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 Monkees and Gary Lewis, Dino was Dino Martin, son of singer/comedian Dean Martin, Desi was the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and along with classmate Billy Hinsche, they began playing for fun. They'd barely gotten their equipment together when they auditioned for Dean Martin's buddy, Frank Sinatra, who ran and recorded for Martin's label, Reprise. By the end of 1964, they'd released their first single for the label. Top producers and arrangers Lee Hazlewood, Billy Strange, and Jimmy Bowen 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 Beach Boys tour in 1965, and (for a few months) outselling Sinatra 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 Lee Hazlewood, David Gates, Boyce & Hart, Clint Ballard, Jr., Bonner & Gordon and Brian Wilson, whose song "Lady Love" became one of their final Reprise 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 Ricci Martin teamed with Arnaz and Hinsche to tour and record as Ricci, Desi & Billy. Billy Hinsche died of lung cancer on November 20, 2021; he was 70 years old.
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