Downtown (Petula Clark Song) - Emma Bunton Version

Emma Bunton Version

Emma Bunton's remake of "Downtown" was released in 13 November 2006. Bunton, whose admiration for Petula Clark was evident on the 2004 Free Me album, had recorded "Downtown" at AIR Studios (Lyndhurst) with Simon Franglen producing; the orchestra for the track was recorded at Angel Studios with Gavin Wright conducting. Bunton's "Downtown" was selected as the 2006 BBC Children in Need single, with all proceeds from the release going to the charity and Bunton performed "Downtown" on the 2006 Children in Need telethon which began broadcast that 17 November. The single debuted on the UK singles chart dated 25 November 2006 at #24. Centralfm.com noted Bunton's chart debut, declaring "Downtown" "the song she was born to cover...One of the all time great pop songs, was long overdue for a revival and Emma Bunton pays it the respect it deserves."

Centralfm predicted "Downtown" would rise to the Top 3 in its second week and the single did indeed jump to #3 on the chart for 2 December 2006 having sold 30,582 units in the relevant week: the mid-week stats had ranked "Downtown" at #2 behind "Patience" by Take That but on the chart for the full week Bunton was bested not only by Take That at #1 but by the previous week's #1 "Smack That" by Akon which outsold "Downtown" by fifty-seven copies. While affording Bunton her highest charting single since her #1 solo debut "What Took You So Long?" in 2001, "Downtown" would prove to have little staying power, spending only three weeks in the Top 20, performances by Bunton on a Christmas Day broadcast of Top of the Pops and New Year Live failing to significantly buoy its popularity.