Chart entered : 24 November 1973
Chart peak : 28
This was a comeback hit for the MOR crooner who had been absent from the chart since 1965.
And it's dreadful. This may have been the start of the wretched trend of setting trite words to well-known theme tunes. In this case it's Eye Level which had only vacated the number one slot a couple of months earlier as performed by the Simon Park Orchestra. The arrangement by Zack Laurence ( who was part of Mr Bloe ) doesn't sound all that different , the lyrics , contributed by someone called Taggart , are uninspiring and Matt's vocal sounds a bit strained. It's a decent tune of course but much better in its original state. Apparently it got a lot of airplay on Radio Two so boo to Terry, Jimmy and the boys for promoting this rubbish.
Matt continued to record for EMI. His next single in July 1974 "Darling Come Home Soon" is a well-sung Peters and Lee MOR pop number with a nice steel guitar line. "You And Me Against The World" ( March 1975 ) co-written by Carpenters associate Paul Williams is an affecting ballad impeccably delivered by Matt and arranged by Peter Knight senior. "All The Wishing In The World" ( July 1975 ) is a rare stray away from romantic matters with a message song about safely anchored in fuzzy Disney-isms. The country harmonica conjures up some vaguely liberal TV movie from the seventies. All three are far superior to "And You Smiled "; the charts are not always the place to go for musical justice.
After that Matt's releases were few and far between as he battled alcoholism although it didn't stop him performing regularly to a high standard. In 1976 he entered The Priory but they failed to crack the problem. In April 1977 he released "If I Never Sing Another Song" a dramatic valediction with touches of Jacques Brel that has been picked up by other cabaret singers since. It might well be his best record.
Matt's voice might have been impervious to the booze but his liver was not and he suffered from jaundice attacks. In 1980 he was sadly party to another atrocity, singing Leslie Bricusse's lyrics to Richard Adinsell's "Warsaw Concerto" for the dreary geriatric ( Peck and Niven ) war film The Sea Wolves. The following year another spell in rehab saw him finally beat the bottle and he released "Diana" a dull smoocher that didn't reward his opportunism.
In 1984 he released his final single "You Bring Out The Best In Me" a collaboration with Tony Hiller. It's odd to hear his old-fashioned crooning style over fretless bass and Fairlight orchestration but it proves his voice held up to the end. Soon after he was diagnosed with cancer and with his weakened liver he had no chance. At the end he couldn't eat or drink and died in Februrary 1985.
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