Gordon Sapsed - Sintra Music Society Magazine, Ireland

[Michele Monro]

Matt Monro: The Singer's Singer - The Life and Music of Matt Monro by Michele Monro. (Titan Books, 2010)

It is perhaps not surprising that Matt Monro was dogged by constant comparisons with Frank Sinatra, because 'Ol Blue Eyes had been making chart-topping recordings for at least 20 years before Matt Monro's offerings entered the charts.
But Matt Monro's transition, when he was already 30 years of age, from being an entertainer with an outstanding voice, to becoming a top international star, owed everything to that Sinatra comparison.
Michele Monro, Matt's daughter, describes in meticulous detail how Matt was persuaded to 'Sing it like Sinatra' on the opening track of Peter Sellers' "Songs for Swingin' Sellers" album despite hating the idea. That recording, attributed to 'Fred Flange' on the album's sleeve notes, led to a long and hugely successful association between Matt and record producer George Martin, bringing a step up in the careers of both men.
This new biography "The Singer's Singer - The Life and Music of Matt Monro" by Michele Monro (Titan Books, 2010) owes a great deal to Michele's mother Mickie Monro, just as the decision about that Peter Sellers recording date would not have happened without her influence.
During the 25 years of that Monro marriage, his second, and the 25 more years that she survived her husband, Mickie hoarded Monro memorabilia. This material all became available to Michele in compiling the book, which has notes, postcards, quotes and reviews galore and even doctors' reports and prescriptions. It also has input from 150 personal interviews. It is small wonder that the book swelled to almost 250,000 words, with more than 150 photographs.
The Monro family resisted many invitations to have a biography 'ghost written', fearing that any such book would focus on one aspect of the singer's varied life.
As it has turned out this compilation covers almost every angle. It is a daughter's story of her father's life - with continuous detail from early life, such as his evacuee companions' names in WW II to much later life cataloguing changes in his medication . It is also the story of a singer's career, with backstage tales combining with reviews of performances over a 30 year career. In telling those stories it offers a travelogue covering holidays as well as world-wide musical adventures.
Hundreds of quotations from musical associates and friends bring revelatory information about the man and his lifestyle, although, in some respects the book is short on insight into the thoughts of the man himself. It is significant, I think, that in summarising Matt's thoughts about his career towards the end of the book, Michele does not quote anything Matt said, but turns instead to something a friend, Bruce Forsyth, said of himself 'I should have been more upfront and involved in directing how my career should go ....' and concludes that Matt had 'the same characteristics' .
The book is written in the third person, with Michele describing events involving herself as if she was an observer, rather than 'it happened to me'. The style is natural and easy to read despite the sheer volume and the tendency to include too much detail.
One great strength of this book, however, is that it provides details unlikely to emerge elsewhere. Initially, as Terry Parsons, he had a tough working class upbringing in the East End of London, tried various menial jobs and went into the army in his teens. A posting to Hong Kong opened up a love of the Far East and the discovery that he could earn good money as a part-time singer. He describes himself at that time as 'The highest paid squaddie in the British Army'.
Back in the UK he combined a job as a transport driver, including bus driving, with a semi-professional career as a big band singer. That took him to a record contract, involving some help from Winfred Attwell and a change of name ('Monro' came from Winifred's father) . Another boost came with an invitation to sing with Cyril Stapleton's BBC Show Band, but the big step up came from the EMI/George Martin connection and chart success with songs such as 'Portrait of My Love' and 'My Kind Of Girl'. These hits were followed by the movie connection, 'Born Free' and 'From Russia With Love' , although Matt's relationship with songwriter Don Black had begun much earlier, as Black was Matt's manager. Matt's singing talent brought him World-wide acclaim, a recording contract in the US leading to residency there and a touring itinerary that was still whisking him around the world days before his death at age 54. Awards and plaudits from fellow professionals acknowledge his voice as 'the best', or 'one of the best' in the business.
However, my overall impression about Matt Monro, after absorbing all 600 pages of Michele's book, is 'What if?'
What if he had not 'got homesick' and come back from the U.S.A. when his career was still on the rise?
What if he had not allowed his 'fondness for a drink' to impact his liver and other organs? (although not, seemingly, affecting his voice or, with rare exceptions, his commitments) ?
What if Matt Monro had been 6 inches taller than his diminutive 5 feet 6 inches ? (Frank Sinatra himself, reputedly, made a similar observation about Matt) -
and another intriguing Sinatra connection - what if Matt had said 'Yes' to the invitation to sign for Reprise records, when Sinatra quit Capitol to set up his own recording company?
Regarding the book itself I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in Matt Monro and willing to commit to the far-from-trivial task of reading 600 packed pages.
My only criticisms would be that the book, despite being, effectively, a reference on "everything Matt Monro" , has no index and has no discography. Two pages of EMI advertising does show five of the many currently available recordings.
I understand there is a luxury edition of the book which has a companion discography volume, but that package has a cover price more than three times higher than the £17.99 cover price of this edition.
A paper-back edition of the book, when published, should surely have at least a brief discography.

Review by Gordon Sapsed (SMS member)