eastlondonlad's Full Review: Twelve Deadly Cyns... And Then Some by Cyndi Laupe...
First and foremost, this is an excellent example of how a hits collection should be put together. It has a brace of major singles, it's sequenced in chronological order so you can observe the artist's stylistic changes in a logical way, and even has some new material that acts as a signpost for future work.
It surprises me now that when Cyndi Lauper crossed over to mainstream success in the mid to early 80s, she was almost always compared with Madonna. From a musical and artistic point of view, with hindsight, the two singers had little in common - it seems to me now that it was the media's usual trick of lumping assertive, individual female singers together, and pigeonholing them. There's much more to the story than that. From a commercial standpoint, Madonna was always more popular in the long term; from an artistic standpoint, Lauper was never afraid to try different musical textures, trendy or not, and definitely had a way with well-chosen cover versions. The fact that radio and public alike began to lose interest does not reflect on the quality of Lauper's recorded output.
Before her smash solo record, she fronted Blue Angel, and one of their songs is saved to start off this collection. Her cover of Gene Pitney's "I'm Gonna Be Strong" starts modestly, and then swells to a barnstorming climax, demonstrating the breathtaking range of her voice. It's testament to her vocal skill that you forget that this song, while decent, is not as strong as some of her own originals.
Her solo debut set, "She's So Unusual", was a treasure trove of hits - almost anything from this album could have been released as a single. Five tracks (all top 40 hits) appear on this collection: "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" was an 80s anthem and escaped nobody's notice; "Time After Time" was a sensitive ballad which introduced her songwriting chops to the public; "She Bop", a fine dance anthem, caused consternation with the Washington Wives when it appeared that the song alluded to female masturbation - not enough to keep it off the airwaves, mind you; "All Through The Night" (another wonderful Jules Shear nugget - check out "If She Knew What She Wants" by the Bangles and Alison Moyet's take on "Whispering Your Name" for other fine interpretations of his work) has an interesting arrangement, but has dated a little now; and "Money Changes Everything".
"She's So Unusual" featured an embarrassment of riches - too many good songs to be featured here - so go check it out.
Three tracks from her sophomore record, "True Colors", appear here. This set was a little less consistent than its predecessor, but the singles were strong. The title track, which could have been a fairly ordinary adult contemporary ballad, has extra depth by virtue of her little girl lost treatment of the song - it's a universal standard, and rightly so, and another Steinberg-Kelly classic (their third US number one at the time of "True Colors" release). "Change Of Heart" almost rocks out, and has some nice Bangles harmonies, and her cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" is creditable, if a little ordinary.
Then, in 1989, came "A Night To Remember" - another creative step forward which was almost universally panned by the critics and ignored by the public. I never understood why - it's stronger than "True Colors", has some fine songs which never became hits ("Heading West"; "My First Night Without You") - but it was the launching pad for one of her strongest singles, "I Drove All Night", a steamy soft rock number which communicates her desire to be with her man, no matter how far away. It sounds like heresy, but Roy Orbison's version paled in comparison.
A sidestep into Broadway musical territory, "Tycoon", produced "The World Is Stone" - a catchy UK hit - before her fourth album, "Hatful Of Stars" appeared. Her commercial fate was sealed by this album - no one was listening, by this point - and it's a shame, because her ballads were as sensitive and real as ever ("Who Let In The Rain"), her desire to tackle issues of racism, domestic discord and abortion (the latter on "Sally's Pigeons", included here) undimmed, and her embrace of new musical styles like world music began to add value to her output. "That's What I Think" is as catchy as anything in her repertoire, but missed radio and the pages of Billboard.
The album is rounded off by a strange cod-reggae hybrid of Redbone's "Come And Get Your Love" and her breakout hit "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". It shouldn't work, but it does, and the drag queen starring music video that accompanies it is a hoot. "Come On Home", sadly, is merely pleasant filler.
On balance, this is a fine collection. A recommended purchase for lovers of pure pop, around, a sprinkling of some of the finest adult contemporary ballads of the period and some truly memorable moments.
A true individual, and sadly missed from the airwaves.
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