She's So Unusual

by

Cyndi Lauper

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Cyndi Lauper--how could I ever forget? That quiff of candy-coloured orange-red hair, that garish dime store prom dress she wore on the She's So Unusual album cover, and Van Gogh's Starry Night painted on the soles of her shoes (inner sleeve art)? That goony, wacky Olive Oyl meets Betty Boop meets Jean Hagen's character from Singin' In The Rain voice? That comical face that looked like it got squashed against a window and stayed that way? I wore out the tape of this and had to buy another, the only artist that's had that honour in my collection and for that reason.

Despite Madonna being the "Material Girl" in 1984, Cyndi proved she could put out a similarly themed song, "Money Changes Everything" with the in-vogue synthesizers mixed with Hooters guitarist Eric Bazilian's crunchy lead guitars. I love this song from the catchy rock rhythm. The following mirrors 80's yuppie-type business world ethics: "They say we'll be your friends/We'll stick with you till the end/Ah but everybody's only looking out for themselves/And you say well, who can you trust." The live version from the promotional 12-inch disc, has Cyndi intro-ing its recording in a typical New Yawk accent.

One of Cyndi's two signature tunes, and definitely the more fun. From the opening synth glissando that ripples from left to right speaker--the effect is best felt on headphones--to the catchy synths and drums that reflects a spirited girl responding to her parents after asking her what she's going to do with her life. As the line goes, "When the working day is done/girls, they wanna have fun. "The backing girl chorus and pizzicato-like upper range piano synths in the middle are also really neat.

She then covers Prince's Dirty Mind song, "When You Were Mine", heavy on bass, a slower tempo than the original, bathed in the 80's synth glow. Although I prefer the original, Cyndi's version is the one I first heard.

Then a timeless song that makes my sad chip to go into overdrive, the heartfelt "Time After Time," the #1 song she co-wrote with Hooters keyboardist Rob Hyman: "If you're lost you can look and you will find me/time after time/if you fall I will catch you-I'll be waiting/time after time." This featured in Strictly Ballroom, and even Miles Davis did this on his You're Under Arrest album.

The grinding safe-sex/autoerotic anthem "She Bop" with its impish lyrics still makes me smile after all this time. It shows Cyndi has got quite some mischief in her: "They say I'd better stop-or I'll go blind", "Do I wanna go out with a lion's roar" She even has a playful giggle after mentioning she needs a chaperone. Included is a lyrical nod to Gene Vincent's "Be Bop A Lula". The live version included has different stylings and false starts, but is still good.

"All Through The Night," penned by Aimee Mann's beau Jules Shear with its glittering piano-like synth is yet another winning ballad sung with sheer sensitivity. The metaphor of the time of the couple has with a ticking meter is interesting, as she says, "Until it ends, there is no end." There's some vintage 80's synth played during the bridge. The live version here has differing but worthwhile instrumentation.

With the same kind of guitar heard in "She-Bop", the catchy "Witness" also has Cyndi doing a Ronnie Spector-like "oh oh oh". "I'll Kiss You" which details the results of drinking Love Potion #9, has a funky synth and beat and was co-written with Jules Shear. Her Betty Boop-ish vocals come in handy on the 1929 song "He's So Unusual" with duplicated LP hiss, which then segues into the high adrenaline "Yeah Yeah" which really showcases her vocal power and comical baby-ish vocal intrusions like "sushi, I want sushi!"

A vintage 80's classic which makes she bop, he bop, we-bop, and I-bop and be bop a lu she bop whenever I hear it nearly 20 years later.

Most of the reason for my recent interest in Cyndi Lauper's 1984 debut album "She's So Unusual" was due to the participation of two musicians on this album - Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman. Two years later, Bazilian and Hyman would go on to start their own band, "The Hooters". However on "She's So Unusual" the duo would an integral part of Lauper's supporting band. Hyman would also co-write Lauper's #1 single from the album, "Time After Time". Bazilian even uses his trademark "hooter" on several tracks. This debut effort by Lauper was probably her most commercially successful album. However, when I "peel the onion" with this effort, I fail to see where this was a great album. This may be a good album, but it isn't a great one. Yes there are some good material on this album, but there is also a lot of so-so and disappointing material. This may explain why subsequent album sales never approached this debut album.

For the most part, outside songwriters are going to contribute the songwriting for this album. Cyndi did co-write four of the songs - but on each of those songs, Lauper collaborates with an outside songwriter. As for the good songs and the not so good songs on this album, both the Lauper written songs and the outside written songs fall on both sides of the fence. So in other-words, the good songs are a mix of Lauper and non-Lauper material.

I think much of the springboard for this album was due to the debut single, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". This is the song that launched Lauper's career. Surprisingly, while this was became an anthem for the female generation, this song was written by a male - Robert Hazard. From a musicianship and songwriting standpoint, this isn't a great song. However, this is a song that was tailor-made for Lauper's bubbly personality - and tailor-made for MTV. It also is a catchy song, and the result was a #2 single on the charts.

The follow-up to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a different story. "Time After Time" is the song co-written by Lauper and Rob Hyman. While Lauper demonstrated her bubbly personality on "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", she shows a serious side on "Time After Time". This is a powerful ballad - and this is one of the instances where Lauper does show a lot of promise. Lauper's vocals are right on the money here. On many of her other slower songs, Lauper's voice seems forced and synthetic. Not the case here - she shows great vocal ranges. This song also featured some terrific background vocals - the result is that Cyndi Lauper was rewarded with a #1 single on the charts.

The third single was "She Bop". This also is a song co-written by Cyndi Lauper. On this song, Cyndi goes back to an up tempo song - but there almost is a darker overtone to this song. The lyrics to this song aren't anything special, but I happen to think from an instrumentation standpoint, this song is pretty good. While this is definitely a synth-pop song, the instruments that are going to shine on this song are the the Bass Guitar and the percussion/drums. Like "Time After Time", Lauper shows good vocal range - not doing anything forced or synthetic. This song went to #3 on the charts

When Cyndi's fourth single, "All Through the Night" came out - she had now emerged as a pop superstar. While I don't think this song is as good as "Time After Time" or "She Bop", this song isn't bad. This song was written by Jules Shear. The mantra-like chorus combined with some intricate keyboards make give this song a feel for those insomniacs that can't sleep. I've heard this song played on late night talk radio shows around commercial breaks. This song went to #5 on the charts.

There was a fifth single released - "Money Changes Everything". While there is some good instrumentation, I felt this was an overrated. I didn't care for Lauper's vocals at all on this song - in fact at times it made it hard to make out the words. This song was written by Tom Gray and basically is a narrative sung by Lauper. The title of the song describes the song - how money changes people. To me, this song never really caught on with me. This song didn't chart in the Top 10 either.

As for the other songs, the one strong song is "When You Were Mine". This was a song that was written by Prince. Considering Prince was at the height of his popularity in 1984, I was surprised this wasn't released as a single. Although I don't think Lauper's vocals are great on this track, she is helped out by some outstanding background vocals. The other songs really didn't impress me. "Witness" and "I'll Kiss You", while they have their moments - they aren't going to make me do handstands. The final track is actually a segue between two songs "He's So Unusual" and "Yeah Yeah". "He's So Unusual" is a 1929 song. Lauper sings it in a Shirley Temple style and I found that it got on my nerves. That song is about 1 minute long, but then segues into "Yeah Yeah". "Yeah Yeah" has a "party-like" theme to it - and it is a better song. It was actually co-written by Hollies member Michael Rickfors.

The remastered edition of "She's So Unusual" includes three live cuts of "Money Changes Everything", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night". The liner notes include all of the lyrics, songwriting credits, and musician credits (although I would have liked to have seen musicians credited on a song by song basis). Overall, I think this album got a lot of hype. While it does have its moments, I wouldn't classify it as an all-time great. Still, it may be worth checking out.