Matt Monro Forum

A Sad(-ish) Christmas Tale..
My daughter was given an enormous 'coffee table' book for Christmas entitled "The Little Black Book of Music"
It is an epic 800 page glossy tome with the by-line "Over a Century of of the Greatest Artists,Albums,Songs,Performances and Events that Rocked the Music World".
"Aha"..I thought..."I'll check out the entry for Matt Monro...wouldn't be much of a book without old Matt in it.."
Starting chronologically at 1957 I began turning pages...until I got to 1985.. WHERE THE #%#$ WAS MATT MONRO ???
Must have accidentally gone past him..check the index.. Monnot,Marguerite..Monroe,Marilyn...WHAT.?!!
I spent the next few minutes scouring the pages..even the entry for Nat King Cole mentioned nothing after Cole's untimely death.
I felt cheated...shattered...
This book was a salad of mixed genres and emotional musical textures from cylinder recordings to CD's , from Tin Pan Alley to Eurovision and in spite of it's epic pretensions there was not a mention of one of the greatest voices known to man.
What sort of a history is this.?
Breathtaking to say the least.

You have discovered what I have learned many years ago......
I have a large collection of music reference books that have been in my library starting in 1950.
At least 70% of the books do not mention Matt at all, & another 15% spell his last name...Munro or Monroe!
You would think after over 50 years of publishing and editing books, they would correct these snubs to our favorite singer.
Of course, most of these were written and published by American authors who probably never appreciated Matt Monro!!