Everybody Loves Somebody

"Everybody Loves Somebody" is a song written in 1947 by Sam Coslow, Irving Taylor and Ken Lane. By 1964, the song had already been recorded by several artists (including Frank Sinatra), but without much success. In that year that Lane was playing piano for Dean Martin on his Dream With Dean LP sessions, and with an hour or so of studio time left and one song short, Lane suggested that Martin take a run at his tune. Dean was agreeable, and the small combo of piano, guitar, drums and bass performed a relatively quiet, laid back jazz version of the song. Martin had sung the tune on Bob Hope's radio show in 1948. It can be found on YouTube.

Almost immediately thereafter, Martin re-recorded the tune for his next album, this time with an orchestra and chorus. His label, Reprise Records, was so enthusiastic about the hit potential of this version, they even titled the LP Everybody Loves Somebody to capitalize on it.

Although still a major recording artist, Martin had not had a Top 40 hit since 1958. And with the British Invasion ruling the U.S. charts, few had hopes that a middle aged Italian crooner would sway many teenagers. And yet, defying the odds, Everybody Loves Somebody shot straight up to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The song also topped the Billboard "easy listening" chart for eight weeks. It ultimately replaced "That's Amore" as Martin's signature song, and he sang it as the theme of his weekly television variety show from 1965 until 1974. The song has become so identified with Dean Martin, that later cover versions are invariably compared to his hit take on the tune.

Martin resented rock n' roll, and his attitude created conflict at home with his fourteen-year-old son Dean Paul Martin, who like many teenagers in the Western world, worshipped The Beatles. He told his son, "I'm gonna' knock your pallies off the charts,"^[1] and in August 15, 1964 he did just that: Everybody Loves Somebody knocked the Beatles off the number one slot on Billboard.

In the 1990s, the song was licensed to Western Union for use in a series of television commercials.

The words "Everybody Loves Somebody" appear on Dean Martin's grave marker in Los Angeles.^[2]

Guy Mitchell released a cover of this song. Lil Wally Jagiello also performed this as a polka on the Lawrence Welk show.

References

• The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition, 1996