Billy
HINSCHE
When did you first think about performing, writing and producing music as something you wanted to do? I first started thinking about performing when Dino, Desi and I put the group together. We started playing local parties around Beverly Hills it was so much fun we just wanted to keep doing it.
Interview by
Lon Levin William “Billy” Hinsche (born June 29, 1951) is an American musician who was part of the singing group Dino, Desi & Billy and a touring musician with The Beach Boys. Hinsche was born in Manila, the Philippines, where his father, Otto “Doc” Hinsche, owned a casino. After World War II, the family moved to the United States and settled in Beverly Hills. Hinsche attended Beverly Hills Catholic High School, where he met Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Dean Paul Martin. The three later formed the group Dino, Desi & Billy and signed with Frank Sinatra’s record label Reprise Records. I first met Billy on the baseball diamond at Roxbury Park. We were on rival teams. Billy was a “cool” pitcher with great control and I was a power hitter who ate fastballs. I loved hitting against Billy! Later on Billy applied his cool to pop music becoming the musical backbone to his first big group, Dino, Desi and Billy. They were a teenage sensation that featuring Dino Martin, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Billy. I was delighted when my old rival and friend agreed to do this interview.
The notion of writing songs didn’t come ‘til much later and producing as well, after we saw the benefits of expanding our horizons in those areas. We started our own production company, created Dino Desi and Billy Music as our publishing company and started writing, producing and publishing our own songs. We also produced four songs for Dean Martin. I wrote two of them What kind of kid were you? I was basically kind of shy and quiet but I was a good student, president of my class for several years, got really good grades and was popular with the other kids in my class. Where did you grow up? . I was born in Manila in the Philippines and our family moved to Beverly Hills when I was quite young - that’s where I was raised from about age 5. What were your influences? My piano tutors had me learn simple pieces from Mozart, Chopin, and some of the other Masters. I listened to a lot of musical soundtracks growing up such as My Fair Lady, Gigi, South Pacific and others. I started listening to the radio at an early age and enjoyed all the popular songs of the day like “Purple People Eater,” “Baby Talk,” “When,” “Splish Splash” and others. I started buying 45rpm Records around that time too. Listening to the radio always gave me an understanding of what was going on in the world musically and the popular
