‘I Was Never A Girl The Boys Fancied!'

Lulu takes a look back at her successful career as she begins another new chapter

- Richard Barber

Lulu is no stranger to touring. In her 55 years and more in the business, she has sung in concerts all around the world.

Now she’s out on the road headlining a tour featuring her greatest hits, and it has given her cause to look back on an astonishing career and the people who have shaped her life along the way. ‘I’ve always said I’ve had angels on my shoulders,’ she tells us.

It all started when, at the age of 14, she was taken to a Glasgow club and the musician Alex Harvey came on stage and sang the Isley Brothers’ song Shout.

‘I call that destiny. Dusty [Springfield] and I both had a thing about black American music,’ she explains.

They were also two of the few young women in the male-dominated music industry. ‘But the bands took me under their wings. John [Lennon] and Paul [McCartney] were sort of like big brothers to me.

‘I wasn’t the girl they all fancied; I was more like the little sister of their best friend, although, let’s face it, The Beatles were really cute!’

Eric Clapton put a protective arm around her shoulder one day too. She laughs, ‘I thought, “Oh well, there’s no chance there then!” The Who looked out for me too. And Scott Walker was always kind.’

But she insists she wasn’t showered with male attention. ‘I was never that pretty,’ she says. ‘I was never some gorgeous girl walking down the street.’