Five-Star Favs – It All Began In Mexico

First a word of explanation to newer visitors (and a reminder to regulars). The Special Feature known as Five Star Favs is the one that spotlights a song that falls into a very unique category — it inhabits space in the top tier of my music collection, which means I have given it a five-star rating. It might be from any of several different genres, and I’m not sure that I can always explain why it’s special to me, but I don’t think that’s even necessary. A favorite is a favorite because you like it.

Today’s featured selection actually began life as a Mexican mambo instrumental. “Quién será?” was written by Pablo Beltran Ruiz and Luis Demetrio more than sixty years ago, and has since become a Latin standard. But it’s not exactly a Five-Star Fav for me in its original version. That distinction began to take form when Norman Gimbel added English lyrics and Dean Martin recorded it in 1954, under the name “Sway.” It became a hit record, and eventually one of my all-time favorites.

Although Dino’s version is my Five Star Fav, the song has been recorded by a lot of others in subsequent years. Among them are Rosemary Clooney and Connie Francis for the ladies; while Bobby Rydell and Cliff Richard followed in Dino’s footsteps, as did the singer with the best-known version in the new millennium, Michael Bublé.

Just for contrast — and to have a little fun — I’ve included a video of the song as performed by the Pussycat Dolls. The group’s rendition appeared on the soundtrack of the 2004 film Shall We Dance?, which starred Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez.

Dean Martin – “Sway”