Let it be said from the outset: Lulu was very, very good from the start. She had pipes aplenty to handle any uptempo belters, from the famed Shout, through fine Motown covers including Heatwave, Can I Get A Witness and Stubborn Kinda Fellow, to lesser known tracks such as the poppy He Don’t Want Your Love. From day one she sounded most convincing on mid-range orchestrations for strong songs such as Sawyer/ Burton’s Try To Understand, Smokey Robinson’s What’s Easy For Two Is So Hard For One, The Tymes’ So In Love, and little UK gems the likes of Mike Leander’s The Only One.
Lulu’s deep Decca catalogue also holds cuts that can stand up alongside the best girl tracks of the period. Van McCoy’s Take Me As I Am is one such, where Lulu reveals a sultry side that belied her years. In the sleevenotes, she’s somewhat hard on these early efforts, even likening her voice to Pinky & Perky, but by any measure the 42 tracks here are consistently fabulous, revealing a great love for early 60s US pop, R&B and soul. She should be very proud.
