 Before
her sold-out February engagement at the Suncoast, Petula Clark’s
name had not been heard around these parts for some time,
but not to worry.
The British pop star hadn’t been “sleeping on
the subway” nor had she missed the boat where her long,
successful career is concerned. In fact, Clark, who maintains
a full calendar of live performances in Europe, as well as
dates in America, has also created a strong presence in theater
and movies. Her absence from the Vegas stage only gave her
more time to set the world on its ear by making waves in some
different realms. However, now Clark once again, “knows
a place where she can go” in the city and that is to
the Cannery on September 15 to do a free listeners appreciation
concert for KJUL radio. (To find out how to obtain tickets,
call KJUL at 702- 258-0285.)
The
performance is one that she is truly excited about.
“I’m looking forward to the audience at the Cannery”
says the singer, who will be releasing two new albums in the
near future. “The Las Vegas audiences are always amazing.
Because it had been a long time since I had been here, I did
material that I’ve never performed in Vegas at my Suncoast
engagement and will do the same at the Cannery. Obviously
I’ll be doing my hits but I’ll also be doing some
songs from shows I have been in as well as some new songs
I have written.”
Known for such classics as “Downtown,” “Don’t
Sleep in the Subway, “I Know a Place,” “My
Love” and many more, Clark, who swept into the U.S.
during what was known as the “British Invasion”
in music, had a raging career here and abroad in the 60’s.
She made a conscious decision with her husband in the early
70’s to more or less step away from the U.S. market
to live abroad and raise her three young children in Europe
and educate them there.
“My husband felt that that was better and I went along
with our decision because I thought that it was important,”
Clark relates. “My kids were reaching school age and
it was becoming a very complicated situation. The people who
were looking after my career in America thought that for me
to keep working at the level I was, I’d have to live
in America and I could understand that. I knew that my decision
of which continent to make my home would affect my career.”
“I still work a lot in the States, and, to my surprise,
the audiences are still there,” she adds. “Things
might have been different if I had concentrated on my American
career, but who knows?”
To know Petula Clark today is to listen to the lyrics of the
songs she has been composing that that echo the changes in
herself and her life.
“I’ve always written but it’s only in the
last few years that I’ve taken it seriously,”
she explains. “They’re always personal songs and
I don’t look at myself as a songwriter as such. I would
find it difficult to write songs for somebody else. These
are about subjects that are important to me. One song, and
I may do it in the Suncoast show, is called ‘I’m
Not Afraid.’ I think the lyrics apply to a lot of people.
It’s about building this façade that looks good
and makes things easier to deal with. But, in fact, I’ve
gotten to a point now where I’m not afraid to be exactly
who I am. Sometimes I’ll do that song early on in my
show – it kind of sets me up to do what I like.”
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Clark admits that the last time she played Vegas, she wasn’t
at that point in her life. Little by little, she has come
into herself, finding that what motivates her today is different
that what motivated her in the past.
“It’s not like the Madonna thing where I’m
always changing my looks and things like that,” Clark
reveals. “It’s just that, organically, I do what
I feel like doing. I wrote a song called ‘Driven by
Emotion,’ which explains pretty much what drives me.
I’m not driven by money or ambition anymore; it’s
more of a spiritual thing. When I’m on stage, it’s
all about that thing that happens between me and the audience.
It’s a two-way experience that’s very important
to me. It’s what this business is about to me.”
Ask Clark what she’s proudest of in her professional
life and she’ll say that she hasn’t done it yet—though
she admits that she doesn’t know what “it”
is. She also admits that even though she’s never worked
on an image that she has one anyway, though she doesn’t
know where it came from.
“I guess when you’re little and blonde and you
sing optimistic songs, it gives people the impression that
you’re a jolly, happy, optimistic person,” Clark
acknowledges.
A la Mary Poppins, perhaps?
“No, I’m a little funkier than that,” she
laughs. “And no one’s that cute and nice!”
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ADDITIONAL
ARTICLES
BY
BOBBIE KATZ
HERE |
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An
Ocean of Difference
