Lulu I Remember…

Pop icon Lulu, 70, is famous for her teenage chart hit “Shout”, winning Eurovision and singing the Bond theme “The Man With The Golden Gun”. She reflects on growing up fast in a Glasgow tenement as “wee” Marie Lawrie, her “odd couple” collaboration with David Bowie and touring with Take That…

…MY MOTHER USED TO SAY I COULD SING BEFORE I COULD TALK, which was exaggerating a bit. My father would carry me upright in his arms wrapped in a big tartan shawl and jiggle me, as he walked about the house singing. That was my destiny, right there. Even as a tiny girl, my voice was big. I would sing the latest pop songs with the attitude of a grown-up because I mimicked the singers.

…MY FATHER WORKED IN A MEAT MARKET in Glasgow as an offal dresser. He would steal meat and sell it for extra money, and sometimes we’d give our neighbours the meat he brought home so we didn’t have to eat it all.

…WE LIVED IN A TENEMENT BUILDING, with six flats or “hooses” up one staircase. I always felt slightly cold and damp and you could hear everything that went on through the walls. But I had tremendous fun climbing the wall at the back and always had bleeding knees or elbows.

…WINNING SINGING CONTESTS. People would say to my mother: “You should put wee Marie up for that. She’s gonnae be famous one day.” It was over my head. I remember one competition where they gave me a big card with a number on. They kept calling number 13 and I just stood there.

I didn’t know it was me; I was five years old. There was a roar of laughter, then the man had to put me on a chair because I couldn’t reach the microphone.

…BEING VERY DISTRACTED AT SCHOOL because I felt responsible for my family, being the eldest of four. My father had a drinking problem and my mother got depressed. She had been given away as a child so she was very needy of me. Anything that happened to the household, I did it. My father used to call me Mrs McClean. I was quick to pick things up. Because of that, when I became Lulu, my manager couldn’t get over how quickly I adjusted.