Deep Album Cuts Vol. 285: Cyndi Lauper




I always liked Cyndi Lauper, she's got a few classics, so I wanted to take a look into her catalog. 

Cyndi Lauper deep album cuts (Spotify playlist):

1. Right Train, Wrong Track
2. He's So Unusual
3. Yeah Yeah
4. Witness
5. I'll Kiss You
6. What A Thrill
7. Calm Inside The Storm
8. The Faraway Nearby
9. 911
10. One Track Mind
11. I Don't Want To Be Your Friend
12. Insecurious
13. Lies
14. Dear John
15. Hot Gets A Little Cold
16. Unhook The Stars
17. December Child
18. La Vie En Rose
19. Madonna Whore
20. Rocking Chair
21. Romance In The Dark
22. Walkin' After Midnight

Track 1 from the "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" single (1983)
Tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5 from She's So Unusual (1983)
Track 6 from The Goonies (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1985)
Tracks 7, 8, 9 and 10 from True Colors (1986)
Tracks 11 and 12 from A Night To Remember (1989)
Tracks 13 and 14 from Hat Full of Stars (1993)
Tracks 15 and 16 from Sisters of Avalon (1996)
Track 17 from Merry Christmas...Have A Nice Life (1998)
Track 18 from At Last (2003)
Track 19 from Shine (2004)
Track 20 from Bring Ya To The Brink (2004)
Track 21 from Memphis Blues (2010)
Track 22 from Detour (2016)

The "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" single had one of Lauper's few non-LP b-sides, and "Right Train, Wrong Track" is a pretty good song, so it was cool to kick off the playlist with the flipside to her biggest hit. I used pretty much every song that wasn't a single from her first two blockbuster albums, plus that b-side and her second contribution to the Goonies soundtrack. I kind of look at most female pop stars through the lens of the archetypes of Madonna and Cyndi Lauper. The really driven singers that work hard to stay at the top like Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga are on the Madonna path, while people that have one or two huge albums and then seem to just do what they want while they're in the spotlight are on the Cyndi Lauper path (that could be anyone from Billie Eilish to Alanis Morrissette). 

"Witness" and "What A Thrill" are both songs that began as demos by Blue Angel, the band Lauper fronted that released one unsuccessful album in 1980, written by her and bandmate John Turi. Aimee Mann sings backup on "The Faraway Nearby," and Paul Reubens appears at the end of "911" in character as Pee Wee Herman (apparently Lauper did uncredited vocals on the "Pee Wee's Playhouse" theme song, only admitting that's her doing the Betty Boop impression years later in her autobiography). 

A lot of pop stars really struggle for an identity or a direction after their hit parade ends, but Cyndi Lauper has had a cool, varied career since her last top 10 hit in 1989. She recorded a blues album, a country album, a Christmas album, a dance album, and an album of standards. She won the Best New Artist Grammy, she won a Tony for writing the songs for the musical Kinky Boots, and she won an Emmy for her very funny recurring role on "Mad About You." It wouldn't surprise me if she does something Oscar-worthy someday and goes for the full EGOT. 
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