We get busy, and that’s all I can say to those who ask, and write, about past popular posts that tell the story of how popular songs of the past came to be. “Take a break from sports”, one write requested. I’m missing the music.
The above sub-header tells the story of a recent email from a loyal reader.
“You haven’t written anything about song stories for a while,” a local wrote during the holidays. “I wish you would take a break from sports and do some more of those. They’re wonderful, and I’m missing the music.”
Lest you question, there are many of those people who’ve written from as far away as Albany, Georgia, sharing with us their appreciation for the facts behind a favorite song of their youth. So sure, we’ll tell you a story about one of the country’s most popular from sixty years ago, still living, still active, and the answer to one request received back in the fall.
“Whatever happened to Petula Clark,” someone wrote. And here you go.
Clark became popular in the early 60s when she recorded a huge Tony Hatch tune entitled, Downtown, a tune, in fact, that became a #1 hit on the US Billboard charts, and propelled the 30-year-old Welsh-British singer to the top of world-wide recognition. The voice, the personality, her performance style, and of course the magic of Tony Hatch was an almost incomparable combination, even in the same era as other female vocal stars like Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, and Aretha Franklin.
They were all good, but Petula Clark’s unmistakable sound, along with Hatch’s arrangements, made her a sensation with a string of hits like American Boys, Don’t Sleep In The Subway, and A Sign Of The Times.
Then, early in 1965 on a cross-country flight to Los Angeles, Hatch found himself noodling over the lyrics to a song that suddenly came to him, and one he was determined to record as Clark’s next single. It’s title was The Life And Soul Of The Party. When he landed and shared his composition with a studio co-hort he was advised that the title was horrible, and would incomprehensible to the average listener. He told Hatch….the song’s story was meaningless.
Hatch was determined, and rewrote the lyrics and changed the title to My Love before presenting it before Clark. She read it, listened to the accompanying music backing, and told Hatch that she thought it “flat and uninteresting”, and “not near as good as Downtown and some of his previous songs”.
But Hatch wouldn’t give up, and advised Warner Brothers Records that he was adamant about releasing the song as part of Clark’s next album and her 1966 debut. He shared with Clark, “You need to trust me on this.” She finally relented, and history was made. Click on the accompanying link (below) and listen to her live performance, recorded in black and white in 1966, and remastered several years ago. Her personality sells the performance. And how funny are the 60s dance moves?
My Love rocketed to the top of the Billboard Chart quicker than even Downtown, reaching #1 in mid-February of 1966, and remained there for a remarkable thirteen weeks. It was her first #1 hit since Downtown, and made her the first British female artist ever to have two US #1 hits. In later years she would share that Downtown had made it possible for her to live comfortably as a personality and recording star. But My Love made her rich, selling more than a million singles, and the impetus for 68 million records sold in her career.
As to whatever happened to Petula Clark, she’s still living at the ripe young age of 93 and is still quite active. She doesn’t tour anymore, lives outside Geneva, Switzerland, and recently shared by interview, “I’ve been very lucky. A good career…good health…wonderful family…and good friends.”
Lucky, too, that she listened to Tony Hatch.
The Hughes Law office, in Urbana, is the presenting sponsor for all OHSAA state tournament coverage on Press Pros. Call them today if they can help you…Ph. 937-398-0520