Dino, Desi & Billy

A Hollywood-based trio barely into their teens upon cracking the charts in 1965, Dino, Desi & Billy produced a clean-cut brand of pop that foreshadowed the later bubblegum wave. Blending elements reminiscent of both the Monkees and Gary Lewis, the lineup consisted of Dino Martin, offspring of vocalist and comedian Dean Martin; Desi Arnaz Jr., child of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz; and their schoolmate Billy Hinsche, who started performing together purely for enjoyment. Their gear was scarcely assembled when they tried out for Dean Martin’s associate Frank Sinatra, the operator of the Reprise imprint that also issued their material. Before 1964 concluded, the group had already issued its debut single on that label.

Over the ensuing couple of years, the trio’s studio sessions were guided by leading producers and arrangers Lee Hazlewood, Billy Strange, and Jimmy Bowen. “I’m a Fool” climbed into the Top 20 during 1965, while “Not the Lovin’ Kind” reached the Top 30 several months afterward. Although none of the members had yet turned 15, they performed before frenzied audiences as an opening act on the Beach Boys’ 1965 tour and, for a brief period, outsold Sinatra himself on his own imprint.

Dino, Desi & Billy never returned to the Top 40 after 1965, yet they kept issuing singles and albums for additional years. Their catalog drew on material from prominent pop and rock writers such as Lee Hazlewood, David Gates, Boyce & Hart, Clint Ballard, Jr., Bonner & Gordon, and Brian Wilson, the last of whom supplied the song “Lady Love,” which appeared as one of the act’s final Reprise releases in 1970. Dean Paul Martin, who served in the California Air National Guard, perished in an aviation accident on March 21, 1987. In 1998, Dino’s son Ricci Martin joined Arnaz and Hinsche to perform and record under the name Ricci, Desi & Billy. Billy Hinsche succumbed to lung cancer on November 20, 2021, at the age of 70.