Matt Uncovered - The Rarer Monro

[paul jh]

Jon, I don't like Wednesdsay's Child. It's even worse in Spanish. I like Look for Small Pleasures but it wouldn't make my top 40 MM recordings. Perhaps I'm tired of it because David Jacobs plays it too often. Isn't it interesting how we all like different songs? I love the Hollywood and Broadway compilation.

Lindy, since silence means consent, I must speak up and say that the definitive, best, and ultimate version of You Don't Have to Say You Love Me is by Dusty Springfield. There is something not quite right about the Matt Monro version; I think it's the weakest track on the These Years album and perhaps the weakest of all the Capitol recordings. I would have left it off and put a more rare cover on that album.

I plan to relisten to Bridge Over Troubled Water today. I have it on The Ultimate Matt Monro. The real find on that compilation is I Can't Stop Loving You, which is thankfully not the Ray Charles song.

[jon]

Hi Lindy

Glad you like Wednesday's Child. I am actually a Wednesday child, having been born on a Wednesday, so I've always felt the song - and Matt - is speaking directly to me. The music is of course the theme tune to the feature fil "The Quiller Memorandum". I'm also glad you like "Look For Small Pleasures", another song which expresses my sentimesnts well. I;ve never heard Robert Goulet so can't vouch for his version, but I'm sure you'll love Matt's. The "hollywood and Broadway" album contains lots of other gems such as "Charade", "Sunrise Sunset" and "Green Leaves of Summer".

Paul

I'm sorry you don't like "Wednesday's Child"; yes, it's odd how we all like different songs. As to Dusty Springfield's "You Don't have to Say You Love Me", this is one of my least favourite Dusty recordings and I've never understood why it's her only UK No 1.

[Eman]

I gotta agree with Paul, YDHTSYLM is and should be a Dusty signature song. No one can sing it like her, from the grandiose begining and end!! Classic.
Also I guess I'm the only "Friday" child here. My Mum says I was born around 5 in the morning and my Dad said that's the day his record collection started to decline!!

[LindyG]

Hi Lindy

Glad you like Wednesday's Child. I am actually a Wednesday child, having been born on a Wednesday, so I've always felt the song - and Matt - is speaking directly to me. The music is of course the theme tune to the feature fil "The Quiller Memorandum". I'm also glad you like "Look For Small Pleasures", another song which expresses my sentimesnts well. I;ve never heard Robert Goulet so can't vouch for his version, but I'm sure you'll love Matt's. The "hollywood and Broadway" album contains lots of other gems such as "Charade", "Sunrise Sunset" and "Green Leaves of Summer".

Paul

I'm sorry you don't like "Wednesday's Child"; yes, it's odd how we all like different songs. As to Dusty Springfield's "You Don't have to Say You Love Me", this is one of my least favourite Dusty recordings and I've never understood why it's her only UK No 1.

Fascinating! Jon, Karl wants to wash your mouth and my mouth out with soap for saying we prefer Matt's YDHTSYLM to Dusty's. (Karl, I'm not knocking your love for Dusty, I respect that.) Jon, At least I think you're saying that you prefer Matt's. Matt's is an eye-closer, stop everything recording of that song, for me, so perfect in pitch and phrasing from start to finish, whereas although I think Dusty is great and uniquely voiced (and a thrilling performer), that recording has never worked like magic for my ear. But I'm not saying it's not Great. I'm just saying it's for whatever reason not been among my favorites of Dusty's.
Jon, you don't need to hear Goulet's version of Small Pleasures (Robert Preston's is worth hearing though; I bought a copy from Itunes). The Goulet listen was just a demo for me, so that I could hear the song. Matt's will be far better, I already know. As for Hollywood and Broadway, I have the three GREATS you mention above. Matt's Charade and Green Leaves of Summer are among my BUZZILLION favorites of his. [I haven't listened to his Sunrise, Sunset much, only because I heard that song performed badly so many times at weddings, I run from it.] I think I saw others last night on Hollywood and Broadway that I don't yet have; they would be Broadway tunes, because I've got Matt at the Movies that covers all the Hollywood ones.
Thanks again, Jon.

[LindyG]

Lindy, since silence means consent, I must speak up and say that the definitive, best, and ultimate version of You Don't Have to Say You Love Me is by Dusty Springfield. There is something not quite right about the Matt Monro version; I think it's the weakest track on the These Years album and perhaps the weakest of all the Capitol recordings. I would have left it off and put a more rare cover on that album.

I plan to relisten to Bridge Over Troubled Water today. I have it on The Ultimate Matt Monro. The real find on that compilation is I Can't Stop Loving You, which is thankfully not the Ray Charles song.

Hi Paul,
Good to hear from you. "Silence means consent?" I didn't know that. I had it all bass-ackwards! I thought silence means "I think you're totally bonkers but I'm too polite to tell you" or something like that. You mean I've had it all wrong all this time?? I've got a lot of speaking up to do then! Like Basil Fawlty.

Hey, I have a thought: Maybe ALL of these recordings, by Matt and by Dusty, are SO INCREDIBLY ASTONISHINGLY WONDERFUL, that we're all measuring degrees of beauty and greatness and we've been spoiled by all that they've given us. I have an idea to test this theory. Let's each make a recording of one of Dusty's and Matt's recordings that we think are their "worst" or "least" or "not best", and then see if it changes our perspective of their "not greats". Wouldn't that be a gas, to hear them, the next time there is a Fans Reunited event?

I Can't Stop Loving You??? Another I dont' have. I already know that Matt does "Georgia" much better than Ray Charles, so a big DITTO, I'm sure to agree with you, Paul, on this one too. When Ray sings Georgia, I see and smell and hear all the horrors of the state of Georgia; when Matt sings it, it somehow sounds like he's singing to a beautiful woman named Georgia, and it's a very passionate love song. (I think Hoagy's Georgia was an entirely different life experience than Ray's, and Matt captures Hoagy's feeling, whereas Ray's rendition doesn't convince me that I want to ever set foot in Georgia.)

[LindyG]

I gotta agree with Paul, YDHTSYLM is and should be a Dusty signature song. No one can sing it like her, from the grandiose begining and end!! Classic.
Also I guess I'm the only "Friday" child here. My Mum says I was born around 5 in the morning and my Dad said that's the day his record collection started to decline!!

Hi Eman,
Friday's Child is giving and loving. Like you in your profile photo.

[john]

I love "Wednesday's Child", one of my early favourites of Matt's, incidentally, Karl will know this, but Edward Woodward also recorded this on one of his albums, I listened to it the other night, he sings it nicely.
I also love Matt's version of "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", I think "These Years" is a superb album, there is perhaps one track on this album I am not too keen on. His version of "Don't Sleep In The Subway" is brilliant too.

[john]

I agree with Paul on "I Can't Stop Loving You", I don't like this song either, but Matt's is a completely different song from "The Long And Winding Road" album and really like this song. This is another super album.

[karl]

I just checked and I'm a Tuesday's child.

You're all Grace, then, Karl. You can do no wrong.

Aw schucks Lindy, I always knew I was P E R F E C T !!!!!!

[mariana44]

Hey, I have a thought: Maybe ALL of these recordings, by Matt and by Dusty, are SO INCREDIBLY ASTONISHINGLY WONDERFUL, that we're all measuring degrees of beauty and greatness and we've been spoiled by all that they've given us. I have an idea to test this theory. Let's each make a recording of one of Dusty's and Matt's recordings that we think are their "worst" or "least" or "not best", and then see if it changes our perspective of their "not greats". Wouldn't that be a gas, to hear them, the next time there is a Fans Reunited event?

Hi Lindy--I did something similar a while ago---I sorted out my favourite tracks, sung by Matt, also by Johnny Mathis-another of my top singers, and put them both singing the same songs on the same cd--songs like "Hello young Lovers" "I have dreamed" " More" "Friendly Persuasion" lots more--- so it was easy to compare the 2 different versions. It was quite easy to doi, as they are all on my Itunes list--not sure I could do it with songs I do not like--they just do not go onto my Itunes.

[karl]

I hasten to add I was joking when I said Lndy should wash her mouth out.

By the way, I like Wednesday's Child, I also like Saturday's Child by The Walker Brothers.

Marian(a) much as I love Dusty's musical output I do not like everything she recorded but there again there were songs I did not like until I heard Dusty's version.

There's a couple of songs in Dusty's early career I don't care much for but also some in the 70's and 80's. One particular track written by Lesley Gore is to me a mournful dirge and I hit the skip button every time it starts to play, I have tried to like it with no success.

I don't think it would be natural for us to like everything a singer recorded and I am sure many of you don't like everything Matt recorded.

There are many singers I am a fan of and will buy every album, doesn't mean to say I like every track.

[Eman]

Karl, which Lesley Gore song did Dusty record.

Thanks Lindy G. Yeah I'm really close to my family. Heck my Dad and I see eye to eye on Matt but he can't for the life of him figure out what is it about Morrissey that I find so appealing. LOL Must be the age thing!!

[karl]

It was Love Me By Name.

[Eman]

Karl, oh ok, thanks. That's one Lesley Gore lp I can't listen to. It's really awful!!

[hpooch]

I think we are getting off of the Topic on this thread as we have not been discussing next week's release "Matt Uncovered" CD

So here's a topic I will start tonight - "NAME YOUR FAVORITE CD RECORDING (NOT MATT'S)".....Please check it out,
as I started it as a new topic on "FUN & GAMES" section.....Please inform me if you you feel it won't be popular....Thanks!