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It wasn’t until 1946, when Dean began performing at the 500 Club in Atlantic City with comedian Jerry Lewis, that fame came calling. For the next ten years, Martin and Lewis enjoyed a massively successful partnership on both stage and screen. During that time, Martin also scored a major hit with ‘That’s Amore’ (recorded in 1953), which, like many of his best known songs, tipped its hat to the folk music of his Italian heritage. Dean Martin died on Christmas Day in 1995, but the hallmarks of his glamorous, swaggering style are still very much alive: the mod suits, the highballs, the one-liners…and, of course, the smoothly crafted pop music. — Mac Randall