Chris Montez is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer.
Early life
Montez grew up in
Hawthorne, CaliforniaHawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. The city at the 2010 census had a population of 84,293, up from 84,112 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, influenced by the
LatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
-flavored music of his community and the success of
Ritchie ValensRitchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
.
In 1962, he
recordedSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
the
singleIn music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"
Let's Dance"Let's Dance" is rock band Slade's last single from 1988. The single was only released in the UK. The song was originally covered in 1985 and appeared on the Crackers – The Christmas Party Album the same year. The track was eventually released as a single after being dropped from RCA Records...
" on Monogram Records (written and produced by Jim Lee). It went to #4 on the
Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chartA record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in the
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and to #2 on the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The follow-up, "Some Kinda Fun", was a lesser hit. However, both
recordsA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
sold over one million copies, and were awarded
gold discsMusic recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
.
Montez toured with
Clyde McPhatterClyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
,
Sam CookeSamuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
,
The PlattersThe Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
opened
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
YorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
and
NorthamptonNorthampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
concertA concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s for him while performing with
Tommy RoeTommy Roe is an American pop music singer-songwriter.Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" and "Dizzy" , critic Bill Dahl wrote that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his...
. Montez commented "Who are these guys The Beatles? I try to keep up with the British scene, but I don't know their work".
1966 comeback
Montez returned to the
recording studioA recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in 1965, this time at
A&M RecordsA&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
. Montez was searching for the same
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
formula that would replicate the success of "Let's Dance". During a recording session, A&M co-founder
Herb AlpertHerbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...
(who co-produced Montez's first A&M album) suggested that Montez try a different approach: a middle of the road, soft
balladA ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
sound. Though reluctant at first, Montez agreed to go along with his mentor's suggestion.
"Call Me" (a
Tony HatchAnthony Peter "Tony" Hatch is an English composer, songwriter, pianist, music arranger and producer.-Early life and early career:...
composition first recorded by
Petula ClarkPetula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
) was the first single released from his 1966 A&M
albumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
,
The More I See You. The title single from the album, sung in a soft, very high tenor range and played on primarily adult-formatted
radio stationRadio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s, confused some
disc jockeyA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s, who were unfamiliar with Montez's past work. The song became enourmasly popular and has been used many times in movies, notably
FranticFrantic is a 1988 thriller film directed by Roman Polanski and starring Harrison Ford and Emmanuelle Seigner.- Synopsis :Harrison Ford plays Dr. Richard Walker, a surgeon visiting Paris with his wife Sondra for a medical conference. At their hotel, she is unable to unlock her suitcase, and Walker...
, starring
Harrison FordHarrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
. When announcing the song, the DJs would often refer to Montez as a female. But by the time the album was released, Montez's pictures on the front and back of the jacket cleared up any mystery surrounding his sex, as explained in the album's notes on the back of the record jacket.
Released in November 1965, "Call Me" entered the Easy Listening Top 40 in
Billboard that December, entering the
Billboard Hot 100 in January 1966; that March "Call Me" peaked on the Easy Listening chart at #2 and on the Hot 100 at #22.
The More I See You album yielded two additional Top 40 singles for Montez: The
title cut"The More I See You" is a popular song written by Harry Warren, with lyrics by Mack Gordon. Chris Montez produced the most commercially successful and well known version of the song and it is this version that has been used many times in movies, notably at the beginning of the famous club scene in...
, plus "
There Will Never Be Another You"There Will Never Be Another You" is a popular song with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Mack Gordon for the Twentieth Century Fox musical Iceland starring Sonja Henie...
".
Later years
Montez recorded three more albums for A&M:
Time After Time,
Foolin' Around, and
Watch What Happens. None of these albums mirrored the success of
The More I See You. The title cut "
Time After Time"Time After Time" is a jazz standard written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in 1947.It was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the film It Happened in Brooklyn.-Cover versions:...
", did reach #36 on the
Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, but no other singles made the top 40. Subsequent singles hit below the top 40, or only on the
Billboard Easy Listening Top 40. Following the release of
Watch What Happens in 1968, Montez left A&M Records.
In November 1972, Montez charted a
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
hit in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
: "Loco por ti (Crazy About You)".
Montez resurfaced in 1974 at
CBS RecordsCBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
, with the release of a new LP,
The Best of Chris Montez, a mix of both old and new recordings.
Montez recorded one more album for CBS:
Raza: Ay No Digas, which did well
international----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
ly, but failed to make an impact in the US His final album, with exclusively
SpanishSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
-language material, was
Cartas de Amor, released on the independent label AYM in 1983.
Montez today
Most of his American appearances in 2007 were in
BransonBranson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
,
MissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
In July 2008,
Frozen PicturesFrozen Pictures is a motion picture, television and multimedia production company founded and operated by veteran producers and writers Brett Hudson and Burt Kearns, and is affiliated with Frozen Television....
announced plans to produce a documentary musical film on Montez's life and career. "'Chris Montez is an incredibly influential musician whose life and music have touched on every major thread in rock ‘n' roll, from Latino rock to R&B, Sixties pop to lounge, surf to punk,' said
Burt KearnsBurt Kearns is an American television and film producer, writer, director, journalist and author, known for his influential work in reality television and his controversial 1999 tabloid television memoir, Tabloid Baby.-Early career:...
, who writes, produces or directs all of Frozen's projects with
Brett HudsonBrett Hudson musician, singer/songwriter, possibly best known as the youngest of the 1970s group the Hudson Brothers, is now a TV producer and writer living in Malibu, California. Hudson formed the production company Frozen Pictures with Burt Kearns...
. 'His story is epic.'" The film, "El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story," is currently in production, and was previewed by Montez, Hudson and Kearns at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival in Paso Robles, California in November 2009, The Fest for Beatles Fans in March 2010 in
Secaucus, New JerseySecaucus is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 16,264. Located within the New Jersey Meadowlands, it is the most suburban of the county's municipalities, though large parts of the town are dedicated to light manufacturing, retail, and...
and in May 2010 at the Pacific Palisades Film Festival in Pacific Palisades, California.
Montez continues to perform throughout the US and internationally. His inspirational speaking-performance tour was launched in 2011 from California by Latino Speakers Bureau under the Best Keynotes portfolio.
Chart singles
- "Let's Dance
"Let's Dance" is rock band Slade's last single from 1988. The single was only released in the UK. The song was originally covered in 1985 and appeared on the Crackers – The Christmas Party Album the same year. The track was eventually released as a single after being dropped from RCA Records...
" (1962) #4 U.S.The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, #2 UKThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
- "Some Kinda Fun" (1963) #43 US, #10 UK
- "Call Me" (1966) #22 US, #2 US AC
- "The More I See You
"The More I See You" is a popular song written by Harry Warren, with lyrics by Mack Gordon. Chris Montez produced the most commercially successful and well known version of the song and it is this version that has been used many times in movies, notably at the beginning of the famous club scene in...
" (1966) #16 US, #2 US AC., #3 UK
- "There Will Never Be Another You" (1966) #33 US, #4 US AC., #37 UK
- "Time After Time
"Time After Time" is a jazz standard written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in 1947.It was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the film It Happened in Brooklyn.-Cover versions:...
" (1966) #36 US, #12 US AC
- "Because of You
"Because of You" is a popular song. It was written by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson in 1940. It was used in the 1951 film I Was an American Spy....
" (1967) #71 US, #25 US AC
- "The Face I Love" (1968) #15 US AC
- "Love Is Here To Stay
"Our Love Is Here to Stay" is a popular song and a jazz standard. The music was written by George Gershwin, the lyrics by Ira Gershwin, for the movie The Goldwyn Follies which was released shortly after George Gershwin's death. It is performed in the film by Kenny Baker...
" (1968) #38 US AC
- "Loco Por Ti" (1972) #7 NL (Top 40 Netherlands)
- "Ay No Digas" (1973) #3 NL
External links