She's So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper - Classic Album Review

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Posted 2020-06-14 by Steven G ⇒ follow

I received an email from a friend, who is also a regular reader, about my columns. In particular:
"You have no problems putting female singers/artists as having the best songs of the years, but what about your classic albums? Surely there's a number of great albums by female artists that you like."
Yes, Donna, you are 100% correct. That has been a shocking omission on my behalf.

And so, let's start this with the first album by a female artist I ever bought:
She's So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper (1983)

I bought this on cassette the year it was released. I got it with my Christmas money, so I was 13, and I bought it because Captain Lou Albano, wrestling manager and superstar, was in her music video. Sorry, I was young. Cyndi would in fact go on to be a big part of the first Wrestlemania. Seriously. (I am such a nerd…) Anyway, the lead single was a fun bit of fluff, and so I bought the album. Ended up liking a lot of the other tracks better, but I do understand why they led off with what they did. This album came out at the end of 1983, but there was no avoiding it all through 1984. At blue light discos you could be guaranteed to hear her at least once. But no-one cared. She is great.

This is an album that can be described in one word: fun. It was Lauper's solo debut album after the demise of her band Blue Angel. I have four of her albums (one of them, Memphis Blues (2010) is an unheralded piece of gloriousness) but this was there first and this is fantastic.

'Money Changes Everything' Side one opens with one of my favourite tracks on the album. This song is about how getting money does actually change people and their lives. But it is also a track with a definite rock feel to it, and Lauper's impassioned singing makes it feel personal. Strong opener.

'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' The song that introduced us to Ms Lauper, and did so with an absolute bang. The lead-off single, released about a month before the album as an introduction, the video appearing everywhere (or so it seemed), was an ear-worm that never let go. The song is simply about women having fun, and it quickly became an anthem for the feminist movement. It is a great song and it is still sung today… and continually covered by other artists. It is a song that is iconic. I think 90% of the Western world has heard it. (*Statistics not necessarily verified.)

'When You Were Mine' Another really good song. And another passionate song. Not quite a ballad, not quite a rocker, this track sits comfortably between the two of them. Again, there is a more rock instrumentation feel than the poppiness of the previous track. By any other artist on any other album it would have been huge; here, it was overshadowed by other greatness. Shame. I do enjoy this song a real lot.

'Time After Time' We close out side one with my favourite track on the album and my second favourite Lauper track (after 'I Drove All Night'). This is also one of my favourite ballads ever (not quite a power ballad ), but a genuine, heartfelt song about a love that is falling apart. She feels like she means it, emoting so well. This song is wonderful. Not a fan of the video clip, to be honest, but do not care – this is a great song.

'She Bop' Side two opens with… how can I put this nicely? It's an ode to the act of a female pleasuring herself. I didn't know that until a girlfriend some years later told me; I thought it was about dancing! Oh well. Still, it's a great track.

'All Through The Night' Another ballad, and another really strong track. The girlfriend I mentioned before (hi, Belinda!) called this her favourite song, and that was 1991, 1992 or so. I can understand why she felt that way. This is yet another great song, and shows that Cyndi is as great a balladeer as a pop singer. Beautiful track.

'Witness' The music has the feel of The Police of the time, but this is a track that I personally never got into. Even listening to it again now, it does not do much for me. Having said that, it is different, and I like the instrument break-down about two and a half minutes in, and it does end strongly.

'I'll Kiss You' One of the lesser-known songs on the album, a sort of updated version of the Clovers' classic '[I[Love Potion No.9%%' (which it also references), this little bit of pop goodness is a strange song that I quite like. The lyrics are strange but that doesn't matter. Good track.

'He's So Unusual' 45 seconds of 1920s sounding oddness. This sounds like Betty Boop, including record crackles. And it leads straight into…

'Yeah Yeah' We close the album out with another lesser-known song. Not the strongest closer, but not a bad track. Little bit of pop again with some weird vocalisations punctuating it and some saxophones. The Betty Boop voice re-appears as well. Strange closer, but memorable.

And there you are – one of the seminal albums of the 1980s. The songs from this album were everywhere for a couple of years and they still crop up at times, more than thirty years later. Lauper made a great debut solo album, and she followed it up with more strong albums and songs, but none hit the zeitgeist quite like this one.

Fun slice of the 1980s, and thoroughly recommended.