{"title":"Petula Clark","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePetula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and songwriter born on 15 November 1932 in Ewell, Surrey, England. She began her professional singing career at the age of seven and gained popularity during World War II through radio performances and concerts for the troops. In addition to her successful music career, Petula also appeared in numerous films alongside renowned actors such as Peter Ustinov, Anthony Newley, and Alec Guinness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHer first major recording contract was with Polygon Records in 1950, and she achieved chart success in the UK from the 1950s to the early 1970s. Some of her notable hits include \"Sailor\" and \"This Is My Song,\" both reaching number one on the charts. In 1988, a remix of her hit song \"Downtown\" brought her back into the UK Top 10.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePetula's international breakthrough came in 1965 with her Grammy award-winning song \"Downtown,\" which topped charts in America. She became the first British female singer to have two number one hits on the American charts with \"My Love.\" Throughout her career, she has received accolades such as being voted Top Female Singer by Cashbox music trade magazine and Playboy magazine.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"splendido-the-italian-singles-collection","title":"Splendido! - The Italian Singles Collection","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt was regular practice in the 1960s for stars to record their hits in foreign languages, whether it was the Beatles trying their hand at German or Gene Pitney more successfully getting his head around Italian. The era’s female singers seemed to be more adaptable – Sandie Shaw and Françoise Hardy, for example, had parallel careers with recordings in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian – and Petula Clark was probably the most prolific of all.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis latest release on the occasional Ace International imprint is a two-CD anthology of Petula’s complete Italian language singles. Among the tracks are five superb songs she rendered exclusively in that language – including ‘Invece No’, which she performed at the San Remo Song Festival in 1965, and ‘Splendido’, recorded for the TV mini-series Coralba in 1970 – plus a further five of which she recorded no English versions, notably ‘Quelli Che Hanno Un Cuore’, her particularly lovely cover of Bacharach \u0026amp; David’s ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of the songs will be familiar to Petula’s British fans in their English versions – among them ‘Ciao Ciao’ (‘Downtown’), ‘L’amore È Il Vento’ (‘My Love’) and ‘Cara Felicita’ (‘This Is My Song’) – while others were first recorded by her in French or German, countries in which she scored many big hits. Rarely for a female artist of the time, Petula wrote or co-wrote many of her own songs – sometimes under the alias Al Grant – an impressive nine of which are featured here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReleased with the approval and involvement of Petula herself, the two discs come in a six-panel digipak which also houses a bumper 32-page booklet featuring notes by Bob Stanley incorporating an exclusive interview with Petula, detailed track annotations, ten gorgeous full-page colour photos – many of them from the personal collection of Claude Wolff, Petula’s husband – and a plethora of other rare illustrations.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ace Records","offers":[{"title":"CD | x2","offer_id":50512862380363,"sku":"1127450","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a7baa41f-c28e-406e-9fbe-e6e88030d3d7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727908597"},{"product_id":"in-copenhagen-1958-1960","title":"In Copenhagen 1958-1960","description":"\u003cp\u003eFollowing the critically acclaimed release of Stage Door's Petula Clark \u003ci\u003eOn Air 1951-1961\u003c\/i\u003e album is a brand new collection of previously unreleased Petula Clark recordings; 'In Copenhagen 1958-1961'. Dating from 1958 to 1960, the recordings featured on this album represent a historic and landmark archival discovery. From the archives of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, the featured recordings shine a light on a remarkable part of Petula Clark's career that to date has remained relatively unknown and unreported outside of Scandinavia. This specially compiled album features 23 recordings all of which are previously unissued on CD and unheard since their original broadcasts. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDigitally remastered from the original master tapes, the featured studio recordings represent selections from four Petula Clark television specials recorded and broadcast exclusively in Denmark over a two-year period. With musical accompaniment by Bent Fabric and His Quartet, the selections spotlight Petula as a jazz song stylist and torch singer, the majority of the featured numbers were never recorded commercially or performed outside of these broadcasts. Highlights include \u003ci\u003eThe Folks Who Live on the Hill\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOver the Rainbow\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eI'll Be Seeing You\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAmong My Souvenirs.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stage Door","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50881092125003,"sku":"1121426","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/96c8bd59-e355-41ad-bd28-960d5b0756f5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1732389643"},{"product_id":"solitude-and-sunshine-the-songs-of-rod-mckuen","title":"Solitude and Sunshine - The Songs of Rod McKuen","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Grammy-winning artist Petula Clark met poet-songwriter-singer Rod McKuen in France during the 1960s, they became fast friends. Petula, of course, was one of the biggest music stars in the world and in the midst of a long string of hits in both English and French. For his part, McKuen was a huge fan of Petula, naming her his favourite female vocalist; and by the mid-1970s, they had performed together on several television programs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by Petula’s recorded versions of his dramatic environmental anthem “The Wind of Change” and the tender ballad “I Think of You,” McKuen resolved to put together an entire album of his compositions for Petula just like he had done with Frank Sinatra on his 1969 release \u003cem\u003eA Man Alone\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe project was announced, but it took a few decades to come to fruition; finally, after her acclaimed runs with the musicals Blood Brothers and Sunset Boulevard on Broadway and in London, and national tours across the United States, Petula and Rod were able to synchronize their schedules in 2005. Multiple sessions at Hollywood’s Private Island Trax studio and an overdub session in Geneva would yield 20 favorites from the McKuen songbook, passionately and poignantly sung by England’s most successful female singer of the 20th century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA limited-edition, 14-track CD available from Rod’s website and Petula’s fan club quickly sold out, and now \u003cem\u003eSolitude and Sunshine - The Songs of Rod McKuen\u003c\/em\u003e is coming to retail for the first time in a newly expanded edition including 6 bonus tracks, 5 unreleased! The CD includes extensive liner notes written by both Rod and Petula along with rare photos. A huge find for fans of either artist!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Real Gone Music","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":51612961538379,"sku":"R2856-4583","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0848064019527.webp?v=1744203531"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_259ee6da_thumbnail_4096_5038ad1c-a084-4db6-a108-070bd0e5c6af.jpg?v=1727908579","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/petula-clark.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}