"Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" is a Pop / Jazz song written in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

with music by

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television, and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Award for Best Original Song, Academy Awards for ...

and lyrics by

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premie ...

. It was first recorded that year on May 10 by

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...

in a swinging big band

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

arrangement conducted by

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many vocalists at Capitol Records, including ...

. Martin performed the song in the 1960

heist film The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime films and the caper story, focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery. One of the early defining heist films was '' The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), which ''Film G ...

Ocean's 11 ''Ocean's 11'' is a 1960 American heist film directed and produced by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay by Harry Brown and Charles Lederer, based on a story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. The film stars an ensemble cast a ...

'' in an alternate arrangement featuring vibraphonist

Red Norvo Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His recor ...

and his quartet. The song was covered in 2004 by Irish

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...

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 Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, 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".

'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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s "Reviews of This Week's Singles",

'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. The song languished in obscurity and remained unreleased on LP or CD for many years after its initial single release. 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.Ain't That A Kick In the Head!.
reprint
Furmanek located the three-track stereo session master tape and remixed the song in true stereo for the first time. The album sold well, eventually achieving

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

status, and the song has become strongly associated with Martin, in part due to ''Ocean's 11''. The Furmanek mix has been released on a number of subsequent Dean Martin

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

albums, such as '' Dino: The Essential Dean Martin'' and Capitol's and EMI's separate yet identically-titled Martin ''Greatest Hits'' releases, as well as many swing and easy listening genre compilations.

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 was featured in the 2010 video game '' Fallout: New Vegas'', where it can be heard on the in-game radio station Radio New Vegas. It was also featured in the 2011 film '' Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol'' during the film's prison break sequence. It was used again in the trailer for the 2025 film '' Mickey 17''.

Certifications

Westlife version

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ain't That A Kick In The Head? 1960 singles 1960 songs Bertelsmann Music Group singles Capitol Records singles Dean Martin songs RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Songs with lyrics by Sammy Cahn Songs with music by Jimmy Van Heusen Syco Music singles Westlife songs