Speaking of music through the ages, one of those artists whose career has lasted from even before the advent of the charts (as a child she sang on the BBC for the entertainment of the troops in WW2) and one of our patron saints, Miss Petula Clark is 80 years old today!
Our Pet has seen the whole of pop history rise and fall - rock'n'roll, psychedelia, glam, disco, punk and the rest - and has come through it all as beloved a British icon as ever she was. In fact, not just a British icon, but also a French one [she settled there when she married Claude Wolff in 1961; they currently reside in Switzerland]. Jacques Brel even wrote a song for her on the birth of her baby:
Miss Clark is of course best remembered for her string of wonderful hits (mainly penned by the faboo Tony Hatch) such as My Love, Downtown, I Couldn't Live Without Your Love, This Is My Song and this, one of my favourites - Don't Sleep In The Subway:
Even at her grand old age, Pet is unstoppable. She's just released her 57th (French-only this time) album and has an English language studio album Lost In You due out in February, narrowly missed out on a No 1 in Ireland last Xmas when she teamed with The Saw Doctors to re-record Downtown, had a sell-out concert in Feinstein's in New York this summer, and is apparently touring Europe for the umpteenth time as we speak (although she just cancelled her scheduled Amsterdam appearance on 11th October).
We love Pet.
Gawd bless ya, Ma'am!
Petula Clark official website
If dear Pet is 80, then somehow we ALL must be older. It doesn't seem right!
ReplyDeleteShocking, isn't it? Jx
DeleteRecently, I watched an interview with Petula Clark on a programme from France called "Thé ou Café".
ReplyDeleteShe is an excellent ambassador for French-English relations!
Oo-la-la! Jx
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