His pitch was right on the nose; his word enunciations letter perfect; his understanding of a song thorough.”[5] Monro's recordings include the UK top 10 hits "Portrait of My Love", "My Kind of Girl", "Softly As I Leave You", "Walk Away", and a cover of the Beatles' "Yesterday".
[7] He had sung in public from an early age, for example at the Tufnell Park Palais, and in Hong Kong he took to entering local talent contests, winning several.
He was invited by then-host Ray Cordeiro to perform in his own one-off show entitled Terry Parsons Sings, on the condition that he would bow out of future Talent Time episodes to make way for others.
In 1956, he made a demo record, "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" which was heard by pianist Winifred Atwell, who was an important influence on his early career.
[15] Despite the album's favourable reception, Monro languished among the young male singers trying to break through at the end of the 1950s, many of them emulating Frankie Vaughan by recording cover versions of American hits.
He and his wife Mickie lived from her wages as a song plugger and his royalties from a TV advertising jingle for Camay soap.
In February 1961, the British music magazine NME reported that Monro had won ITV's A Song for Britain with "My Kind of Girl".
", performed by songwriter Udo Jürgens, caught Monro's ear, despite its sixth-place finish, and he recorded an English version titled "Walk Away", earning him another hit single in late 1964.
[18] Additionally, Monro recorded an English version of Jürgens' 1966 Eurovision winner "Merci, Chérie", but it failed to chart when released as a UK single.
After moving to California and recording several albums with American arrangers, Monro returned to the UK and stayed with George Martin.
This LP contained "We're Gonna Change the World", a semi-satirical song originally used in a TV commercial for Kellogg's Cornflakes.
In one of his final appearances, Monro praised Boy George, observing the importance of quality recordings in all musical genres.
[4] He died on 7 February 1985 at Cromwell Hospital, Kensington, London,[24] aged 54, leaving a widow, Mickie, and three children: Mitchell, Michele, and Matthew.
The 20th anniversary of Monro's death spotlighted the continuing interest in his music, with a top 10 tribute compilation CD (UK), a No.
A 2007 compilation CD entitled From Matt with Love reached the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart during its first week of release.
However, in the past few years, commercially released concert albums have emerged following remastering of radio and television shows, private recordings he commissioned.
In July 2020, the Unilever brand Axe began airing an American TV campaign for its deodorant line that spoofed the restrictions on dating during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Monro's "Born Free" as the soundtrack theme.
What would have been Monro's 90th birthday in December 2020, was celebrated by his family with the creation of an official YouTube page, and the four part audio documentary, The Boy from Shoreditch.
Over the years, his recordings featured arrangements by Sid Feller, Billy May, John Barry, Buddy Bregman, Kenny Clayton and Colin Keyes, and Martin himself.
Monro also teamed up with American star arrangers Nelson Riddle and Billy May and leading British bandleader Ted Heath, for concerts broadcast by the BBC.
In 1973, Monro released a vocal version of the popular Van der Valk TV-series theme titled "And You Smiled", with lyrics written by Melvyn Taggart.
In 1977, he recorded the Don Black penned, "If I Never Sing Another Song", which became a latter-day standard among his contemporaries, its lyrics referring to the "heyday" of fan mail, awards, and other trappings of celebrity that had faded for them.
The album, entitled Un Toque De Distinción, was recorded in George Martin's Air London Studios, as well as in Miami, Los Angeles, and New York.