"I Know a Place" is a song with music and lyrics by

Tony Hatch Anthony Peter Hatch (born 30 June 1939) is an English composer for musical theatre and television. He is also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Early life and early career Hatch was born in Pinner, Middlesex. Encouraged by his mus ...

. It was recorded in 1965 by

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

at the Pye Studios in

Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash (architect), John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near th ...

in a session which featured drummer Bobby Graham and

the Breakaways The Breakaways were an English female vocal trio, formed in 1962. Britain's premier session vocalists throughout the 1960s, The Breakaways also recorded a handful of little-known girl group singles. Career The original members were Vicki Has ...

vocal group. Released as the follow-up to "Downtown", which it strongly resembles both in musical structure and the story conveyed by the lyrics, "I Know a Place" became Clark's second consecutive Top Ten hit in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, remaining on the charts for twelve weeks. Five of the twelve weeks on the US charts were spent in the Top Ten, the song's fourth week at No. 9, the fifth & sixth week at No. 4, the seventh week at its peak No. 3, then slipping in its eighth week to No. 6, the ninth week ending its turn in the Top Ten at No. 11. The American recording industry honored her with a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for " Best Contemporary (R&R) Vocal Performance of 1965 – Female" for the song. Its UK success was more moderate with a No. 17 peak, establishing the mid-60s pattern of Clark generally having more hit impact in the US than in her homeland. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described "I Know a Place" as "another winning performance" from Clark and also praised Tony Hatch's

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

. Talking about "I Know a Place", Clark told ''The Boston Globe'' in 1966 that "No matter what anyone tells you, to make it in the United States is still the dream of every transatlantic performer. You work for it. Long for it. And I can't tell you how ecstatic I was when 'I Know a Place' was nearly as big a hit as 'Downtown' and the Copacabana Club in New York signed me." The recording reached No. 1 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, No. 3 in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

, No. 7 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and No. 10 in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. "Viens Avec Moi," Clark's French recording of the song, charted in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Having much more of a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

beat than its predecessor, "I Know a Place" emulated the theme of "Downtown" by inviting the listener to "just get away where your worries won't find you" to a place "where the music is fine and the lights are always low." The song twice includes the lyric "a cellar full of noise", a deliberate reference to ''

A Cellarful of Noise ''A Cellarful of Noise'' is the title of Brian Epstein's 1964 autobiography. His assistant, Derek Taylor, was the ghostwriter of the book, which describes the early days of The Beatles, whom Epstein managed.Spitz (2005) pp. 273–74 Epste ...

'', the title of

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

's 1964 autobiography, describing the below-ground

Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a nightclub on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. The club became closely assoc ...

in Liverpool where he first discovered

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. The song is the opening theme for Bill Whittle's weekly podcast, "The Stratosphere Lounge." The song is featured in the film ''

The Anniversary Party ''The Anniversary Party'' is a 2001 American comedy-drama film co-written, co-directed, co-produced by, and co-starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming, both making their respective feature directorial debuts. It is Phoebe Cates's final film ...

''. The song is featured in a number of episodes of ''

Here's Lucy ''Here's Lucy'' is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's thir ...

'' including "Mod, Mod Lucy". The song is used as the background music to the 1977

Mike Jittlov Mike Jittlov (born June 8, 1948) is an American animator and the creator of short films and one feature-length film using forms of special effects animation, including stop-motion animation, rotoscoping, and pixilation. He is best known for the 19 ...

animated short ''

Animato ''Animato'' is a compilation of short films by Mike Jittlov, making extensive use of stop motion, pixilation, kinestasis, animation, and multiple exposures. It features the films ''The Interview'', ''Swing Shift'', ''Rocketman'', ''The Leap'', '' ...

''. The song appeared on the CBS soap ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...

'' in 2000, performed by that show's character

Barbara Ryan Barbara Ryan is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns''. In the early 1970s, Barbara was played by a succession of actresses, but the actress most associated with the role is Colleen Zenk, who played her s ...

(

Colleen Zenk Colleen Zenk is an American actress, best known for her role as Barbara Ryan in the daytime TV drama ''As the World Turns'', a role she played from September 1978 until the show ended in September 2010. Zenk was born in Barrington, Illinois, ...

). The song is used as background music in Season 4, Episode 9 ("The Beautiful Girls) of Mad Men

A version of this song, with slightly altered lyrics, was used to promote the

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...

restaurants in Australia during the 1970s.

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

borrowed the song's chorus for the bridge section of his 1990 remake of "

Five O'Clock World "Five O'Clock World" (also known as "5 O'Clock World") is a song written by Allen Reynolds and recorded by American vocal group The Vogues. It reached number 1 on WLS (AM), WLS on 17 December 1965 and 7 January 1966, number 1 in Canada on the ' ...

". "I Know a Place" was also recorded by

Dick Contino Richard Joseph "Dick" Contino (January 17, 1930 – April 19, 2017) was an American accordionist and singer. Early life Contino was born in Fresno, California. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Contino, and he attended Fresno High School. H ...

for his 1965 album ''Dick Contino Plays & Sings the Hits'' and by

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

for her January 1966 album release ''Pop Artistry'', and also by

Sammy Davis Jr Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

(''

The Sounds of '66 ''The Sounds of '66'' is a 1966 live album by Sammy Davis, Jr., accompanied by Buddy Rich and a big band. The album was recorded at the Sands Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. Track listing Original LP Side A: # " Come Back to Me" ( Burton La ...

'') and by

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

. "I Know a Place" has been recorded in medley with Petula Clark's precedent hit "Downtown" by

Karen Mason Karen Mason is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has appeared on stage in Broadway theatre, notably as Norma Desmond in ''Sunset Boulevard,'' and is a multiple award-winning cabaret performer. Career Mason was born in New Orle ...

on her 1991 album ''When the Sun Comes Out'' as "Downtown"/ "I Know a Place", and also by

Ann Hampton Callaway Ann Hampton Callaway (born May 30, 1958) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and actress. She wrote and sang the theme song for the TV series ''The Nanny''. Career A native of Chicago, her father, John Callaway, was a journalist and her mot ...

and

Liz Callaway Liz Callaway (born April 13, 1961) is an American actress, singer and recording artist, who is best known for having provided the singing voices of many female characters in animated films, such as Anya/Anastasia in ''Anastasia'', Odette in ''Th ...

on their 2011 album ''Boom! Live at Birdland'' as "I Know a Place"/ "Downtown". The 1967 album release ''Pet Project'' by the

Bob Florence Bob Florence (May 20, 1932 – May 15, 2008) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. Career A child prodigy, Florence began piano lessons before he was five years old and at seven gave his first recital. Although hi ...

Big Band features an instrumental version of "I Know a Place", the album being devoted to songs associated with Petula Clark. Vocal group Something Bi

also include "I Know a Place" on their 2012

tribute extended play, EP ''Hatched''. Translated versions of "I Know a Place" include "Znam Jedno Mjesto" (Croatian) by

Gabi Novak Gabrijela "Gabi" Novak (; born 8 July 1936) is a Croatian pop and jazz singer. A wife of the prominent Croatian singer-songwriter Arsen Dedić, whom she married in 1973, Novak became popular in the 1960s. Biography Born in Berlin into a family ...

; "Ik ken een tent" (Dutch) by Jacco van Renesse; "Un bel posto" (Italian) by

Gigliola Cinquetti Gigliola Cinquetti (; born Giliola Cinquetti on 20 December 1947) is an Italian singer, songwriter, and television presenter. Life and career Gigliola Cinquetti was born into a wealthy family in Verona. From the ages of 9 to 13, she studied and ...

; "Sei de um lugar" (Portuguese) by

Trio Esperança Trio Esperança is a Brazilian vocal trio, formed in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1958, by the siblings Mário, Regina and Evinha Correia José Maria. They had several hits in Brazil, such as "Festa do Bolinha" and "Filme Triste" - a version of ...

; "Znám Jeden Kout" (Slovak) by Helena Blehárová; and "Sé de un lugar" (Spanish) by Melissa.

References

{{authority control 1965 singles Petula Clark songs Songs written by Tony Hatch RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Tony Hatch 1965 songs Pye Records singles Warner Records singles Disques Vogue singles