Lulu
To Sir With Love
Those schoolgirl days, of telling tales and biting nails are gone,
But in my mind,
I know they will still live on and on,
But how do you thank someone, who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn't easy, but I'll try,
If you wanted the sky I would write across the sky in letters,
That would soar a thousand feet high,
To Sir, with Love
The time has come,
For closing books and long last looks must end,
And as I leave,
I know that I am leaving my best friend,
A friend who taught me right from wrong,
And weak from strong,
That's a lot to learn,
What, what can I give you in return?
If you wanted the moon I would try to make a start,
But I, would rather you let me give my heart,
To Sir, with Love
______________________________
Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, OBE, (born 3 November 1948 in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire), best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, songwriter, actor, model, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through the 2000s.
Early 1960s
Lulu grew up in Glasgow where she attended Whitehill Senior Secondary School, Dennistown. She shot to fame at the age of fifteen with her version of "Shout!", delivered in a raucous and extremely mature voice. Her backing group were called The Luvvers, but after several more British hits she left the group to become a solo artist.
In 1966, Lulu toured Poland with the British rock and roll band The Hollies, making her the first British female singer to appear live behind the Iron Curtain. In the same year, she recorded two German language tracks, "Wenn Du Da Bist" and "So Fing es an" for the Decca Germany label.
In 1967 she made her debut as a film actress in To Sir, with Love, a British vehicle for Sidney Poitier. She had a major hit with the title song "To Sir, with Love", which shot to number one in the United States; she makes notable use of melisma in the song, and decades later it remains the song for which she is best known in that country. (In the UK, it was released only on the B-side of "Let's Pretend", a much less successful hit.) In the meantime, she continued with a thriving pop career in the UK and several television series of her own. From 30 June to 2 July 1967, Lulu appeared on The Monkees tour at the Empire Pool, Wembley.
The Eurovision Song Contest
On 29 March 1969, she represented the United Kingdom by performing the song "Boom bang-a-bang" at the Eurovision Song Contest, and was joint winner with the representatives of Spain, the Netherlands and France — there had never been a draw before, and the rules were altered to prevent it ever happening again.
In 1975 she hosted the BBC's A Song for Europe contest, the qualifying heat for the Eurovision Song Contest. She joined fellow Eurovision winners at a charity gala held in Norway in 1981.
Since then, Lulu rarely talks about her Eurovision experiences, or her song "Boom Bang A Bang", which she then and now dislikes despite the fact that it was her biggest solo UK hit (reaching number two on the chart in 1969).
Below Lulu explains how she got into the contest, and about what came out (From the BBC Radio 2 special on 50 Years Of The Eurovision Song Contest):
I had a series on TV, and Bill Cotton was the Head of Light Entertainment [at the BBC], and he said to my manager: "I'd like her to do the Eurovision Song Contest, on the series." And she came to me and I went "Why? What do I want to do that for?"... and she said that he said that "you'll get good ratings, and he is the boss, and he wants you to have good ratings.
Maybe I could have said no, but I felt I didn't really have a choice in the matter. And I thought... I was full of myself, thinking ratings isn't what it's all about... But, you know, Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote a great song that didn't go through...
I had this amazing band, like 20 pieces. We did all these different songs... every single one of us said "Which one is gonna win? Which one is gonna win?" and we all laughed and went: "Bet you it's that Boom boom bang a bang a bang a bang..." (Laughs) "But then it won. Somehow there was an intelligence working there... and it was a huge success.
Late 1960s-mid-1970s
Also in 1969, Lulu married fellow musical star Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees in a ceremony in Gerrards Cross. Their careers forced them apart, and they divorced, childless, in 1973. In 1970 Lulu was back on the US charts with the top 30 hit "Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)" (later covered by Aretha Franklin) and a collaboration with the Dixie Flyers on "Hum a Song (From Your Heart)." In 1969, she recorded "New Routes" an album with most of the material recorded at Muscle Shoals studios; several of the songs featured slide guitarist Duane Allman, including a haunting version of Jerry Jeff Walker's Mr. Bojangles. A year later she followed with a similar album "Melody Fair". She also recorded 2 other German Language tracks, called "Ich Brauche Deine Liebe" and "Wach' ich oder träum' ich'" on the Atlantic record label.
In 1972 she starred in the Christmas pantomime Peter Pan at the Palace Theatre, Manchester where the show was a huge success. She repeated her performance at the London Palladium in 1975, and returned to the same role in different London-based productions from 1987 to early 1989.
In 1974 she performed the title song in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun. Two slightly different versions of the song were used, at the start and end respectively - the end song actually name-checking James Bond.
In 1975, Lulu married John Frieda, who was previously her hairdresser, and remained with him for twenty years until divorcing him in 1995. They had one son, Jordan Frieda in 1977. She became interested in Eastern mysticism and joined Siddha Yoga Meditation.
Also during 1974, she did a cover of two of David Bowie's classic songs, "The Man Who Sold the World" and "Watch That Man". Bowie himself produced the recordings and played saxophone, and provided back-up vocals on it. There were also rumours that they had a brief love affair at the time, before she married John Frieda.
"The Man Who Sold the World" peaked at number three on the UK chart, her first UK top 10 hit in five years and also her last until 1986.
Later career
Lulu's singing career waned, but she remained in the public eye, continuing to act. She also modelled in Freeman's fashion catalogue for a while during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In late 1979, Lulu's career suffered a minor setback when she was in a car accident that nearly took her life, having collided head on with another car on Brooksend Hill.
In 1981 Lulu returned to the US chart with "I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)", a Top 20 hit which also reached number two on the Adult Contemporary chart despite stalling at number 62 in the UK. She won the Rear of the Year award in 1983 and re-recorded a number of her songs. This included "Shout," which reached the Top 10 in 1986 in the UK, securing her a spot to perform on the popular BBC music program, Top Of The Pops.
In 1987, she played Adrian Mole's mother on television (replacing Julie Walters, and in the 1990s she made a comeback, guesting on the cover version of the Dan Hartman song "Relight My Fire", with Take That. The single reached number one in the British charts. By this time, her marriage to John Frieda had completely crumbled, and with the divorce, she released "Independence". She also appeared as herself, an unhappy public relations client of main character Edina Monsoon in two episodes of the hugely popular BBC television programme Absolutely Fabulous.
In 2000 she was awarded an OBE by the British Government. Her 2003 autobiography is called I Don't Want to Fight after a hit song she and her brother wrote for Tina Turner, which is a song that Lulu later released in 2003, along with her The Greatest Hits album.
In 2002 her gold album Together was a collection of duets with the likes of Elton John and Paul McCartney. In 2004 she released the album Back on Track and went on a UK-wide tour to celebrate 40 years in the business.
In late 2004, Lulu became the host of her own 2-hour radio show, on BBC Radio 2, playing an eclectic blend of music from the 1950s to the 2000s, all having to do with the influence of songwriting.
In 2005, Lulu released A Little Soul in Your Heart, a collection of soul classics that entered the UK charts at a disspointing No. 28. after a large amount of TV advertising.
In March 2006, Lulu launched her official MySpace profile, where she could keep in contact with current fans, and reconnect with old ones.
She has more recently appeared in the BBC's reality TV show Just the Two of Us in 2006 as a judge, and in late June and early July 2006, appeared on Take That's UK and Ireland tour, to perform their song "Relight My Fire".
She appeared on American Idol Season 6 on March 20, 2007 as a mentor for the female contestants, and the following night performed "To Sir, With Love" live.
Lulu's long lost Atco Singles will be released onto CD for the first time on September 10th, 2007 (According to Amazon.co.uk).
