Much respect to Lulu. She has achieved so much throughout her career which now spans six decades since she first hit the charts with “Shout” as a young, wee Scottish lass who came down from Glasgow and hit the lights and 60s magic of the big city, London and met other people from the North such as the Beatles. But more of this later. The show was a mixture of Lulu recounting her memories and the songs which made her famous along the way.
The Glasshouse website promoted the show thus: “The tour will get under way in Lulu’s hometown of Glasgow on April 9 and The Glasshouse – which changed its name from Sage Gateshead in September – is to be her third port of call. The tour will wrap up at The London Palladium on April 17 which was the anniversary of the day in 1964 that she first stormed into the UK charts , at the age of just 15, with the iconic Shout. The six dates are set to be a real celebration of a career that has turned Lulu into a national treasure and which has seen her become a Eurovision winner, a Bond theme singer and star of the biggest-selling record in the US – To Sir With Love in 1967. She is one of the first pop artists to have performed behind the Iron Curtain in Poland; has had a number one with Take That and has just this summer performed two nights at the Hollywood Bowl. And now the tour promises to show off Lulu “as you’ve never seen her”.”
The concert was in two parts with a short interval. Lulu focused on the many highlights of her career. The first part covered the 60s and 70s. The second part covered later years including the famous collaboration with Take That. She started with the 1960s “Shout”, and images of her with the Beatles and other stars from the era. And that was how the show progressed.
The format was Lulu talking about her life and her music, interspersing her story with images and the great songs which made her famous. She was accompanied by an excellent band and singers. She focused upon the highlights of her career, which are many and very impressive. After “Shout” Lulu talked about singing a Neil Diamond song: “The Boat That I Row” and showed a picture of her with Neil Diamond, whilst performing the song. Next was my favourite Lulu song “To Sir With Love” which she explained was never a hit in the UK, as it was released as a B-side in this country, but was a massive number 1 in America. She performed the song to a backdrop of clips from the film and many images of herself with Sidney Poitier.
She then went on to talk about her marriage to Maurice Gibb, “I married a Bee Gee”. Which led into showing a video of Lulu duetting with Maurice some years later on the Bee Gees’ track (and my favourite song of theirs) “First of May”. She explained how, long after they had been divorced, she was recording a duets album and someone suggested that she ask Maurice to do a duet with her. She was a little nervous of doing so, but when she did ask him he accepted immediately. Hence the video, during which Lulu sat down and watched the screen. Very touching.
The 1970s saw Lulu representing the UK in the Eurovision Song contest, so she sang “Boom Bang a Bang”. She went on to win the contest. As she sang images from the Eurovision Song contest were displayed on the screen behind her. Fantastic nostalgia. Then she talked about her collaboration with David Bowie, treating us to “The Man Who Sold the World”. Next we moved to the James Bond film theme “The Man with the Golden Gun” which was accompanied by video clips from James Bond films. This lady really was busy in the 1970s!
The second set followed a similar format moving into collaborations with Take That and Tina Turner. Again, some fabulous music and video to support the songs. However, I must admit to preferring the 60s and 70s material. Overall, an absolutely excellent showcase of Lulu’s many career highlights and a fantastic mind-boggling career.
Many thanks to Jackie for the photographs and Jan for manipulating the site. The images of the record and the paperback are taken from photographs of items in my own collection.
Setlist: Set 1: Shout; Heat Wave; The Boat That I Row; To Sir With Love; Boom Bang-A-Bang; First of May; Oh, Me Oh My (I’m a Fool for You Baby); The Man Who Sold the World; The Man With the Golden Gun; I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do); Scotland is a Place Called Home.
Set 2: Independence; We’ve Got Tonight; I Don’t Wanna Fight; Who’s Foolin’ Who; How Long; The Living Years; Teardrops; Relight My Fire; I’m Still Standing; The Load-Out/Stay; Shout.
Much respect to 
The Playhouse website promoted the show thus: “Lulu has made music and memories with the greatest of all time. Elton John wrote songs with her, Bowie produced and recorded with her, McCartney duetted with her and one of the Bee Gees married her. It’s a story that has to be told and provides a once-in-a-lifetime insight into some of the world’s musical legends. Join Lulu as she shares, for the first time, many untold stories, her memories and experiences with the greats – and enjoy with her the music that has been her constant companion. This is Lulu – For The Record.”
She started, well, at the start, with an excerpt from “Shout”, the 1960s, and images of her with the Beatles and other stars from the era. And that was how the show progressed. The format was Lulu talking about her life and her music, interspersing her story with images and excerpts from the songs. She was accompanied by a keyboard player. So, for the 1960s she talked about her TV show and the famous night where Jimi Hendrix appeared. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was perched in front of the TV with my parents while Hendrix played “Hey Joe”, his current hit single. However, he had just heard that the mighty Cream had split and he soon had other ideas. “Enough of this”, he said, “I would like to play something as a tribute to Cream” and broke into “Sunshine of Your Love” which he went on to play well after he was due to finish. Apparently, the BBC technical staff and management went crazy, the guy was playing much longer than planned and eventually they had to roll on the closing credits while he kept playing.
Lulu told us that he was, as a result, banned from BBC TV and radio for some time afterwards. Then she spoke of the opportunity that was her appearance in the iconic film To Sir with Love, and which broke down racial barriers featuring the wonderful Sidney Poitier, and then singing part of the title song which was a number one hit for her in America. One of my favourite songs, which brought tears to my eyes. She then went on to talk about her short marriage to Maurice Gibb, and how as a result she sat in on a Bee Gees’ recording session which led into her singing an excerpt from “To Love Somebody”.
Swiftly into the 1980s, playing in pantomime, Peter Pan with the great Ron Moody and performing in the West End.
The show wasn’t quite what we (I, my carer Jackie and guest carer Jan) expected. We were hoping for more full versions of the songs and less talk. However, what we got was equally enjoyable and I certainly learnt a lot about the lady and her many accomplishments.
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