Downtown Girl ; She Went From Child Star to International Diva, and has Sold Millions of Records Worldwide During Her 60 Years at the Top. But Petula Clark Still Feels Guilty About Neglecting Her Children for Her Career.

Summary

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'My children say to me, "Why are you feeling guilty?

You were living this crazy life"' At the age of nine, Petula Clark was launched as a wartime star on a radio show called It's All Yours. She sang Mighty Like A Rose and received such an enthusiastic reception that she went on to entertain at hundreds of troop concerts. A year later, she headlined at London's Royal Albert Hall without a trace of nerves. 'I was reading a comic backstage when someone tapped me on the shoulder and told me I was on,' she remembers. 'I sang, got a standing ovation, took my bow and went back to my comic. I didn't know what fame was because no one had told me, and I was too young to understand. It had all happened so quickly.' And, after more than 60 years at the top, appearing in over 30 films, selling almost 70 million records and drawing huge crowds at shows in all the world's major cities, she's still not letting it go to her head. 'The stretch limo with the blackout windows and the bodyguards are fun, but I prefer going out alone with just my bus fare in my pocket and catching a number 19. The scenery is the same, whatever form of transport you're using.' In April, she will be returning to the stage as she embarks on her first major British tour in five years, and is also releasing a new album featuring duets with some of the famous singers she has met throughout her career - and outlived. Among them are Dusty Springfield, Peggy Lee, Dean Martin and Anthony Newley.

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Downtown Girl ; She Went From Child Star to International Diva, and has Sold Millions of Records Worldwide During Her 60 Years at the Top. But Petula Clark Still Feels Guilty About Neglecting Her Children for Her Career.

She will always be best remembered, of course, for songs such as Downtown, which sold more than three million copies and reached number one in America, and Don't Sleep In The Subway, The Other Man's Grass (Is Always Greener) and Sailor. And, apart from a brief spell when her three children were small, she's never stopped. But it hasn't all been glitter - there has been intermittent savage depression; she lives apart from her husband, and her father, who was her manager, drove her so hard she nearly had a breakdown.

On top of all t...

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