Petula Clark - European Fame

European Fame

In 1958, Clark was invited to appear at the Paris Olympia where, despite her misgivings and a bad cold, she was received with acclaim. The following day she was invited to the office of Vogue Records to discuss a contract. It was there that she met her longtime publicist, collaborator, and her future husband, Claude Wolff. Clark was attracted immediately, and when she was told that she would work with him if she signed up with the Vogue label, she agreed.

In 1960 she embarked on a concert tour of France and Belgium with Sacha Distel, who remained a close friend until his death in 2004. Gradually she moved further into the continent, recording in German, French, Italian and Spanish, and establishing herself as a multi-lingual performer.

While Clark focused on her new career in France, she continued to achieve hit records in the UK into the early 1960s, developing a parallel career on both sides of the Channel. Her 1961 recording of Sailor became her first No.1 hit in the U.K., while such follow-up recordings as Romeo and My Friend the Sea landed her in the British Top Ten later that year. In France, Ya Ya Twist (a French language cover of the Lee Dorsey rhythm and blues song "Ya Ya" and the only successful recording of a twist song by a female) and "Chariot" (the original version of I Will Follow Him) became smash hits in 1962, while German and Italian versions of her English and French recordings charted as well. Her recordings of several Serge Gainsbourg songs also were big sellers. She also at this time was made a present of 'Un Enfant' by Jacques Brel, with whom she toured. Clark is one of only a handful of performers to be given a song by Brel. A live recording of this song charted in Canada.

In 1964, Clark wrote the soundtrack for the French crime film A Couteaux Tirés (aka Daggers Drawn) and made a cameo appearance as herself in the film. Although it was only a mild success, it added a new dimension — that of film composer — to her career. Additional film scores she composed include Animato (1969), La bande à Bebel (1966), and Pétain (1989). Six themes from the last were released on the CD In Her Own Write in 2007.