Matt Monro

Matt Monro (December 1 1930 - February 7, 1985) was a ballad singer of the 1960s, sometimes known as "the British Sinatra". He was born Terence Parsons in Shoreditch, London. Affectionately nicknamed "the singing bus driver" (because one of his many occupations prior to achieving fame was driving the Number 27 bus from Highgate to Teddington), he got his first break in 1956 when he became a featured vocalist with the BBC Show Band. An important influence on his early career was pianist Winifred Atwell, who became his mentor and provided him with his stage name.

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In 1960, he released the major hit single "Portrait Of My Love," which established him as star. The following year, he was named Top International Act by Billboard magazine. His subsequent hits included "My Kind Of Girl" (1961), "Softly As I Leave You" (1962) and the title song from the James Bond film From Russia With Love (1963). In 1964, he represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. Singing "I Love the Little Things," he finished second behind Italy's 16-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti. He had a major hit with a cover of The Beatles' "Yesterday" in 1965 and in 1966 sang the title song for the film, Born Free, which became his primary signature tune.

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Monro achieved notoriety in the U.S. 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 to maintain an AR balance on the L.A.-based label. (He had been released by EMI in America previously on the Liberty label). After relocating to California and recording several albums with American arrangers, Monro returned to England and began appearing on EMI's Columbia label, his final U.S. release being "Close To You" (1970). He continued touring and recording until just before his death, releasing a single and promoting it throughout England and Australia in 1984. In one of his final appearances he praised Boy George, noting the importance of quality recordings in all musical genres.

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In recent years, many singers riding the resurging wave of retro-pop have cited Matt Monro as a strong influence, including Michael Buble, Monica Mancini, and Rick Astley. The 20th anniversary of his passing has spotlighted the interest in his music, with a Top 10 tribute compilation CD (UK), a No. 1 concert DVD (UK), a BBC documentary, and an official Web site all appearing in 2005. His daughter Michele has driven many of these projects.

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Most of Monro's recordings were produced or overseen by George Martin, ensuring a timelessness to both the artistic and technical qualities of the singer's discography. Unlike his contemporaries, Monro sang very few of the Tin Pan Alley standards popular in today's repertoires. Instead, he and Martin searched for material written by promising newcomers and commissioned English lyrics for super-melodies by innovative European composers. One of the most in-demand soundtrack singers of his time, he also covered many of the most popular stage and screen songs of the 1950s and 60s.

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1930: 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday....

February 7: February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 327 days remaining, 328 in leap years....

1985: :This article is about the year. For the song by Bowling for Soup, see 1985 (song)....

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