STACK #183 Jan 2020

MUSIC FEATURE

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CYNDI LAUPER She’s So Unusual Bryget Chrisfield explores a favourite record which spelled the lift-off to cultural stardom for an important act. This month: Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual (1983).

Her pose calls to mind the Girls Just Want To Have Fun music clip (for which Lauper collected Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards). The video features

Year 1983

Lauper dancing past NewYork fire escapes and stoops: just celebrating post-bender life, basically. There’s nostalgic cuteness overload when

You with the sad eyes Don’t be discouraged Oh, I realise

girlfriends gossip into retro handsets, their faces popping up onscreen like cartoonish, ‘80s Skype calls. Lauper’s little nose is so adorably screwed-up, her eyes all squinty, as she borrows

It’s hard to take courage In a world full of people You can lose sight of it all And the darkness inside you Can make you feel so small...

Billy Idol’s lip curl while trying on cat-eye sunglasses. Then the clip concludes with an endless conga line of revellers (mostly girls who just wanna have fun, obvs), bypassing Lauper’s parents in the kitchen

W hen Cyndi Lauper graced our shores back in 2013 – to mark the 30th anniversary of her landmark She’s So Unusual set, performing the album in full – she closed her two-song encore with True Colors . Despite knowing the above lyrics well

– played by the musician’s actual mother, Catrine, and

actor/professional wrestler Lou Albano – before taking the partay into her bedroom. A 3D fold-out backdrop of said

L a u p e r p h o t o g r a p h e d b y R i c h a r d A v e d o n , 1 9 8 4

bedroom, together with a sheet of reusable vinyl cut-outs based on the outfits and accessories Lauper wore in this video, is included in the deluxe edition of She’s So Unusual: A 30th Anniversary Celebration , which also contains ten previously unreleased songs: new remixes (by NERVO, Bent Collective and Yolanda Be Cool), live tracks, early demos and studio outtakes. During an Austin City Limits interview, Lauper expressed her annoyance about how Girls Just Want To Have Fun was misinterpreted at the time of release: “They wanted it to be like ‘Girls Just Want To Have Sex’, and I was like, ‘Really? Let’s take a little backstep to that one, pally, ‘cause that is not what it’s about.’... The other thing was, they were like, ‘Oh, she’s such a pain in the butt,’ because I wanted to have every single race of woman in that video so that every little girl could see herself and know that she too was entitled to a joyful

enough to take part in the singalong, I didn’t process their meaningfulness at the time of release (obnoxious teen alert!), so was caught by surprise and completely overwhelmed by the poignant power of Lauper performing True Colors live; it made me want to check in with my 13-year-old niece, give her a hug, and share this sonic masterpiece. Ahead of the release of She’s So Unusual: A 30th Anniversary Celebration (2014), Lauper shared some thoughts on her debut album: “It wasn’t 100 per cent what I wanted – I was only allowed to contribute a few songs that I had written, but the sound and the cover and the videos we made for the album, I was left alone to create those, and that was really cool.” Lauper scored two Grammys off the back of She’s So Unusual : Best New Artist and Best Recording Package (AKA cover art, shot by Annie Leibovitz). In the photograph, Lauper appears to have kicked off her red stilettos –

Lauper’s message – imploring us all to celebrate individuality – is needed now more than ever

they’re on the pavement in front of her – to cavort down Henderson Walk, Coney Island in a red, vintage, prom-style dress that she purchased at Screaming Mimi’s, where she once worked.

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JANUARY 2020

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