Today is the birthday (15 November, 1932) of Petula Clark. Most of us on this side of the pond know her for her iconic 1964 hit ‘Downtown’. She was, however, a very successful performer before her first US hit.
She made her radio debut in 1942 and went on to a series of some 500 performances designed to entertain the troops. She also toured the UK with fellow child performer, Julie Andrews. She was considered a mascot by the British army and troops plastered her photos on tanks and such for good luck in battle.
In the late 50s and early 60s she became a star across Europe, recording hits in German, French, Spanish and Italian and had numerous number 1 hits both in the UK and across the channel. She also began composing film scores.
Her US debut came with the release of ‘Downtown’ in 1964. It went to number 1 on the charts in January of 1965. She also recorded the song in French and the song was a hit in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, India and Rhodesia. Clark went on to record 15 consecutive top 40 hits in the US.
An interesting episode occurred in 1968 when she was invited by NBC to film her own special. While singing a duet with Harry Belafonte, she took hold of his arm, much to dismay of a representative of Chrysler corporation (the sponsor) who feared that the moment would incur racial backlash from southern viewers. He demanded that they re-film the song with the two standing well apart. Clark refused and destroyed all other takes of the song and delivered the show to NBC with the touch intact. The Chrysler rep was fired and the show aired on 6 April, 1968, four days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Enough of my blathering. Here’s Petula!
And this…
and this…
Today is the birthday (October 25, 1825 of Johann Strauss II – ‘The Waltz King’. He was a prolific composer of light music including more than 500 waltzes, polka, quadrilles, etc. His waltzes including ‘The Blue Danube Waltz’, the ‘Vienna Waltz’ and the ‘Emperor Waltz’ help popularize the waltz in Austria and elsewhere. His music is widely known. Those of you who are old enough may remember that the Blue Danube Waltz was used to score one of the remarkable scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Today is the birthday of Giuseppe Verdi (October 10, 1813), one of the most wonderful of opera composers. Even if you’re not a fan of opera, you will recognize some of his music and, by the time you finish this post, may even like it! Verdi was a strong supporter of the ‘Risorgimento’ – the Italian unification movement. Much of his music was in the spirit of the movement and Verdi himself was considered a representative of the ideals.
There are certain of his pieces that I like a lot. His third opera, Nabucco, is the story of the conquest of Israel by Nebuchadnezzar and their exile and enslavement. The chorus, Va pensiero, known sometimes as ‘The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’ has, in my mind, a beautiful, haunting quality as they dream of their homeland. If you want to sing along, the text can be found HERE.
In 1851, Verdi composed ‘Rigoletto’, a tragic story revolving around the Duke of Mantua, his court jester, Rigoletto and Rigolleto’s daughter Gilda. One of the most famous aria in the opera is ‘La donna è mobile’ (woman is fickle) sung by the duke. I’m sure you’ve heard the melody:
Another of my favorites is from La Traviata which was first presented in 1853. It’s the story of a famous courtesan and a young man who falls in love with her even though she already has a wealthy lover. There is, of course, a duel and later, Violetta, the courtesan, falls ill and dies in the young mans’ arms. My favorite piece from this is, of course, the drinking song.
I don’t want to make this too long so I’ll close with ‘Aida’. The Khedive of Egypt commissioned Verdi to write an opera to celebrate the opening of the Suez canal. The result was ‘Aida’ and this triumphal march.
Happy birthday, Giuseppe!
After the debate last night we all need something else to think about and calm down a bit. So…today is the birthday of Sylvia Peterson, lead singer for The Chiffons. You’ll probably remember them by their first hit – ‘He’s So Fine’. Note that they are not referring to our idiot President.
They also did this song which was another international hit for them. Incidentally, one of the writers of this song was Carole King who later covered it herself. Listen to these songs and remember a time when we were respectful of each other.
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