Born Ezekiel Christopher Montanez in Los Angeles, California, Montez was brought up in Hawthorne, California. His early musical influences included the latino music played and performed by residents of his neighborhood, as well as Ritchie Valens. After the release of the highly successful "Let's Dance" on Monogram Records, Montez spent several years touring with artists such as Sam Cooke, The Platters, and Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, as well as The Beatles, then relatively unknown outside of Liverpool.
Early in 1963, Montez would score another hit with "Some Kinda Fun". Reaching #43 on the charts, the song utilized the same catchy keyboard instrumentation as did "Let's Dance"; fittingly, both were million sellers, and were awarded gold discs. 1963 also saw the release of Montez's only album on Monogram, Let's Dance and Have Some Kinda' Fun!!!. Shortly before Monogram folded, Montez was paired up with Kathy Young, releasing two singles as the duo Chris & Kathy, most notably surf rock classic "Shoot That Curl". While at Monogram, Montez wrote, or co-wrote, several of his own songs, such as "Chiquita Mia", "Let's Do the Limbo" and "No No No".
Two years later, Montez was practically a non-entity in the music business; however, Herb Alpert, co-founder of A&M Records, cordially invited Montez to resume his recording career at A&M. When Montez attempted to replicate his earlier rock 'n' roll success, however, Alpert personally suggested that Montez try a different approach: a middle of the road, soft ballad sound. While not particularly interested in changing his style of music, Montez decided to trust Alpert's instincts.
"Call Me", a cover version of a Petula Clark song, was the first single from his 1966 album, The More I See You / Call Me, earning Montez his biggest hit in years, eventually reaching #22. The song has since become an easy listening standard. The album's title cut, Montez's second single, was a source of confusion for certain radio disc jockeys who were unfamiliar with Montez' past as a rocker; when back-announcing the song, they would often refer to Montez as being female, likely owing to Montez's falsetto singing style. This confusion would be cleared up by the time the album, bearing Montez's pictures on the front and back sleeve, was released.
Montez would record three more albums for A&M: Time After Time (1966), Foolin' Around (1967), and Watch What Happens (1968). Although quite stylistically similar to his first hit album on A&M, they failed to mirror its success, although Time After Time's title cut and "Because of You" both managed to crack the Hot 100. In 1968, Montez departed from A&M on a three-year sabbatical. In 1972, Montez released a big hit single in Brazil, "Loco por ti". By this time, he had returned to his rock roots, albeit with more noticeable pop influence than before.
Two years later, now with CBS Records, Montez released The Best of Chris Montez, a compilation consisting of both old and new material, the newer bearing little to no resemblance to his past hits. While at CBS, he released one more album: Raza: Ay no digas, which fared well in international markets but failed to make an impact in the US. In 1983, Montez released his final album, Cartas de Amor, all of its songs being sung in Spanish. Although his recording career appears to be behind him, Montez is still an active musician, performing to mostly foreign audiences.
In 2008, Frozen Pictures announced plans to make a documentary on Montez's life and career, El viaje musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story. The film, focusing on Montez's multi-faceted musical career and considerable influence, has been previewed at several film festivals, but has not seen domestic release.
There will never be another you_bonus
Chris Montez Lyrics
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And I'll be standing here with someone new
There will be other songs to sing, another Fall, another Spring
But there will never be another you
There will be other lips that I may kiss
But they won't thrill me like yours used to do
Yes, I may dream a million dreams but how can they come true
There will be other lips that I may kiss
But they won't thrill me like yours used to do
Yes, I may dream a million dreams but how can they come true
If there will never ever be another you
The lyrics of Chris Montez's song "There will never be another you" depict a nostalgic feeling of a love that was lost, but never forgotten. The singer acknowledges that there will be other nights with new people and other songs to sing, but nobody will ever be able to replace the person he once loved. The lines "there will be other lips that I may kiss, but they won't thrill me like yours used to do" portray the idea that even though the singer might move on and find love in other places, it will never compare to the intensity and depth of the love he once had with that particular person.
The last two lines "Yes, I may dream a million dreams but how can they come true if there will never ever be another you" embody the idea that the singer's dreams and aspirations in life are linked to this person he once loved, and without them, his dreams feel unattainable. The lyrics evoke a sense of loss and longing, while also expressing the difficulty of letting go of the past and moving on to the future.
Line by Line Meaning
There will be many other nights like this
There will be similar nights to this one in the future.
And I'll be standing here with someone new
I will be here with a new person.
There will be other songs to sing, another Fall, another Spring
Other seasons will come with new songs to sing.
But there will never be another you
However, nobody can replace you.
There will be other lips that I may kiss
I will kiss other people.
But they won't thrill me like yours used to do
However, their kisses will not be as exciting as yours.
Yes, I may dream a million dreams but how can they come true
I may have many dreams, but how can they become reality?
If there will never ever be another you
If nobody can replace you.
Lyrics © FOUR JAYS MUSIC PUB , MATTSAM MUSIC , Peermusic Publishing
Written by: HARRY WARREN, MACK GORDON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Paul Riofski
Until you posted this, Eddie, I never knew that Joan Merrill introduced this classic song in the film "Iceland" along with John Payne. Thanks to you, I now know of her extensive 78 releases on the Bluebird label in the early Forties!
Robert Pincus
Hi Eddie, I'm not sure what this bonus cut is a bonus from. I have this LP (2 copies in fact), and it's an excellent stereo recording. Your "bonus" is mono, and very noisy, so where does this bonus come from?
Eddie Styles
Hi Robert, this was a 78 rpm on Bluebird Records, recorded in 1942 (B-11574A). The flip side was You Can't Say No To A Soldier. All of these bonus tracks come from 78s she recorded with big bands including the Lou Bring Orchestra.