The mystery girl from the previous post is the lovely and talented Petula Clark! The movie clip with Pet at age 12 is from “I Know Where I’m Going!” Having been well-known in England and France for many years, Petula was 32 when she hit it big in America in 1965.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Movies/Wordpress/JAN07/Downtown.flv 400 300]
The audio player has the studio recording of “Downtown” and, from 1968, Petula’s superb tear-jerker, “Kiss Me Goodbye.”
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Sounds/Wordpress/JAN07/Downtown.mp3,http://www.dograt.com/Sounds/Wordpress/JAN07/KissMeGoodbye.mp3]
Pet is on tour again this spring, unfortunately not around my area. I missed a chance to see her a year or two ago, down in CT. She has a new Christmas album that I’m probably getting. Her voice is still in good shape, unlike poor Julie Andrews, who is the victim of botched surgery. I know the feeling from my first eye surgery!
I always tease Tom whenever “Downtown” comes on the radio. As he is a native of Pittsburgh, he pronouces it “Duntun,” so I sing the song that way to get his goat!
In a perfect world, Petula Clark, Julie Andrews, and Diana Rigg would all have been famous and in their prime at the same time. Oh! They were!