Petula Clark, International Star
June 29th, 2008
XUXA’s stardom in Latin America failed to translate into American success. Of K3 and Free Souffriau in Belgium, I would suspect that Free has a better chance at finding an audience here in the states, or at least in the UK. English-speaking performers don’t necessarily have an advantage, otherwise Cilla Black would have been a much bigger name than she is in the U.S.
The point I’ve been leading up to is that Petula Clark’s career is unique. From child star on radio, to movie star, to adult French singing sensation, to 60’s Pop icon, to TV specials, to adult contemporary performer, to Broadway, and on and on, Petula Clark stands alone. No other entertainer, not even Madonna (in whom I have no interest) has reinvented herself so many times. And Petula has done it with apparent ease and without false fronts.
Here is Petula Clark’s recent appearance on Paul O’Grady’s BBC TV show. It features the hot, new Disney boy band, the Jonas Brothers. I love how the kids have to sit behind the old ladies.
Tech note: YouTube has the image shape wrong, so I downloaded the files and I’m giving this playlist a try. You’ll notice that you have to click outside of the player to change focus back to the page.
Filed under: All Posts, Petula Clark
4 Comments Add your own
1. jeaniebeanie | June 29th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Molly can’t stand the Jonas Brothers, either! Right now, she’s tripping out on old Moody Blues songs I play for her. “Watching and Waiting” is especially creepy and beautiful, she says.
Say! This is like the Fab Four coming to Ed Sullivan, on a FAR smaller scale, to be sure!
HEY! Who laughed at the child Pet? Take a hit out on that person! How COULD they? Oh course, the oldsters, and we boomers, were all going “Ahhhhh …. ” in our minds. Man, British audiences are so sedate!
2. Dave | June 29th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I suppose the point is Doug, that Petula has entertainment in her veins. She seems to have this incredible talent, that is simply different from other people’s.
No matter what she does, how she reinvents, she sounds like she was meant to be doing whatever she is doing at that moment.
I’ve seen her sing jazz, and at that moment, it is like she is a jazz singer…another Ella Fitzgerald. Listen to her album “In Other Words” or her duet with Oscar Peterson, and tell me you disagree. I’ve seen her as a musical comedy artiste, and at that moment it seems like that is what her job is. She was born to play in “Sound of Music” or “Someone Like You” or “Sunset”. I’ve seen her as the host of a French TV show, and apart from the accent, you would never believe that that wasn’t what Petula does all the time. I’ve seen her singing rock, jumping about on the stage, making gruff noises, and right then, you would say that that was, and is what Petula Clark is about. She’s a rock singer.
There are many other things she’s done too over the years…and I’m betting that she has never looked out of her depth.
Many other artistes take a step away from what they do, perhaps brilliantly, and they look like a fish out of water. The jazz singer that tries pop, the pop singer that tries to act.
Of course there are many who can cope with more than one niche in show biz, but I simply can’t think of another who can do quite simply anything and make it look like that was what they were born to do. I think that’s why she has lasted.
Of course it doesn’t hurt that she seems to be physically amazing. She has boundless energy. Only a few weeks ago when I saw her, she was dancing around on the stage, jumping up in the air, with far more energy than she has any right to have at her age. And all this for 2 hours!!!!!
I keep saying it don’t I? But this repository of so much energy and talent is so down to earth and normal. She is quite simply amazing.
PS: “Then and Now” still in the top 20 here at No 19.
3. DOuG pRATt | June 29th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Once again I emphasize that what Dave told me to expect when I met Petula was exactly how it was. I immediately felt calm, and relaxed and comfortable, as though I were meeting an dear old friend — which, in a way, I was, of course. And on stage, for such a tiny lady she does indeed have a tremendously big presence.
4. Joan Stringer | December 6th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Hi Doug! Paul O’Grady is on BBC America’s Graham Norton Show along with Reese Witherspoon and he’s a nut. He’s really comical. I’m on my cell phone and on the optimized page I guess they’re going to add a Flash player because you see Paul at his desk but when you click on the picture it says “Malformed URL”. Sometimes I think I have one of those.
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