My Kind of Girl

For the 1994 country hit by Collin Raye, see My Kind of Girl (Collin Ray song).

"My Kind of Girl" is a 1961 song originally released by Matt Monro. That version reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart, and a version by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie charted at number 35 the following year.

Original version

"My Kind of Girl" was first released by Matt Monro, and was written by William Bell, Leslie Bricusse and Booker T. Jones.[1] In February 1961, the British music magazine NME reported that Monro had won ITV's A Song for Britain with "My Kind of Girl";[2] however, according to his daughter Michele's autobiography[3] Matt Monro: The Singer's Singer, Monro came second in this, although the song would later win an Ivor Novello award.[4] Shortly after the result was announced, Monro, George Martin and Johnnie Spence sped into the studio to record the song but had to record the song's B-side, "This Time", beforehand since Spence had left it until late to hand Vic Fraser the score for the record and the copyist had not finished copying the parts for the orchestra. It charted at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Monro the first British artist to reach the US top 20 since Laurie London did so with "He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)" in 1958[4] and number 5 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Monro's second entry on that chart;[5] Steve Lawrence, who took Monro's first entry on to the American charts, nearly recorded this record as the follow-up but decided not to use a second one of Monro's records. Both records were awarded a gold disc.[4] "My Kind of Girl" also lent its name to an album of the same name, also released in 1961.[1]

Cover versions

Frank Sinatra covered the song for his 1962 album Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First.[6] This version was released as a single, and charted at number 35.[7] To commemorate what would have been Sinatra's hundredth birthday, The Official Charts Company compiled a list of the top forty highest selling records by Sinatra; "My Kind of Girl" came in at number 38.[8] In addition, Sammy Davis Jr. recorded his own version of the record[4] and Michael Bublé sung a cover as background music to the advert for his fragrance, "By Invitance".[9]

References

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