Happening for Lulu

1 9 6 9 (UK)
13 x 45 minute shows

Lulu‘s star was well-and-truly on the rise in the pop world when she was given her own Saturday night variety show by the BBC in 1968, Lulu’s Back In Town.

Returning to the BBC in 1969 with Happening for Lulu, the Scottish songstress with the big voice also sang six songs under the banner “A Song for Europe” in a search to find the United Kingdom entry for the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest – eventually representing the UK with Boom Bang-a-Bang and tieing for first place with Spain, Holland and France.

Lulu was joined on the show by backing singers Sue and Sunny with Kay, Pan’s People and Johnny Harris and his orchestra. Guests included Michael Aspel, Badfinger, new husband Maurice Gibb, Jack Jones, Gene Pitney and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Hendrix created a storm during his appearance when, a few bars into his latest single, he stopped the music and announced “We’d like to stop playing this rubbish and dedicate a song to the Cream, regardless of what kind of group they may be in. We dedicate this to Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce”.

The band then give a truly magnificent performance of Cream’s song Sunshine of Your Love as a tribute to Clapton’s band who had announced their breakup that day.

The show was being broadcast live and their performance ran over time, causing the evening news broadcast to be late on the air. The incident would see The Jimi Hendrix Experience banned from the BBC for life but would live on as a moment of rock and roll history unlike any other.

Lulu returned to the BBC in 19701 with It’s Lulu.

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