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Downtown (Petula Clark song)

"Downtown" is a song written and produced by English composer Tony Hatch. The 1964 version recorded by British singer Petula Clark became an international hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. Hatch received the 1981 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.[1]

"Downtown"
Solid centre edition of 1964 UK single
Single by Petula Clark
from the album Downtown
B-side"You'd Better Love Me"
ReleasedNovember 1964
Recorded16 October 1964, Pye Studios, London
GenreSoul
Length3:05
Label
Songwriter(s)Tony Hatch
Producer(s)Tony Hatch
Petula Clark singles chronology
"True Love Never Runs Smooth"
(1964)
"Downtown"
(1964)
"I Know a Place"
(1965)
Official audio
"Downtown" on YouTube

The song has been covered by many singers, including Dolly Parton, Emma Bunton and the Saw Doctors.

Composition Edit

 
Clark in 1960

Tony Hatch first worked with Petula Clark when he assisted her producer Alan A. Freeman on her 1961 No. 1 hit "Sailor". In 1963 Freeman asked Hatch to take over as Clark's regular producer. Hatch subsequently produced five English-language singles for Clark, none of which charted.

In the autumn of 1964 Hatch made his first visit to New York City, spending three days there in search of material from music publishers for the artists he was producing. He recalled, "I was staying at a hotel on Central Park and I wandered down to Broadway and to Times Square and, naively, I thought I was downtown. ... I loved the whole atmosphere there and the [music] came to me very, very quickly".[2] He was standing on the corner of 48th Street waiting for the traffic lights to change, looking towards Times Square when "the melody first came to me, just as the neon signs went on."[3]

Hatch envisioned his embryonic composition "as a sort of doo wop R&B song", which he thought to eventually pitch to the Drifters:[4] He had scored his biggest success to date with the Searchers' "Sugar and Spice" modelled on the Drifters' hit "Sweets for My Sweet", and had also produced a cover version of the Drifters' "Up on the Roof" for Julie Grant. It has been said that Hatch gave Julie Grant the opportunity to record "Downtown" which Grant turned down,[5] but this does not accord with Hatch's statement that he played "Downtown" for Petula Clark within a few days of conceiving the melody and only completed the song's lyrics after Clark had asked to record it. Hatch has also said that prior to Clark's expressed interest in "Downtown", "it never occurred to me that a white woman could even sing it."[4] Hatch has subsequently denied originally offering "Downtown" to the Drifters.[6]

Within a few days of his New York City trip Hatch visited Paris to present Clark with three or four songs he had acquired from New York publishers for Clark to consider recording at a London recording session scheduled for 16 October 1964, which was roughly two weeks away. Hatch said of the meeting: "She was not very enthusiastic about [the material] and asked me if I was working on anything new myself."[7] According to Clark, besides the title lyric, Hatch had only written "one or two lines."[8] Hatch recalled: "Reluctantly, I played her the tune of my New York inspiration and slipped in the word 'Downtown' in the appropriate places."[7] Clark, who first heard "Downtown" from her kitchen, having stepped away to make a pot of tea, told Hatch: "That's the one I want to record."[7] "Get that finished. Get a good lyric in it. Get a great arrangement and I think we’ll at least have a song we’re proud to record even if it isn’t a hit."[9]

Recording Edit

"Downtown" was recorded on 16 October 1964 at the Pye Studios in Marble Arch. Thirty minutes before the session was scheduled, Hatch was still touching up the song's lyrics in the studio's washroom. Hatch said of his arrangement: "I had to connect with young record buyers... but not alienate Pet[ula]'s older core audience... The trick was to make a giant orchestra sound like a rock band."[3] Hatch insisted that all session personnel on his productions be recorded performing together. The session personnel for the recording of "Downtown" were assembled in Studio One of Pye Recording Studios and included eight violinists, two viola players and two cellists, four trumpeters and four trombonists, five woodwind players with flutes and oboes, percussionists, a bass player and a pianist.[10]

Also playing on the session were guitarists Vic Flick, Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan, as well as drummer Ronnie Verrell, while the Breakaways provided the vocal accompaniment. Bobby Graham was also credited as being the drummer on the session.[10] Brian Brocklehurst stated in 1995 that he played upright bass at the session. Hatch's assistant Bob Leaper conducted.[9] According to Petula Clark, the session for "Downtown" consisted of three takes with the second take ultimately chosen as the completed track, yet elsewhere, an "extended" version, consisting of an instrumental and backing vocal track most likely from a session tape, makes this claim questionable.[11]

Impact Edit

Tony Hatch would recall playing the completed "Downtown" track for Pye Records executives saying: "Nobody knew what to make of it and no release date was set. Then Pye's general manager called and said Joe Smith – Warner Bros.' head of A&R – was in London looking for British material. When Joe heard Pet[ula]'s record, he loved it and scheduled the single for urgent release in the [United] States".[3] When Hatch, surprised by Smith's enthusiasm for releasing "Downtown" in the US, asked if Smith didn't consider "Downtown" to be a "very English record" Smith replied: "It's perfect. It's just an observation from outside of America and it's just beautiful and just perfect."[2]

In the wake of Smith's interest "Downtown" was released in the UK in November 1964. It entered the UK Top 50 dated 14 November 1964, ending a virtual two-year UK chart absence for Clark; of the ten singles she had released in the UK during that period only one, "Chariot", had appeared in even the lower charts (No. 39 the spring of 1963). "Downtown" rose to No. 2 UK in December 1964, remaining there for three weeks, kept out of the No. 1 position by the Beatles' "I Feel Fine". "Downtown" reached No. 2 in Ireland and No. 1 in Australia, New Zealand, Rhodesia and South Africa, and was also a hit in Denmark (No. 2), India (No. 3), the Netherlands (No. 4) and Norway (No. 8).

But "Downtown" had its greatest significance in the reception it was afforded in the United States, where it was released by Warner Bros. in November 1964: after early regional break-outs, notably in Detroit, Miami, and Washington D.C., "Downtown" debuted at No. 87 on the Hot 100 chart in the Billboard issue dated 19 December 1964. Despite the Christmas season typically being the worst time to break a new hit, "Downtown" shot up to No. 41 in its second week on the Hot 100 chart ascending in its third and fourth charting weeks to respectively No. 12 and No. 5; then after a subsequent single point advance to No. 4 "Downtown" leapt to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated 23 January 1965, retaining that position a further week before being overtaken by the ascendancy of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". The song became the first No. 1 hit for the year 1965.[12]

Petula Clark thus became the first UK female artist to have a US No. 1 hit during the rock and roll era and the second in the annals of US charted music, Vera Lynn having hit No. 1 in the US with "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" in 1952. "Downtown" also made Clark the first UK female artist to have a single certified as a Gold record for US sales of one million units. On Billboard's annual Disk Jockey poll, "Downtown" was voted the second best single release of 1965 and Petula Clark was voted third most popular female vocalist.[13] "Downtown" would be the first of fifteen consecutive hits Clark would place in the US Top 40 during a period when she'd have considerably less chart impact in her native UK, there reaching the Top 40 eight times.

Petula Clark, who had been playing to her French-speaking fans in small venues in Quebec when "Downtown" entered the US charts, swiftly cut non-English versions of the song for the markets in France, Italy and Germany; the absence in each region's language of a two-syllable equivalent of "downtown" necessitated a radical lyric recasting for the versions aimed at France ("Dans le temps"), Italy ("Ciao Ciao", winning the Festivalbar, a juke-box contest) and Spain ("Chao Chao") which respectively charted at No. 6, No. 2 and – for three weeks – No. 1: "Dans le temps" also reaching No. 18 on Belgium's French-language chart. The title and lyric "Downtown" was retained for an otherwise German version which was the most successful foreign-language version, reaching No. 1 in Germany, No. 3 in Austria, and No. 11 on the charts for the Flemish region of Belgium.

In 2013, Petula Clark rerecorded that song for her album Lost in You, with new arrangements, as a ballad and with a soft voice, giving it a new life.

Popular culture Edit

In the 1991 film, Flight of the Intruder, Brad Johnson and Willem Dafoe sing the chorus portion of "Downtown" as they are flying their A-6 Intruder back to the aircraft carrier after the unauthorized bombing of the "Sam City" section of Hanoi in North Vietnam.

In the 1996 Seinfeld episode "The Bottle Deposit", the song is referenced by George Costanza's supervisor Wilhelm when discussing a project Costanza is in the dark about, prompting George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld to analyze the song's lyrics for clues.[14][15][16]

The song is on the soundtrack of the 1999 film Girl, Interrupted[17] and is sung in character by Winona Ryder.[18]

The song is featured prominently in the beginning of the 2006 Lost episode A Tale of Two Cities.[19]

The song plays on a loop in a scene from the 2019 film Escape Room.[20][21][22]

Immediately before the 2020 Nashville bombing, the song was played from the vehicle which exploded, followed by an audio warning to "evacuate now".[23][24][25] Clark released a statement expressing her "shock and disbelief" at the explosion in Nashville.[26]

The song is featured in the Edgar Wright horror film Last Night in Soho performed by actress Anya Taylor-Joy.[27]

Charts Edit

Certifications Edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[42] Silver 250,000[41]
United States (RIAA)[44] Gold 1,600,000[43]
Summaries
Worldwide 3,000,000[41]

Accolades Edit

Downtown '88 Edit

"Downtown '88"
Single by Petula Clark
from the album My Greatest
Released6 June 1988 (1988-06-06)
Genre
Length3:25
LabelPRT
Songwriter(s)Tony Hatch
Producer(s)Peter Slaghuis, Eddy Ouwens
Petula Clark singles chronology
"Life's a Game"
(1988)
"Downtown '88"
(1988)
"I Couldn't Live Without Your Love '89"
(1989)

In addition, the original 1964 recording was remixed and released in 1988 as "Downtown '88": a top ten UK hit, the track also charted in Australia (No. 58),[47] Belgium (Dutch chart No. 19), Finland (No. 3), Germany (No. 13) and Ireland (No. 14). Clark recalled: "The first time I heard the '88 remix of 'Downtown' I was in my car. I thought: 'This sounds familiar. I wonder who's singing this?' and it turned out to be me! They'd wiped out the orchestra and put on some kind of ticka-ticka-tick thing. I don't know what the hell it was, but it turned into a hit. They don't have to ask my permission, if you know what I mean. But it's fine. I find it rather flattering, actually. And quite amusing."[48]

Clark in fact promoted "Downtown '88" in a live performance on 15 December 1988 broadcast of Top of the Pops (TOTP)[49] – the track had been aired on the preceding TOTP broadcast of 8 December 1988 and had moved from No. 37 to No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart dated (i.e. for the week ending) 12 December 1988: Clark's live TOTP performance evidently facilitated the rise of "Downtown '88" to No. 13 on the UK chart dated 17 December 1988, while the track reached its No. 10 peak on the UK chart dated 24 December 1988, that being the singles rankings for the first full week after Clark's TOTP live performance of "Downtown '88".[50]

Charts Edit

Chart (1988−1989) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[47] 58
Belgium Ultratop[51] 19
Ireland (IRMA)[52] 14
UK Singles (OCC)[37] 10
West Germany (Official German Charts)[53] 13

Other re-recordings Edit

Petula Clark has re-recorded "Downtown" several times, in 1976 (with a disco beat), in 1984 (with a new piano and trumpet intro that leads into the song's original opening), in 1996 and in 2013.[citation needed] In October 2011 Clark recorded several lines of "Downtown" for inclusion in the remake by Irish band the Saw Doctors which was credited to the Saw Doctors featuring Petula Clark – (see below). Clark's 2013 album release Lost in You features a new version of "Downtown": Clark said she was uninterested when it was first suggested she again record "Downtown", then "I was played this beautiful [instrumental] track ...And I said it was lovely, and they told me it was [intended for] 'Downtown.' I got to the microphone and I didn't know how I was going to sing it, and it really feels like a new song."[54] Reviewing Lost in You for MusicOHM.com, Philip Matusavage writes of the "Downtown" remake: "already a song loaded with melancholy, the stately version here acquires new meaning with its weary but amiable delivery summoning forth powerful nostalgia and the sense of someone fondly remembering their youth."[55]

Reportedly an overture was made to Petula Clark to sing on "Cheltenham" a 2010 charity single recording of a lyrically abridged version of "Downtown" referencing Cheltenham Festival and featuring a chorale of British and Irish horse-racing personalities: however Clark did not participate in the recording of "Cheltenham" which was released in March 2010 credited to the Favourites and featuring Laura Critchley as lead vocalist.[56]

Dolly Parton version Edit

"Downtown"
 
Single by Dolly Parton
from the album The Great Pretender
B-side"The Great Pretender"
Released12 March 1984
RecordedDecember 1983
GenreCountry, Pop
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)Tony Hatch
Producer(s)Val Garay
Dolly Parton singles chronology
"Save the Last Dance for Me"
(1983)
"Downtown"
(1984)
"Tennessee Homesick Blues"
(1984)

Dolly Parton recorded "Downtown" in Nashville in October 1983 in the sessions for her covers album The Great Pretender, a Val Garay production which focused on hits from the 1950s and 1960s. "Downtown" served as the album's second single release in March 1984 reaching No. 36 on the Billboard C&W chart and crossing over to No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart: to date "Downtown" marks Parton's final solo Hot 100 appearance. Parton's version altered some of the lyrics: "Listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova" became "Listen to the rhythm of the music that they're playing". Petula Clark has described Parton's take on "Downtown" as "cute, because she didn’t even try to sound like my recording."[57]

Chart positions Edit

Chart (1984) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot Country Singles 36
US Billboard Hot 100 80
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 20
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 20

Emma Bunton version Edit

"Downtown"
 
Single by Emma Bunton
from the album Life in Mono
B-side
Released13 November 2006
Recorded2006
GenreSoul
Length3:24
LabelUniversal
Songwriter(s)Tony Hatch
Producer(s)Simon Franglen
Emma Bunton singles chronology
"Crickets Sing for Anamaria"
(2004)
"Downtown"
(2006)
"All I Need to Know"
(2007)
Music video
"Downtown" on YouTube

Background Edit

BBC News announced 20 October 2006 that Emma Bunton would record a remake of the Petula Clark hit "Downtown" to be the 2006 official BBC Children in Need single, with Bunton quoted as saying: "I've always loved 'Downtown'...and I'm really looking forward to putting my own stamp on it. The track's good fun and one everyone will know."[58] Bunton, whose admiration for Petula Clark was evident on the 2004 Free Me album, recorded "Downtown" at AIR Studios (Lyndhurst) with Simon Franglen producing; the orchestra for the track was recorded at Angel Recording Studios with Gavin Wright conducting. The track was released on 13 November 2006 and Bunton premiered her version of "Downtown" on the 2006 Children in Need telethon which began broadcast 17 November 2006.

Although Bunton said that she knew "Downtown" composer Tony Hatch "quite well",[59] Petula Clark said that neither she [i.e. Clark] nor Hatch had prior knowledge of Bunton's remake.[60] Clark also stated that she considered Bunton's remake to be an "outright copy"[57] of Clark's original recording: "I could ask: 'What's the point'...but Emma's recording is wonderful and...for a great cause"[60] (i.e. Children in Need).

Impact Edit

"Downtown" by Emma Bunton debuted on the UK singles chart 25 November 2006 at No. 24. Central FM noted Bunton's chart debut, declaring "Downtown" "the song she was born to cover...One of the all time great pop songs, ['Downtown'] was long overdue for a revival and Emma Bunton pays it the respect it deserves." The Spanish radio station predicted "Downtown" would rise to the Top 3 in its second week and the single did indeed jump to No. 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 No. 2 behind "Patience" by Take That but on the chart for the full week Bunton was bested not only by Take That at No. 1 but by the previous week's No. 1, "Smack That" by Akon, which outsold "Downtown" by 57 copies.[61]

While affording Bunton her highest charting single since her No. 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. Total UK sales for "Downtown" by Emma Bunton were tallied at 77,039 units.

Music video Edit

Directed by Harvey & Carolyn, (the directors who also directed her video for her single "Maybe") the sexually suggestive music video for the single is set in a hotel bedroom featuring Bunton as a maid. It includes appearances from contestants from the BBC's reality television show Strictly Come Dancing and features cameos from Matt Dawson, Louisa Lytton, Carol Smillie, Spoony, Mark Ramprakash, Claire King, Peter Schmeichel, Craig Revel Horwood, Anton du Beke, Brendan Cole, Erin Boag, Lilia Kopylova, Karen Hardy, and Darren Bennett. According to Mark Ramprakash the video was shot at "a big house near Baker Street".[62]

The video drew negative reaction for evidently skewing the phrase "go downtown" into a sexual term. Bunton would constantly evade or deny this allegation, as when Michael Baggs of Popjustice put to her: "The dancers in the 'Downtown' video seem to know you very well indeed. So well that they are all pointing at your fanny. Was this your idea?", Bunton's response being: "I don't understand where this has come from. It is a dance routine and it is nothing to do with anything like that. It is everyone else's dirty little minds. Especially yours. It worries me because it is a classic and you can't make classics rude."[59] Singer Jann Arden who recorded "Downtown" for her 2007 album Uncover Me reacted to Bunton's "Downtown" video with the statement: "Petula Clark would slap [Bunton's] face"[63] though in fact Clark herself would state to being untroubled by Bunton's evidently salacious interpretation of "Downtown": "It's a pop song, for God's sake. It's not a hymn!"[57]

Charts Edit

Saw Doctors version Edit

In October 2011, Irish band the Saw Doctors remade "Downtown" with Petula Clark singing some lines: the track is credited to the Saw Doctors featuring Petula Clark. According to Saw Doctors' member Leo Moran the group habitually played snippets of well-known songs during their encore numbers: "One night for no particular reason we did 'Downtown' and you could see people loved it. All ages. You could see it brought joy to people’s faces."[69] Some time later the Saw Doctors learned their producer Philip Tennant was friends with Petula Clark's manager John Williams and an invitation was conveyed to Clark to sing on a Saw Doctors' remake of "Downtown"; Clark being agreeable, a session was booked in a London recording studio to allow the Irish group to liaison with the European-based Clark and "Downtown" was recorded over two days with Clark arriving to record her vocal on the second day. Moran recalls: "We [the Saw Doctors] did a whole lot of work the first day. [Petula Clark] came in the second evening and we discovered that the song was in the wrong key. So we had to scrap all of the first day's work and put down the backing track with Petula because she only had a few hours that evening and wasn’t able to come back the following day. It was exciting, exhilarating, scary and privileged … rolled into one."[70]

Top Irish cinematographer Eugene O' Connor (Father Ted) directed the video for the Saw Doctor's "Downtown" which was uploaded to YouTube on 17 November 2011. Shot on the nights of 9–10 November 2011, the video focuses on the band's members walking through the town center of Galway (lead vocalist Davy Carton is also seen briefly riding in a car). Footage of Clark was shot in Paris and spliced into the completed video in which she mainly appears on the screens of televisions displayed in a shop window (the shop is in fact clothing retailer Anthony Ryans) outside of which the Saw Doctors perform on the street in the company of eight members of the Galway City Cougars cheerleading squad and also a fire juggler.[71]

Radio presenter Ray Foley (Today FM) began a campaign to make the Saw Doctors' "Downtown" the Christmas No. 1 in Ireland for 2011 encouraging sales of the track upon its 16 December 2011 release with the intent of propelling it to the No. 1 position on the Irish Singles Chart for the week ending 22 December 2011 and the Saw Doctors' "Downtown" was indeed No. 1 on iTunes Ireland for the relevant period. However, on the Irish Singles Chart dated 22 December 2011 the track debuted at No. 2 with "Cannonball" by Little Mix retaining the No. 1 position largely because of "Cannonball"'s greater availability as a CD single – 10,000 units as opposed to "Downtown"'s 2000 – making "Cannonball" a more attractive prospect for gift-buyers.[72][73][74]

On the Irish Singles Chart dated 29 December 2011 "Downtown" by the Saw Doctors featuring Petula Clark was ranked at No. 43 in its second and final week on the chart.[74]

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  73. ^ Sligo bay (21 December 2011). "Cannonball hits Saw Docs' No 1 hope – Music, Entertainment". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  74. ^ a b . Irma.ie. 29 December 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.

External links Edit

  • Downtown lyrics at Dolly Parton On-Line

downtown, petula, clark, song, downtown, song, written, produced, english, composer, tony, hatch, 1964, version, recorded, british, singer, petula, clark, became, international, reaching, number, billboard, number, singles, chart, hatch, received, 1981, ivor, . Downtown is a song written and produced by English composer Tony Hatch The 1964 version recorded by British singer Petula Clark became an international hit reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart Hatch received the 1981 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically 1 Downtown Solid centre edition of 1964 UK singleSingle by Petula Clarkfrom the album DowntownB side You d Better Love Me ReleasedNovember 1964Recorded16 October 1964 Pye Studios LondonGenreSoulLength3 05LabelPye 7N 15722 UK Warner Bros 5494 US Songwriter s Tony HatchProducer s Tony HatchPetula Clark singles chronology True Love Never Runs Smooth 1964 Downtown 1964 I Know a Place 1965 Official audio Downtown on YouTubeThe song has been covered by many singers including Dolly Parton Emma Bunton and the Saw Doctors Contents 1 Composition 2 Recording 3 Impact 3 1 Popular culture 4 Charts 4 1 Weekly charts 4 2 All time charts 5 Certifications 6 Accolades 7 Downtown 88 7 1 Charts 8 Other re recordings 9 Dolly Parton version 9 1 Chart positions 10 Emma Bunton version 10 1 Background 10 2 Impact 10 3 Music video 10 4 Charts 10 4 1 Weekly charts 10 4 2 Year end charts 11 Saw Doctors version 12 References 13 External linksComposition Edit nbsp Clark in 1960 nbsp Downtown sample source source Problems playing this file See media help Tony Hatch first worked with Petula Clark when he assisted her producer Alan A Freeman on her 1961 No 1 hit Sailor In 1963 Freeman asked Hatch to take over as Clark s regular producer Hatch subsequently produced five English language singles for Clark none of which charted In the autumn of 1964 Hatch made his first visit to New York City spending three days there in search of material from music publishers for the artists he was producing He recalled I was staying at a hotel on Central Park and I wandered down to Broadway and to Times Square and naively I thought I was downtown I loved the whole atmosphere there and the music came to me very very quickly 2 He was standing on the corner of 48th Street waiting for the traffic lights to change looking towards Times Square when the melody first came to me just as the neon signs went on 3 Hatch envisioned his embryonic composition as a sort of doo wop R amp B song which he thought to eventually pitch to the Drifters 4 He had scored his biggest success to date with the Searchers Sugar and Spice modelled on the Drifters hit Sweets for My Sweet and had also produced a cover version of the Drifters Up on the Roof for Julie Grant It has been said that Hatch gave Julie Grant the opportunity to record Downtown which Grant turned down 5 but this does not accord with Hatch s statement that he played Downtown for Petula Clark within a few days of conceiving the melody and only completed the song s lyrics after Clark had asked to record it Hatch has also said that prior to Clark s expressed interest in Downtown it never occurred to me that a white woman could even sing it 4 Hatch has subsequently denied originally offering Downtown to the Drifters 6 Within a few days of his New York City trip Hatch visited Paris to present Clark with three or four songs he had acquired from New York publishers for Clark to consider recording at a London recording session scheduled for 16 October 1964 which was roughly two weeks away Hatch said of the meeting She was not very enthusiastic about the material and asked me if I was working on anything new myself 7 According to Clark besides the title lyric Hatch had only written one or two lines 8 Hatch recalled Reluctantly I played her the tune of my New York inspiration and slipped in the word Downtown in the appropriate places 7 Clark who first heard Downtown from her kitchen having stepped away to make a pot of tea told Hatch That s the one I want to record 7 Get that finished Get a good lyric in it Get a great arrangement and I think we ll at least have a song we re proud to record even if it isn t a hit 9 Recording Edit Downtown was recorded on 16 October 1964 at the Pye Studios in Marble Arch Thirty minutes before the session was scheduled Hatch was still touching up the song s lyrics in the studio s washroom Hatch said of his arrangement I had to connect with young record buyers but not alienate Pet ula s older core audience The trick was to make a giant orchestra sound like a rock band 3 Hatch insisted that all session personnel on his productions be recorded performing together The session personnel for the recording of Downtown were assembled in Studio One of Pye Recording Studios and included eight violinists two viola players and two cellists four trumpeters and four trombonists five woodwind players with flutes and oboes percussionists a bass player and a pianist 10 Also playing on the session were guitarists Vic Flick Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan as well as drummer Ronnie Verrell while the Breakaways provided the vocal accompaniment Bobby Graham was also credited as being the drummer on the session 10 Brian Brocklehurst stated in 1995 that he played upright bass at the session Hatch s assistant Bob Leaper conducted 9 According to Petula Clark the session for Downtown consisted of three takes with the second take ultimately chosen as the completed track yet elsewhere an extended version consisting of an instrumental and backing vocal track most likely from a session tape makes this claim questionable 11 Impact EditTony Hatch would recall playing the completed Downtown track for Pye Records executives saying Nobody knew what to make of it and no release date was set Then Pye s general manager called and said Joe Smith Warner Bros head of A amp R was in London looking for British material When Joe heard Pet ula s record he loved it and scheduled the single for urgent release in the United States 3 When Hatch surprised by Smith s enthusiasm for releasing Downtown in the US asked if Smith didn t consider Downtown to be a very English record Smith replied It s perfect It s just an observation from outside of America and it s just beautiful and just perfect 2 In the wake of Smith s interest Downtown was released in the UK in November 1964 It entered the UK Top 50 dated 14 November 1964 ending a virtual two year UK chart absence for Clark of the ten singles she had released in the UK during that period only one Chariot had appeared in even the lower charts No 39 the spring of 1963 Downtown rose to No 2 UK in December 1964 remaining there for three weeks kept out of the No 1 position by the Beatles I Feel Fine Downtown reached No 2 in Ireland and No 1 in Australia New Zealand Rhodesia and South Africa and was also a hit in Denmark No 2 India No 3 the Netherlands No 4 and Norway No 8 But Downtown had its greatest significance in the reception it was afforded in the United States where it was released by Warner Bros in November 1964 after early regional break outs notably in Detroit Miami and Washington D C Downtown debuted at No 87 on the Hot 100 chart in the Billboard issue dated 19 December 1964 Despite the Christmas season typically being the worst time to break a new hit Downtown shot up to No 41 in its second week on the Hot 100 chart ascending in its third and fourth charting weeks to respectively No 12 and No 5 then after a subsequent single point advance to No 4 Downtown leapt to No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated 23 January 1965 retaining that position a further week before being overtaken by the ascendancy of the Righteous Brothers You ve Lost That Lovin Feelin The song became the first No 1 hit for the year 1965 12 Petula Clark thus became the first UK female artist to have a US No 1 hit during the rock and roll era and the second in the annals of US charted music Vera Lynn having hit No 1 in the US with Auf Wiederseh n Sweetheart in 1952 Downtown also made Clark the first UK female artist to have a single certified as a Gold record for US sales of one million units On Billboard s annual Disk Jockey poll Downtown was voted the second best single release of 1965 and Petula Clark was voted third most popular female vocalist 13 Downtown would be the first of fifteen consecutive hits Clark would place in the US Top 40 during a period when she d have considerably less chart impact in her native UK there reaching the Top 40 eight times Petula Clark who had been playing to her French speaking fans in small venues in Quebec when Downtown entered the US charts swiftly cut non English versions of the song for the markets in France Italy and Germany the absence in each region s language of a two syllable equivalent of downtown necessitated a radical lyric recasting for the versions aimed at France Dans le temps Italy Ciao Ciao winning the Festivalbar a juke box contest and Spain Chao Chao which respectively charted at No 6 No 2 and for three weeks No 1 Dans le temps also reaching No 18 on Belgium s French language chart The title and lyric Downtown was retained for an otherwise German version which was the most successful foreign language version reaching No 1 in Germany No 3 in Austria and No 11 on the charts for the Flemish region of Belgium In 2013 Petula Clark rerecorded that song for her album Lost in You with new arrangements as a ballad and with a soft voice giving it a new life Popular culture Edit In the 1991 film Flight of the Intruder Brad Johnson and Willem Dafoe sing the chorus portion of Downtown as they are flying their A 6 Intruder back to the aircraft carrier after the unauthorized bombing of the Sam City section of Hanoi in North Vietnam In the 1996 Seinfeld episode The Bottle Deposit the song is referenced by George Costanza s supervisor Wilhelm when discussing a project Costanza is in the dark about prompting George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld to analyze the song s lyrics for clues 14 15 16 The song is on the soundtrack of the 1999 film Girl Interrupted 17 and is sung in character by Winona Ryder 18 The song is featured prominently in the beginning of the 2006 Lost episode A Tale of Two Cities 19 The song plays on a loop in a scene from the 2019 film Escape Room 20 21 22 Immediately before the 2020 Nashville bombing the song was played from the vehicle which exploded followed by an audio warning to evacuate now 23 24 25 Clark released a statement expressing her shock and disbelief at the explosion in Nashville 26 The song is featured in the Edgar Wright horror film Last Night in Soho performed by actress Anya Taylor Joy 27 Charts EditWeekly charts Edit Chart 1964 1965 PeakpositionAustralia ARIA 28 1Austria O3 Austria Top 40 29 3Belgium Ultratop 50 Flanders 30 11Canada Top Singles RPM 31 1French Canadian Records 32 1Ireland IRMA 33 2The Netherlands Single Top 100 34 3New Zealand Lever Hit Parades 35 1Norway VG lista 36 8UK Singles OCC 37 2US Billboard Hot 100 38 1West Germany Official German Charts 39 1 All time charts Edit Chart 1958 2018 PositionUS Billboard Hot 100 40 593Certifications EditRegion Certification Certified units salesUnited Kingdom BPI 42 Silver 250 000 41 United States RIAA 44 Gold 1 600 000 43 SummariesWorldwide 3 000 000 41 Accolades EditGrammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Recording 1965 45 Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song of the Year 1964Gold Record 1965 Awarded for One Million US sales 46 Cash Box International Gold Award 1965 Radio Caroline Bell Award UK 1965 Festivalbar 1965 winner Ciao ciao Grammy Hall of Fame 2003 Film amp TV Music Award for Best Use of a Song in a Television Program 2007 Downtown 88 Edit Downtown 88 Single by Petula Clarkfrom the album My GreatestReleased6 June 1988 1988 06 06 GenreDance houseLength3 25LabelPRTSongwriter s Tony HatchProducer s Peter Slaghuis Eddy OuwensPetula Clark singles chronology Life s a Game 1988 Downtown 88 1988 I Couldn t Live Without Your Love 89 1989 In addition the original 1964 recording was remixed and released in 1988 as Downtown 88 a top ten UK hit the track also charted in Australia No 58 47 Belgium Dutch chart No 19 Finland No 3 Germany No 13 and Ireland No 14 Clark recalled The first time I heard the 88 remix of Downtown I was in my car I thought This sounds familiar I wonder who s singing this and it turned out to be me They d wiped out the orchestra and put on some kind of ticka ticka tick thing I don t know what the hell it was but it turned into a hit They don t have to ask my permission if you know what I mean But it s fine I find it rather flattering actually And quite amusing 48 Clark in fact promoted Downtown 88 in a live performance on 15 December 1988 broadcast of Top of the Pops TOTP 49 the track had been aired on the preceding TOTP broadcast of 8 December 1988 and had moved from No 37 to No 24 on the UK Singles Chart dated i e for the week ending 12 December 1988 Clark s live TOTP performance evidently facilitated the rise of Downtown 88 to No 13 on the UK chart dated 17 December 1988 while the track reached its No 10 peak on the UK chart dated 24 December 1988 that being the singles rankings for the first full week after Clark s TOTP live performance of Downtown 88 50 Charts Edit Chart 1988 1989 PeakpositionAustralia ARIA 47 58Belgium Ultratop 51 19Ireland IRMA 52 14UK Singles OCC 37 10West Germany Official German Charts 53 13Other re recordings EditPetula Clark has re recorded Downtown several times in 1976 with a disco beat in 1984 with a new piano and trumpet intro that leads into the song s original opening in 1996 and in 2013 citation needed In October 2011 Clark recorded several lines of Downtown for inclusion in the remake by Irish band the Saw Doctors which was credited to the Saw Doctors featuring Petula Clark see below Clark s 2013 album release Lost in You features a new version of Downtown Clark said she was uninterested when it was first suggested she again record Downtown then I was played this beautiful instrumental track And I said it was lovely and they told me it was intended for Downtown I got to the microphone and I didn t know how I was going to sing it and it really feels like a new song 54 Reviewing Lost in You for MusicOHM com Philip Matusavage writes of the Downtown remake already a song loaded with melancholy the stately version here acquires new meaning with its weary but amiable delivery summoning forth powerful nostalgia and the sense of someone fondly remembering their youth 55 Reportedly an overture was made to Petula Clark to sing on Cheltenham a 2010 charity single recording of a lyrically abridged version of Downtown referencing Cheltenham Festival and featuring a chorale of British and Irish horse racing personalities however Clark did not participate in the recording of Cheltenham which was released in March 2010 credited to the Favourites and featuring Laura Critchley as lead vocalist 56 Dolly Parton version Edit Downtown nbsp Single by Dolly Partonfrom the album The Great PretenderB side The Great Pretender Released12 March 1984RecordedDecember 1983GenreCountry PopLabelRCASongwriter s Tony HatchProducer s Val GarayDolly Parton singles chronology Save the Last Dance for Me 1983 Downtown 1984 Tennessee Homesick Blues 1984 Dolly Parton recorded Downtown in Nashville in October 1983 in the sessions for her covers album The Great Pretender a Val Garay production which focused on hits from the 1950s and 1960s Downtown served as the album s second single release in March 1984 reaching No 36 on the Billboard C amp W chart and crossing over to No 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart to date Downtown marks Parton s final solo Hot 100 appearance Parton s version altered some of the lyrics Listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova became Listen to the rhythm of the music that they re playing Petula Clark has described Parton s take on Downtown as cute because she didn t even try to sound like my recording 57 Chart positions Edit Chart 1984 PeakpositionUS Billboard Hot Country Singles 36US Billboard Hot 100 80US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 20Canadian RPM Country Tracks 20Emma Bunton version Edit Downtown nbsp Single by Emma Buntonfrom the album Life in MonoB side Something Tells Me Something s Going to Happen Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps Released13 November 2006Recorded2006GenreSoulLength3 24LabelUniversalSongwriter s Tony HatchProducer s Simon FranglenEmma Bunton singles chronology Crickets Sing for Anamaria 2004 Downtown 2006 All I Need to Know 2007 Music video Downtown on YouTubeBackground Edit BBC News announced 20 October 2006 that Emma Bunton would record a remake of the Petula Clark hit Downtown to be the 2006 official BBC Children in Need single with Bunton quoted as saying I ve always loved Downtown and I m really looking forward to putting my own stamp on it The track s good fun and one everyone will know 58 Bunton whose admiration for Petula Clark was evident on the 2004 Free Me album recorded Downtown at AIR Studios Lyndhurst with Simon Franglen producing the orchestra for the track was recorded at Angel Recording Studios with Gavin Wright conducting The track was released on 13 November 2006 and Bunton premiered her version of Downtown on the 2006 Children in Need telethon which began broadcast 17 November 2006 Although Bunton said that she knew Downtown composer Tony Hatch quite well 59 Petula Clark said that neither she i e Clark nor Hatch had prior knowledge of Bunton s remake 60 Clark also stated that she considered Bunton s remake to be an outright copy 57 of Clark s original recording I could ask What s the point but Emma s recording is wonderful and for a great cause 60 i e Children in Need Impact Edit Downtown by Emma Bunton debuted on the UK singles chart 25 November 2006 at No 24 Central FM noted Bunton s chart debut declaring Downtown the song she was born to cover One of the all time great pop songs Downtown was long overdue for a revival and Emma Bunton pays it the respect it deserves The Spanish radio station predicted Downtown would rise to the Top 3 in its second week and the single did indeed jump to No 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 No 2 behind Patience by Take That but on the chart for the full week Bunton was bested not only by Take That at No 1 but by the previous week s No 1 Smack That by Akon which outsold Downtown by 57 copies 61 While affording Bunton her highest charting single since her No 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 Total UK sales for Downtown by Emma Bunton were tallied at 77 039 units Music video Edit Directed by Harvey amp Carolyn the directors who also directed her video for her single Maybe the sexually suggestive music video for the single is set in a hotel bedroom featuring Bunton as a maid It includes appearances from contestants from the BBC s reality television show Strictly Come Dancing and features cameos from Matt Dawson Louisa Lytton Carol Smillie Spoony Mark Ramprakash Claire King Peter Schmeichel Craig Revel Horwood Anton du Beke Brendan Cole Erin Boag Lilia Kopylova Karen Hardy and Darren Bennett According to Mark Ramprakash the video was shot at a big house near Baker Street 62 The video drew negative reaction for evidently skewing the phrase go downtown into a sexual term Bunton would constantly evade or deny this allegation as when Michael Baggs of Popjustice put to her The dancers in the Downtown video seem to know you very well indeed So well that they are all pointing at your fanny Was this your idea Bunton s response being I don t understand where this has come from It is a dance routine and it is nothing to do with anything like that It is everyone else s dirty little minds Especially yours It worries me because it is a classic and you can t make classics rude 59 Singer Jann Arden who recorded Downtown for her 2007 album Uncover Me reacted to Bunton s Downtown video with the statement Petula Clark would slap Bunton s face 63 though in fact Clark herself would state to being untroubled by Bunton s evidently salacious interpretation of Downtown It s a pop song for God s sake It s not a hymn 57 Charts Edit Weekly charts Edit Chart 2006 PeakpositionEurope Eurochart Hot 100 64 12Ireland IRMA 65 36Scotland OCC 66 2UK Singles OCC 67 3 Year end charts Edit Chart 2006 PositionUK Singles OCC 68 118Saw Doctors version EditIn October 2011 Irish band the Saw Doctors remade Downtown with Petula Clark singing some lines the track is credited to the Saw Doctors featuring Petula Clark According to Saw Doctors member Leo Moran the group habitually played snippets of well known songs during their encore numbers One night for no particular reason we did Downtown and you could see people loved it All ages You could see it brought joy to people s faces 69 Some time later the Saw Doctors learned their producer Philip Tennant was friends with Petula Clark s manager John Williams and an invitation was conveyed to Clark to sing on a Saw Doctors remake of Downtown Clark being agreeable a session was booked in a London recording studio to allow the Irish group to liaison with the European based Clark and Downtown was recorded over two days with Clark arriving to record her vocal on the second day Moran recalls We the Saw Doctors did a whole lot of work the first day Petula Clark came in the second evening and we discovered that the song was in the wrong key So we had to scrap all of the first day s work and put down the backing track with Petula because she only had a few hours that evening and wasn t able to come back the following day It was exciting exhilarating scary and privileged rolled into one 70 Top Irish cinematographer Eugene O Connor Father Ted directed the video for the Saw Doctor s Downtown which was uploaded to YouTube on 17 November 2011 Shot on the nights of 9 10 November 2011 the video focuses on the band s members walking through the town center of Galway lead vocalist Davy Carton is also seen briefly riding in a car Footage of Clark was shot in Paris and spliced into the completed video in which she mainly appears on the screens of televisions displayed in a shop window the shop is in fact clothing retailer Anthony Ryans outside of which the Saw Doctors perform on the street in the company of eight members of the Galway City Cougars cheerleading squad and also a fire juggler 71 Radio presenter Ray Foley Today FM began a campaign to make the Saw Doctors Downtown the Christmas No 1 in Ireland for 2011 encouraging sales of the track upon its 16 December 2011 release with the intent of propelling it to the No 1 position on the Irish Singles Chart for the week ending 22 December 2011 and the Saw Doctors Downtown was indeed No 1 on iTunes Ireland for the relevant period However on the Irish Singles Chart dated 22 December 2011 the track debuted at No 2 with Cannonball by Little Mix retaining the No 1 position largely because of Cannonball s greater availability as a CD single 10 000 units as opposed to Downtown s 2000 making Cannonball a more attractive prospect for gift buyers 72 73 74 On the Irish Singles Chart dated 29 December 2011 Downtown by the Saw Doctors featuring Petula Clark was ranked at No 43 in its second and final week on the chart 74 References Edit Lister David Pop ballads bite back in lyrical fashion The Independent 28 May 1994 a b Tony Hatch interview Retrosellers com November 2007 Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 Retrieved 22 January 2015 a b c Marc Myers 12 June 2013 Going Back Downtown The Wall Street Journal Retrieved 22 January 2015 a b Lavin Christine 2010 Cold Pizza For Breakfast a mem wha New Haven CT Tell Me Press p 218 ISBN 978 0 9816453 6 0 Richie Unterberger Julie Grant AllMusic Retrieved 23 May 2013 Interviews by Dave Simpson 11 October 2016 Petula Clark how we made Downtown The Guardian Retrieved 24 June 2017 a b c Daeida April 2010 p 2 Petula Clark interview Retrosellers com October 2007 Archived from the original on 27 February 2014 Retrieved 14 June 2014 a b Petula Clark Downtown Sound on Sound Retrieved 12 July 2013 a b Harrington Patrick and Bobby Graham The Session Man The story of Bobby Graham the UK s greatest session drummer Broom House Monmouthshire 2004 p 107 Star Interview Petula Clark Northamptonchron co uk Retrieved 7 August 2013 Bronson Fred 2003 The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits New York Billboard Books p 165 ISBN 0823076776 Retrieved 8 July 2012 Billboard Magazine March 1965 27 March 1965 Retrieved 28 June 2018 From Soup Nazis to Nuts 100 Best Seinfeld Characters Rolling Stone 29 November 2020 Retrieved 30 December 2020 DeRogatis Jim 27 February 2000 Rolling with old gold Reissues bring out best and rest of classic pop albums Chicago Sun Times p 15 Top 10 TV musical moments of 2018 The Michigan Daily 9 January 2019 Retrieved 1 January 2021 Woods Mickey 25 January 2013 This Is Incredible 80 Year Old Downtown Singer Petula Clark Has a Brilliantly Modern New Song Out Glamour Retrieved 29 December 2020 Stutz Colin 19 August 2016 The Stranger Things Cast s Musical Talents From Psych Rock to Broadway amp More Billboard Retrieved 1 January 2021 Others Wise Totally Lost EW com Entertainment Weekly 22 October 2012 Archived from the original on 22 October 2012 Retrieved 22 September 2023 Freer Ian 29 January 2019 Escape Room Empire Retrieved 1 January 2021 Brough Rick 11 January 2019 Friday Film Review Escape Room KPCW Retrieved 1 January 2021 Schulz Mike 5 January 2019 Six Characters in Search of a Doorknob Escape Room and Bird Box River Cities Reader Retrieved 1 January 2021 Williams Phil 27 December 2020 Nashville bombing clues include haunting Petula Clark song questions about location NewsChannel 5 Nashville Nashville police say RV was playing song Downtown prior to RV explosion FOX 17 WZTV 27 December 2020 Downtown by Petula Clark played from RV before Nashville bomb went off officer says The Tennessean 27 December 2020 Petula Clark on Facebook Facebook Archived from the original on 27 April 2022 Lane Carly 25 May 2021 Last Night in Soho Trailer Reveals Edgar Wright and Anya Taylor Joy s Psychological Horror Film Collider Retrieved 27 May 2021 Petula Clark Downtown ARIA Top 50 Singles Petula Clark Downtown in German O3 Austria Top 40 Petula Clark Downtown in Dutch Ultratop 50 Top RPM Singles Issue 5606 RPM Library and Archives Canada Billboard Magazine May 8 1965 Billboard 8 May 1965 Lever hit parades 28 Jan 1965 Flavour of New Zealand Billboard Magazine Hits of the World February 1965 Billboard 6 February 1965 Billboard Magazine Hits of the World Billboard 6 February 1965 Petula Clark Downtown VG lista a b Petula Clark Artist Chart History Official Charts Company Petula Clark Chart History Hot 100 Billboard Offiziellecharts de Petula Clark Downtown in German GfK Entertainment charts Retrieved 18 February 2019 To see peak chart position click TITEL VON Petula Clark Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart Billboard Retrieved 10 December 2018 a b Murrells Joseph 1985 Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s an illustrated directory Arco Pub p 190 ISBN 0668064595 The disc was No 2 for two weeks in Britain with 15 weeks in the bestselles with well over the quarter million sales but when released on the Warner label in the U S A in December 1964 selling over a million there with global sales over three million British single certifications Petula Clark Downtown British Phonographic Industry Retrieved 25 August 2023 Pet Clark Busy Autumn For Hot Disk Performer PDF Cash Box magazine 15 October 1966 p 64 Retrieved 26 May 2023 American single certifications Petula Clark Downtown Recording Industry Association of America Grammy Award Nominees 1965 Grammy Award Winners 1965 Awardsandshows com Retrieved 11 August 2019 American sales certificate database Recording Industry Association of America 2009 Retrieved 15 July 2009 permanent dead link a b Scott Gavin This Week In 1989 April 30 1989 blogspot com Retrieved 10 September 2018 The show must go on Music The Age 12 March 2004 Retrieved 28 June 2017 TV com Top of the Pops UK Season 25 Episode 50 15th December 1988 TV com Retrieved 28 June 2017 top of the pops 1988 episode guide Hardprog pagesperso orange fr Retrieved 28 June 2017 Ultratop Petula Clark Downtown 88 Ultratop The Irish Charts Search Results Downtown Irish Singles Chart Offiziellecharts de Petula Clark Downtown 88 in German GfK Entertainment charts Michael Cragg 20 February 2013 Petula Clark John Lennon gave me some advice that I can t repeat The Guardian Retrieved 14 June 2014 Matusavage Philip 20 February 2013 Petula Clark Lost in You Album Reviews musicOMH Retrieved 14 June 2014 John Transgendered 16 January 2010 Cheltenham racecourse song Racing News This is Gloucestershire a b c Star Observer Starobserver com au 7 September 2010 Retrieved 14 June 2014 Entertainment Bunton sings for Children in Need BBC News 20 October 2006 Retrieved 14 June 2014 a b Baggs Michael 6 December 2006 Emma Bunton interview Popjustice Retrieved 13 February 2013 a b Contact Music Contactmusic com Retrieved 14 June 2014 Musicweek com 27 November 2006 Ramprakash Mark 2011 Strictly Me my life under the spotlight Edinburgh Mainstream Publishing ISBN 978 1845965945 Colonist Times 12 February 2007 Arden sings the songs of her youth in ninth album Archived 9 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine Canada com Hits of the World Eurocharts PDF Billboard Vol 118 no 49 9 December 2006 p 103 Retrieved 27 July 2020 Irish charts com Discography Emma Bunton Irish Singles Chart Retrieved 17 January 2020 Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved 12 October 2018 Official Singles Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved 12 October 2018 The Official UK Singles Chart 2006 PDF UKChartsPlus Retrieved 12 October 2018 Worcester Telegram 1 March 2012 Saw Doctors Headed to The Hanover Theatre Saw Doctors Leo Moran on Music Touring amp Everything Pollstar Retrieved 14 June 2014 Cheerleading Stuntworx Cheer amp Trampoline Archived from the original on 16 August 2016 Retrieved 28 June 2017 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Independent Woman 14 November 2011 Saw Doctors leave N17 for Downtown Music Entertainment The Irish Independent Retrieved 5 January 2012 Sligo bay 21 December 2011 Cannonball hits Saw Docs No 1 hope Music Entertainment The Irish Independent Retrieved 5 January 2012 a b IRMA Irish Charts Singles Albums amp Compilations Irma ie 29 December 2011 Archived from the original on 11 May 2012 Retrieved 5 January 2012 External links Edit nbsp 1960s portal nbsp pop music portalDowntown lyrics at Dolly Parton On Line Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Downtown Petula Clark song amp oldid 1178633941, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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