Bobby Caudle's DEAN O'HOLICS Tribute to Dean Martin & The Rat Pack

It’s the Frank Sinatra Showroom at the Cal Neva. The lights go down and Dean, Frank and Sammy take the stage. No, this is not just a fantasy jaunt down memory lane. The Rat Pack comes alive again through The Dean-O-Holics, a tribute to the good old days.

The origin of the group reads like a Cinderella story. Four years ago, Bob Caudle (Dino), owner of a DJ business and event facility, was on a cruise with his family. Caudle entered a blackjack tournament aboard the ship, which he won.

Afterwards, he wandered in to the bar to have a few and was, unbeknownst to him, signed up to sing karaoke. Caudle had dabbled in the past with a bit of karaoke, but usually needed some liquid encouragement to get him going. After whetting his whistle, Caudle took the stage with his rendition of “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime,” a Martin staple.

He brought the house down and awhile later a bottle of champagne was brought over to his table. At first Caudle thought the champagne was an additional prize from the tournament, but was informed instead that he had qualified as a finalist in the ship’s Princess Idol competition.

For the finals he grabbed his dad’s old tuxedo along with a few cocktails and after a little singing and ad libbing, Caudle won the contest. As fate would have it, there was a corporate party planner in the audience who was anxious to book Caudle’s Dean for a casino night she had coming up. The rest simply fell into place.

Caudle was able to connect with local talent in his area to complete his Rat Pack arsenal. The popularity of the group and the songs from that period propelled The Dean-O-Holics into the spotlight rapidly.

The “stars” are backed by their Lil’ Big Band, which includes Musical Director John “Liberace” Wilder on keyboards, Kristy Reed on sax and Bruce Turley on drums. The show starts with the emcee of the evening, Dino, ad libbing and warming up the crowd with the others following suit shortly after. Caudle is well versed in this having grown up watching Martin and his Gold Diggers.

The group works their way through the years of the rat pack, not exclusively the 1961 Sands era which most of the Rat Pack Tribute shows usually do. Caudle is quick to point out that the show is more of a tribute to the style of the music than to the artists themselves although the voices are remarkably close to the originals.

Listen, dance and enjoy beer, wine or one of Dino’s favorite martinis at the bar.