That's Amore
| "That's Amore" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Single by Dean Martin | |
| Released | 1953 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Label | Capitol |
| Writer(s) | Jack Brooks, Harry Warren |
"That's Amore" is a 1952 song by composer Harry Warren[1] and lyricist Jack Brooks.[1] It became a major hit and signature song for Dean Martin in 1953. Amore (pronounced ah-MOR-eh) means "love" in Italian.
The song first appeared in the soundtrack of the Martin and Lewis comedy film The Caddy, released by Paramount Pictures on August 10, 1953. In the film, the song is performed mainly by Dean Martin, with Jerry Lewis joining in and then followed by the other characters in the scene. It received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song of that year, but it lost to "Secret Love" from Calamity Jane starring Doris Day.[1]
The track that was used for the single released by Capitol Records was recorded on August 13, 1953, (Session 3098; Master 11694-6), with the orchestra conducted by Dick Stabile, at Capitol Records' studios at 5505 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California. On November 7, 1953, Martin's record of the song, with "You're the Right One" (which was recorded at the same session as "That's Amore") on the flip side, peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts. The song was kept from the #1 spot when Les Paul and Mary Ford's Capitol Records single "Vaya Con Dios" returned to the #1 spot after being knocked out by Stan Freberg's Capitol Records single "St. George and the Dragonet", which had been #1 for the past four weeks, after "Vaya Con Dios" had been #1 for the nine previous weeks.[citation needed]
The song remains closely identified with Dean Martin. That's Amore was used as the title for a 2001 video retrospective of Martin's career; and his son, Ricci Martin, entitled his 2002 biography That's Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin.[2] As an iconic song, "That's Amore" remains a secondary signature song.
Many artists have covered this song, one being Alma Cogan, who sang it on the BBC radio programme Take It From Here on December 31, 1953.
In popular culture [edit]
In 1987, Dean Martin's rendition of "That's Amore" enjoyed a resurgence of popularity when it was featured in the popular film Moonstruck, directed by Norman Jewison and starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, and Olympia Dukakis.
Since around the year 2000, the song has been sung by association football fans with the lyrics changed to "When the ball hits your head and you're sat in row Z, that's Zamora", in honour of the English footballer Bobby Zamora. It started while he was playing for Brighton & Hove Albion and has since followed him to West Ham United, Fulham and his current club QPR.[3]
At the end of the "A Tree Grows in Springfield" episode of the 24th season of The Simpsons, the song provides the background music to an extra animated shortfilm.
The song is featured in the 1998 film Babe: Pig in the City.
In the 1999 movie Stuart Little, when Stuart is kidnapped by the Stouts, Mr. Stout turns on the car radio to hear "That's Amore" being sung by Dean Martin, and tells Stuart to sing along.
Notes [edit]
- ^ a b c Osborne, Robert (1994). 65 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards. London: Abbeville Press. p. 131. ISBN 1-55859-715-8.
- ^ Martin, Ricci (25 January 2002). That's Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin. Lanham< Maryland: Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-87833-272-4.
- ^ Wighton, Kate; Spanton, Tim (28 September 2010). "Oldencalls". The Sun (London).
