I love Petula Clark
3:51 PM PDT, September 21, 2007
 I had the concert experience of a lifetime last week--Petula Clark at the Skagit Valley Casino in Bow, Washington. The 400-seat room was packed, mostly with people at or near retirement age. 710 KIRO talk show host Dave Ross announced the morning of the show he'd be going and gave a glowing review the next day, saying his family was the youngest in attendance. Probably true, since I think his daughters are in their 20s, but I am fairly sure my 30-year-old girlfriend and I (I'm 32) were the youngest there of their own free will. At any rate--Petula gave truly a stunning performance. She's 75 but I wish I had half her energy (and vocal skills) at half her age. Those who know me know I'm not one to get very emotional in public, but I must admit I got a little choked up when she sang "Downtown," which was the first song I can ever remember liking. (I am told I would sit in front of the stereo at the age of 3 and 4 and play my father's LP over and over, thoroughly enthralled.)Another early favorite was, of course, the Beatles, especially "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (which was, I shudder to remember, not even 20 years old at the time). How great a treat it was, then, to hear Petula accompany herself on the piano covering the song as a slow ballad. I think there must be something about the music we love when we're young that just sticks with us. As I wrote in my bio, "The first two songs Ben Lukoff remembers listening to on his record player are 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' and 'Downtown.' years later it may be 'Waterloo Sunset' and 'Train in Vain,' but he still can't shake his love of British rock & roll. (Exposure to music of other genres and nationalities has just added fixations, not shifted them.)" --Ben
Initial post:
Sep 22, 2007 11:29 AM PDT
David Horiuchi says:
Petula Clark rules. The "Finian's Rainbow" movie is a mess, but her "How Are Things in Glocca Mora" is practically worth the price of admission.
Posted on
Sep 24, 2007 1:28 PM PDT
S. Bunn says:
I'm 34, and I adore Pet Clark. My grandparents gave me their record player some years ago...it's one of those beauties that looks like a suitcase, where the speakers pop out from the sides and the 'player' part flips down. It was my first record player, and I got all the left-over family albums to go with it...including the Petula Clark album they'd bought with the player....some forty+ years ago!
I still listen to it...
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Bio
The Amazon Music Editorial team:
Gabi Knight Renata Sadunas Lucas Hilbert Jeff Reguilon Alan Wiley Jason Kirk Though she's fascinated by all kinds of music, GABI KNIGHT'S current and future preferences can be summed and projected with this handy questionnaire: Beatles or **Stones** / **Lennon** or McCartney / **Syd Barrett** or Roger Waters / **Public Enemy** or NWA (TOUGH one!) / Britney or **Christina** / **John Prine** or Kris Kristofferson (Prine, baby! All the way!) Some of RENATA SADUNAS's musical preferences have stood the test of time better than others. Her first 45 was "My Sharona" by the Knack, arguably still a good song. Her first CD was Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True", and, unfortunately, girl, that IS true. First digital download: "Gold Lion" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Her present musical tastes range from international pop stars to music commonly heard in dive bars. Our Managing Editor, LUCAS HILBERT, has been turning dials in multiple musical realms for almost two decades including music performance, studio recording, retail/supply chain systems, and writing/editorial work. As his preferred genre of choice would dictate, Lucas wants everyone to ROCK ON with Amazon, but his musical tastes wander far and wide from Pop to Country to Hip Hop and Dance/DJ, too. One time, JEFF REGUILON proposed marriage to his copy of Beulah's When Your Heartstrings Break, but was disappointed to discover man and property aren't legally allowed to wed. It's just as well, really, as he would've never been able to remain faithful to only one album. He spends most of his time now listening to an ungodly amount of music in the hope that he can shield you from the junk and expose you to the gems, but it's also entirely possible he's just looking for his one true musical love. Cranky but kind, JASON KIRK fled the merciless Midwest winters and a rather flaccid trajectory in academia to pursue the fickle joys of performing and writing about music on the West Coast in 2003. Thick-skinned and quick to laugh, he regrets little and sleeps less. Having spent his entire life surrounded by music, ALAN WILEY has diverse experience writing, performing, producing, listening to, and writing about music. Some of his favorite things are: indie-pop, free jazz, playing the tuba and baritone ukelele, crocheting, and Yahtzee. Other contributors include Chris Brucia, David Horiuchi, Ben Lukoff, Mari Malcolm, Tom May, Julie Van Arcken, and Leah Weathersby. |
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