Dean Martin - Everybody Loves Somebody

The songwriters Sam Coslow, Ken Lane and Irving Taylor wrote this for Dean Martin's friend and fellow Rat Pack member Frank Sinatra. His version was released in 1948, but went nowhere. It was recorded in the '50s by Peggy Lee and Dinah Washington, but still failed to find an audience.

In 1964, Dean Martin was finishing up recording his Dream with Dean album and had completed 11 songs. Albums always had 12 songs in the US, so Dean asked his conductor and piano player, Ken Lane, if he had something else for him. Ken said he had an old song he had written - "Everybody Loves Somebody."

Dean liked it and recorded it with just Ken, a bass player, a guitar and drums. The reaction to the cut on the album was so great that Dean went back into the studio and re-recorded it for a single release with a full orchestra and background singers.

It was such as hit that it knocked "A Hard Day's Night" out of its #1 spot on the charts. It became Dean's theme song for his TV show the next year in 1965. The other version is still available on compilation albums.

Martin hadn't had a substantial pop hit since his version of "Volare" went to #12 in 1958. In 1962, he signed with the Reprise record label, which was founded by Frank Sinatra. Reprise was able to put some promotional might behind Martin and give him a more contemporary sound. He kept his distance from rock and roll, but there was still an audience for his sound. "Everybody Loves Somebody" became the first chart-topper on Reprise; Martin was a reliable seller on the label throughout the '60s, with most of his singles landing on the Hot 100.

According to Martin's daughter, Deana (recounted in her book Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes), when this knocked "A Hard Day's Night" off the top of the US chart on August 15, 1964, Dino sent a telegram to Elvis Presley that read, "If you can't handle the Beatles, I'll do it for you, pally."

Martin and Presley had a good-natured rivalry: In 1970, when Martin came to an Elvis concert in Las Vegas, Presley started singing "Everybody Loves Somebody" to get a rise out of him. It worked - Martin laughed hysterically.