Fossilized Fud Music: Petula Clark

I don't know why, but this song always makes me happy. It's so singable. So hummable. It's a bit escapist in its lyrics, telling people to go downtown to avoid their problems. But we all need that, don't we -- a place to go where our troubles and cares don't follow us?

And this is unquestionably Petula Clark's song. Again, I'm not saying this because hers is the version I'm most familiar with -- I like that she's not only singing about a bassanova beat, but also in a song that's got that nice bassanova beat. Some of the more modern versions of the song try to rock or jazz it up a bit more than it needs to be.

Here's another one from Clark in the same vein:

Once again, a song about after work, hanging out -- a song about nothing long before Seinfeld made his show about nothing. And how can you top the hip little bit of hip-slappin' she does in this video? These are videos from the Ed Sullivan Show, when videos were about the music, not necessarily about the weird images folks could throw up on the big MTV screen.

Yes, I am a fossilized fud. Check out the title of the post, bub.

Here's another happy --- GAH! What IS that dress she's wearing? It looks like a cross between a swimsuit top and a Slip 'n' Slide bottom. But it is a happy song. Gale Garnett. A fine version. But I think I like this one better:

This is Helen Reddy's song -- and the fact that she sings it here with a dancing camel is only a bonus. This scene from The Muppets always fascinated me. How much practice did it take those two camel performers to do this right? Lots, I imagine.