Thursday, November 15, 2012
Petula Clark is 80?
I thought she was old over 45 years ago.
I liked many of her songs; still, there was something odd in that era about a post-30 woman singing poppy songs with manic choruses, chastely wiggling on TV for audiences of screaming kids mainly in the 10-13 year old range. Petula herself had been a child celebrity in England, & had hits in both England & France during the Fifties. But her career wasn't in very good shape when "Downtown" was released & became a worldwide hit, part of the "British Invasion" in America. My favorite Pet Clark song is "Call Me, " like so many of her hits composed for her by Tony Hatch, but never released by her as a single.
I liked many of her songs; still, there was something odd in that era about a post-30 woman singing poppy songs with manic choruses, chastely wiggling on TV for audiences of screaming kids mainly in the 10-13 year old range. Petula herself had been a child celebrity in England, & had hits in both England & France during the Fifties. But her career wasn't in very good shape when "Downtown" was released & became a worldwide hit, part of the "British Invasion" in America. My favorite Pet Clark song is "Call Me, " like so many of her hits composed for her by Tony Hatch, but never released by her as a single.
Labels: birthday, music, video
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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
In fact when Downtown was released in the USA, she was the top female singer in France. She could read a telephone directory and it would be a hit. Downtown was also at number 1 in the UK, Germany (in English and in German) and in Italy (in Italian), and her hits across Europe were massive.
Of course that doesn't equate to being a star in the USA, but us Europeans like to think that it means at least a little.
However, she was also a star in Quebec, which puts her on the correct side of the Atlantic.
Was she too old? Well I dunno. Is Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney?
Or even American stars like Andy Williams and Dean Martin, who were a good bit older than her and still in the charts.
Petula has just had at 79, a download chart hit with "Cut Copy Me" in Belgium. She did a concert there last night and brought the place down.
Her new English language album, recorded over the summer will be released in February and her last French one was released in April this year and has been selling soliday.
She has just been installed this week as a Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government, for her contribution to French culture.
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Of course that doesn't equate to being a star in the USA, but us Europeans like to think that it means at least a little.
However, she was also a star in Quebec, which puts her on the correct side of the Atlantic.
Was she too old? Well I dunno. Is Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney?
Or even American stars like Andy Williams and Dean Martin, who were a good bit older than her and still in the charts.
Petula has just had at 79, a download chart hit with "Cut Copy Me" in Belgium. She did a concert there last night and brought the place down.
Her new English language album, recorded over the summer will be released in February and her last French one was released in April this year and has been selling soliday.
She has just been installed this week as a Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government, for her contribution to French culture.
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