Ireland’s very own superstars The Saw Doctors - whose “I Useta Lover” single is still the best-selling single of all time (spending nine weeks at No.1) in their native land - have teamed up with the iconic Petula Clark to record a version of that legendary chanteuse’s “Downtown”. The song has been a live favourite in Saw Doctors’ shows for the past year and when the band asked Petula to re-record the vocal to her 1965 classic she was happy to comply. Petula also recently shot her parts for the song’s video in Paris. The single will be released on Shamtown Records via i-Tunes on 18th  December 2011.

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At the time of its release in 1965, ‘Downtown’ sold three million copies, hitting the No.1 slot in the US and becoming the first of fifteen consecutive Top 40 hits for Petula across the pond. Petula subsequently won a Grammy for "Best Rock & Roll Record" for Downtown and in 2003 her recording of Downtown was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. She is still the best-selling female British solo artist of all time.

The Saw Doctors hit the headlines last week in UK newspapers and TV when it emerged that they had written a song about the new Irish president-elect Michael D. Higgins as long ago as 1994. The song entitled “Michael D. Rocking in the Dail” (Irish parliament) appeared on the b-side of their single “Small Bit Of Love” and heralded the appointment of the then newly elected Irish Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

In 2009 Universal released “To Win Just Once - The Best of The Saw Doctors”  - ironically one of the band’s previous members had recently won the Irish Lotto! – the album reaching No. 3 in Ireland and achieving platinum status in the process.  Last year The Saw Doctors released their seventh studio album “The Further Adventures of The Saw Doctors” and last Christmas the band reached No. 1 on i-Tunes with their accapella version of their 1991 song “Red Cortina”. 

The Saw Doctors recently announced their 20th Anniversary UK Tour, details below:

The Saw Doctors Dec 2011 Tour  

Tue 6th Dec                            Exeter Lemon Grove
Wed 7th Dec                          Port Talbot Princess Royal 
Fri 9th Dec                              Oxford O2 Academy
Sat 10th Dec                           Salisbury City Hall                                                 
Wed 11th Dec                       Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall                           
Tue 13th Dec                         Leicester O2 Academy        
Wed 14th Dec                       Sheffield Plug
Fri 16th Dec                           Glasgow Barrowland                                            
Sat 17th Dec                           Manchester O2 Apollo                

Tickets are now available www.sawdoctors.com