Little Soul in Your Heart

Lulu's last offering was the truly remarkable "Back on track" that hit the stores about eighteen months ago and reaffirmed Lulu's commitment to making music with soul and heart and highlighted her talents brilliantly. Unfortunately, that exceptional album was not a commercial success and that could be the reason why this CD is more of a retreat onto more comfortable ground, presenting Lulu's take on classic soul hits rather than offering much in the way of new material.

Not that there's anything wrong with either the choice of tracks or the Scottish lasses interpretation of the classic numbers. "Put a little love in your heart" might be the stand out track, but every song stands up well with the possible exception of the rather uninspired version of "The shoop shoop song." The weakest link in this 11 track release is ironically the only new song included, the self penned "Gateway to heaven."

Lulu just goes from strength to strength and continues to work with the best producers and arrangers to showcase her extraordinary talents. Hopefully the next album will be new material and Lulu can leave the cover market to her erstwhile contemporaries.

Lulu has been having hits since 1964 and has so far chalked up 27 hit singles, including 1 number one and 10 top ten hits. Apart from "Shout," most folks know her for "Boom bang-a-bang," (Britain's second of only five Eurovision winners), "I'm a tiger," "Me the peaceful heart," "The boat that I row," "Relight my fire" and "Independence." She topped the US Billboard charts for 5 weeks in 1967 with "To sir, with love," the Sidney Poitier film in which she co-starred. She had a top 3 hit in 1974 collaborating with David Bowie on his "The man who sold the world" and the same year she sang the James Bond movie theme, "The man with the golden gun." She's released duets with Bobby Womack, Ronan Keating, Maurice Gibb, Elton John, Cliff Richard, Paul McCartney, Take That, Samantha Mumba and a host of others. She's been produced by Arif Mardin in the US, Mickie Most, Barry Gibb, Simon Climie and David Bowie. She recorded the original versions of songs that later became hits for Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding. She didn't record much in the 80's but since returning to the studio in 1993, she's had 11 hit singles and 4 hit albums.

Admittedly, her album catalogue is not vast, but the 'Britgirl' singers of the 60's rarely worked on albums. Their medium was hit singles and TV appearances and Lulu dominated TV viewing in the UK through the 60's, 70's and 80's. Whereas as Cilla, Sandie & Petula disappeared from the record charts in the early 70's and only Dusty made a resurgence in the mid 80's, Lulu is the only one of the 'gang' who continued to chart consistently for five decades - one of only two UK artists to achieve that distinction. She has made the UK top ten at least once a decade for 5 consecutive decades!

This may not be her greatest work, but it continues to showcase her talents brilliantly and as it's already made the top 30, keeps her on track for another hit project.