Old Enough to Forget

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 rever...