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(Credits: Far Out)
Unfortunately, we know all too well how hard it can be for women to truly make their way in the music business, let alone cross the pond and start storming the US charts.
But like many female artists who have forged paths in similar respects, there’s one woman we can thank for trailblazing a transatlantic status for musicians like her to follow and worship ever since. Everyone is aware of how tough it can be to break America, even when the odds, per gender or otherwise, are in your favour. That’s the reason why Petula Clark’s achievements are made all the more remarkable given this stark context.
But Clark was not an easy person to please. Indeed, she was extremely picky when it came to her work, and only narrowly agreed to record what would become her biggest hit, ‘Downtown’, if her later prolific composer, Tony Hatch, could prove that he was able to turn his hand to songwriting. Clearly with no pressure at all on his shoulders, Hatch set to work – but managed to create one of the most defining hits of the 1960s in the process.
‘Downtown’ not only made Clark an international star and scored her first hit atop the US charts, but it also made her the first female artist from the UK to successfully achieve the accolade, making her a true visionary in more ways than one. With the song becoming Clark’s first in a line of 15 tunes which consecutively made the top 40 in the US, it’s fair to say that the singer became something of a sensation, almost overnight. But it didn’t mean the music industry quickly caught up to this wave of female power.
Did Petula Clark set a precedent for UK female artists reaching US number one?
Quite unbelievably, in the six decades since Clark first made waves in the US charts, less than ten other British female artists have been able to follow suit with similar replicated success, with some of the most recent being the likes of Dua Lipa and Adele. They join others such as Kim Wilde and Sheena Easton in an exclusive group of UK female chart-toppers – indisputably a major accolade, but also one that shines a light on the rotten core of the industry.
In this sense, Clark’s storming success is made even more of an astonishing anomaly as she managed to cultivate a huge career from abroad during an era so dominated by the big guns of male musical power, although the sweep of the British invasion of the States most definitely proved to be a vital weapon in her arsenal. Clearly the allure of a British woman stalking the streets of New York proved to be the key ingredient in shifting the records, and subsequently also cementing Clark’s name in the history books.
When we think back to the sonic superpowers of the 1960s, it’s easy to get hung up on the likes of The Beatles or The Rolling Stones or The Kinks, all of whom changed the scene and have deserved legacies as a result. But as the guns continued to fire and the British invasion reached its peak, it’s worth remembering the vital importance of female artists like Clark, whose number ones and top 40 hits certainly shouldn’t go amiss in reminiscing on the prolific heights of the swinging ‘60s.
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