Ain't That a Kick in the Head?

"Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"
Single by Dean Martin
B-side	"Humdinger"
Released	July 1960 (1960-07)
Recorded	May 10, 1960
Genre	Swing
Length	2:24
Label	Capitol
Composer(s)	Jimmy Van Heusen
Lyricist(s)	Sammy Cahn
Producer(s)	Lee Gillette
Dean Martin singles chronology
"Just in Time" (1960) "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" (1960) "Sogni D'oro (Golden Dreams)" (1960)

"Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" is a swing song written in 1960 with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was first recorded on May 10 of that year by Dean Martin in a swinging big band jazz arrangement conducted by Nelson Riddle. The song was featured in the 1960 heist film Ocean's 11 , where Martin performed it in an alternate arrangement featuring vibraphonist Red Norvo and his quartet.

The song was covered in 2004 by Irish boy band Westlife on their sixth studio album, ...Allow Us to Be Frank . Despite not charting in Ireland and failing to appear on the UK Singles Chart, their cover of the song reached No. 4 on the UK Download Chart, peaked at No. 5 in Denmark, and charted within the top 50 in Flanders, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Background

Van Heusen and Cahn wrote the song specifically for the 1960 film Ocean's 11, though it was initially referred to press as "Ain't That a Kick in the Seat". ^[1] Dean Martin's single was released before the film's premiere on August 10, 1960. In the film, Martin performs the song inside a Las Vegas casino.

Reception

Despite being listed on the "Very Strong Sales Potential" list in Billboard's "Reviews of This Week's Singles", ^[2] Dean Martin's initial release of "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" failed to chart and never technically was a hit in terms of sales or radio play. ^{[3] [4]}

The song languished in obscurity and remained unreleased on LP or CD for many years after its initial single release. ^[5] However, in 1989, producer Ron Furmanek was assembling material for a new Dean Martin compilation album in the Capitol Collectors Series and decided to include the tune. ^[5] Furmanek located the three-track stereo session master tape and remixed the song in true stereo for the first time. ^[5] The album sold well, eventually achieving Gold status, and the song has become strongly associated with Martin, in part due to Ocean's 11. ^{[5] [6]}

The Furmanek mix has been released on a number of subsequent Dean Martin greatest hits albums, such as Dino: The Essential Dean Martin and Capitol's and EMI's separate yet identically-titled Martin Greatest Hits releases, ^{[7] [8]} as well as many swing and easy listening genre compilations. ^[9]

In popular culture

Aside from the performance in Ocean's 11, the song has been used in a variety of popular media since its release. The song is heard in the 1990 feature film A Bronx Tale . ^[10] It is featured in the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas , where it is played on the in-game radio station Radio New Vegas. ^[11] It was also featured in the 2011 film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol during the film's prison break sequence.^{[ citation needed ]} It was used again in the trailer for the 2025 film Mickey 17 . ^[12]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [13]	Platinum	1,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Westlife version

"Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"
Single by Westlife
from the album ...Allow Us to Be Frank
B-side	"Moon River"
Released	November 1, 2004 (2004-11-01)
Length	2:25
Label	RCA BMG S
Composer(s)	Jimmy Van Heusen
Lyricist(s)	Sammy Cahn
Producer(s)	Steve Mac
Westlife singles chronology
"Obvious" (2004) "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" (2004) "Smile" (2004)

Charts

Chart (2004–2005)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [14]	47
Denmark (Tracklisten) [15]	5
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [16]	41
Romania (Romanian Top 100) [17]	74
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [18]	20
UK Singles Downloads (OCC) [19]	4

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
Denmark	November 1, 2004	CD	RCA BMG S	[20]
Sweden	November 3, 2004			[21]

References

1. Zhito, Lee (1 February 1960). "On the Soundtrack". Billboard. Vol. 72, no. 5. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 33. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
2. "Reviews of This Week's Singles". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 25 July 1960. p. 45. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
3. Billboard Archive Search, 1960
4. "Show Music". Vol. 7. Max O. Preeo. 1991. p. 76. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
5. Ain't That A Kick In the Head!. (reprint)
6. Mott, Patrick (February 2000). "The Dean of Las Vegas". Orange Coast Magazine. Vol. 26, no. 2. Emmis Communications. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
7. "Greatest Hits [Capitol] - Dean Martin | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
8. "Greatest Hits [EMI Import] - Dean Martin | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
9. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head - Dean Martin Song Info". AllMusic.
10. Various - A Bronx Tale (Music From The Motion Picture), 1993, retrieved 2025-07-10
11. Hawkes, Jake (9 November 2021). "How 'Fallout: New Vegas' taught me to love the apocalypse". NME. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
12. Patton, Tess (2024-09-18). "Robert Pattinson Dies, Repeatedly, in 'Mickey 17' Trailer". TheWrap. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
13. "American single certifications – Dean Martin – Ain't a Kick in the Head?". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved September 6, 2024.
14. "Westlife – ...Ain't That a Kick in the Head" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
15. "Westlife – ...Ain't That a Kick in the Head". Tracklisten. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
16. "Westlife – ...Ain't That a Kick in the Head" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
17. "Arhiva romanian top 100 – Editia 5, saptamina 7.02 – 13.02, 2005" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on February 23, 2005. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
18. "Westlife – ...Ain't That a Kick in the Head". Singles Top 100. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
19. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
20. "Westlife: Single". click2music.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on December 16, 2004. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
21. "Westlife: Ain´t That a Kick in the Head". click2music.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on February 16, 2005. Retrieved November 30, 2023.