WILKES-BARRE — Petula Clark will sing all of her familiar hits when she visits Wilkes-Barre, including the one everybody knows the words to — “Downtown.”
Clark, a singer, actress and 1960s icon, will play the F.M. Kirby Center on Wednesday, Nov. 14 ,at 7 p.m. — the day before her 86th birthday.
In a telephone interview with the Times Leader, Clark said she still loves to perform and sing those familiar songs because they are really great songs and she loves seeing the reaction from the audience — especially when they sing along.
“It’s what I do,” Clark said of her career. “I love it. I actually feel privileged to do it. I mean, how many people get to say they do what they enjoy and make a living at it?”
In addition to those hit songs, Clark said she will sing some new songs and even play a little piano.
“I just want to have fun on the stage,” Clark said. “If I’m enjoying it, so will the audience.”
Clark said she had a successful career before the “British invasion” of the mid-60s. She married a Frenchman and lived in Paris. She said she was “a big star” in France and Europe and she had two small children at the time.
She said she was later asked to return to England and record. The first song she was offered was “Downtown.”
“When I heard the music, I loved it,” she recalled. “I asked Tony Hatch to write the lyrics and the rest is history.”
That sort of complicated her life, Clark said, because now “America was calling.” She was getting calls from the Ed Sullivan Show telling her “you’ve got to come here.” By the time she got to New York and Sullivan, “Downtown” was already No. 1 in the States.
“I remember getting a standing ovation,” she said. “Making records is great, but being on TV is what it’s all about.”
‘Be me’
Clark said performing is still very exciting for her and she loves the travel — different cities, different accents and food.
“I love touring,” she said. “My friends are amazed that I enjoy it so much.”
Clark said she will take the audience back to those years through her hit songs.
“But I won’t be wearing a mini-skirt,” she said. “I will come on stage and be me. And when the audience leaves, they will know me quite a bit better.”
Clark was born in Epsom, England, but her love of music began at a very early age in her mother’s land of Wales. She was already a star in the U.K. by age 9, singing for the troops stationed in England during World War II.
Many years later, after marrying Frenchman Claude Wolff, Clark moved to France. She soon became a star in that country, and across Europe, also recording in French, Italian, German and Spanish, finding time to raise two daughters, Barbara and Kate, and later a son, Patrick.
While still living in Paris, English songwriter Hatch presented her with his new composition, “Downtown.” The recording was made in London and was destined to become a worldwide hit, leading to a string of top ten records, including “I Know A Place,” “My Love,” “A Sign Of The Times,” “Don’t Sleep In The Subway,” and others, winning her two Grammys.
While living in Geneva, Switzerland, for many years, she met up with Charlie Chaplin who wrote one of her major hits, “This Is My Song.”
Clark has performed in her own TV shows in the U.K., the United States, and France, and has also starred in movies such as “Finian’s Rainbow” with Fred Astaire, and “Goodbye Mr. Chips” with Peter O’Toole.
Tickets for her show are available at The Sundance Vacations Box Office at the F.M. Kirby Center, online at www.kirbycenter.org and by phone at 570-826-1100.
Ticket prices are $32.50, $42.50 and $60, plus fees.
