Martin’s approach also anticipates the just-hanging-out-by-a-microphone vibe of your Fallons and Kimmels, of YouTube and livestreams and every other new medium that’s further blurred the line between performing and goofing around. As stand-up comedians, we all know that anything that plays as an ad-lib is always remembered.” “There’s a spontaneity that comes with that, that’s irreplaceable. “It was definitely a show that used the idea that he wasn’t prepared,” says Bill Maher, who was a kid up past his bedtime in the late ‘60s when he discovered Martin. But the show is liberated from vintage stiffness by Martin’s laid-back affect, an unrehearsed quality that he achieved by not rehearsing. At each stage of his remarkable run he seemed to shrug off a little more of the conceit and artifice of show business, leaning into the Zen of Dean, at peace in the spotlight, eyeballing cue cards he’s clearly never seen before with a What do we have here? smile - what his grandson Alexander Martin calls “that sliding-down-the-surface-of-things energy.”Įven by ‘70s standards, his weekly variety series “The Dean Martin Show,” which ran from 1965 through 1974 on NBC, plays like an artifact from a dead civilization - all cornball duets, Charles Nelson Reilly cameos and 1930s-style chorus girls in spangly lamé. It turned out people would gladly pay to watch Martin and his pals enjoy being famous in each other’s company. McVie, who died on Wednesday, was the earthbound counterpoint to bandmate Stevie Nicks’ crystal visions, and the group’s most lovely and merciful presence. Music Christine McVie’s greatness proved that shy girl power had a place in rock ‘n’ roll “We get up every morning,” Edwards says, “and we think, ‘How are the next five years gonna look? Where do we want him to be seen? How do we want him to be defined within popular culture?” Distilled spirits.”Īnd, yes, Edwards says, Dino will be on TikTok. “We’re looking at documentaries, we’re looking at biopics, we’re looking at musicals. “Everything is on the table if it’s appropriate for the artist,” he says. (There’s never been one, although Martin Scorsese and “Goodfellas” screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi took a run at the idea in the late ‘90s.) A new documentary film is now in discussion a full-fledged Dean biopic might be a possibility down the road, Edwards says. Last month, Iconic acquired an equity position in the rights held by the Dean Martin estate, which includes his music, vast amounts of work across the audiovisual spectrum, along with a lifetime of archival ephemera - and will use all that material to put Dean back in front of the whole world again. “Irving deeply cares about his artists,” Edwards says, “and he wants to make sure their legacies are preserved.” Iconic, Edwards says, assumes the position of the artist at the negotiating table, managing present-day branding opportunities while looking ahead to the ways in which audiences might encounter these artists in emerging and future mediums. Last summer he became the president of Iconic Artists Group, a company that manages the legacies of a roster of eminent rock and pop artists, including the Beach Boys, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Linda Ronstadt and Nat “King” Cole.įounded in 2018 by megamanager Irving Azoff - legendary in his own right for his pugnacious advocacy of the interests of artists like the Eagles - Iconic is part of a growing sector of firms making big bets on the enduring appeal of 20th century superstars and the long-term exploitability of the work they have (or will have) left behind. Edwards is a music industry veteran whose résumé includes a decade at Warner Music Group as well as a few years at Frank Sinatra Enterprises. Lately, a guy named Jimmy Edwards has been thinking a lot about Martin’s place in the modern media landscape - where Dean is right now, some 27 years after his death at age 78, and where he ought to be, culturally speaking. It’s a strange state of affairs for an artist who was once a year-round fixture of the entertainment landscape - a genial omnipresence whose breezy, boozy, hardly-workin’ charm came across on every platform he touched, from stage to screen to radio to records, in comedy and drama and celebrity roasts. 1, with 351 million streams, presumably racked up largely between Black Friday and New Year’s Day. “ Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” is No. Of the 10 most-played Dino tracks on Spotify right now, seven are holiday novelties - jovial corn for popping. ’Tis the season for Dean Martin - the one month of the year when he’s ubiquitous once again, haunting tinseled malls and cocktail-party playlists, a ghost of Christmas past whose voice can make even the balmiest West Coast day feel like a marshmallow world in the winter.
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