The 20th of February 1974
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 17th to Saturday the 23rd of February 1974
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 16th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 17th,
published on Tuesday the 19th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 24th of February 1974.
Lulu
The Man Who Sold The World
At No.5, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart”, the week of my 2nd Birthday, is Lulu with The Man Who Sold The World.
With David’s latest single…
…exploding into the chart one place lower this very week, one of his earlier compositions has been enjoying a new lease of life further up the chart, thanks to this collaborative talent of the Lennoxtown-born, and Dennistoun-bred, singer and actress, Lulu.
Even though Lulu…
…is still only in her mid-twenties, she’s already had a successful career in the business for the past ten years; having already achieved huge success here in the UK in 1964 with her energetic cover of the Isley Brothers‘ hit “Shout” at the age of just 15, and also scoring a Billboard No.1 single in the U.S. with “To Sir, With Love” which became the best selling single over there in 1967. She’d also acted in the film from which the song title came; and amongst her many other achievements, Lulu had also become the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 5 years ago.
At that time…
…of her Eurovision success, Lulu had also become a wholesome TV entertainer with her own show. The very same Lulu show (at this point entitled “Happening For Lulu“) which to me is more infamous for the BBC cutting off, and ultimately banning, Jimi Hendrix when he magnificently diverted away from playing “Hey Joe” to instead pay tribute to Cream by scorching into “Sunshine Of Your Love“.
So, in a way,..
…this new coming together of her clean-cut moulded image, with one of the most enigmatic shape-shifting and sexually provocative rock singers of this generation, is not only an interesting fusing of talent, but also a huge shot in the arm for Lulu’s credibility.
The embryonic physical meeting,..
…of these two musical minds began in Sheffield where, unbeknownst to both parties, they were both staying at the same hotel that evening.
Lulu had been sitting in the foyer of the hotel with her entertainment director John Ammonds, who was laying out the next step in Lulu’s TV career. John was your archetypal old-school BBC heavy-hitter. This also meant he was so out of touch with this younger generation, it would be like putting your parents in charge of Top Of The Pops. I mean, the guy would have felt much more comfortable navigating his way around an Ealing Comedy than the current batch of pop stars impressing the British youth at the time.
So it was no surprise that when the presence of Bowie, as the outer-planetary Ziggy Stardust, entered the establishment and caught the respectful eye of Lulu who, along with her brother Billy, had been following David’s recent dizzying ascendance with much intent and fascination as all of his followers were at the time, and as she whispered “That’s David Bowie” to director John, it’s no surprise that his nonplussed reply was “Who?”
From this point you’d think that it would be Lulu who would jump up and make herself known to the biggest rock star of the moment; but in fact, what happened next, turned the whole situation on its head.
It was David himself who, having admired Lulu’s career and especially her soulful voice for all those years, noticed who was sitting across the room, approached her and struck up conversation.
The entertainment director must have wondered what the hell was going on, and more ideally, could have effervesced into a gaseous form and dispelled out of the room at that point, and no-one would have even noticed. Bowie, right in front of this father figure who thought he knew what was best for his employee, invited Lulu to his show; and like an unruly teenager in front of her out-of-touch and stuffy father-figure, she accepted.
At the after-show party, with the free flowing of anything a spaceman who becomes a rock god desires, being consumed to lubricate the celebratory atmosphere and take it to another stratosphere, David took Lulu to one side and told her “I want to record you, because they don’t get you, they don’t get your voice…”. and there and then made a pact with her, a commitment, a promise, that he wanted to make a hit record for her, purely due to his respect for her talent, which he thought was being wasted by the staid people controlling her prospects at the time.
The morning after,..
…Lulu resigned herself to the fact that it had been the drink (or whatever it was) talking, and that she would never hear from him again; but he proved her wrong. He came through as promised, and not only recorded her, but also produced her, along with Mick Ronson who provided the guitar on the track. David also sang backing vocals, played saxophone, and even appeared in the promotional video in the background.
David wanted to use a song he’d recorded, almost as an afterthought at the time of its inception, and completely transform it; submerging the iconic guitar signature, which runs through the whole piece, like a free flowing meandering stream, under layers of mid-seventies brashness and pomp; injecting it, in David’s words “…with a little bit more guts…”; mutating it “…as a single, and not as an album track”.
David took full control of his song. Lulu just went along with it; probably not having a clue at the time what the ethereal lyric actually meant.
Written four years in the past,..
…the song had borne the inception of his dual personality, giving an acceptance and acknowledgment of another celestial being running parallel to his own. Although it was still out of a subconscious focus, and hadn’t fully solidified into himself at that point, he had been aware of its presence and importance, enough to put words and music to it.
For this new production, the lyric didn’t have to resonate to that degree. David knew this was Lulu’s vehicle, even though he was basically sitting firmly in the driving seat; but maybe he gave her this particular song, to try and make her aware of her own burgeoning inner adventurous character he sensed wasting away in her, and wanted to set her free to release herself and become who she really wanted to be. If that was the case, it would ultimately be down to Lulu herself to take that step. Take in the lyric and realise what it meant for her own journey, and make her way with it from there. Something he truly wanted her to do.
The single had been recorded as a coda to his recording sessions for his cover album Pin Ups; his homage to the songs, and singers and groups that he’d given credit to, and which had given him the inspiration for his own voyage up to this point. It seemed fitting that David himself would ultimately provide one of his own songs as a vehicle for someone else that he truly admired, to sing themselves; to push them along on their same journey of discovery.
So it was, that with her feisty vocal, and the news that the man himself was fully behind the new created sound, the single predictably became a sure-fire hit, and put Lulu back on the relevant track of value as an engaging singer at the sharp end of vogue.
The single…
…had entered the chart at a respectable No.27 the previous month on the 20th of January, and by its second week, had broken into the Top 20 to sit at No.13. With the dawn of February, came the break through the doors of the Top 10, where it landed at No.5, then climbing ever higher to hit its peak at No.3 last week.
This week sees it slip back to visit the No.5 position once again.
From here,..
…it will let go of a few more places next week, when it spends its last week in the Top 10 at No.9.
As winter turns to spring, the single will evermore purposefully edge back down the chart, finally dropping out after the 23rd of March.
In the end,..
…not for the want of trying, and also with the career defining prospect of walking in Bowie’s wake as he begins his journey over to America and, as history will witness, almost his own self-destruction; Lulu can’t keep up and so goes back to the stability, comfort and safety of the light entertainment world, although the effects and experiences of this period in her life will forever be embedded into her memory, which she will often reminisce about years after. Such was the attractive kaleidoscopic glow of David’s brilliance at this time.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Lulu – The Man Who Sold The World (Promotional Video)
Lulu – The Man Who Sold The World (“Sez Les” TV live vocal performance – 25th January 1974)
Lulu – The Man Who Sold The World (TV appearance – 1974)
Lulu – The Man Who Sold The World (TV live vocal performance – 1975)
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