Petula Clark is 82 years old today. An English singer, actress and composer whose career has spanned seven decades, Clarks professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II. During the 1950s, she started recording in French and having international success in both French and English, with such songs as The Little Shoemaker, Baby Lover, With All My Heart and Prends Mon Cœur. During the 1960s, she became known globally for her popular upbeat hits, including Downtown, I Know a Place, My Love, Color My World, A Sign of the Times and Dont Sleep in the Subway. She has sold more than 68 million records throughout her career. Clark was born to English father Leslie Norman Clark (1909-1977) and Welsh mother Doris (née Phillips), both nurses at Long Grove Hospital, in Epsom, Surrey, England. Her father Leslie coined her first name, and joked that it was a combination of the names of two former girlfriends, Pet and Ulla. As a child, Clark sang in the chapel choir and showed a talent for mimicry, frequently impersonating Vera Lynn, Carmen Miranda and Sophie Tucker for the amusement of family and friends. Her father introduced her to theatre when he took her to see Flora Robson in a 1938 production of Mary Tudor; she later recalled that after the performance I made up my mind then and there I was going to be an actress ... I wanted to be Ingrid Bergman more than anything else in the world. However, her first public performances were as a singer, performing with an orchestra in the entrance hall of Bentalls Department Store in Kingston upon Thames for a tin of toffee and a gold wristwatch, in 1939. From a chance beginning as a nine-year-old, Clark would appear on radio, film, print, television and recordings by the time she turned seventeen. In October 1942, nine-year-old Clark made her radio debut while attending a BBC broadcast with her father. Attending in the hope of sending a message to an uncle stationed overseas, the broadcast was delayed by an air raid. During the bombing, the producer requested that someone perform to settle the jittery theatre audience, and she volunteered a rendering of Mighty Lak a Rose to an enthusiastic response. She then repeated her performance for the broadcast audience, launching a series of some 500 appearances in programs designed to entertain the troops. In addition to radio work, Clark frequently toured the United Kingdom with fellow child performer Julie Andrews. In 1944, while performing at Londons Royal Albert Hall, Clark was discovered by film director Maurice Elvey, who cast her as precocious orphaned waif Irma in his weepy war drama Medal for the General. In quick succession, she starred in Strawberry Roan, I Know Where Im Going!, London Town and Here Come the Huggetts, the first in a series of Huggett Family films based on a British radio series. In 1946, Clark launched her television career with an appearance on a BBC variety show, Cabaret Cartoons, which led to her being signed to host her own afternoon series, titled simply Petula Clark. A second, Pets Parlour, followed in 1949. By 1964, Clarks British recording career was foundering. The composer-arranger Tony Hatch, who had been assisting her with her work for Vogue Records in France and Pye Records in the UK, flew to her home in Paris with new song material he hoped would interest her, but she found none of it appealing. Desperate, he played for her a few chords of an incomplete song that had been inspired by his recent first trip to New York City, which he suggested might be offered to the Drifters. Upon hearing the melody, Clark told him that if he could write lyrics as good as the melody, she wanted to record the tune as her next single. Thus Downtown came into being. Neither Clark, who was performing in Canada when the song first received major air-play, nor Hatch realized the impact the song would have on their respective careers. Released in four different languages in late 1964, Downtown was a success in the UK, France (in both the English and the French versions), the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Italy and also Rhodesia, Japan and India. During a visit to London, Warner Bros. executive Joe Smith heard it and acquired the rights for the United States. Downtown went to No. 1 on the American charts in January 1965, and three million copies were sold in America. Downtown was the first of fifteen consecutive Top 40 hits Clark achieved in the United States. The American recording industry honored her with Grammy Awards for Best Rock & Roll Recording of 1964 for Downtown and for Best Contemporary (R&R) Vocal Performance of 1965 - Female for I Know a Place. In 2004, her recording of Downtown was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In February 2012, Clark completed her first New York City show since 1975. Her show featured a parody of Downtown, an idea that came from her musical director Grant Sturiale. After the end of her season, which had to be extended due to the demand for tickets, she returned to Paris to promote her new album, before flying to Australia for a tour. In 2012, Clark and her husband were living in Switzerland. Here, Clark performs “Downtown” on The Dean Martin Show in 1967.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 06:36:46 +0000
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