Matt Monro Forum

I'm wondering, here in the good ole' USofA, if any of your Brits remember "Peters & Lee"? I have an LP I purchased back in the late 1970s titled "Peters & Lee Favourites". It contains all of their hits plus some other fine tunes. I am going to convert it to CD. They have some very nice songs on the LP. Amazon.com does have "The Best Of Peters & Lee" CD available.

In 1973, they had a big hit "Welcome Home". The song is on the LP. Lennie Peters died in 1992 from Cancer. I think the second half of the team, Lee, is still living.

Think they won 'Opportunity Knocks' talent show in the mid-70s. My abiding memory of them is my Mum hating 'Welcome Home' with a passion, only surpassed for her dislike of 'Where the Boys are' and 'Paper Roses'! Peters & Lee didn't last that long over here - certainly not in our house!

Isn't it interesting how what our parents liked or disliked carries over into our world!

There is a group that came from Britain that I could never get my "likes" around - "The Beatles". They wrote some lovely tunes and some of the best instrumentals and other singers have done wonderful jobs with them. But in my estimation, the Beatles could not sing. They had terrible harmony and really couldn't play their instruments very well. They were a terrible roll model for the youth during the 1960s and 1970s with their drug use and songs constructed around the drug use theme.

There, I've got it off my chest!

I remember Peters and Lee very well---from what I remember reading Lennie Peters was a small time gangster in his youth--I do not know much about Diane Lee. But they were in the right time at the right place with their type of music--as far as I was concerned it was Ok.

As for the Beatles--it takes a brave American to criticise them on a British website !!!

Basically--whatever you think of them and their singing they were just incredible when they started out---and as far as I am concerned there will never be anyone quite like them again. They just had the most amazing charisma.

When Liam Gallagher [or the other one] compare themseleves to the Beatles, I just cannot believe that they think they are remotely like the Beatles. I could probably name one-maybe 2 Oasis tracks--and as for singing one No way !!

Hi Mike--was that the "Connie Francis" song--"Where the boys are" that your mum did not like---I absolutely love that song--I am pretty sure that it was a Neil Sedaka song, and I love most of his music.

If "Paper Roses" was the one sung by Marie Osmond--then I am with your mum on that.

Yes, Mariane, I am a brave American! There are not too many times I do not speak my mind. My wife gets after me for that, but what the heck, I'm at an age where I can get away with it.

When I think of groups and singing harmony, what comes to my mind are: The Four Lads, The Four Freshmen, The Hi-Lo's, The Ames Brothers, The Williams Brothers (Andy Williams and his three brothers), The Osmonds (all the boys together).

When the Beatles hit it big over here, there were groups which seem to spring up over night. I didn't like them very much either - they seem to lack talent and just wanted to cash in on the new "thing".

I really don't mean to offend anyone over there, but I really like good voices (hence my appreciation for Matt Monro). I have sung in enough choirs and quartets to know the difference!

By the way, when I was working in San Francisco, we had a day when Jack Jones came during lunch hour and sang to the lunch-crowd at the dedication of a plaza across from where I was working. I had a friend who worked with me at Chevron who was a hugh Jack Jones fan. I would scour the record shops (used) for any Jack Jones albums for her and as a result, was able to build up my Jack Jones collection also. I think he sounded better when he recorded for KAPP. Later, he seemed to want to experiment on the RCA label and some of the songs didn't come off too well.

Hi again Grandpajan,

I am sure none of us are offended by your comments--we all have our own opinions which we are all able to voice on this forum. I was just teasing you a little

The "60's" music was a big part of my life--groups included, and I still have a great affection for that music.

Both myself, and Marian from Reading really like Jack Jones--although she has a much larger collection of recordings than I do. The "Kapp" recordings are very hard to come by, although thanks to Marian I am building a collection. I really like the material he did on the RCA label--his album of "Harbour" is one of my favourite albums.

Jack Jones is wonderful live in concert Granpajan, his voice has matured much more, and his ability to reach those high and low notes seems better than ever.
Marian

Hi Grandpajan, of course you won't offend anyone here. We all give our own personel opinions of music on the forum, that's what it's for, but as far as the Beatles are concerned, your own personel dislike of the Beatles are just a little bit out numbered by millions all over the world, that's all

But seriously, in spite of "The British Invasion" and on the subject of good music and singers. all should be forgiven.
We must all be grateful for music stations that we have here, and there's still quite a few that play and appreciate good singers and that's from BOTH SIDES OF THE BIG POND.
We have been part of an American web-site for Six or Seven Years and we have learned by so many complainers that decent music stations that once aired your good singers over there are a thing of the past, but not in any way forgotten here.

Thanks for your understanding. Yes, we seem to have lost the "good FM" stations over here. There is a station out of Valentia, California that broadcast via satelite to stations who have contracts with them. They play music from the 1950's to the current year. Here is Fresno, California, they have an FM station, KJWEL, which plays this music, so I get to hear a lot of the "good stuff" as well as some of the hits by the "one song" wonder-singers.

I started my record collecton back in the 1950s, when I was in high school, Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, The Hi-Lo's, Perry Como, Percy Faith, Ray Ellis, etc. I couldn't afford too much, but when I got together some money, I would spring for an LP (that was before stereo). I still have the albums and have put most of them on CD.

I went away for a couple of years in 1956, and when I came back in 1958, I heard on the radio "Splish Splash, I Was Taking A Bath". I had to ask who that was (Bobby Darin, I was told). Well, who was Bobby Darin? I didn't like the song very much. What happened to my singers? They seem to have gone out of style. Fortunately, a lot of them continued to record during the 1960s and 1970s, so I didn't lose out very much.

During the mid 1960s, I was listening to the Arthur Godfrey show and the singer sang a beautiful song, "Yesterday". I didn't know at that time it came from the Beatles. I really liked it!. I'm glad Matt Monro covered the song and it was a big one for him.

Are you saying that you do not like Bobby Darin???---take him away from those "novelty" songs and he is a great great singer. Just hear him sing "How about you "---"Sunday in New York" "That's All" and the very best "Beyond the Sea"--plus many others. I have even got used to the "Novelty " songs.--"Multiplication " "Clementine" etc, etc, etc.

We know that everyone is entitled to their choice of singers but it's hard to believe how anyone can not like Bobby Darin.
We have just about everything that he recorded. Just sorry that he didn't live long enough to continue recording.

I have grown to like Bobby Darin very much, and have a lot of his stuff. I just didn't like the "Splish, Splash, I Was Taking A Bath" song. There was just something about it that seemed rather infantile.

Of course, as I stir up my little grey cells, I seem to remember songs like "Tuti Fruiti", "Mama Loves Mamba", "Botch-A-Me", "Chi-Baba, ChiBaba", "Hoop-De-Do","Hot Diggity","Ko Ko Mo","Kewpie Doll","Long Tall Sally","Speedy Gonzalez", and even Nat King Cole sang "Kee-Mo-Ky-Mo (The Magic Song)", a song about a witch doctor, that were sung when I was a young lad. Guess my age is catching up to me.

Hi Grandpajan, We know just what you mean, we are still waiting for them to bring out a pill. "How to survive Christmas"
We're auditioning for TVs programme "Grumpy Old Men and Women"

My, this has moved on from Peters & Lee! (I can breath a sigh of relief there then )

Grandpajan, I have a confession to make too - I preferred a lot of U S Rock N Roll to the Beatles! I would far rather listen to the 'American Grafitti' album than a 'Hard Days Night'. I am not even 40, but love the music of the Fleetwoods, The Del Vikings, The Platters, The Penguins, The Cleftones, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly - although not Elvis (now thats a brave confession to make - I like some of his tracks, but not all!) My taste changed a little after I discovered Bobby Darin, ironically through his Rock n Roll. It was my interest in his music that led me to swing/easy listening, and to discover the treasure in my parents record collection. But I still have a soft spot for anything to do with 'American Bandstand' - it just a shame that dick Clark only released a couple of complilations from his vast archive (is he still alive by the way!?)

Mariann44 - yes, THAT song was indeed the Connie Francis track 'Where the boys are', from the movie of the same name. Neil Sedaka wrote a lot of her music along with Howard Greenfield (I think that was his name!). I quite like it too - mainly to annoy my Mum! Certainly 'Stupid Cupid' was written by Sedaka too.

Should also say that I dlo like some Beatles tracks - early stuff was great, when you could hear the Rock n Roll influence. Some excellent ballads later on, and catchy tunes, but kind of lost interest with with the walrus