1961 Matt Monro – My Kind Of Girl
Terence Edward Parsons was born and raised in London. His singing voice attracted little attention until he served in the British armed forces. While stationed in Hong Kong, he appeared on the local television competition show Talent Time. He won the show multiple times before performing on his own show in 1953.
After returning to England, he began working in the Show Band at BBC. Pianist Winifred Atwell became his mentor and convinced him to use the name Matt Monro for public appearances. He released an album in 1957, but sales were minimal.
George Martin asked Matt to record a song imitating Frank Sinatra as a demo for a Peter Sellers movie, but it turned out so well that Peter used the song in his film. Unfortunately for Matt, the soundtrack credited the song to Fred Flange. On the plus side, it led to more work with George, and he helped Matt get a recording contract with Parlophone Records.
In 1960, the second song that George and Matt recorded resulted in his first hit record. His single Portrait Of My Love reached #3 on the UK chart.
The single did not chart in the US, where Steve Lawrence’s cover version reached #9 on the Hot 100 in 1961 and led to a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The Tokens also covered the song in 1967 and reached #36 on the Hot 100.
Matt’s next single was My Kind Of Girl. The record took him to #5 in the UK. In the US, Matt’s release reached #18 on the Hot 100, making him the first British act to reach the US top twenty since 1958.
The single did even better on the Adult Contemporary (AC) chart, peaking at #6.
Matt appeared on several television shows and often performed the song live.
Matt continued to score hits on the UK charts and had five more records on the US AC chart. In 1964, he reached the US top forty on the Hot 100 one last time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Monro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_My_Love
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Kind_of_Girl
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