Dean and Jerry and a 12” portable B&W TV set.

I sometimes feel I've been reincarnated. I’ve heard others say the same thing, so I know I’m not alone.

I heard Dean Martin singing on the ROK Classic Radio Network and couldn't help but drift a little, like a bobber on a windless lake, but tugged suddenly back by images of the frenetic and vapid Emmys the night before.[1]

Something's broken and careening wildly out of control.

My brother Tom and I used to stay up late in our upstairs bedroom and watch old Martin and Lewis movies. We put a 12” black-and-white portable TV on the floor between our beds and transformed the space into our own little theater.

We turned the volume up just loud enough to hear, and sometimes laughed so hard at Jerry’s antics we had to cover our mouths to avoid being discovered by Mom and Dad asleep downstairs.

We were maybe 7 and 8 years old, and a portable TV for a working class family of five was no small luxury, and to have it occasionally in our room was a rare treat.

I’m sure my nostalgic connection to Dean Martin‘s voice is partly due to having heard him sing so many years ago in our bedroom theater with my chin on the carpet and nose no more than a foot from the screen. My brain smells musical memories, like wisps of smoke from burning leaves recall the piles we built and scattered each fall.

Sailor Beware Before the Fight

(One of the most famous scenes Lewis ever did and very funny.)

Dean Martin singing "Never Before" from Sailor Beware

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis - Sailor Beware (1952)

(Watch the entire film.)

[2013-09-23]

 

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[1]

Pumpkin FM’s American Comedy Channel is on the ROK Classic Radio Network here >

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