Last year there was a short-lived Petula Clark blog. There was some synergy between my Petula posts and “Petula Clark: Driven by Emotion,” but that blog met an untimely and abrupt end. Petula Clark’s UK fan club has just started a new Pet blog, that you can see by clicking here.
For Bester Or Worster
I admire the work of cartoonist Lynn Johnston. Months ago she promised a resolution in For Better or for Worse to Elizabeth’s romances. But now that Lynn seems to finally be wrapping it up, doesn’t it seem a bit too much like a typical school girl romantic fantasy, where she has so many options? Elizabeth is engaged to a boring, stable guy, yet there’s a less responsible, but more exciting, guy she can hang onto as an option.
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.
[flv:/Video/2008/MAY/PetMuppet1.flv 400 300]
[flv:/Video/2008/MAY/PetMuppet2.flv 400 300]
[flv:/Video/2008/MAY/PetMuppet3.flv 400 300]
Peanuts and Apple Quickies
- Amy (Schulz) Johnson recently added a comment on Cartoon Brew, to what must be one of the longest threads on the Net for any topic.
- NPR has posted a feature on the 40th anniversary of the Beatles starting Apple Records.
PETULA CLARK IN PERSON!
Petula Clark put on a wonderful 75-minute show Sunday night, at the Mohegan Sun Cabaret!
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.
[flv:/Video/2008/MAY/PetulaMoheganSunCabaret.flv 440 330]
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.
[flv:/Video/2008/MAY/PetulaMoheganSunSigning.flv 440 330]
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 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.
Geoff Emerick In Florida
Recording engineer Geoff Emerick, who I’ve featured probably half a dozen times now, has been in Florida lately, working on a Beatles tribute by Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander. Here’s the article. For once a local piece, in this instance from the St. Petersburg Times, and not something from the AP and picked up by everybody.