Back in the 1960s I was a sucker for Petula Clark and her particular brand of music. Sweet love songs with a big London street sound delivered by an attractive blonde with an English accent. I was in love the first time I heard her on the radio, even before I saw her on Ed Sullivan. It became a life-long love affair that I'll gladly take with me to my grave.
Yeah, Petula Clark was old enough to be my mother but having a crush on somebody older back in the 1960s was normal and wholesome and even chaste. Before Petula Clark came along my biggest crushes were Annette Funicello, Haley Mills and — that's right — Doris Day and Julie Andrews. It was the early 1960s. There were still plenty of good people and even innocent people in the world.
"Pet" Clark perfectly represented the "other Sixties", the overlooked part of that decade that flowed naturally out of the 1950s. The hidden side of the 60s where people still liked the way things were and wanted them to go on forever. That part of the world that still went to school and graduated and dated and fell in love and got married and had babies because that was happiness enough. It was what a lot of people wanted. It was what I wanted.
Being a teenager who "went for" Petula Clark made me understand why girls went for Elvis. I went for Petula Clark because she made me feel good about being a boy and then a man and she always made me feel good about being alive.
Yeah, Petula Clark was old enough to be my mother but having a crush on somebody older back in the 1960s was normal and wholesome and even chaste. Before Petula Clark came along my biggest crushes were Annette Funicello, Haley Mills and — that's right — Doris Day and Julie Andrews. It was the early 1960s. There were still plenty of good people and even innocent people in the world.
"Pet" Clark perfectly represented the "other Sixties", the overlooked part of that decade that flowed naturally out of the 1950s. The hidden side of the 60s where people still liked the way things were and wanted them to go on forever. That part of the world that still went to school and graduated and dated and fell in love and got married and had babies because that was happiness enough. It was what a lot of people wanted. It was what I wanted.
Being a teenager who "went for" Petula Clark made me understand why girls went for Elvis. I went for Petula Clark because she made me feel good about being a boy and then a man and she always made me feel good about being alive.
1. Downtown (1965)
2. Call Me (1965)
5. Color My World (1966)
6. A Sign of the Times (1966)
7. I Couldn't Live Without Your Love (1966)
8. Don't Sleep in the Subway (1967)
9. Beautiful in The Rain (1968)
6. A Sign of the Times (1966)
7. I Couldn't Live Without Your Love (1966)
8. Don't Sleep in the Subway (1967)
9. Beautiful in The Rain (1968)
