DEAN MARTIN – “Memories Are Made Of This”
The Rat Pack glorification of hard-drinkin’ Dino means that even conformist outings like this get compiled and recycled repeatedly as totems of a seedy glamour. If you knew nothing about Dean Martin the man, though, you’d hear this for what it is: pinpoint pop craftsmanship applied to cloying sentiment. The tune sticks in your head immediately and the arrangement is distinctive – those murmuring backing vocals giving an almost doo-wop feel to the recording. Martin’s on professional form, and it’s only when you listen closely that you realise what a smarmy song this snapshot of happy home-making is.
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Light entertainment watch: Dean Martin was too big a star to need bothering with British television appearances. I’m assuming that this programme is some sort of gala in his honour;
THIS IS YOUR LUNCH: Dean Martin (1983)
It’s really noticeable how as 1955 becomes 1956 I’m finding a lot more tunes I already know. The very early chart toppers were completely alien to me but Rock Around The Clock(of course), Sixteen Tons and now this seem much more a part of my pop landscape. Personally I’ve always prefered Dean to old Frank and I rather enjoy the smarmy swagger of this.
I’ve always found the lyric quite touching in its block simplicity: “Some grief, some joy”. It’s a bit James Stewart, if a bit too straight for Frank Capra. The bv’s make it, and were purloined for Frankie Laine’s great Love Is A Golden Ring later in the year.
Never been able to take this song seriously since Birds Eye used it in a cartoon commercial for frozen peas c1967 (when, coincidentally, Val Doonican had a minor hit with his version).
Premise of the ad is that only the smallest, tastiest peas get through the filter to the Birds Eye pack. A huge pea nicknamed Cannonball keeps gamely trying to make the cut, at one point humming “Sweet sweet, the tastiest pea am I” …. Those words have stuck in my head ever since.
wichita, were you aware that the Easy Riders are the bv’s on both records?! They also co-wrote both songs.
As for Dino’s smarminess, he did once state a preference for something a bit saucier than the lyrics of this song…
It’s pleasant enough, and unlike Sinatra, at least he had a UK #1 with his real ‘signature’ song.
Petula Clark’s ‘rival’ cover version is more my cup of tea, anyhow.
DESERT ISLAND DISC WATCH (Up to 11/04/11)
Marquess of Bath, owner of Longleat(1975)
Philip Pullman, writer(2002)
Terrence Stamp, actor (2006)