Dear Readers:
OK, I know what you're thinking. Petula Clark on the cover of the Pink section? Well, yes. She's starring in the touring production of "Sunset Boulevard" that arrives here next week, for starters. But as Octavio Roca makes clear in his insightful profile on Page 40, her story is so much more than your typical '60s-pop-star-revives-career piece.
For those of us who know her mostly for the No. 1 hit "Downtown," Roca's article will be a revelation, especially the accompanying discography. Burt Bacharach fans will want to check out the records she made with Tony Hatch, the United Kingdom's ultimate swinging '60s songwriter.
So how does Roca know all this stuff about Clark?
"I arrived in the United States at age 12, and I learned to speak English through pop songs," explained Roca, who then went right into he lyrics from Clark's biggest hit. "When You've got worries, all the noise and the hurry seem to help, I know." That hit home to a little refugee kid growing up in Miami.
"It's fun to realize how many times she's reinvented herself," he continued. "It's been a long career from World War II to today. What's interesting is the next chapter. She's signed up with "Sunset Boulevard" through 2000, but she's already halfway through writing a one-woman show that she promises will be an autobiography onstage."
LIZ LUFKIN
EDITOR
OK, I know what you're thinking. Petula Clark on the cover of the Pink section? Well, yes. She's starring in the touring production of "Sunset Boulevard" that arrives here next week, for starters. But as Octavio Roca makes clear in his insightful profile on Page 40, her story is so much more than your typical '60s-pop-star-revives-career piece.
For those of us who know her mostly for the No. 1 hit "Downtown," Roca's article will be a revelation, especially the accompanying discography. Burt Bacharach fans will want to check out the records she made with Tony Hatch, the United Kingdom's ultimate swinging '60s songwriter.
So how does Roca know all this stuff about Clark?
"I arrived in the United States at age 12, and I learned to speak English through pop songs," explained Roca, who then went right into he lyrics from Clark's biggest hit. "When You've got worries, all the noise and the hurry seem to help, I know." That hit home to a little refugee kid growing up in Miami.
"It's fun to realize how many times she's reinvented herself," he continued. "It's been a long career from World War II to today. What's interesting is the next chapter. She's signed up with "Sunset Boulevard" through 2000, but she's already halfway through writing a one-woman show that she promises will be an autobiography onstage."
LIZ LUFKIN
EDITOR