Petula Clark - Downtown and some more
I'm on a bit of a Petula Clark buzz at the moment - it happens regularly. She came on to my radar properly some years back when I picked up a 60's compilation in a garage for a few quid (mainly because it had Happy together by The Turtles on it) and found Downtown . I'm sure I'd heard the song before but listening to it in detail was a revelation. In my mind, it tied into that nexus of classic pop music located somewhere between Burt Bacharach and The Carpenters . And just like those, beneath the bright veneer, there's a distinct heart of darkness. Despite the gloriously uplifting backing vocals, brass drones, singing strings and irresistible key change, the song is essentially about loneliness no matter how you cut it. I remember reading somewhere that Petula had a hand in giving The Carpenters a start. Apparently, she was at an A&M reception at which Richard and Karen were providing background music (I'm thinking this must have been around 1968-69 in...