[.ca] From Crayons to Perfume..

That's MS. Lulu To You!:
Remember that perky little blonde/redhead from the sixties that sang, "To Sir With Love"? Oh yeah. Well, she never disappeared - only in the old USA. That girl born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie in 1948 had her first big hit, "Shout" (Isley Brothers) in 1967 at the age of fourteen. That song alone regularly sold enough copies to be in Britain's TOP 200 for the following 20 years! She's recorded hit songs (on this set) written by Neil Diamond, Don Black, Mark London, Harry Nilsson, the Bee Gees, David Bowie and John Barry. The latter writer gave her, "The Man With The Golden Gun", a Bond film classic theme song. Oddly enough, Bowie was a big Lulu fan and helped her release, "Watch That Man" and "The Man Who Sold The World". Her song choices range from ballads to rock and roll standards. In the sixties she was virtually protected by the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles who she had toured with. She was a legend as a teenager. This collection of twenty songs is great, even if it only goes as far as 1979. However, Lulu continued past that to this very day. If you can find her UK LP recording of "Independence", it is well worth the cost. Lulu proves that as a little Scottish lass, she is still at top form in her fifties. She has that kind of voice.

To Lulu with Love:
In the camp between the hipsters and squares, Lulu, the daughter of a Glaswegian butcher, was in the latter category along with Nancy Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, and Petula Clark, who did harmless inoffensive pop. She could do a nice lilting strings ballad like "To Sir With Love" or could let loose with her Petula Clark/Ronnie Spector-ish vocals on the soulful "Oh Me Oh My (I'm A Fool For You, Baby)." Chartwise, she didn't score too many Top 40 hits, but since when is that THE measure for how respected an artist is? Her time with the Luvvers is represented by her cover of the Isley Bros.' classic "Shout," which although it didn't do well on the charts, became the song she became most associated with in the UK. Her voice is really scratchy and shrill in this song, but it doesn't detract from the song. Here are the highlights. "Leave A Little Love", her first solo single, hit #8 in the UK and demonstrated her ability to sing nice pop ballads backed with vocalists and piano. Her biggest and only #1 US hit, the ballad "To Sir With Love" from the movie she also co-starred in, is a tribute to a teacher who teaches Judy Geeson's character to grow up "from crayons to perfume". Originally the B-side to her cover of Neil Diamond's "The Boat That I Row" the US DJ's played it and made into a hit. The soaring vocals, strings, and guitar embodies the epitomy of 60's pop, coming as it did in 1967. She does a competent version of the Diamond song, featuring the organs made popular in that decade, and it made to #15 on the US charts. The engaging "Me The Peaceful Heart" a #9 UK single, bombed at #53 in the US, shows her wondering why bad things happen to her, but she takes it all in style. Songs like the rocking "Boy" and "Sad Memories", with a folky twinge, "Morning Dew", with horns and orchestra a la Nancy Sinatra's middle period, and Harry Nilsson's "Without Him" were all done in 1968, showing her versatility in doing varied styles. Two songs with the Dixie Flyers, "Hum A Song (From Your Heart)" and the ballad "After The Feeling Is Gone" are included, and shows her leaving the 60's pop scene, embracing more string arrangements and a Southern soul sound. Such is also the case with the harmonious and clapping "Everybody's Got To Clap", written by her husband, Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees. In the 70's, she covered a few Bowie songs of which "The Man Who Sold The World" and "Watch That Man" are included, featuring backing vocals from Bowie, himself a fan of Lulu, and produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson. The musicians were the Spiders, BTW. And she joins the hallowed few who does a James Bond song, the brassy "The Man With The Golden Gun." However, her ballad single from Elton John's Rocket label, "Don't Take Love For Granted" and her single from Alfa Records, the #18 "I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)" shows her vocals matured and at their best, with the strings backing making these the best songs on this collection, rivalling "To Sir With Love." And this is a Rhino compilation, so the Billboard chart position for each song is listed. However, why exclude her highest charting UK hit, the #2 "Boom Bang-A-Bang"? After all, she is an islander. Lulu may not have had the legendary reputation and smooth vocals of Dusty Springfield, but she held her own in the 1960's and 1970's. Oh, and trivia: Lulu got her name who her manager said of her, "she's a lulu."

Lulu's best from the sixties and seventies:
At her best, Lulu was - and still is - one of Britain's finest singers. This skilfully compiled CD proves it. Lulu also recorded some songs that really don't bear repeated plays, but Rhino has wisely excluded them from this set. It is for that reason that I bought this CD instead of one of the various British compilations. The best of her British sixties hits are here, but anybody seeking Let's Pretend, Love loves to love love, I'm a tiger and Boom bang a bang can find them elsewhere easily enough. Shout (a cover of an Isley brothers song) is what Lulu is best remembered for in Britain, while To sir with love (which includes the phrase From crayons to perfume in it's lyrics) is what Lulu is best remembered for in America. Both of them, though totally different types of song, show Lulu at her brilliant best. Other classics include The boat that I row (a British hit, and the flip side of To sir with love, which remained the B side in Britain), Leave a little love (a lovely ballad), Oh me oh my (later covered by Aretha), The man with the golden gun (one of the best James Bond theme songs) and I could never miss you, a top 20 American hit. Also worthy of mention is the weird David Bowie song, The man who sold the world. I didn't like it when it was first released, but I appreciate it better now. So, I regard this as the best compilation of Lulu's early music, it being that rare breed - a compilation that includes all the great tracks without all the rubbish.

Lulu is a lulu!:
I never really paid much attention to Lulu until I saw her play herself on the British sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous." I remembered that she sang "To Sir with Love" and I always liked the song, so I gave this cd a try. I really liked it. This woman can sing! The stand outs are "Oh Me, Oh My" (a song probably known to Americans because of Aretha Franklin's version), "Best of Both Worlds," "Leave a Little Love," and of course, "To Sir with Love." The songs range from the middle sixties to the early eighties. Lulu worked with a lot of diverse producers and song writers including David Bowie. Lulu does a version of "The Man who Sold the World" and it is suprisingly good. The Rhino people really have chosen an interesting group of songs and have included interesting commentary from Lulu herself. If you enjoy classic pop music sung by a woman with a great voice and style, then give this one a try!

Don't just call her "Sir"!:
The U.K. has given us plenty of powerhouse female vocalists with as much soul as Aretha Franklin could muster any day. Dusty Springfield was certainly one, and she is sorely missed. Thankfully, little Marie Lawrie from Scotland is still with us. Who, you ask? Why, that's "Lulu," to you and me! Lulu started belting out the hits as a teenager in Britain several years before a certain breakthrough film starring renowned African-American actor Sidney Poitier, playing a new teacher who's trying to get through to a bunch of East London toughs, would be released. The 1967 film "To Sir, With Love" would provide the U.S. with the biggest hit for the entire year--Beatles included!--as the title track would become Lulu's only #1 American hit. Incidentally, she herself co-stars in the film and also sings the title song near the end of the film as part of a tribute from the rehabilitated students to the beloved teacher they simply call "Sir." The strange thing is, although the film was popular in the U.K., the title song never became a hit in Lulu's home country. Their loss, believe me. The title of this marvelous compilation album, "From Crayons to Perfume: The Best of Lulu," features part of the lyric from "Sir," but its 20 tracks are much more than that one huge smash. It opens with her first English hit, her 1964 cover of the Isley Brothers' R & B hit "Shout"--you still know the song, as the stain pre-treatment product uses the tune in its current TV ads. It amazes me that this little fireball of a singer would only have three other Top 40 singles in the U.S. besides "Sir." In 1969, she cracked the Top 25 with "Oh Me, Oh My (I'm a Fool for You, Baby)," which Aretha herself later recorded and scored as a hit on the R & B charts. "Best of Both Worlds" was a follow-up to "Sir" in late '67 and had to compete with a re-release of "Shout" by her former record label. "Best" hit the Top 40; "Shout" topped out at #96, exactly two spots lower than the original single charted at in 1964. Then, much later, she had the wonderful Top 20 dance hit "I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)" in 1981, which closes this compilation. "Miss You" was originally recorded in '79 under Elton John's Rocket Records label, but it never went anywhere. Then, an outfit called Alfa Records made a compilation of late '70s recordings by Lulu and created the eponymous album of "Lulu." "Miss You" would be re-released, became a hit in the U.S., and then Alfa Records would promptly file bankruptcy while the album was in release and the artist was trying to promote it. Her followup single, "If I Were You," also became a mid-chart hit for Lulu and would earn her a Grammy nomination. Curiously, "If I Were You" is not in this compilation album. That's a shame, because it's a great cut. Some may not know that Lulu is the ex-wife of Bee Gee Maurice Gibb, and he, along with Lulu's brother Billy Lawrie, co-wrote the cut "Everybody's Got to Clap," from 1971, included here. Her affiliation with David Bowie in the early '70s provides us with her recordings of the the truly strange Bowie compositions "Watch That Man" (which has been covered by a number of other artists) and "The Man Who Sold the World." Better instead is one of her trademark recordings, the James Bond title theme to "The Man With the Golden Gun" from 1974. Although the single never charted in the U.S., the song is as associated with her as much as "Diamonds Are Forever" is with Shirley Bassey and "For Your Eyes Only" is with Sheena Easton. Other favorites include the Neil Diamond-penned "The Boat That I Row" (the "B" side to "To Sir, With Love"); Harry Nilsson's "Without Him," from 1968; and the gorgeous ballad "Don't Take Love for Granted," recorded in 1978 and released on the 1981 album "Lulu." Although this compilation was released in 1994, Lulu has continued composing and recording throughout the years. She co-wrote Tina Turner's most recent Top 10 hit, 1993's "I Don't Wanna Fight," from the soundtrack to the hit film "What's Love Got to Do With It?" In the '90s Lulu released the dance single "Independence," the title cut from the album of the same name, and it became a hit on Billboard's dance-singles chart and also cracked the pop-singles Hot 100. But for those who prefer their vintage Lulu, opt instead for "The Best of Lulu," and revel again in "To Sir, With Love," "Oh Me, Oh My," and "I Could Never Miss You." She's graduated from crayons to perfume with style, grace, beauty, and an incredible voice. Rating: **** (out of 5) BOB BOURBEAU

• Shout - Lulu, The Luvvers
• Leave a Little Love
• To Sir with Love
• Boat That I Row
• Dreary Days and Nights
• Best of Both Worlds
• Me, the Peaceful Heart
• Boy
• Sad Memories
• Morning Dew
• Without Him
• Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)
• Hum a Song (From Your Heart) - The Dixie Flyers, Lulu
• After the Feeling Is Gone - The Dixie Flyers, Lulu
• Everybody's Got to Clap
• Watch That Man
• Man Who Sold the World
• Man with the Golden Gun
• Don't Take Love for Granted
• I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)