Lulu rides high

By CATHRIN SCHAER

"Retire?" The 53-year-old pop star spits out the word as if it were something filthy. "That's a ridiculous word. It's not a word I would use. I'd never want to retire. Why would I want to retire?" she demands.

After this little tirade Lulu starts laughing, a raucous, almost dirty laugh. "I remember when the last record I released was getting lots of good reviews from local radio DJs," she recalls. "And one of them said on the air, 'I thought she was dead but this track is actually really great."' At this she starts chortling again.

Because according to this diminutive mother-of-one from Scotland, who started her pop career as a teenager in the 60s and who has just released a new album, she is only just getting started. Again.

"That's what's so great about this business," she continues. "I mean, look at what they say about the Rolling Stones. Whether you like them or not, I think it's so marvellous that you can still make a place for yourself in this business." She adds, "Anyway, I am a person with a very vibrant spirit.

"I'm not going to just give in. I want to be a player in the game."

And apparently she means business. The infamous British gossip website Popbitch has reported that Lulu was seen shouting at her manager in public: "I want to be in the game, I want to be in the game."

Well, it must be working because the comeback is going nicely, thank you.

Born in the rough part of Glasgow in 1948, Lulu - originally Marie MacDonald MacLaughlin Lawrie until she was given a simpler stage name - started singing in clubs when she was just nine. Although she was discovered by a talent scout in 1963 and made it into the British top 10 at 15, it wasn't until the ripe old age of 16 that she had a worldwide hit with To Sir With Love - the theme song from the movie of the same name in which she starred.

It sounds like she may have been the Britney Spears of her time? "No, I wouldn't like to compare myself to anyone like that. But I think I probably was a pop princess," Lulu says. "Although," she muses, "my first manager did use to call me 'the first punk', especially when I said I didn't give a shit."

Since those days, the 155cm singer has been a regular on the British entertainment scene. She's had several more hits - including Boom Bang-a-Bang in 1969, the James Bond theme The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974, I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do) in 1981 and Relight My Fire, a duet with boy band Take That, in 1993.

She has also appeared on various television shows - An Audience With Lulu screened in New Zealand last weekend.

Over the past few years Lulu has been doing a lot more song-writing. She found success with a tune she penned for Tina Turner. And she spent four years writing an album for herself, including several lonely months in California. In 2000 she had a top-40 hit with one of those songs, Where The Poor Boys Dance.

Despite getting initial backing for the album release, her record company, Mercury, eventually pulled the plug. Disaster. Although she still hopes that one day the music will be released, that chapter of work has been shelved indefinitely. "It was soul destroying," Lulu says quietly.

"Then again, that's what life's all about, isn't it?" she says, changing the subject. "Ups and downs. And I think it's all about how you handle that disappointment and tragedy."

The record company's rejection also led to a change in management. Lulu is now signed up with Louis Walsh, who also manages pop acts such as Ronan Keating, Westlife and Samantha Mumba.

Walsh and his new protegee have put together a completely different musical package: an album of duets in the same mode as Tom Jones' recent chart-topping success.

But whatever you do, don't dare tell Lulu she's simply following Jones' lead. "There's nothing new about what he did," she retorts, slightly annoyed. "But I shouldn't say that," she recovers quickly. "You'll think I'm dissing Tom."

Anyhow, one major difference between the two albums is that where Jones got together with slightly more alternative acts, Lulu is sticking to the safe bets. On her new album the woman they once said had the best soul voice in Britain belts out hits with some of her friends - such as Elton John, Sting, Cliff Richard, Joe Cocker and Paul McCartney. And then, in a cunning attempt to cross over from the mothers' to the daughters' market, she belts out a few more with some of her new manager's friends - Ronan Keating, Atomic Kitten and Westlife among them.

"Louis only wanted to make money, but I wanted to do something I really enjoyed with every single person I worked with," Lulu explains. "I wanted to do half and half," she says of the fact that some of the collaborations are with younger artists and some with more established musicians.

The formula worked. The album, Together, debuted at No 4 in the British charts and continues to do well.

As does Lulu herself. Her once trademark flame-coloured tresses are now a modern, shaggy blond, her figure doesn't seem to have changed since she was an adolescent, and her stylist dresses her in Dolce and Gabbana.

She credits her youthful looks to almost two decades of yoga, healthy living, organic food, regular Botox injections and plenty of sex. After two divorces and one grown-up son (Jordan, who's an actor), she's reportedly dating a rather handsome 21-year-old soap star.

If Britney Spears is doing that well at 53, she'll be laughing all the way to the bank just as raucously as Lulu is.

* Together is out now.