Category: Petula Clark

The One and Only Miss Petula Clark!

Petula Clark on The Muppet Show

I remember watching a PET-icular Muppet Show at Bismo’s house, way back in 1977 when he was still living with his parents. It starred Petula Clark, and little did I know at the time that Bismo’s dad is also a Pet fan. One of the CD’s I had Pet sign on Sunday is for him. (Yes, Jean, there’s one for you, too!)

I was going to post these as a custom YouTube player, but whomever posted the show prevented embedding, so I downloaded them.

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Petula Clark in “Trouble at Townsend”

Petula Clark in \The first item I posted about Pet Clark was a scene with her in the classic 1945 movie by Powell and Pressburger, I Know Where I’m Going! But there’s an even earlier screen appearance by Pet as a child actress, in a 20-minute educational film from 1944, called Trouble at Townsend. Petula’s UK fan club has posted the film. A classic this movie certainly is not. The quality of the picture and sound are well below average, and the video player controls are hidden (right-click to pause and resume), but nevertheless it provides a fascinating glimpse into why Petula Clark was a child star in England more than 20 years before most Americans first heard her on the radio, with no preconceptions whatsoever about who she was or what she had done, before bursting onto the American scene with “Downtown.” Click here to watch Petula Clark at age 11, in Trouble at Townsend.

It seems that Firefox uses a Flash player, and IE brings up Media Player. The IE version of the movie has an incorrect aspect ratio.

A Couple More Pet Pics

Petula Clark’s American fan club, PetulaClark.net, has this announcement:

40th Anniversary of the NBC

Petula Clark Special “Petula”

with Harry Belafonte

POSTPONED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Hey, that must mean Petula will be back in the area! Here’s hoping she does another show here.

D.F. Rogers caught the moment last night that my moment with Petula Clark was caught. Thanks, Dennis.

Victor Lukas, Petula Clark, DOuG pRATt

Even with her head down, Petula takes a lovely picture, and she displays her unmistakable flourish and sense of style even when signing an autograph. Pet has the Rap and Hip-Hop section behind her! Talk about contrasting styles.

Petula Clark signing autograph at Mohegan Sun, May 11, 2008

PETULA CLARK IN PERSON!

Petula Clark put on a wonderful 75-minute show Sunday night, at the Mohegan Sun Cabaret!

Petula Clark at Mohegan Sun, May 11, 2008Petula Clark at Mohegan Sun, May 11, 2008

The place was packed, and it was a truly magical show, with Petula looking her loveliest and performing her absolute best. What a consummate entertainer! Pet is a singer, a story teller, and even a poet. She has a full band touring with her, with horns, and they put out a super sound. I was very pleased to have 60’s Pop Music maven D.F. Rogers there with me, to share the fun of seeing Pet live for the first time.

I sneaked just a few seconds of video. We were sitting too far back for this to look like much, but here it is.

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After the show there was a meet-and-greet signing with Petula at the Spin Street record store in Mohegan Sun. I grabbed a few moments of video from there, as well.

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That’s Petula’s stage manager, Victor Lukas, with her. Last year, having spotted my blog, Victor asked me to do a favor for him and Petula, and I was of course more than happy to oblige. I introduced myself, and Victor took this picture of me with the one and only Miss Petula Clark. Thank you, Victor!

Petula Clark with DOug pRATt

Petula and I had a lovely little exchange, that went something like this:

Pet: “You’re all dressed up!”
Me: “Uh, yeah….”
Pet: “People don’t get dressed up anymore for shows.”
Me: “Well, it’s for, you know, the occasion.”
Pet: “I think you look very nice.”

You can imagine how I felt about that comment! I thanked Pet and Victor and, as Dennis can attest, I left Spin Street in a daze. I would have loved a longer chat with Pet, of course, but there were a lot of people waiting behind me. I wanted to ask how Thursday evening went at the Paley Center, with the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of her TV special featuring Harry Belafonte. I’m hoping there will be a write-up about it in the next issue of Petula & Company.

Thank you, Petula Clark, for a delightful evening that I shall always remember. Truly you are a superstar talent and the finest of ladies.

Petula Postcard

Petula Clark Postcard

One of my relatively rare eBay acquisitions is this Nostalgia Postcard from England, reproducing a magazine cover from late 1949 with Petula Clark, just turned 17. Picturegoer called itself The National Film Weekly, and Petula was a movie star, and not yet a chart-topping hit singles singer. Of course in America we knew nothing of Pet’s 20+ year career when she hit it big here, stateside.

Pet’s Serenade To Love

Let’s make it a Petula Clark triple post for today. From an appearance on the American TV show The Hollywood Palace, she sings “This Is My Song.”

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Thirty five years later Petula did what I feel is an ever better rendition of the same song. Be sure to check out the other Petula clips that are linked in the YouTube menu.