Your fans are excited that you’re finally coming to the Philippines for a concert.
“You know, I’ve never been to the Philippines and I’m just as excited. It’s a first for me and I’m glad to hear that Filipinos are just as excited, too.”
What have you heard about the Philippines?
“Oh, I have Filipino acquaintances here in Switzerland, in the UK and in France. I heard that the Philippines is a beautiful country and that the Filipinos really love music.”
You are the first successful female artist to have come from England and you are said to define the term “international superstar.” How do you feel about it?
“Oh, I don’t know…I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about it.
You know, I started singing when I was a child, at the age of about eight. It’s not like I became a star when I was 18.”
Was it hard to start a career at that age and last this long?
“I suppose to. I enjoyed singing when I was a child and I enjoy it now…just as much now, actually. You know, I did have some problems during my adolescence but I guess that every adolescent has problems. My problems were perhaps more difficult because I was growing up in public. But apart from that, no problem. I love singing and it’s a great joy to be able to do something that you like so much.”
You started at eight years old. Don’t you think that you missed part of your childhood?
“Let’s put it this way. I had a different childhood. I didn’t have a normal childhood; I don’t know what a normal childhood is. Childhood is a magic time and it happens very fast. Other children might have been going through the different stages of childhood and I must have been going through the same experience but only on a different level.”
Of course, your voice at age eight was different from your voice now. How do you adjust your vocal cords to the type of music you’re doing as you grew up?
“I really don’t know. But it seems that my voice hasn’t really changed since I was a child. It sounds the same to me and, I hope, to other people. I don’t think my voice has changed much at all. I still sing the same songs, like Downtown and Don’t Sleep in the Subway, in the same key as when I recorded them.”
Who influenced you to be a singer? Is anybody else in the family into singing?
“Not really. My mother was Welsh. I don’t know much about the Welsh people but I guess they are very, very musical. They love to sing, like the Italians. Tom Jones is Welsh, and so is Shirley Bassey. Among the actors, Anthony Hopkins is Welsh. You know, music is in our veins but I didn’t really come from a musical family at all.”
Would you remember the very first song that you ever learned how to sing?
“Yes, I do. It was a song called Mighty Like a Rose and, in fact, I first sang it when I was six years old. At age eight, I was already famous and I continued singing that song.”
In the ’60s, you became a superstar along with, among others, The Beatles.
“You know, I worked so hard on my career. I married a Frenchman and we moved to France, and I became France’s No. 1 singer. That was before 1964 when Downtown was recorded. The ’60s were a special time for me. The Beatles made it much easier for British singers to be played on the radio. Downtown became a hit in America and I did a lot of hits after that.”
Were your songs inspired by real life? You know, when you’re alone and life is making you lonely you can always go, downtown.
“You know, I have my downtimes as well like everybody else and in times like that, I take my mind away from it, and get out and see the rest of the world.”
Do you still go downtown?
(Laughs) “Oh yes, I do.”
When you look back at the ’60s and ’70s, what are your fondest memories?
“I have many, many fond memories. You know, they were wonderful years. They were also complicated years because, you know, I was married and I had two children then. We have now three children.
I was traveling all over the place and I was trying to be a good mother and a good performer. Luckily, I was working with amazing people.”
Do you listen to the new breed of singers? How different the singers today from those of your time?
“I think you know the answer to that. Hmmmm…You know, there are good and there are bad. There were good singers and bad singers then, and there are good singers and bad singers now. The world has changed a lot and so has the music industry and the people. People don’t seem to buy records as much as people back then did. That’s one thing I don’t like about it.”
You sang for the Allied Forces during World War II, earning you the title “Singing Sweetheart” for American soldiers abroad. Wasn’t it very risky singing near the frontline?
“Ahhh, I was never allowed to go on the frontline. There was another little girl who was also singing at that time. Her name is Julie Andrews.”
Oh, Julie Andrews! I interviewed her a few years ago in Hollywood for the movie Princess Diaries. She’s a very nice lady like you.
“Julie is a very, very, very nice lady. We used to perform for the troops but in different camps.”
Were you rivals?
“Hmmm…We were not exactly rivals. We both just like to sing.” (Adding with a laugh) “But I think our parents were rivals.”
You also appeared in movies, one of them Finian’s Rainbow, with Peter O’Toole as co-star, for which you got an Oscar nomination. And you did Broadway (Sound of Music, etc.), too. Do you consider yourself more of a singer than as an actress?
“I enjoy acting as much as I enjoy singing. As a little girl, I also wanted to be an actress; I didn’t think of myself as being a singer. Singing and acting are very closely related. When I’m doing a show, it’s wonderful because I have to act and feel what I am singing. To me, that’s perfection. When I do a concert, as I am doing in Manila, every show is like a play in my mind. So I use acting when I sing and vice-versa.”
Petula, when you come to Manila, please sing your old songs. We’d love to hear them all over again. (Such as Love This is My Song, I Know a Place, I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love, A Sign of the Times, Kiss Me Goodbye and many others.)
“Oh yes, I will.”
I understand that you live in Geneva. How’s your life in Geneva?
“My family has been away in Turkey and I was left home with the dogs. To be honest with you, I don’t really live here; I go to many different places. Geneva is a nice place to come back to when you’re away for long. It’s a very relaxing place.”
What do you do to relax? Do you listen to music?
“I write music. I play the piano. By the way, can you tell me…does everybody speak very good English in the Philippines?”
Oh yes. English is our second language.
“Oh, that’s good because during a concert I also love to talk. It’s not just about singing, it’s about talking to the audience. I’m really looking forward to performing in the Philippines.”
What have you been busy with these days, aside from doing concerts?
“That’s about it. I did a UK tour at the beginning of summer. I’ve been writing, writing, writing. I also spend time in the French Alps where we have a house. After Manila, I’ll be in Vancouver, then New York and then Rome.”
Where are your children?
“Well, we are a very unusual family. We’re not always together. I have a daughter who lives in New York. She has two beautiful children. I have another daughter who lives in Paris; she’s not married. Last night, I had dinner with my son who got married three weeks ago; he lives in Geneva. We are living in different places, all right, but we try to see each other as often as we can. We are probably a much closer family than most people I know.”
Did you sing your children to sleep when they were kids?
“Yes, I did. I wish I could do the same thing to my grandchildren. They think I’m a pretty cool grandmother because I usually ride around in limousines and they see me singing in fine hotels. I’m not the usual grandmother.”
Petula, what song do you want to be remembered for?
“Ahhh…that’s difficult. Let me think…Tony Bennett is best remembered for I Left My Heart in San Francisco. Yes, I want to be remembered for Downtown.”
PETULA CLARK 