Petula Clark takes it "Downtown"

Music on Sunday @ The Reaction

By Richard K. Barry

Weekends are for nostalgia, at least for me. On Saturday nights I can frequently be found surfing Youtube videos for songs long forgotten by most.

Last night I happened upon a clip of Petula Clark singing one of her biggest hits, "Downtown."

I must admit that back in the day I had a rather large crush on Ms. Clark, but who wouldn't? Look at that face. Now, I should also confess that I was awfully young to be having a crush an anyone when this song was released, but it's true nonetheless - color me precocious.

"Downtown" was a hit for her in 1965. It was written by Tony Hatch and, apparently, composed with The Drifters in mind. I did not know that, though that would have been interesting. Something else I didn't know is that Clark re-recorded "Downtown" in 1976 with a disco beat. Oh well, no one's perfect.

Anyway, I love the original and, you will agree, she looks absolutely smashing in this clip, which, as an example of early music videos, is quite the period piece.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)