Ultimate Petula Clark [Original recording remastered]

Petula Clark | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 15, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Buddha
• ASIN: B00008UAPM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,842 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #41 in Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Traditional Vocal Pop
  • #43 in Music > Classic Rock > British Invasion
  • #79 in Music > Pop > Oldies > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars + 1/2 stars...All the Top 40 US Hits, August 29, 2005

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ultimate Petula Clark (Audio CD)

When Petula Clark burst onto the U.S. music scene in 1965 with her million-selling No. 1 hit "Downtown," most Americans had no idea that the then 32-year-old singer had already been performing and recording in her native England for the past fifteen years. Clark was no overnight sensation. Her first U.K. Top 10 hit dates back to 1954, and she had her first U.K. No. 1 in 1960 with an English language version of Lolita's German language single "Sailor (Your Home Is the Sea)."

However, the British Invasion made her one of the biggest female stars of the mid-60s, and this collection focuses on the hit years from 1965 to 1971. Her final Top 40 hit was 1968's "Don't Give Up," but the following year she reached No. 62 with "Happy Heart." The final three tracks are from 1970-71, including "I Don't Know How To Love Him," which reached No. 47 in the U.K. And although Clark's cover of the Box Top's "Neon Rainbow" was not released as a single, it is a highlight from this period.

Her best (and best known) material includes such classics as "Downtown," "I Know a Place," "My Love," "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" and "Don't Sleep in the Subway"--all written, arranged and produced by Tony Hatch. This single-disc collection includes all her hits and the terrific 16-page booklet is filled with pictures, album covers and an informative essay. Nostalgia buffs can't go wrong with this one. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All the American sixties hits on single CD, May 25, 2003

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ultimate Petula Clark (Audio CD)

Petula began her recording career in the forties (at a time when she was more interested in acting than singing) and continued to record in the new millennium, making her career one of the longest in popular music history. Despite some excellent recordings at other times, the sixties were her best and most productive and it is that music that forms almost the whole of this collection.

Downtown is the song that people remember Petula best for (at least in the English speaking world) and it rightly opens this collection. Other hits include I know a place, Round every corner, My love, A sign of the times, I couldn't live without your love, Color my world, This is my song and Don't sleep in the subway. You're the one is a song written by Petula, which was a hit for her in other counties, but it was the Vogues who had the American hit.

If you are looking for a single CD containing all Petula's American hits of the sixties and you're not interested in other aspects of her career, this is the ideal collection for you.

The first eighteen tracks here also formed the first eighteen tracks of the double-CD Downtown to Sunset Boulevard, a compilation that also includes plenty of songs from stage and screen as well as some of her seventies music. If you are interested in these aspects of career, you might consider buying that compilation instead.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Petula Clark's American Hits, April 27, 2003

By 

masterbill "masterbill" (Long Island, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate Petula Clark (Audio CD)

The pairing of Tony Hatch with Petula Clark was perhaps the best composer / female vocalist match of the 1960's. This CD contains all fifteen of Petula's American top forty hits. Her vocals in these tracks are characterized by impeccable timing, finesse, and deceptive power. The #1 hit My Love, The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener, Colour My World, and Round Every Corner are playful songs with silly lyrics that are elevated by lush musical arrangements and Pet's superb vocals. Don't Sleep In The Subway is a beautiful, buoyant, up-tempo song, and Downtown and I Know A Place are 60's classics. Don't Give Up is a beautiful uplifting song with Petula's trademark jazzy improvisations and The Cat In The Window is an excellent pop/jazz blend with odd lyrics.

The other six songs display Petula's versatility. Her recording of You're the One is the equal of the Vogues version. Happy Heart and Call Me are also excellent tracks and I Don't Know How To Love Him is one of many excellent show tunes Petula has recorded during her long career.

If you like a few of her American hits, this is the Petula Clark CD to purchase. However, if you enjoy several of her songs, you will obtain more value and enjoyment from one of her multi-CD compilations which draws from her extensive, diversified catalogue of more than 1,000 recorded songs, such as Downtown To Sunset Blvd, Legendary, or the 2002 release, The Ultimate Collection.