“It’s a bit different for me. It is a very varied kind of show,” she said, about her upcoming concert at B.B. King Blues Club in New York City. “This whole tour is a fun thing for me. It’s something that I’ve never done before. It’s fun! It’s a great crew with great musicians. We’re having a great time. I am enjoying my time here in the United States. The fact that it is happening in Christmas is lovely.”
Regarding the commercial success of “Downtown,” she said, “It is a great song. People often ask me if I ever get tired of singing it. How can I get tired of singing such a great song? If I had been landed with some really awful song that I had to do night after night, that would have been different. I still enjoy singing all of my songs. It’s a blessing!”
On the key to longevity in the music industry, Clark said, “I’m still learning how to do it. I enjoy performing so much, and that’s what I like best about this business: the actual contact with the audience, and the communication. What I do like is the music and the communication with an audience, and the people around me helping me make the music.”
Throughout her illustrious career in the music business, she has won three Grammy awards (including a Grammy Hall of Fame award for “Downtown”), and she made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. “The Grammy awards are the only awards that are on display in my home. All the gold records and other awards are stacked away in a cellar somewhere, but the Grammys are cute, and they don’t take up too much space, so they are on display,” she said. “The CBE was nice! I’m not quite sure why I got it. When I went to Buckingham Palace, there were real heroes who were getting awards for all kinds of things, and I remember saying to myself: “What am I doing here?’ Of course, it is a nice thing to have, but all these awards are not why I do it. I’m not in this business to collect awards, but they are nice.”
For aspiring singers, Clark’s advice is as follows: “I can only give advice from where I am standing. It is important to find your own thing! A lot of young singers have fantastic voices and technique, but they haven’t yet found their own thing that makes them unique. Some singers find it right away, like Adele and Amy Winehouse, they found it very young, while others take time. It is very important not to imitate other singers. That’s how I feel anyway.”
On her future plans, she said, “I’m in the middle of making a CD in Montreal. I started doing it before this tour. This tour is a sandwich between recording in Montreal, and then I have to go back to Montreal to finish this CD. When it is finished, I have to do some promotion, followed by a French-Canadian tour in the spring.”
Regarding the impact of technology in the music scene, Clark said, “Technology has changed everything! I’ve made records recording live and with a big orchestra. I’ve recorded in many different countries, and the last two CDs I’ve done, I’ve recorded in this tiny studio in the bottom of the producer’s garden in London. You would never think it was a studio from the outside. You walk in and it has everything you need to make a record. You don’t need to have a huge studio or a huge orchestra, the way we did it. You can create right from the beginning, and you can actually build your record right there in this tiny studio, and it’s a very creative kind of environment. It is different technically, but if you use the technology wisely, I think it’s a wonderful thing.”
On her definition of the word “success” she said, “I started very young in this business. When I was a kid and became very successful in the U.K., I didn’t know what that meant. I’ve been ‘famous’ ever since I could remember. I didn’t know what fame or success meant, since it was just a part of my life. It is just the way my life has gone.”
For her fans, she concluded, “I am so happy to be back in America to meet my American fans. They have been faithful to me, and I am so thankful to be back. Certainly, the American audiences are wonderful. Thank you for all the joy that America has brought to me.”
Petula Clark’s new studio album Living for Today is available on Amazon.
To learn more about veteran British singing sensation Petula Clark, check out her official website.
