changin' all the decor, the new owners have seen fit to leaves our Dino's special booth intact, with pallies travelin' "from all over for Deans seat!" So desirin' to make the pilgrimage to Beverly Hills to walk where Dino walked and certainly to sit where our Dino sat!

Also loves learnin' every Dino-detail that I can and so thrillin' to learn of Dino's fav Davinci's food...."Filet Mingnon with lobster added."

Couldn't find a pix of our Dino makin' it at Davinci's...not sure where the top Dino-photo was taken. Included are Davinci's in the day of our Dino and the new make over. Dino-ever, DMP btw, as usual, just click on the tagg of this Dino-gram to read this info in it's original Dino-form.



The New Davinci
Beverly Hills



DaVinci has changed hands, and took out the booths, but left Dean Martin's special booth for those making reservations. People have traveled from all over for Deans seat!



On the dinner menu, along with various pastas were Dean Martin's Filet Mingnon with lobster added;

Honoring Dean Martin with a postage stamp

Hey pallies, likes this is likes just so cool...came 'cross this Facebook site where a couple of Dino-holics tagged George and John Hlinko are doin' there Dino-best to promote the honorin' of our Dino with his very own Dino-stamp!

The frankie got a stamp in his honor last year, and all us Dino-devoted pallies knows that our Dino is so so much more worthy of this honor then frankie...so likes I woulda encourage all of you pallies to head on over to the Dino-stamp site at Facebook and make your Dino-desires known by joinin' the Hlinko bros in this very important Dino-effort.

To locate the Dino-stamp Facebook pad, just click on the tagg of this Dino-post. As of this Dino-postin' 8,778 pallies have made their Dino-wishes known...won't you be next? My deep Dino-thanks to pallies George and John for takin' up this Dino-cause and wants 'em to know that ilovedinomartin will do everythin' in our power to be of Dino-assistance to this great Dino-cause. Dino-promotin', DMP





Honoring Dean Martin with a postage stamp



Dean Martin was a great entertainer and an American original -- and it's high time that he be honored by being featured on a U.S. postage stamp.

Become a "fan" today, help spread the word, and help us make this happen!

Do it for "Dino!"

Hollywood Star Walk DEAN MARTIN

Hey pallies, there is just so much Dino'love flowin' all over the web. Today's Dino-discovery is from the prestigous Los Angeles Times' Entertainment pad that features entertainers in the Hollywood Star Walk. (To view this in it's original format, just click on the tagg of this Dino-post.)

Included in the Dino-devotion here is a short but very Dino-powerful bio of our Dino written for the LA Times by Miss Myra Oliver in remembrance of our Dino's passin' on December 25, 1995. It is so so cool that they have included pixs and location descriptions of each of our Dino's amazin' three-count-'em'-three stars in the Hollywood Star Walk.

Doesn't any pallie out there know if any other performer also has the impressive numero of 3 stars as our great man does. I really doubt it...'cause no one does it all likes our Dino. Truly only Dino matters!!!!!! Dino-amazed, DMP

Hollywood Star Walk



Film
North side of the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard






TV
North side of the 6600 block of Hollywood Boulevard






Music
West side of the 1600 block of Vine Street


DEAN MARTIN

Actor | Comedian | Singer

Born Dino Paul Crocetti on June 7, 1917 in Steubenville, OH
Died Dec. 25, 1995 of acute respiratory failure in Beverly Hills, CA

Dino Paul Crocetti was born in Steubenville, Ohio, the son of an Italian immigrant barber. Bored with high school, he dropped out in the 10th grade, only to spend his adult life embarrassed by his poor English grammar and lack of education.

Known as chief deputy to the chairman of the board in Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack," Martin followed in the tradition of Sinatra, Perry Como and other Italian singers, frequently commenting that they all copied the style of veteran crooner Bing Crosby. Among Martin's gold records were "That's Amore" in 1953, "Return to Me" and "Volare" in 1958, and what became his theme song, "Everybody Loves Somebody" in 1964.

Over the years, the multifaceted Martin, whose rugged Italian good looks and melodic baritone voice charmed women but also appealed to men, perfected an on-camera and onstage image of the laid-back alcoholic.

More than one guest on his phenomenally popular television variety show, which regularly attracted 40 million viewers from 1965 to 1974, went to Martin's dressing room after the show expecting to find a paralytic drunk only to be offered coffee and cake. The glass that Martin carried onstage usually contained nothing stronger than apple juice.

"You son of a bitch," one guest said, cracking up the joke-loving star, "you're stone-cold sober!"

Although he was best known for comedy, Martin's more than 50 films include a handful of critically acclaimed serious acting roles — "The Young Lions" with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift in 1958, "Some Came Running" with Sinatra in 1959, and Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" with John Wayne, also in 1959.

Before his successful solo career, Martin was part of a legendary comedy team with Jerry Lewis. The men — who later split bitterly — met in 1946 when both were appearing at the Glass Hat in New York. Soon after, they were put on the same bill at the 500 Club in Atlantic City, N.J.

They made up their own material, with Martin attempting to sing while Lewis interrupted as a bumbling busboy.

"Two of the greatest turnin' points in my career were, first, meetin' Jerry Lewis, second, leavin' Jerry Lewis," Martin said in 1967. "I became a real actor because of these two things."

— Myrna Oliver in the Los Angeles Times Dec. 26, 1995

Dean Martin Fell In Love In Sault Ste Marie!

Hey pallies, from the Soo News.ca pad of Sault Ste Marie, Michigan comes likes this groovy sorta Dino-find. Reporter Craig Huckerby shares how Soo News.ca viewer Frank DeSimon discovered this obscure Dino-tune "I Fell In Love In Sault Ste. Marie."

Gotta 'fess up that this is one Dino-recordin' that I have never ever heard of before. Any of you pallies have any Dino-info that shed some Dino-light on the Dino-history of this Michigan song of amore? If you click on the original post by clickin' on the tagg of this Dino-gram you will find a player where you can listen to our Dino croonin' by the Soo!

You just never know where our Dino is goin' to turn up next. Thanks to Mr. Huckerby and Mr. DeSimon for puttin' us on to this Dino-gem. Dino-reportin', DMP

Dean Martin Fell In Love In Sault Ste Marie!

Craig Huckerby for SooNews.ca
Thursday, March 4, 2010, 2:39PM



SooNews.ca viewer, Frank DeSimon, sent in a little note about a song he accidentally stumbled upon.

It's a song by the late crooner, Dean Martin about Sault Ste. Marie.

"After numerous hours of downloading music over the last few months, I found the attached gem as my 1,782nd song (that’s for real). This is a legitimate Dean Martin recording. Who knows why he would ever have recorded this song? The third line doesn’t even make sense to me."

Here's the full lyrics to the tune - to listen to the recording, hit play on the video player to the left.




I fell in love in Sault Ste. Marie
My every dream came true the moment you walked by
These stars above I held you to me
And we kissed 'til the dawn touched the sky

We said adieu in Sault Ste. Marie
And though we had to part I left my heart with you
So my love wait for me
And I'll come back to you in Sault Ste. Marie

So my love wait for me
And I'll come back to you in Sault Ste. Marie
____________________
We went searching to see if we could find any info on the song, we can tell you that it was recorded a few of Dean Martin's albums in the 1960's.

If yu know the history of the song, who wrote it and when it was published, send us a note at SooNews.ca

MEMORIES OF OUR FATHER DEAN MARTIN ARE MADE OF THIS...

Hey pallies, this is a day that I have long awaited here at ilovedinomartin. Regular readers of this Dino-blog know that I have spoken out often 'gainst the dissin' of our Dino by his girlpallie Deana in her Dino-bio, "Memories Are Made Of This." I have so yearned to hear others in Family Martin speak out 'gainst the unkind words of Deana....and today, I am so Dino-delighted to say that that has finally happened.

Thanks to the release this week of the new Dino-compilation "That's Amore," (see yesterday's Dino-post here at ilovedinomartin) The Brit pad "Express.com.uk" through music reviewer Robert Spellman (clicks on tagg of this Dino-gram to goes there) shares an interview that Miss Charlotte Heathcote did with our Dino's girlpallie Gail and boypallie Ricci.

It is so truly heartwarmin' to hear how others in Family Martin do not share Deana's opinion of Dino as Daddy-o. As you will read, the rest of our Dino's children did not take kindly to "Deana's damning book"............


“We got really mad at her,” Gail concedes. “We’re not as close now as we were but Deana just wanted to do a book. It’s a good job Claudia [their sister, who died of cancer in 2001] wasn’t around; she would have decked her.”

Not that our Dino woulda ever need or even want anyone to defend him...does makes me so very Dino-happy to finally hear Gail and Ricci share their sides of the Dino-story....and to publicly refute Deana's take on Father Martin.

I am so proud to spread the Dino-truth to all our Dino-devoted readers here at ilovedinomartin. I trust that those who have been so supportive of Deana, will realize that there is more then one side to this Dino-story and come to their Dino-senses. Grateful thanks to Miss Gail and Mr. Ricci for finally speakin' out publicly 'gainst Deana's Dino-positions.

Gotta gives credit to the offical Dino-pad at Facebook where I first found the link to this Dino-prose. Gotta finds some way to spead more time there to support all their efforts to lift up the Dino-truth!!!!! Dino-defendin', DMP


MEMORIES OF OUR FATHER DEAN MARTIN ARE MADE OF THIS...

DEAN MARTIN: The King of Cool had seven children by two women

Sunday February 28,2010

AS A NEW Dean Martin compilation album is released, two of his children tell CHARLOTTE HEATHCOTE about their dad and how their recollections of him differ from those in sister Deana's damning book.

When Deana Martin published her excoriating story of life as the neglected daughter of Dean Martin, shock waves rippled through the fan base of a star equally at home on a Las Vegas stage or a Hollywood film set.

It’s not that anyone thought Dean Martin was a saint. He was, after all, one of the legendary hell-raisers of the booze-fuelled, womanising, insouciant Rat Pack alongside Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jnr, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.

However, as a new compilation of Martin’s love songs is released tomorrow, showcasing the softer, more romantic side of the King of Cool (as Elvis Presley dubbed him), another two of his children have spoken out in passionate defence of the man they called Dad.

For all her love for her father, in 2004’s Memories Are Made Of This, Deana portrayed a man much more interested in his drinking buddies, the golf course and even shoplifting than his children. “He was not a good father,” she claimed. “We were left to fend for ourselves. He was emotionally absent and didn’t want to know our thoughts or problems.”

Martin had seven children: four by his first wife Betty, who descended into alcoholism after he left her; three by the love of his life, Jeanne. Both Deana, now 61, and Gail, 64, were Betty’s daughters and, according to Gail: “When that book came out, my brothers and sisters looked at each other and said, ‘Did she grow up in the same house? Is she kidding?’ We were just dying laughing.”

Laughing? If her claims were untrue, surely it was no laughing matter? “We got really mad at her,” Gail concedes. “We’re not as close now as we were but Deana just wanted to do a book. It’s a good job Claudia [their sister, who died of cancer in 2001] wasn’t around; she would have decked her.”

Gail’s account is corroborated by Martin’s youngest son by Jeanne, Ricci, 57, who refused to read Deana’s book. “I don’t think Deana was not telling the truth, she just had that type of relationship with Dad,” he says. “He treated everyone differently depending on the relationship so everyone has a different take. Of course I would say this because this is my side of the story but he was always there for me.”

Still, when Martin was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award last year, all of his surviving children accepted the award together on his behalf. “That was fun and we had a big hug with Deana,” says Gail. So the family have agreed to disagree, with Gail remembering a “fun and fun-loving and funny and easy” father.

Ricci remembers him being away, typically, for a couple of seven-week Las Vegas runs then maybe one six-week film shoot over the course of a year but, otherwise, playing a conventional paternal role, always home for dinner at 6pm: “I remember him getting home from golfi ng, walking down the hallway and into the kitchen where he’d go to the bread drawer, butter one slice, take a bite then say: ‘Now that’s living...’ ” Then, after dinner, everyone would watch TV as a family.

Still, there are moments when Ricci’s account sounds airbrushed, however unwittingly. Despite only being a
teenager when his parents divorced, he insists he was completely unaffected; that he “knew” they would be happier apart. He was also oblivious to his father’s womanising until his mother revealed the affairs two years ago but he insists he laughed off the revelations.

In Deana’s defence, Jeanne is also on record describing Martin as a “cold, calculating and impersonal man” but, while we may never know whose account most accurately captures Martin’s personality, the truth presumably lies somewhere between the two extremes.

However, what is indisputable is the prodigious talent of a man who changed gear from television to movies to music with apparent ease. He’s said to have sold more movie tickets and records and achieved higher viewer ratings than anyone before or since. Martin’s big break came when he met Jerry Lewis, the pair’s bantering dynamic making them America’s biggest double act for a decade from the mid-Forties, with Martin playing the straight man to Lewis’s zany mischievousness.

The pair landed their own radio series, going on to make films together, yet Martin’s ego took a battering from the critics’ sense that Lewis was the driving force in a partnership that slowly deteriorated over the course of a decade. It finally severed after Martin told Lewis he was nothing to him “but a dollar sign”.

It was two decades before the two repaired their friendship but, when Martin died 15 years ago, Lewis sent a touching tape of remembrances and comic anecdotes to his children and Deana still sees him from time to time.

After the split from Lewis, Martin turned his attention to a serious acting career. A critically acclaimed performance in The Young Lions (1957), alongside Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, cemented him as one of Hollywood’s hottest properties and Ricci believes his father saw serious movies like Rio Bravo (1958) and Toys In The Attic (1963) as his greatest career achievements.

At the same time, he was developing his own style as a singer, recording immortal interpretations of Volare, Memories Are Made Of This and Return To Me, while building a friendship and working relationship with the infamous Rat Pack, their on-stage banter and camaraderie as integral a part of their act as the songs they sang together.

Martin became legendary for Las Vegas performances both with and without the Rat Pack and Gail remembers pulling up alongside her father at traffic lights on Sunset Boulevard with his latest solo show blaring out. He quipped: “I’m rehearsing my ad-libs.”

His shtick was a heavy-drinking persona that came to the fore in the mid-Sixties in the well-loved Dean Martin Show. The jury is still out on whether it was a glass of Scotch or apple juice in his hand but both Gail and Ricci remember their father leading a clean-living lifestyle.

“He never stayed up late because he always had to be on that golf course!” smiles Gail, adding: “When my sister Gina was five somebody asked her, ‘What does your dad do for a living?’ and she said, ‘He’s a golfer’.” Since 2002, Ricci has toured a nostalgic tribute to his father comprising songs, anecdotes and family pictures.

He was once moved to tears by glimpsing a photograph of himself aged six with his father and, since then, has avoided looking at the photos while performing: “I have to detach myself because it’s so personal. Dad’s gone, we’ve all dispersed, it’s bittersweet.”

Gail also became a performer in her own right. She used to open for her father’s shows and she remembers him watching her from the wings one evening. “I was singing this over-arranged song and there he was pointing to his pocket,” she recalls. “What on earth? I go offstage and said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘That note you were looking for, I’ve got it right here in my pocket!’ You had to laugh.”

By the mid-Seventies, Martin was losing momentum, suffering a mortal blow in 1987 when his son Dean Paul died in an air crash. His health was suffering, his ailments included emphysema, the lung cancer that killed him and, reportedly, Alzheimer’s. His legacy endures, though, even in a fickle age obsessed with novelty. As Gail puts it: “To make your first recording in 1948 and to still be so popular that you get a Grammy in 2008? That’s lasting a lifetime.”

Dean Martin - That's Amore is released March 1, 2010 (UMTV Records)

Win a copy of 'That's Amore' by Dean Martin

Hey pallies, "If you want to know what love is, there’s no better way than listening to 'That’s Amore'." So sez the pallies at the Brit pad "Mature Times" announcin' a new release by UMTV / Island Records of 40-count-em-40 of our Dino's greatest tines of amore.

These new Dino-compilations are unendin'...and what grand Dino-news is that...our Dino is so hot with pallies of every age and stage that it is just so natural to find every record company in the know gettin' on the Dino-wagon to spread the Dino-message here, there, and every Dino-where.

This particular Dino-announcement comes from a pad that's puttin' the accent on the oldster Dino-crowd, "Mature Times." With all of today's youth comin' to our Dino...nice to see that our Dino's mature fans are gettin' in on the Dino-action as well.

I particularly am groovin' on the cover art of this new Dino-set....our great man under the street light....and if my eyes are correct with his ever-present cigarette in one hand and his liquid libation in the other.... likes verty very mod Dino-presentation indeed.

To view this in it's original format, just click on the tagg of this Dino-post, and likes if you do, you can fill out your name, rank, and serial numero to trys to wins yourself a copy of this amorin' Dino-release. Dino-only, DMP




Win a copy of 'That's Amore' by Dean Martin
02/03/2010



Highly regarded as the epitome of cool, the velvet-voiced crooner Dean Martin was part of the legendary hell-raising Rat-Pack. With “That’s Amore” however, he shows his tender side - an album of beautiful, classic love songs.

“That’s Amore” is the ultimate 2-CD, 40-track collection of Dean Martin’s classic love songs. Featuring Raining In My Heart, to How Do You Like Your Eggs in the Morning, Blue Moon, Sway, For Once In My Life, Volare, Everybody Loves Somebody and the title track That’s Amore, this truly is all you need to know as an introduction to this renowned and well-loved artist.

The young Italian-American Dean Martin dreamed of greatness – a feat he reached in more than one way. Martin is rare in that on Hollywood’s Walk Of Fame, he has three stars; one each for movies, TV and of course music.

The “Laidback Lothario’s” smooth vocals and sharp suits made him the perfect ladies man as well as a man’s man for his lavish lifestyle and celebrity circle of friends. His vocal style is said to have inspired a young Elvis Presley whilst his fashion sense is still more than evident in our popstars today.

Dean Martin practically invented his own style of music, “nice ‘n’ easy”, the perfect swinging soundtrack to romance. His trademark lounge tune Everybody Loves Somebody was so popular it knocked A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles off the top spot in the US.

Martin’s career took in movies, TV shows and of course the legendary live shows with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis jnr. and Peter Lawford. Away from the heady world of showbiz, Martin was a loving husband and father to seven children until his death in 1995.

If you want to know what love is, there’s no better way than listening to “That’s Amore”.

“That’s Amore” is released through UMTV / Island Records on 1st March 2010.

DEAN'S SONG

Hey pallies, likes today's Dino-discovery comes from of all places a politico blog (as always no endorsement of any politico position meant). From "New Mexico Politics With Joe Monahan" comes a cool mention of our Dino. Taken from what musta be one of our Dino's live 'Vegas gigs comes this Dino-wisdom..."A wife in Vegas take my advice, it's like going to China with a sack of rice."

While Mr. Monahan has given a link to the youtube clip, I have actually included the Dino-clip below...just makes me yearn all the more to have seen our Dino doin' his magic live in 'Vegas! Takes To Mr. Monahan for liftin' up the name of our Dino and sharin' such Dino-truths. To view his blog and the post this Dino-vignette was taken from, just click on the tagg of this Dino-gram... Dino-learnin', DMP

DEAN'S SONG



And a final gambling note. Don't show this to your wife, but we laughed the other day (inappropriately, of course) when we heard Dean Martin sing:

A wife in Vegas take my advice, it's like going to China with a sack of rice.

Dean Martin infomercial brings back fond memories of TV variety shows

Hey pallies, likes March blows in with this great Dino-patter from the pen of Texan Mr. Gary Ott writin' for the Midland Reporter-Telegram at the pad "My West Texas.com." How simply Dino-delightful to read Mr. Ott's ruminations of watchin' the Dino-show as a youngen.... "In the Ott household the "Dean Martin Show" was must-watch TV, as the entire family -- well, except for my older sister, who was above such things -- would join together to enjoy the latest antics of Dino and his cast of merry characters."

It's clear that correspondant Mr. Gary Ott is likes totally Dino-smitten and not ashamed to share his Dino-devotion with his readers. We thanks our pallie for liftin' up the name of our Dino and encouragin' his readers to enjoys the pleasures of the Dino-mercial...simply drawin' more and more dudes to come to know, love, and honor our Dino.

Thanks to Mr. Gary Ott for his kindest of kind Dino-words. To view this Dino-prose in it's original format, just click on the tagg of this Dino-gram. And, for your Dino-viewin' Dinopleasure I have included a simply Dino-grand clip from youtube of a series of vignettes from our great man's great show...makes me yearn more and more to return to the days when Dino walked the earth! Dino-hooked...and proud of it!, DMP

Dean Martin infomercial brings back fond memories of TV variety shows

by Gary Ott

Midland Reporter-Telegram

Published: Sunday, February 28, 2010 2:27 AM CST

When the infomercial first appeared on the TV screen, Dean Martin, with cigarette in hand and a sheepish grin on his face, was exchanging witty one-liners with Jimmy Stewart. Later, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, Lucille Ball, Michael Landon, Florence Henderson, Louis Armstrong and Tony Bennett would make quick appearances, as did many other stars from the 1960s and 70s. It was all a part of an effort to sell more home videos of the old "Dean Martin Show" that aired on NBC from 1965 to 1974.

For 30 minutes, the infomercial showed highlights from past episodes and each time audience laughter could be heard in the background. Even as a TV viewer watching during the wee hours of the morning, it was difficult not to giggle out loud, too.

That was especially true if you were old enough to have watched the original series. The memories flowed and in a peculiar way you wanted to turn back the clock, back to a time when the three major networks dominated the airways. Indeed, for most of us it would be years before cable TV would greatly expand our viewing options. Until then, it was ABC, NBC and CBS. And if you wanted to switch channels you got up and did it manually. Hard to imagine, isn't it?

In the Ott household the "Dean Martin Show" was must-watch TV, as the entire family -- well, except for my older sister, who was above such things -- would join together to enjoy the latest antics of Dino and his cast of merry characters. And it was indeed an impressive collection. In addition to those mentioned above, other guests appearing through the years included Woody Allen, Ann-Margret, Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr., Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, Goldie Hawn, Orson Welles, Ella Fitzgerald and even the great Judy Garland.

In a way, it was like viewing a TV version of a Rat Pack performance from Las Vegas. There was singing, dancing and lots of jokes, a few that bordered on being suggestive, especially for that time in America's history. Still, that was part of the charm. The show had a night club feel to it, right down to Martin's traditional tuxedo and repeated references to drinking.

But really, this series did not stand alone. Indeed, for many Americans, especially those my age, the 1960s represent a wonderful era for TV variety shows, although they were slowly disappearing and being replaced by sitcoms and one-hour dramas. Still, the variety show had its place. See if these ring a bell: "The Jackie Gleason Show," "Rowan and Martin's Laugh In," "The Carol Burnett Show" and "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour."

And they came on the heels of others, those classics that starred legends such as Dinah Shore, Perry Como, Tennessee Ernie Ford and Lawrence Welk.

But the real old-timers will insist you have to go back even earlier to truly appreciate the beginnings of this unique genre. In particular, they point to the "Texaco Star Theater," starring Milton Berle, and "Your Show of Shows," which featured Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner and Imogene Coca, among others.

Still, for many Americans one variety show stands alone above the rest ... and that would be "The Ed Sullivan Show," which could be seen every Sunday night for more than two decades. And while it was known for attracting a wide array of guests, it was rock 'n' roll that became most closely identified with the show, specifically Elvis Presley and The Beatles. In a way, the program served as their coming-out party. And this country's youth would never be the same.

So, as you can see, the variety show has a long and rich history. And, frankly, it's a shame you can't find one in prime time these days. At least those of us on the back side of 50 have our memories. As for you youngsters, if you come across that infomercial starring Dean Martin, stop and watch. You'll be glad you did. After all, giggling out loud never gets old.