I have been very, very fortunate to meet a lot of the people who have entertained and influenced me over the years, be they singers, artists, designers, actors or footballers. All of them have a place in my heart for one reason or another, from Sir Bobby Charlton to Sir Peter Blake.
Then a few years ago I was mincing about at Lords cricket ground for a fashion event and there, walking down the stairs heading my way, was Lulu!
I was over next to her like a shot and asking my mate Simon to get a photo of me with her. It had to be done. I have always been a fan of her and her voice. Not really sure I can put a definitive reason on that as to why exactly, but a combination of some great songs, her role in the film ‘To Sir With Love’ and her just always being around when I was growing up I guess?
Of all the photos I have with ‘celebs’ I reckon I have posted that one more times on social media than any other (mainly as a gift to my mate Bobby Tarlton who is as equally enamoured with Lulu, but who appears to NOT have a photo of himself with her…)
She turned 70 last November so high time I thought to do a Speakeasy on her. She was born in 1948 and christened Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire Scotland. Her early years were spent in the tenements of Glasgow and music was a constant in her family home with both parents buying chart-hit records on a regular basis. Picking up early on those musical vibes, she was soon singing semi-pro from the age of 12 fronting a local R’n’B band. She picked up the stage name of Lulu from her soon to be manager Marion Massey who described her as being ‘a real Lulu of a kid.’
She signed to Decca in 1964 and backed by her band The Luvvers, was only 15 when her rendition of the Isley Brothers song ‘Shout’ hit the UK charts at number 7. After a stuttering follow up record or two, she became a chart regular through to 1965 with tracks like ‘Leave A Little Love’ and ‘Try to Understand.’
She then set sail on her solo career, leaving Decca to go with Columbia Records under the guiding hand of producer Mickie Most. 1967 saw her in the charts with the Neil Diamond song, the belting ‘The Boat That I Row’ and she and Mickie went on to have a string of further hit records.
Also in ’67, she starred in the film ‘To Sir With Love’ alongside Sidney Poitier. She sang the title song and it went on to become the biggest selling single of the year in the USA. Bizarrely over here, the song was only released as the B Side of ‘Lets Pretend’, that went on to reach number 11.
By now she had become a familiar face on TV, and in the next few years, she would go on the have her own TV shows, under various titles, and those would run up until 1975.
1969 finds her marrying the Bee Gee Maurice Gibb aged 19 and representing the UK in that years Eurovision Song Contest in Madrid, with the song ‘Boom Bang A Bang.’ She ended up in a four-way tie for first place, with the song going on to reach number two in the charts that year.
She sang the theme to the James Bond film ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’ in 1974 and in the same year she covered a couple of David Bowie songs, namely ‘Watch That Man’ and the marvellous version of ‘The Man Who Sold the World’, with longtime Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson in the producers chair.
Bowie sang backing vocals and played the sax on the recordings. He and Lulu were also romantically linked for a short period around this time.
Divorced from Maurice Gibb in 1975, she then married celebrity hairdresser John Frieda in 1977, going on to have a son Jordan.
My wife Lou remembers her well in the 80s as she and Lulu both had an association with Freemans Catalogue, with Lulu ‘designing’ and modelling for the company, especially a best-selling leather jacket, Lou tells me.
Her recording career went into a bit of decline in the late 80s/early 90s as she concentrated on acting, stage work, and live performances.
She was also a keen supporter of Mrs Thatcher.
Well, nobody’s perfect.
She was back in the charts in 1993 with her hit ‘Independence’ which peaked at number 11 and then she reached the top spot singing on the Take That remake hit of the song ‘Relight My Fire.’
She collected an OBE in 2000 under the name of Lulu Kennedy Cairns, having adopted her mother’s maiden name.
In recent years, she has worked as a guest vocalist with Jools Holland his big band, and she is still working the live concert circuit and has appeared in musicals such as ’42nd Street.’
She comes from a rough tough background and made the best of her vocal talent. She mixed with the good and the glamorous in the fabulous 1960s, and lived to tell the tale and has a decent legacy of work to look back on.
All in all, not bad for a girl from the Gorbals eh Bobby?
The Mumper of SE5
