Petula Clark: ‘I was an accidental civil rights hero’

Petula Clark has confessed she didn’t mean to strike a blow for civil rights by taking Harry Belafonte’s arm during a TV performance.
The British singer duetted with the musician and activist on her track On the Path of Glory during an NBC TV special in 1968, during which they were filmed arm-in-arm, an action an advertising executive took exception as endorsing mixed-race relationships.
She, her husband, and their lawyer ordered NBC chiefs to erase all the other takes so the footage had to stay in the show – but the 86-year-old says the decision was an artistic one rather than a political statement.
“I stumbled into that,” Petula tells The Guardian. “I’ve never got political about anything. I didn’t like the idea of a sponsor telling me how to do a song…It had nothing to do with racism.
“That was the best take. That was the way that the song was supposed to be done – with that feeling, that emotion. When it turned into this whole race thing – it sounds silly, but I didn’t quite understand what it was about.”
The Downtown singer explains that the affection between her and the Calypso legend was genuine however as they “adored each other” and adds, “I think he kind of fancied me.”
Another music legend who Petula says had the hots for her was Elvis Presley – who she claims asked her and Karen Carpenter for a threesome.
“He was raring to go,” she reveals. “Karen was lovely, but she was kind of innocent. I felt sort of responsible for her, so I got her out of there. Then I looked round, and Elvis was at the door, and he looked at me, like: ‘I’m going to get you one day.’ Some people think he did. I think he put out the rumour that he did. But he didn’t.”