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Chris Montez (born Ezekiel Christopher Montanez, January 17 1943, Los Angeles, California), is a Mexican American singer.
Early lifeMontez 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 chart in the U.S. and to #2 on the UK Singles Chart.
Although Montez toured with Clyde McPhatter, Sam Cooke, The Platters, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles , there were no more hits for Montez until four years later. This was despite The Beatles opening a London concert for him while performing with Tommy Roe. It was once speculated that John Lennon started a fight with Montez at a London bar, when Lennon allegedly poured a beer over Montez' head.
1966 comebackMontez 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 (who co-produced Montez's first A&M album) suggested that Montez try a different approach: a middle of the road, soft ballad sound. Though reluctant at first, Montez agreed to go along with his mentor's suggestion.
"Call Me" (a Tony Hatch composition) was the first single released from his 1966 A&M 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 stations, confused some disc jockeys, who were unfamiliar with Montez's past work. When announcing the song, the DJs would often refer to Montez as a female.
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".
Later yearsMontez 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", did reach #36 on the Billboard Hot 100, 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)".
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.
Montez 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.
Montez todayMontez today continues to perform, mainly to foreign audiences, but still maintains a series of concert dates in the US. Most of his American appearances in 2007 were in Branson, Missouri.
Currently, Montez performs in the 8:00pm "Original Stars at American Bandstand" show at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater in Branson. He performs on stage along with Fabian, Bobby Vee, Brian Hyland and The Chiffons. [1]
In July, 2008, Frozen Pictures 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 Kearns, who writes, produces or directs all of Frozen's projects with Brett Hudson. 'His story is epic.'
Chart singles- "Let's Dance" (1962) #4 U.S., #2 UK
- "Some Kinda Fun" (1962) #43 U.S.
- "Call Me" (1966) #22 U.S., #2 U.S. AC
- "The More I See You" (1966) #16 U.S., #2 U.S. AC
- "There Will Never Be Another You" (1966) #33 U.S., #4 U.S. AC
- "Time After Time" (1966) #36 U.S., #12 U.S. AC
- "Because of You" (1967) #71 U.S., #25 U.S. AC
- "The Face I Love" (1968) #15 U.S. AC
- "Love Is Here To Stay" (1968) #38 U.S. AC
- "You're the one" His greatest triumph.
Copyright Citations
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