Matt Monro Music

Matt Monro Music

If you could combine Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett into one package, it would be called Matt Monro.

Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons, 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s and 1970s. Known as The Man with the Golden Voice, he filled cabarets, nightclubs, music halls, and stadiums in Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and Hong Kong to Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas in his 30-year career. AllMusic has described Monro as "one of the most underrated pop vocalists of the '60s", who "possessed the easiest, most perfect baritone in the business".

Early career of Matt Monro

Matt Monro was born Terence Edward Parsons in Shoreditch, London[4] and attended Duncombe School in Islington, and Elliott School, Putney. He was first noticed while serving in the British armed forces in Hong Kong.

A regular guest (and frequent winner) of Radio Rediffusion's Talent Time show, Matt Monro was invited by then-host Ray Cordeiro to perform in his own one-off show, on the condition that he would bow out of future Talent Time episodes to make way for others. Agreeing to the deal, Matt Monro performed his first on-air concert for Rediffusion on June 27, 1953.

By 1956, Monro had become a featured vocalist with the BBC Show Band. An important influence on his early career was the pianist Winifred Atwell, who became his mentor, provided him with his stage name, and helped him sign with Decca Records.

In 1957 Matt Monro released Blue and Sentimental, a collection of standards. Despite the album's critical acclaim, Matt Monro languished among the young male singers trying to break through at the end of the 1950s, many of them emulating Frankie Vaughan by recording cover versions of American hits. (Matt Monro even recorded a version of Vaughan's "Garden of Eden" during this period.) A short recording contract with Fontana Records followed.

By the end of the 1950s, Monro's mid-decade fame had evaporated, and he returned to relative obscurity. Matt Monro and his wife Mickie lived from her wages as a song plugger and his royalties from a TV advertising jingle for Camay soap. In 1959 he recorded a country pastiche song, "Bound for Texas", for The Chaplin Revue, a feature-length compilation of Charlie Chaplin shorts. It would be the first of many Monro soundtrack themes.

International success[

Prior to producing the Peter Sellers album Songs for Swingin' Sellers in 1960, George Martin asked Matt Monro to record a satirical ditty to help the comedian imitate the song with a Frank Sinatra-type styling. When Sellers heard the recording he decided to use it to open the record rather than record his own version. However, Sellers billed Monro as "Fred Flange," and though it was a demoralising experience at the time, the incident developed into a lifelong friendship with Martin, who subsequently asked Monro to begin recording with him for EMI's Parlophone record label. Their second single and Monro's highest UK chart success, "Portrait of My Love", written by Cyril Ornadel and Norman Newell OBE (using the pseudonym "David West") reached number three in the UK Singles Chart.

By the following year, he had been named Top International Act by Billboard. In February 1961, the British music magazine, NME reported that Matt Monro had won ITV's A Song for Britain with "My Kind of Girl".[8] His follow-up hits included that song, plus "Softly as I Leave You" (1962) and the song from the James Bond film From Russia with Love (1963). For the latter, his vocals were not used in the opening titles, as became the standard for the series; they were heard on a radio during the film and over the final credits.

At the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest, singing "I Love the Little Things," Monro finished second behind Italy's 16-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti, despite an "excellent performance of the only English language song of the night."[9] The Austrian entry "Warum nur warum?", performed by songwriter Udo Jürgens, caught Monro's ear, despite its sixth-place finish, and he recorded an English version titled "Walk Away" (lyric by Monro's manager Don Black), earning him another hit single late in 1964. He also had a hit with the Beatles' "Yesterday" in 1965, releasing the first single of the most recorded song of all time, predating even the Beatles' own.

The following year, Monro sang the Oscar-winning title song for the film, Born Free, which became his signature tune. It was also his second collaboration with John Barry, following From Russia With Love. Monro went on to record two further songs from Barry film scores: "Wednesday's Child" (from the film The Quiller Memorandum) and "This Way Mary" (from Mary, Queen of Scots). Both Born Free and "On Days Like These" (from the film The Italian Job) had lyrics by Don Black.

In the late 1960s he recorded another Udo Jürgens song with the name Was Ich Dir Sagen Will. It was adapted to English as The Music Played. Matt recorded a Spanish version of the song with adapted title of Alguien Canto. The Spanish version was a top sales hit (Superventas) in Spain in 1969.[10] Additionally, Monro recorded an English version of Jürgens' 1966 Eurovision winner Merci, Chérie, but it failed to chart when released as a UK single.

On 31 December 1976, Monro performed Black's "Walk Away" on BBC1's A Jubilee of Music, celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth II's impending Silver Jubilee.

In 1979 Matt Monro recorded an album completely in Spanish with Leonardo Schultz and Gary Mason entitled Camino al Amor. It featured the hit song "Volvere Alguna Vez". The album was recorded with a 90 piece orchestra and Chorus at George Martin's Air London Studios, while the vocals were recorded in Miami, and the album was mixed in New York. The engineer was Tom Greto, and the arrangements were done by Kenny Woodman. The songs included:

1. Que Sea Al Amor (Let There Be Love)


2. Un Quadro De Mi Amor (Portrait Of My Love)


3. Con Mi Cancion (I Write The Songs)


4. Por Moma (La Mama/For Mama)


5. Amiga, Amada, Mjuer, Esposa (Friend, Lover, Women, Wife)


6. Cambiaria Todo Por Tu Amor (If I Never Sing Another Song)


7. Menos Mal (And You Smiled)


8. Se Ti Amo (Do I Love You)


9. Una Vez (Only Once)


10. Volvere Alguna Vez



Matt Monro achieved fame in the United States when "My Kind of Girl" (1961) and "Walk Away" (1964) hit the Top 40. In 1966, following the death of Nat King Cole, EMI moved Monro from Parlophone to Capitol. After relocating to California and recording several albums with American arrangers, Monro returned to the UK and began appearing on EMI's Columbia label, his final U.S. album release being Close To You in 1970. This LP contained "We're Gonna Change The World", a semi-satirical song about women's liberation, which was not a hit in either the US or the UK but was nevertheless widely played, and became enduringly popular, on BBC Radio 2.

He continued touring and recording until just before his death, releasing a single and promoting it throughout the UK and Australia in 1984. In one of his final appearances Monro praised Boy George, noting the importance of quality recordings in all musical genres.



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1. Que Sea Al Amor (Let There Be Love)
Matt Monro

2. Un Quadro De Mi Amor (Portrait Of My Love)
Matt Monro

3. Con Mi Cancion (I Write The Songs)
Matt Monro

4. Por Moma (La Mama/For Mama)
Matt Monro

5. Amiga, Amada, Mjuer, Esposa (Friend, Lover, Women, Wife)
Matt Monro

6. Cambiaria Todo Por Tu Amor (If I Never Sing Another Song)
Matt Monro

7. Menos Mal (And You Smiled)
Matt Monro

8. Se Ti Amo (Do I Love You)
Matt Monro

9. Una Vez (Only Once)
Matt Monro

10. Volvere Alguna Vez
Matt Monro




1. Volvere Alguna Vez
Matt Monro

2. Cambiaria Todo Por Tu Amor (If I Never Sing Another Song)
Matt Monro

3. Con Mi Cancion (I Write the Songs)
Matt Monro

4. Que Sea El Amor (Let There Be Love)
Matt Monro

5. Una Vez (Only Once)
Matt Monro

6. Menos Mal (And You Smiled)
Matt Monro

7. Amiga, Amada, Mujer, Esposa (Friend, Lover, Women Wife)
Matt Monro

8. Si Te Amo (Do I Love You)
Matt Monro

9. Un Cuadro De Mi Amor (Portrait of My Love)
Matt Monro

10. Los Tiempos De Felicidad
Matt Monro

11. Por Moma (La Mama/for Moma)
Matt Monro

12. Americano - Bonus Track
The Jazz Singers










Portions of Biography courtesy of wikipedia