How interesting that Dean Martin was the one who kicked the Beatles out of the number one spot. It has been six years since Dean had had a chart record, and nine since he had had a number one. (“Memories Are Made of This” in 1955.) “Everybody Loves Somebody” was only his second and also his last number one song.

“Everybody Loves Somebody” was an old song, written by the writing team of Sam Coslow, Irving Taylor and Ken Lane in 1947. It had already been recorded by many artists, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr, Trini Lopez and Nancy Sinatra among others. Only Frank Sinatra had cracked the Top 40 and he only reached number 25 with the song in 1948. Dean Martin’s version was quite a bit different from Frank’s.

Dean was in the recording studio working on an album, Dream With Dean and they had cut eleven songs and needed one more to complete the album. It so happened that Ken Lane, one of the writers of “Everybody Loves Somebody” was playing piano in the band that was accompanying Dean on the album. He suggested they record “Everybody Loves Somebody.” Why not, since he had written it and the song needed a new fresh sound. So, Dean did.

This was a major coup for Dean Martin. He hated rock and roll and especially the Beatles, but his son, Dean Paul Martin, loved them. He told his son that he was going to knock them right off the charts and that’s exactly what he did. Because of this song, NBC offered Dean a weekly variety show, The Dean Martin Show, which ran from 1965 until 1974. One feature of the variety show was a mock roast that they would do for different celebrities. NBC took that segment and created a number of specials over the next few years, called The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast. “Everybody Loves Somebody” replaced “That’s Amore” as Dean’s signature song.

Dean Martin was always known for having a drink in his hand when he performed, but Dean was not a heavy drinker. People say he was always the first one to leave a party. In the end, it was his smoking that got him. In 1993, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and in 1995, he died of emphysema at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas day, 1995. He was 78 years old. The words “Everybody Loves Somebody” was engraved on his tombstone.

“Everybody Loves Somebody” entered the Top 40 on the pop charts on July 11, 1964 and spent one week at number one, but it created a legacy that Dean would live with his entire life.

Here is a video of Dean singing the song, but it has a little comedy intro which I liked very much. This is probably from his show, The Dean Martin Show.