Sharon Lawrence Instagram

#Repost @sirpennypacker with @get_repost ・・・ #history #whywefight #itsthelittlethings — IT’S BEEN JUST 50 YEARS since the Petula Clark, Belafonte “Touch“ Controversy #notsolongago - The television special “Petula”, aired in April 1968. During a taping of the show in March of 68’, while singing a duet with Belafonte titled “On the Path of Glory”, an anti-war song that she had composed, Petula Clark (“Downtown”) innocently and naturally touched Belafonte’s arm toward the end of the song. - Doyle Lott, a V.P. from Chrysler, the show’s sponsor, was present at the taping. Lott objected to the “interracial touching” and feared the brief moment would offend Southern viewers — racial conflict was a major issue in the U.S. - Lott insisted they substitute a different take — one with Clark and Belafonte standing well away from each other. But Clark and her husband, Claude Wolff, the executive producer, refused. - Several takes of the song existed on tape in which Clark didn’t touch Belafonte, but they destroyed all the