Recommended video: FRWL French Trailer
Tonight, we’re listening to music featured in From Russia With Love!
Born in 1931 as Terrence Edward Parsons in London, Monro faced some challenges as a youth. His father passed when Monro was three, and he spent several years in the foster care system following his mother’s being stricken with an illness. By 1948, he joined the British armed forces and served as an instructor for tank driving while stationed in Hong Kong. During his time in the service, he started entering talent contests and even sang on the radio. Following his discharge, he returned to London to pursue a singing career while working as a bus driver and doing other odd jobs.
Monro released a demo record in 1956 that caught the attention of pianist Winfred Atwell. She took Monro under her wing, helping him get signed by Decca Records and allegedly helping him come up with his stage name. In 1958, producer George Martin asked Monro to lend his deep voice to a Peter Sellers’ album of Frank Sinatra satires, and his career really took off. Within a few years, he had a handful of top ten hits in the UK.
While his theme to From Russia with Love only reached the British Top 20 in 1963, it amplified his exposure worldwide. His next single following FRWL, “Walk Away,” peaked at number four in Britain. By 1965, Monro moved to America and gained even more recognition singing the Oscar-winning title song for the film ‘Born Free’. This was his second out of a handful of collaborations with Bond composer John Barry and became his signature tune (besides From Russia With Love).
Following several years living in the US, Monro eventually returned to England, where he again had albums on the U.K. Albums Charts in the 1970s and 1980s. Monro’s career was cut short after he died of liver cancer in 1985. In the decades since, his estate has kept his legacy alive, releasing archival recordings that also reached the top ten on the U.K. Album Charts.
This 7” French album was released in 1964, and features three other Monro tunes in addition to the From Russia With Love main theme. While the album’s cover features a seldom-used shot of Sean Connery as James Bond, Monro is pictured, in color, on the back of the sleeve.
129. Matt Monro – Bons Baisers De Russie (From Russia With Love)
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