Happy 75th birthday to one of the finest British vocalists, Petula Clark, who has recorded over 1,000 songs in a career that has lasted more than sixty years so far! Petula Clark has sold more than 70 million records and enjoyed a string of hits in the '60s, including the brilliant, exuberant Tony Hatch production "Downtown", for which she won a Grammy in 1964, becoming the first British vocalist to do so. "Downtown" is one of the best pop singles ever recorded IMO, one of the defining moments of the '60s!

Had a huge crush on her back in the day. I was very young. The age difference might have been a problem, but other than that...

My current fave band is The Pipettes, who owe a HUGE debt to Pet Clark for their sound.

"It's a sign of the times..."

I had the great pleasure of seeing her live this past summer in one of the LI Parks summer concert series-for free! She was great, putting on a terrific show and sounding as good as ever.If you missed it, pick up her "Duets" album, a collection of things she's done over the years. Highlights are a bizarre"Baby It's Cold Outside" with Rod McKuen(!)from 1973 and a rocking "Can't Get You To Love Me" with Gilbert O'Sullivan done in 1974.
She is probably my all-time favorite female vocalist.

Happy Birthday, Petula Clark.

While I was looking up some stuff on Petula, I came across info on an album released last week. I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere yet. It's called"In Her Own Write", and features 25 tracks written or co-written by Petula between 1980-1995. Eighteen of the tracks appear on CD for the first time. Available through the usual suspects.

I'll chime in to recommend IN HER OWN WRITE; I wasn't familiar with much of the material on it, as it's all either out-of-print or previously unreleased. It definitely makes a case for Petula as songwriter, and is a nice modern companion to Pye/Sequel's compilation of Clark compositions, BEAUTIFUL SOUNDS: THE PETULA CLARK SONGBOOK. (Now is there anybody we can lobby for a complete Clark Sings Hatch compilation?) The notes are fairly copious, and the sound good.

I got the OOP Sequel CD of her original album "Downtown", and it's written and produced by Tony Hatch!

Hatch's productions for Petula are really hard to beat, aren't they? Even the songs that weren't hits are generally wonderful; while I've always thought that the label "the British Bacharach" didn't totally suit him, Tony remains one of my favorite hitmakers, period!

I heartily recommend the box set "Hatchbox" from Castle - six original albums in mini sleeves, all by Tony Hatch. And it's a real bargain, too!