Chart entered : 14 May 1964
Chart peak : 7
Number of hits : 26
(* and the Luvvers. Note the care and attention Decca gave to the sleeve )
The most recently born of the artists featured so far - she's only just passed retirement age - and certainly the first who's in double figures for the number of labels she's had hits on. I wonder if anyone else comes close on that score.
Marie Lawrie was born in Glasgow in 1948. She joined a local group The Gleneagles as a singer at the age of 14 and was spotted at a Glasgow club by the owner's sister Marion Massey. Massey was so convinced of her star potential she became the band's manager. She changed their name to Lulu and the Luvvers and got them a deal with Decca after Columbia passed on them. This is the only hit to feature The Luvvers; they played on the flop "Satisfied" in 1965 then were quietly dismissed.
Lulu wanted to do the Isley Brothers' 1959 US hit after seeing Alex Harvey performing it. Her wail of "Weeeeeell" like a Muslim call to prayer is one of the most recognisable intros in pop and leads into an energetic but not particularly adventurous version with the same wrong footing shift in tempo halfway through. Lulu sounds like a chipmunk with tonsillitis and at fifteen one hopes she wasn't too familiar with the sort of wild orgasm the chorus is describing. I'm not particularly fond of the record ( which returned to the chart in a tamer version in 1986 peaking one place lower ) but I can understand why it was a big hit.
I have to say, this comes across as incredibly tame when compared to the original. I can imagine Alex Harvey making a very dramatic and entertaining go of it, though.
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