Lulu GREATEST HITS

Personnel: Lulu (vocals); Dean Parks, Phil Palmer (guitar); Judd Lander (harmonica); Elton John (keyboards); Curt Bisquera (drums); Jem Godfrey, Bill Padley (programming).
Audio Mixers: Chris Lord-Alge; Jon Ingoldsby; Chris Porter .
Audio Remixers: Martyn Norris; John Dixon; Brothers in Rhythm.
Recording information: Ocean Way, L.A; sony Music Studios; The Porterhouse; Wise Buddah Music London.
Arrangers: Jem Godfrey; Bill Padley.
Out of the myriad retrospectives that have appeared throughout the years, Mercury's 2004 The Greatest Hits collection is the first collection to span Scottish singer Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie's entire career. A playful, girl group goddess in the '60s, Lulu came to prominence with the international hit "To Sir with Love" in 1967 (she had regional success with a version of the frat anthem "Shout" in 1964). Similar to contemporaries like Brenda Lee and Dusty Springfield, Lulu's raspy and rowdy singles began to peter out at the end of the decade, but she returned in the '70s with the hit "Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)," along with a string of marginally successful albums and collaborations before reinventing herself in the 1990s as a dance-pop diva. The Greatest Hits takes all of Lulu's phases into consideration, so fans who only followed the singer through her '60s heydays would be better off with To Sir with Love! The Complete Mickie Most Recordings, but listeners looking for a more comprehensive picture would do well to tune in to this fine collection of material from one of the U.K.'s most enduring and endearing talents. ~ James Christopher Monger

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop