Dino, Desi & Billy

A Hollywood trio who were barely into their teens when they hit the charts in 1965, Dino, Desi & Billy's wholesome pop anticipated the bubblegum fad. Kind of a cross between the <a href="spotify:artist:320EPCSEezHt1rtbfwH6Ck">Monkees</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5aSnz1nvFeSHw02Ijw0VO3">Gary Lewis</a>, Dino was Dino Martin, son of singer/comedian <a href="spotify:artist:49e4v89VmlDcFCMyDv9wQ9">Dean Martin</a>, Desi was the son of <a href="spotify:artist:4iHZOJwqINvw5RxPULuaEJ">Lucille Ball</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:05b7BsGIAsGlKSzmlWmLhy">Desi Arnaz</a>, and along with classmate <a href="spotify:artist:4OQ6FXhmj2hAgW7KYfCuEj">Billy Hinsche</a>, they began playing for fun. They'd barely gotten their equipment together when they auditioned for <a href="spotify:artist:49e4v89VmlDcFCMyDv9wQ9">Dean Martin</a>'s buddy, <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Frank Sinatra</a>, who ran and recorded for <a href="spotify:artist:49e4v89VmlDcFCMyDv9wQ9">Martin</a>'s label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%22">Reprise</a>. By the end of 1964, they'd released their first single for the label.

Top producers and arrangers <a href="spotify:artist:2aVHDjRHRM7dcFkGwahXLG">Lee Hazlewood</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4q3t7t2bWgFdiYgfXyj0It">Billy Strange</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6nUcMkLeIkY6By8FS5vj0V">Jimmy Bowen</a> oversaw the trio's recording dates over the next couple of years. "I'm a Fool" made the Top 20 in 1965; "Not the Lovin' Kind" got into the Top 30 a few months later. None of the group had reached the age of 15 yet, but they were playing to screaming crowds as a support act to a <a href="spotify:artist:3oDbviiivRWhXwIE8hxkVV">Beach Boys</a> tour in 1965, and (for a few months) outselling <a href="spotify:artist:1Mxqyy3pSjf8kZZL4QVxS0">Sinatra</a> on his own label.

Dino, Desi & Billy never got into the Top 40 after 1965, but they continued to release singles and albums for several more years. They recorded compositions by top pop/rock songwriters like <a href="spotify:artist:2aVHDjRHRM7dcFkGwahXLG">Lee Hazlewood</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5BmXbfqAgfkuTkPlVQDKOW">David Gates</a>, Boyce & Hart, Clint Ballard, Jr., <a href="spotify:artist:6NymowjWt5rclmZaVsXjVJ">Bonner</a> & Gordon and <a href="spotify:artist:4Q82S0VzF8qlCb4PnSDurj">Brian Wilson</a>, whose song "Lady Love" became one of their final <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%22">Reprise</a> singles in 1970. A member of the California Air National Guiard, Dean Paul Martin lost his life in a plane crash on March 21, 1987. In 1998, Dino's son <a href="spotify:artist:4tT7OJuHJTr6YBpbT8VEUB">Ricci Martin</a> teamed with Arnaz and <a href="spotify:artist:4OQ6FXhmj2hAgW7KYfCuEj">Hinsche</a> to tour and record as Ricci, Desi & Billy. <a href="spotify:artist:4OQ6FXhmj2hAgW7KYfCuEj">Billy Hinsche</a> died of lung cancer on November 20, 2021; he was 70 years old. ~ TiVo Staff, Rovi