Petula Clark - Downtown

As a kid I loved the song "Downtown" and I knew it was by Petula Clark (pronounced pe-CHOO-la) and that's as far as it went. I probably saw her on TV and that's where I was exposed to the song. I'm pretty sure that I didn't hear it on the radio back in '65.

It's always interesting to read up on an artist who'd been well established in other parts of the world, when they're introduced into the North American market. Downtown is described as her debut hit album, although she'd been around since the mid '50s amassing an impressive list of hits in Europe. According to the short essay on the back cover she'd sold an astounding 20,000,000 records before debuting over here with "Downtown" back in '65.

The album was produced by Tony Hatch, who conducted and wrote many of the songs on the album. Musically this is that strange mid '60s pop that was more an extension of the '50s. The vocals are drenched in cavernous reverb and the early stereo mixes are fairly subtle. Overall things tend to be on the shrill side, and there's not a lot of bottom end. Not a complaint, as this was just how it was.

Petula Clark was in her early 30s when this came out, and she would have had a good decade on many of her contemporaries of the day. Not that it was a hindrance, she knew what she was doing and while she may have been "new" over here, she was an established artist and I suspect that must have helped keep her grounded.

It's weird to think that success for many artists is defined by cracking the U.S. market. "Yeah, they had hits and sold a lot of records, but what have they done over here?"

The collection of songs on Downtown are all pretty solid, and short. Many are just hovering around 2 minutes. You don't really notice to be honest, the songs don't feel rushed, nor do they feel truncated or incomplete.

It's hard to get information on older albums regarding certifications as I'm not sure how complete the RIAA database is. A hit record doesn't necessarily translate into sales, but "Downtown" was indeed a gold selling single back in 1965.

It's still boggling to me she sold 20,000,000 records in Europe but it's a gold selling single that moved 500,000 copies that she's remembered for over here.

Admittedly, this isn't my era, so I'm listening more for fun and as a way to go back in time to an era I really don't know much about. Yeah, I was a kid in the '60s, but seriously I was still in single digits when the '70s started. The draw here was "Downtown" and the arrangements and Petula's voice are still as magical as they ever were.

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