Chris Montez (born Ezekiel Christopher Montanez, January 17, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, the last of twenty children), is a Mexican American singer. He grew up in Hawthorne, California, influenced by the Latino flavored music of his community and the success of Ritchie Valens.
In 1962, he recorded the single, “Let’s Dance” on Monogram Records. It went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the U.S. and to #2 on the U.K. Singles Chart. Though he would tour with Clyde McPhatter, Sam Cooke, the Platters, and the Miracles, there would be no more hits for Montez until four years later. This was despite a relatively new and highly popular group of Liverpudlians, who called themselves The Beatles, opening a London show for him.
He returned to the recording studio in 1965, this time at A&M Records. Montez was searching for the same rock and roll formula that would replicate the success of “Let’s Dance”. During a recording session, A&M co-founder Herb Alpert dropped in and suggested that Montez try a different approach: a Middle of the road, soft ballad sound.
Montez trusted Alpert’s insticts enough to give it a try. “Call Me” was the first single released from his 1966 A&M album, “The More I See You”. The title single from the album, making its way to primarily adult-formatted radio stations, confused some non-rock and roll DJs, who were unfamiliar with Chris’ past work. When back-announcing the song, the DJs would often refer to Chris as a female ( Likely because these songs were sung in a falsetto). But by the time the album was released, Montez’ pictures on the front and back of the jacket cleared up any mystery surrounding his gender.
“The More I See You” album yielded three top 40 singles for Montez: The title cut, plus “Call Me” and “There Will Never Be Another You”. Unfortunately, it was this album that would yield the most Top 40 hits for Montez.He would record 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 album. The title cut album, “Time After Time”, did hit the Top 40, but no other hits followed. Following the release of “Watch What Happens” in 1968, Montez left A&M Records.In November, 1972, Montez charted a Latin hit in Brazil: “Loco por ti (Crazy about you)” became very popular in that country. Montez resurfaced in 1974 at CBS Records, with the release of a new LP, “The Best of Chris Montez”, a mix of both old and new recordings, with the new ones having little to no resemblance of his past hits.[citation needed] This, and Chris’ more mature appearance on the cover, with longer hair, a mustache, and a stylish (for the mid-1970s) patterned shirt, was proof that the album marked time.
He recorded one more album for CBS: Raza: Ay No Digas, which did well internationally, but failed to make an impact in the U.S. His final album, with exclusively Spanish-language material, was Cartas de Amor, released on the independent label AYM in 1983 and later released on A&M Records (A&M Discos) of Mexico.
He continues to perform, mainly to foreign audiences, but still maintains a series of concert dates stateside. Most of his American appearances are in Branson, Missouri, where he performs with Dick Clark's “Original Stars at American Bandstand” show on stage along with Fabian, Bobby Vee, Brian Hyland, and The Chiffons. Find out more about him and his career at: http://www.chrismontez.com/
Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and personal blog: http://www.copyat5.blogspot.com/
He returned to the recording studio in 1965, this time at A&M Records. Montez was searching for the same rock and roll formula that would replicate the success of “Let’s Dance”. During a recording session, A&M co-founder Herb Alpert dropped in and suggested that Montez try a different approach: a Middle of the road, soft ballad sound.
Montez trusted Alpert’s insticts enough to give it a try. “Call Me” was the first single released from his 1966 A&M album, “The More I See You”. The title single from the album, making its way to primarily adult-formatted radio stations, confused some non-rock and roll DJs, who were unfamiliar with Chris’ past work. When back-announcing the song, the DJs would often refer to Chris as a female ( Likely because these songs were sung in a falsetto). But by the time the album was released, Montez’ pictures on the front and back of the jacket cleared up any mystery surrounding his gender.
“The More I See You” album yielded three top 40 singles for Montez: The title cut, plus “Call Me” and “There Will Never Be Another You”. Unfortunately, it was this album that would yield the most Top 40 hits for Montez.He would record 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 album. The title cut album, “Time After Time”, did hit the Top 40, but no other hits followed. Following the release of “Watch What Happens” in 1968, Montez left A&M Records.In November, 1972, Montez charted a Latin hit in Brazil: “Loco por ti (Crazy about you)” became very popular in that country. Montez resurfaced in 1974 at CBS Records, with the release of a new LP, “The Best of Chris Montez”, a mix of both old and new recordings, with the new ones having little to no resemblance of his past hits.[citation needed] This, and Chris’ more mature appearance on the cover, with longer hair, a mustache, and a stylish (for the mid-1970s) patterned shirt, was proof that the album marked time.
He recorded one more album for CBS: Raza: Ay No Digas, which did well internationally, but failed to make an impact in the U.S. His final album, with exclusively Spanish-language material, was Cartas de Amor, released on the independent label AYM in 1983 and later released on A&M Records (A&M Discos) of Mexico.
He continues to perform, mainly to foreign audiences, but still maintains a series of concert dates stateside. Most of his American appearances are in Branson, Missouri, where he performs with Dick Clark's “Original Stars at American Bandstand” show on stage along with Fabian, Bobby Vee, Brian Hyland, and The Chiffons. Find out more about him and his career at: http://www.chrismontez.com/
Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and personal blog: http://www.copyat5.blogspot.com/
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