大象传媒

by Bob Stanley

As his two West Highland terriers bark at some invisible foe in the garden, Brian tells me about one of his favourite singers, . I'd been asking if he had a regular haunts when he was on Saturday Club in the sixties. "We used to go to a hotel that's no longer there" he remembers. "We went with a couple of music publishers - Jimmy Haney and a chap from Philips used to have a weekly do, a weekly lunch. I wasn't invited every week, but quite often. It was a fairly heavy drinking session. not really ideal to slot in between recording sessions! But they'd always got mates from the business, or people they were promoting as guests on the show, so it was good. I remember one lunchtime was there, when she was still pretty young, but already quite bossy! But she was a good nut was Shirley. And I remember Matt Monro being there, I was quite close to him. So, they brought good singers."

Brian considers Matt Monro, the bus conductor who ended up singing a Bond theme, "was really something. He was one of the best we've ever had, no question. Way up in the class of the top American singers. I remember doing a show with a lot of British pop stars at the Albert Hall. I was doing a live concert there, and Matt was just starting to be really popular, really successful on record, and he was booked. Our chief producer there had got some crazy idea of me introducing Matt with a mike, after which he entered and marched through the audience singing his first song. Which I suppose was a good scheme, but Matt was scared out of his mind! And they said 'you look after him'! So I was standing there, trying to keep this poor guy's spirits up. Then I shoved him on... and of course he was great, singing to the audience as he climbed up on the stage."

He was extremely modest, greatly missed.

Brian Matthew

Years later, Brian was booked by his agent to do Sunday concerts in Blackpool: "Matt Monro who was top of the bill, and Bert Weedon was the opening act, doing his rock'n'roll show. I was sitting with Matt in his dressing room, and we were listening to the audience reaction to Bert, which I have to say was phenomenal. As soon as he picked up his guitar they went potty. And Matt said (cross voice) "Listen! Listen to the b! I can never follow that! I said, 'Of course you can, Matt, don't be silly', and of course he did! But it was typical of him that he felt that diffidence, you know? He was extremely modest. Greatly missed, Matt. Phenomenal."