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Dubbed “The British Bacharach”, Tony Hatch penned a string of chart hits with Petula Clark in the 1960s and created a successful partnership, rather like Bacharach & David did for Dionne Warwick in the States.

Petula Clark Song facts

Composer
Tony Hatch

Genre
Pop

Year of Release
1964

UK Chart Position
2 This succession of hits started when he approached Petula Clark with the chance to record a new song he had high hopes for, called Downtown. Inspired by Tony Hatch’s first walk down Broadway In New York, Downtown became a huge hit across Europe, going on to sell over three million copies. It also enjoyed a number one the following year when released in the US, enabling Pet Clark to achieve a Grammy Award for the best rock ‘n’ roll single. The song also enjoyed further chart success in 1989, when an acid house version, complete with Pet’s original vocal, reach number 10 in the UK charts.

Songwriter comments

Tony Hatch

Tony Hatch talks about getting Petula Clark to sing Downtown and finishing the song in a hurry.
 
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Marianne Faithfull

  Listen to Marianne Faithfull performing Downtown.

A sassy song which did so much to promote British music in the USA
Phil Edwards
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