Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Blue Angel/Cyndi Lauper



Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper was born on June 22, 1953 to Fred and Catrine Lauper in Ozone Park, in the borough of Queens within the city of New York, New York, and was raised there. Her mother uses the stage name, "Catrine Dominique" for the music videos in which she has appeared. Her father was of German and Swiss descent and her mother is Italian American (from Sicily). She has an older sister, Ellen, and a younger brother, Fred (nicknamed Butch).

Lauper's mother remarried, divorced again, and went to work as a waitress. It was during this time that Lauper began listening to artists like Judy Garland, Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Beatles. Her mother encouraged her independence and creativity. At the age of twelve, Lauper learned how to play an acoustic guitar, which her sister had given her, and she started to write her own lyrics. She had a great love of art and music and tried to find ways to express herself. Even at this early age, Lauper started dyeing her hair different colors and wearing radical fashions. Lauper was accepted in a special public high school for students with talent in the visual arts, but she was held back and eventually dropped out, earning her GED sometime later. At the age of seventeen, she left home, planning to study art. Her journey would take her to Canada, where she spent two weeks in the woods with her dog, Sparkle, trying to find herself. She eventually wound up in Vermont, where she took art classes at Johnson State College. She supported herself by working at various odd jobs.

In the mid 1970s, Lauper performed as a vocalist with various cover bands (such as Doc West and Flyer, who still perform under the names Gap Wilson Band and Red, White and Blues Band), in the New York metropolitan area, singing hits by bands such as Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, and Bad Company. Even though Lauper was now performing on stage, she was not happy singing cover songs. In 1977, Lauper damaged her vocal cords and took a year off. She was told by three doctors that she would never sing again. Vocal coach Katie Agresta helped Lauper regain her voice by teaching her proper vocal exercises.

1980–1981: Blue Angel

Lauper started working in retail stores such as the New York high-end thrift store Screaming Mimi's to make ends meet, and she still sang in local clubs. Her most frequent gigs were at El Sombrero. Music critics that saw Lauper perform with Blue Angel thought that she had star potential since she had a wide singing range (four octaves), perfect pitch, and a vocal style all her own. In 1981, while singing in a local New York bar, Lauper met David Wolff, who took over as her manager (and at some point became romantically involved with her) and got her signed with Portrait Records, a subsidiary of Epic Records. Wolff had been working with a band called Arc Angel.

1983–1985: She's So Unusual

Lauper released her second album, True Colors, on September 15, 1986. It reached number four on the Billboard 200. For this album, she increased her involvement both in production and songwriting. Guests on the album included Angela Clemons-Patrick, Nile Rodgers, Aimee Mann, Billy Joel, Adrian Belew, The Bangles, Ellie Greenwich, and Rick Derringer. Lauper co-wrote most of the album with Essra Mohawk, John Turi, Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Although the album was not as commercially successful as its predecessor was, it contained three high-charting singles, including the title track which become Cyndi's second song to hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100, "Change of Heart" (#3) and a cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" (#12) followed. The album also featured an older song called "Maybe He'll Know", which was on the Blue Angel album. The album covers for both She's So Unusual and True Colors were composed by photographer Annie Leibovitz. "True Colors" was licensed to Kodak for use in its commercials. Lauper had no control over the song, which was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. The fourth single from the album, "Boy Blue", became Lauper's first solo non-top-40 single. The proceeds of the song were donated to AIDS research. The album sold 2 million copies in the United States. In 1986, Lauper appeared on the Billy Joel album The Bridge on a song called "Code of Silence". Lauper also sang the theme song for the series "Pee-wee's Playhouse" the same year, though she was credited as "Ellen Shaw". Playhouse star Paul Reubens appeared on the True Colors album track "911" as an emergency operator. The album sold nearly 12 million copies worldwide. In 1987, David Wolff produced a concert film for Lauper called Cyndi: Live in Paris. The concert was broadcast on HBO that same year. Lauper made her film debut in August 1988 in the quirky comedy Vibes, alongside Jeff Goldblum, Julian Sands, Elizabeth Peña and Peter Falk. Lauper played a psychic in search of a city of gold in South America. The film was produced by Ron Howard and David Wolff acted as the film's associate producer. To prepare for the role, Lauper took a few classes in finger waving and hair setting at the Robert Fiance School of Beauty in New York and studied with a few Manhattan psychics. The film was poorly received by critics and commercially flopped, though it reached the Top 30 in America’s Most Rented Movies. Lauper contributed a track called "Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)" but the song was not included on the soundtrack. A video was released, which was meant to be a high energy, hysterically funny action/adventure romp through a Chinese laundry. The song stalled at a disappointing #54 on the US charts, but fared better in Australia, peaking at #8 and becoming her fifth and final Top 10 single in Australia. It was performed as the opening song on her 2008 Australian tour.

1989–1992: A Night to Remember

A Night to Remember - Lauper's third album - was released in the spring of 1989. Reviews were mixed and it sold approximately 500,000 copies in the United States. The album spawned only one big hit, the #6 single "I Drove All Night", originally penned for and sung by Roy Orbison, although his version was not released until 1992, three years after Lauper's version and four years after his death. She also wrote and produced most of the album. Contributing writers were Desmond Child, Christina Amphlett of Divinyls, Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, Diane Warren, and Frank Previte. Guest musicians include Bootsy Collins, Larry Blackmon, Batkini Khumalo, Eric Clapton, and Nile Rodgers. The video for "My First Night Without You", released in 1989, was one of the first to be closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.

On July 21, 1990, Lauper joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin, performing "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II". She also performed on the song, "The Tide Is Turning" with Waters, Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams, Paul Carrack and Van Morrison. Lauper wore a school girl outfit, performing to over 300,000 people. The concert was watched live by over five million people worldwide. Lauper had become close friends with Yoko Ono. In 1990 she took part in a John Lennon tribute concert in Liverpool, performing the Beatles song "Hey Bulldog" and the John Lennon song "Working Class Hero". The concert was aired on the Disney Channel. She also took part in a project Ono and Lennon developed called "The Peace Choir". They performed a new version of Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance". The reworked "Give Peace a Chance" was written by Sean Lennon. In 1990, Lauper co-wrote the song "Paper Heart" (a song about drug addiction) with Go-Go's alumna Jane Wiedlin. The song appeared on Wiedlin's CD Tangled. A mutual breakup between Lauper and Wolff occurred in 1989. Most of the details about the breakup have not been published, but Lauper later stated: "The business got in the way of the relationship." In a 1993 interview with Howard Stern, Lauper hinted that Wolff did not want to marry her. Lauper worked on the movie originally titled Moon Over Miami, which later became Off and Running with David Keith, Richard Belzer and David Thornton, whom she started seeing romantically. Lauper claims that Miami was a great place to fall in love. The film was released in Europe but never made it off the ground in the US market. (David Wolff was the music supervisor for the film.) On November 24, 1991 Cyndi and David Thornton were married at the Friends Meeting House in New York. Rock and Roll pioneer Little Richard, who at one time gave up Rock and Roll to become a minister performed the ceremony. Patti LaBelle sang Procol Harum's classic "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and Lauper's grandmother served as the matron of honor. Other guests included Paul Reubens, best known for his Pee-wee Herman character, and John Turturro. Lauper had threatened to dress like a lighted Christmas tree, but settled on a traditional white wedding dress. In 1992, Lauper contributed two tracks to the European musical Tycoon, an English version of the hit French-Canadian stage show Starmania. She scored another Top 20 hit in Europe (it went to #2 in France, earning a 2x platinum certification there) with "The World Is Stone", penned by Tim Rice, Michel Berger, and Luc Plamondon. The two tracks were included on a compilation released in the U.S. in 2000. Lauper recorded "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", a duet with Frank Sinatra, which was released on the album Very Special Christmas II. Sinatra's vocals were taken from his original recording and mixed with Lauper's in the studio.

1993–1995: Hat Full of Stars/Twelve Deadly Cyns

In June 1993 Lauper released her fourth album, Hat Full of Stars, which tackled such topics as homophobia, spousal abuse, racism and abortion. Despite significant accolades - and decent sales in France and Japan - it was a sales failure (moving less than 100,000 copies) in the United States. The album peaked at #112 on the Billboard charts, largely because the album suffered from a lack of promotion. Lauper appeared on the Howard Stern Show to promote the album. Lauper said the song "Hat Full of Stars" was written as a message to David Wolff. The video for "Who Let in the Rain" features a chalk drawing of David Wolff on the sidewalk. "A Part Hate" was written collaboratively by Lauper and husband David Thornton. The video for "Sally's Pigeons" features the then unknown Julia Stiles as the young Cyndi. Tommy Mottola, president of CBS Records, told Lauper to go out and make her own Graceland (referring to Paul Simon's album). Lauper wanted to write her own material and stop doing cover songs. She wrote some songs on the album with other people, including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ailee Willis, Nicky Holland, Tom Gray, Hugh Masekela and The Hooters. The same year, Lauper recorded "Boys Will Be Boys" with The Hooters. The song "Private Emotion" was dedicated to her by The Hooters. Both songs appeared on the Hooter's CD Out of Body. Lauper also returned to acting, playing Michael J. Fox's ditzy secretary in 1993's Life with Mikey, which also starred Nathan Lane. Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some, was released worldwide in 1994 (except in the U.S., where it was held back until the summer of 1995). The album was a greatest hits compilation that included two re-recorded tracks, "I'm Gonna be Strong", first recorded with her band Blue Angel, and a reworking of her first big hit, newly christened "Hey Now (Girls Just Want To Have Fun)". The Japanese edition of the CD includes the single "Hole In My Heart (All The Way To China)" as the final track. The album was released under a number of different titles, and had different packaging and track listings for certain countries. Twelve Deadly Cyns sold over 6 million copies worldwide and Lauper began a world tour to promote the album. It was especially popular in the UK, reaching number two on the music charts, while the new "(Hey Now) Girls Just Want to Have Fun" hit number four (the single also returned Lauper to the US Hot 100, albeit briefly). The song includes special appearances by Snow and Patra. The album also included a hot reggae influenced song, "Come On Home", which was remixed by Junior Vasquez with a special appearance by Demetrius "Sir Jam" Ross. Lauper won a Emmy Award for her role as Marianne on the sitcom Mad About You. A 12 Deadly Cyns VHS tape featuring most of Lauper's videos was released.

1997–2000: Sisters of Avalon

In 1997, Lauper announced that she was expecting a child. Declyn Wallace Thornton Lauper was born on November 17 of that year; he was named after Elvis Costello (whose first name is Declan) and William Wallace. He was born while Lauper was putting the finishing touches on her new album. Her fifth album, Sisters of Avalon (released in Japan in 1996 and everywhere else in 1997) failed in America - spending a single week on the Billboard album chart at #189 - but brought her moderate global success selling close to a million copies worldwide. The album was quickly embraced by the gay community for its dance and club styling. The album was written and produced with the help of Jan Pulsford (Lauper's keyboard player) and Producer Mark Saunders. Guest musicians include, Bush lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford on "You Don't Know" and "Love to Hate". The album was written and recorded in Tennessee and Connecticut and finished in an old mansion in Tuxedo Park, N.Y., where she lived and worked at that time. The song "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" addressed the complications of a drag queen's double life. Lauper started writing the song around 1994. "Brimstone and Fire" painted a portrait of a lesbian relationship, and "You Don't Know" showed Lauper flexing more political muscle than on her previous albums. The song "Say a Prayer" was written for a friend of hers who had died from AIDS. The song "Searchin'" was used in one of Baywatch's episodes. "Unhook the Stars" was made into a movie of the same name starring Marisa Tomei, Gerard Depardieu, Gena Rowlands and David Thornton. Lauper's sister Ellen had come out as a lesbian and Lauper considered her to be a role model. Ellen was doing a lot of charity work for the gay community, and was working out of a clinic, helping people who were suffering from AIDS. Lauper began performing as a featured artist at gay pride events around the world (as early as 1994, she had performed at the closing ceremonies for Gay Games IV in New York City). She also served as the opening act for Tina Turner's summer tour, which was one of the highest grossing tours that year. Lauper took up the Appalachian dulcimer, taking lessons from David Schnauffer. Lauper released her last album for Epic in late 1998. Merry Christmas...Have A Nice Life, as the title implies, was a Christmas collection of original material and standards. It is a combination of folk-rock, Cajun and Celtic music. Her version of "Silent Night" was used in a Pampers commercial. Rob Hyman co-wrote the album opener "Home on Christmas Day", and provides accordion and organ accompaniment on a number of tracks. Producer William Wittman, who has been behind a mixing board for Lauper since her debut album She's So Unusual, was once again in a co-producing and mixing role. Lauper is ably assisted by Jan Pulsford, the keyboardist who tours with Lauper and co-produced her last disc, Sisters of Avalon. The Christmas album was recorded at Lauper's home in Connecticut. Declyn was the major inspiration on Merry Christmas, "December Child" was written for him. Declyn makes his vocal debut on "First Lullaby", Jan tickled him, grabbed the mike, and the results are on tape. Lauper reprises two holiday-themed tracks for previous albums that blend seamlessly with the newer material: "Feels Like Christmas", a Cajun-spiced tune from Hat Full of Stars and "Early Christmas Morning" from Sisters of Avalon. She closes the album with a stark rendition of "Silent Night" in memory of Peter Wood, the close friend and musician to whom Lauper dedicated her hits compilation, Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some. Wood was a keyboardist who toured with the singer and performed in the studio on many of her tracks. On January 17, 1999, Lauper appeared on The Simpsons. Lauper appeared on the show as herself singing the National Anthem. The episode was called "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken". The same year, Lauper co-headlined the Do You Believe? Tour with Cher. Lauper and Cher performed "Turn Back Time" on VH1 Divas. She also garnered critical plaudits for her roles in several independent films including Mrs. Parker And The Vicious Circle, and The Opportunists. Lauper contributed a cover version of The Trammps's classic "Disco Inferno" to the soundtrack for the film A Night at the Roxbury. The remixed version became a club hit and received a Grammy nomination that year for Best Dance Recording. The single was released as an EP, featuring several remixes. In 2000, Lauper contributed a song called "I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever" for the children's movie Rugrats in Paris. The song was written with Mark Mothersbaugh (of the new wave group Devo). Also in 2000, Lauper co-wrote a song, "If You Believe", with Faye Tozer of the British pop group Steps. It appeared on the band's third studio album, "Buzz", and was subsequently released in the US in July 2001.

2001–2003: Shine/At Last

Lauper prepared her sixth studio album in 2001, Shine, which saw her returning to her early pop/rock sound. It featured Japanese pop superstar Ryuichi Sakamoto, and George Fullan of Train. Just weeks before the album's scheduled release on September 11, 2001, her label, Edel America Records, folded, and the tracks were leaked to the public. Although a five song EP of the same name was made available through her website and at Tower Records, the full-length album concept was scrapped. The five song EP was released in June 2002. An album of Shine remixes was eventually released through Tower Records. The complete Shine album was released on April 21, 2004, exclusively in Japan. The album has become a collector's item. On October 12, 2000, Lauper took part in a television show called Women in Rock, Girls With Guitars. The show featured Sheryl Crow, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Melissa Etheridge, Amy Grant, Wynonna Judd, and Destiny's Child. Lauper performed the Paul McCartney hit "Maybe I'm Amazed" with Ann Wilson of Heart. She also sang the R&B classic "Ooh Child" with the girl group Destiny's Child. She also performed a new song called "Water's Edge" with Ann Wilson. The song was well received and critics saw that performance as one of the highlights of the night. A CD was issued that contained the studio versions of some songs performed during the concert. The CD was exclusively released to Sears stores from September 30 to October 31, 2001 and $1.00 of each sold went to breast cancer research. In 2003 while on tour with Cher she broke her ankle Lauper's former label Sony issued a new best-of CD entitled The Essential Cyndi Lauper. She re-signed with Sony/Epic Records and a cover album entitled At Last (formerly Naked City), was released in 2003. Lauper received a Grammy nomination in 2005 for the category, "Best Instrumental Composition Accompanying a Vocal." Lauper took part in VH1 Divas Live with Patti LaBelle, Jessica Simpson, Debbie Harry, Ashanti, Sheila E., and the Pussycat Dolls.

2005–2007: The Body Acoustic

Under a new contract with Sony Music, Lauper released The Body Acoustic, an album that featured acoustic reinterpretations of tracks from her back catalog. Two new tracks were also written and recorded, one of which is "Above the Clouds". Guests on the album included Shaggy, Ani DiFranco, Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday, Jeff Beck, Puffy AmiYumi, Sarah McLachlan,and Vivian Green. "Time After Time" and "Above The Clouds" charted on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. "All Through The Night" hit the top 5 in the Latin American countries. Though she had not released an album of new material since 1997's Sisters of Avalon, Lauper remained busy through the years. She made appearances on Showtime's hit show Queer As Folk in 2005, making her Broadway debut in The Threepenny Opera in 2006 and directing a commercial for Totally 80's edition of the board game Trivial Pursuit. Lauper appeared on a VH1 Classics special called Decades Rock Live. The show featured Lauper performing with many artists such as Shaggy, Scott Weiland of Velvet Revolver/Stone Temple Pilots, Pat Monahan of Train, Ani di Franco, and the Hooters. On October 16, 2006, she was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. In 2007, she sang "Beecharmer" with Nellie McKay on McKay's Pretty Little Head album, and "Letters To Michael" with Dionne Warwick. Lauper headlined the True Colors Tour for Human Rights through the United States and Canada, in June 2007. The tour also included Deborah Harry, Erasure, The Dresden Dolls, and Gossip, with Margaret Cho as MC and special guests in different cities. The tour, sponsored by Logo, the MTV Networks channel targeting gay audiences, provided information to fans who attended, as well as purple wristbands with the slogan "Erase Hate" from The Matthew Shepard Foundation. A dollar from every ticket sold was earmarked for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Lauper was also a judge for the 6th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

2008–2009: Bring Ya to the Brink

Lauper took a role and wrote a song for the Serbian movie Here and There, which stars her husband, David Thornton, in one of the main roles. Lauper recorded an album of all new material during 2007. The working title given to the project was Savoir-faire, but she announced at her Perth, Australia concert in February 2008 that the name of the album was Bring Ya to the Brink and that it would be released in the spring. In preparation for the album, Lauper visited England and France during summer 2007 to write for the album and wrote songs with dance artists The Scumfrog, Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Dragonette, Kleerup and others. She described it as a mainly dance album with good rhythm. Most of the album was recorded in Sweden. The first single released in Japan was "Set Your Heart" which gained significant airplay there and was used in the advertising campaign for the 2008 Toyota Car Model (Mark X ZIO) starring actor and singer Takeshi Kaneshiro. Lauper embarked on an Australian tour playing at the Kings Park Botanic Gardens in Perth, supported by Katie Noonan and Kate Miller-Heidke on February 22, 2008, and she was the headline and final act at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Party, on March 2, 2008. She sang "Same Ol' Story" followed by a newly remixed version of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". "Same Ol' Story" was released as the album's first worldwide single and was released as a download only on May 6, 2008. It was the number one downloaded song on the day of release. Several remixes of the track were released to DJs. The album was released on May 27, 2008 in the United States. The True Colors Tour 2008 debuted on May 31, 2008. Joining Lauper at various venues were Rosie O'Donnell, The B-52's, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Cliks, Indigo Girls, Kat Deluna, Joan Armatrading, Regina Spektor, Tegan and Sara, Nona Hendryx, Deborah Cox, Wanda Sykes, among others. The MC was Carson Kressley from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Sarah McLachlan was also be featured at the Burnaby, British Columbia show. In August 2008, Lauper contributed an article titled "Hope" to The Huffington Post which encouraged Americans to vote for Barack Obama in the upcoming United States presidential election. Lauper also performed alongside Thelma Houston, Melissa Etheridge and Rufus Wainwright at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. David Byrne stated in his blog that he has collaborated with Lauper on a track for his upcoming Here Lies Love. He described her performance as "amazingly fine-tuned" and "very impressive." Lauper recorded a special Christmas duet with Swedish band The Hives, entitled "A Christmas Duel", on CDsingle and 7" vinyl, in Sweden only, on November 19, 2008. It reached number 4 in the Swedish charts. In December 2008, Bring Ya to the Brink was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Lauper also signed a book deal for an autobiography that is scheduled to come out at the end of 2009 or early 2010. Lauper also performed on the "Girls Night Out", headlining it with Rosie O'Donnell in the US. She appeared on many TV shows in 2009 including the American soap opera, As the World Turns, supporting gay rights, and promoting her True Colors tour and album, Bring Ya to the Brink. She performed "Into the Nightlife" and dedicated a rendition of "True Colors" to one of the show's characters; Luke Snyder. She appeared on the live finale of the eighth season of American Idol on May 20, 2009, performing a duet of "Time After Time" with top-13 finalist Allison Iraheta, accompanying the song on Appalachian dulcimer. She appeared on the 2009 TV Land Awards on April 19 dressed as the "Emperess of Evil" to perform the theme song for Electra Woman and Dyna Girl as part of a musical tribute to Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft. Lauper performed a duet with Leona Lewis on VH1 Divas on September 19, 2009 singing "True Colors" and also appeared along side hip hop artist Eminem for a comedy skit at the MTV VMA's in September 2009. In addition, Lauper played herself alongside Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Michael McDonald, and Mary J. Blige on 30 Rock's third season finale. She also played Avalon Harmonia, a psychic on the Season 5 premiere of Bones.

2010: The Apprentice and Memphis Blues

Cyndi Lauper was also one of the celebrities who designed a T-shirt for the second Fashion Against Aids campaign in 2009, a collaboration between H&M and Designers Against Aids to raise HIV/AIDS awareness worldwide, particularly amongst youngsters. On November 17, 2009, Lauper performed a collaborative work with Wyclef Jean called "Slumdog Millionaire" and performed it live on The Late Show with David Letterman. The collaborative effort stems from Jean's latest album: Toussaint St. Jean: From the Hut, To the Projects, To the Mansion. On October 13, 2009, Lauper started filming The Celebrity Apprentice along with other celebrities such as Sharon Osbourne and Bret Michaels, donating her winnings to her own True Colors Fund. It began airing in March 2010. On the May 9, 2010 episode, Donald Trump fired her, leaving her in sixth place. On April 1, 2010, Lauper launched the Give a Damn campaign to bring a wider awareness of discrimination of the GLBT community as part of her True Colors Fund. The campaign is to bring straight people to stand up with the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered community and stop the discrimination. Other names included in the campaign are Whoopi Goldberg, Jason Mraz, Elton John, Judith Light, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Kardashian, Clay Aiken and Sharon Osbourne. Anna Paquin is also part of the campaign and came out as bisexual. This news clogged the Give A Damn website. In 2009 she appeared on the season 5 episode 1 of Bones. Lauper appears on the 22-track, 2-disc collaboration, Here Lies Love, from 80's band Talking Heads' David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. On the album, she sings the song Eleven Days, as well as the duet Why Don't You Love Me with Tori Amos. On June 22, was released Memphis Blues her eleventh album. In January 2010, American toy company Mattel released a Cyndi Lauper Barbie doll as part of their "Ladies of the 80's" series.

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Blue Angel (1980)

Blue Angel is an album released in 1980 by the band of the same name. They were fronted by a pre-fame Cyndi Lauper and sang a combination of Rockabilly and R&B cover songs. The band was fairly short-lived and the album was not a major success until after Lauper's solo career exploded. Singles taken from this album were: I'm Gonna Be Strong (#37 in Netherlands), I Had a Love,Fade, and Late.







Tracklist:

1-) Maybe He'll Know.
2-) I Had a Love.
3-) Fade.
4-) Anna Blue.
5-) Can't Blame Me.
6-) Late.
7-) Cut Out.
8-) Take a Chance.
9-) Just the Other Day.
10-) I'm Gonna Be Strong.
11-) Lorraine.
12-) Everybody's Got an Angel.

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Blue Angel Live (1981) (***NEW***)

Blue Angel Live is an unofficial live recording from Blue Angel's show at Private's Club in New York City on February 14, 1981. This is a live radio broadcast which includes a prize of winning a dinner date with Cyndi Lauper herself. Here hits like I Had a Love and Late are included in the setlist.

Tracklist:

1-) Intro.
2-) Take a Chance.
3-) Can't Blame Me.
4-) Just the Other Day.
5-) Lipstick on Your Collar.
6-) Anna Blue.
7-) Cut Out.
8-) Fade.
9-) I Had a Love.
10-) Cyndi announces radio contest winner.
11-) Don't Know.
12-) Maybe He'll Know.
13-) I'm Gonna Be Strong.
14-) Intro to Late.
15-) Late.
16-) D.J. Talk.
17-) Keep-A-Knocking.
18-) Everybody's Got an Angel.

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She's So Unusual (1983)

She's So Unusual is Cyndi Lauper's first studio album, released on October 14, 1983. The album catapulted Lauper to stardom with such hits as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "She Bop" and "Time After Time". The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard pop albums chart (U.S.), and stayed in the top-forty of the Billboard 200 for sixty-five weeks; remaining on the charts for 172 weeks. The album was nominated for six Grammy Awards: Record of the Year ("Girls Just Want to Have Fun"), Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Girls Just Want to Have Fun"), Song of the Year ("Time After Time"), Album of the Year, Best Album Package, and Best New Artist, winning the latter two. In 2003, the album was ranked number 494 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. With this album, Lauper became the first female solo artist to achieve 4 consecutive Top 5 hits from a debut album ever. The album was reissued in 2000 with 3 bonus tracks, which are live versions for Money Changes Everything, She Bop, and All Through the Night. It was again reissued in 2008, this time included the previous 3 bonus tracks plus a 2007 live version of Money Changes Everything. The singles released from this album were: Girls Just Want to Have Fun (#2 U.S.), Time After Time (#1 U.S.), She Bop (#3 U.S.), All Through the Night (#5 U.S.), Money Changes Everything (#27 U.S.), I'll Kiss You (though only promotional), and When You Were Mine.
Note: The track Witness was a song originally written and recorded during the Blue Angel era. However, the version that appears in She's So Unusual is a reworked ska-themed version.











Tracklist:

1-) Money Changes Everything.
2-) Girls Just Want to Have Fun.
3-) When You Were Mine.
4-) Time After Time.
5-) She Bop.
6-) All Through the Night.
7-) Witness.
8-) I'll Kiss You.
9-) He's So Unusual.
10-) Yeah Yeah.

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Fun Tour Houston: Live at The Summit, Houston, Texas (1984)

This is an unofficial live album recorded during Cyndi Lauper's successful Fun Tour at The Summit in Houston, Texas, on October 10, 1984. The show was broadcast on the radio and Cyndi's fans were asked to show up at the venue dressed with white t-shirts. It's important to mention that the video for Money Changes Everything was recorded during this very same concert. The show included a cover version of Jackie Wilson's Baby Workout. However, this recording doesn't include this track. Also, Cyndi performed an early version of what would be her top 10 smash hit The Goonies 'R' Good Enough and two tracks from her Blue Angel days.



Tracklist:

1-) Intro.
2-) When You Were Mine.
3-) I'll Kiss You.
4-) Good Enough.
5-) She Bop.
6-) I Had a Love.
7-) Maybe He'll Know.
8-) All Through the Night.
9-) He's So Unusual.
10-) Yeah Yeah.
11-) Witness.
12-) Time After Time.
13-) Money Changes Everything.
14-) Girls Just Want to Have Fun.
15-) Baby Workout (not included in this recording).

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True Colors (1986)


True Colors is Cyndi Lauper's second studio album, released on September 27, 1986. The title song, written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, secured Lauper's status as a successful record producer and performer. It has been covered by countless other artists including Phil Collins, Natasha St. Pier, Anna Tsuchiya, Tanya Chua, Olivia Ong and Kasey Chambers, and was used as the theme song for the 1988 Olympic Games, the 2003 Rugby World Cup and for Kodak cameras and film. This album went Double Platinum in the U.S (2 million copies). While the album was quite successful in the U.S., but not in the UK, it also failed to match the success of Lauper's previous album, She's So Unusual in other countries. The album produced the singles "True Colors", "Change of Heart", "What's Going On", and "Boy Blue". Each single had a music video although the video for "Boy Blue" was nothing more than the live performance taken from her Zenith concert in Paris, it also failed to make a big impact on the charts, although a live video was in heavy rotation on MTV in the summer of 1987. True Colors was re-issued in a Japanese exclusive limited edition box set 11-track digitally remastered CD album. The singles taken from this album were: True Colors (#1 U.S.), Change of Heart (#3 U.S.), What's Going On (#12 U.S.), Boy Blue (#71 U.S.), and Maybe He'll Know. It's important to note that Maybe He'll Know is a reworked version of the Blue Angel song.







Tracklist:

1-) Change of Heart.
2-) Maybe He'll Know.
3-) Boy Blue.
4-) True Colors.
5-) Calm Inside the Storm.
6-) What's Going On.
7-) Iko Iko.
8-) The Faraway Nearby.
9-) 911.
10-) One Track Mind.

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The Best Remixes (1989)

The Best Remixes is an E.P. released by Cyndi Lauper in 1989 on Epic/CBS Records, and re-released in 1996 on Epic/Sony Records. It was released exclusively in Japan and compiles six remixes of her top selling singles. It came in a regular jewel case with Japanese lyrics printed inside and peaked at 61 on the Japanese charts.

Tracklist:

1-) Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Extended Version).
2-) She Bop (Special Dance Mix).
3-) The Goonies 'R' Good Enough (Dance Remix).
4-) Change of Heart (Extended Version).
5-) What's Going On (Club Version).
6-) Money Changes Everything (Extended Live Version).

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A Night to Remember (1989)

Cyndi Lauper's third studio album, A Night to Remember, was released on May 7, 1989. The album did not do as well as her previous albums, selling 500,000 copies in U.S., and only "I Drove All Night" became a hit song but at year end it earned her a grammy nomination. Lauper toned down both her girlish sound and her friendly punk look for the album, which was released in 1989 when grunge rock music was becoming popular; it sold moderately well, receiving gold certification in US and many other countries, like UK, France, Italy, Brazil and Japan, but could not compare to the multi platinum sales of her two previous albums. Lauper, and music critics, have noted the various battles she was having with Sony. The company was not keen on accepting Lauper as a songwriter and musician, as well as a singer and fashion and pop cultural icon. The album was originally conceptualized as a project called "Kindred Spirit" and was going to be released in October, 1988 with the track "Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)", but when that song and the film Vibes were unsuccessful, it was repackaged. Some proof sheets of the original album artwork exist with the alternate title and track listing. Although the album is called A Night to Remember, Lauper prefers to call it as A Night to Forget, given the poor sales, and the problems that happened with David Wolf, her producer and boyfriend at the time, during the production of the album. Singles released from this album were: I Drove All Night (#6 U.S., her last Top 10 hit), My First Night Without You (#62 U.S.), Heading West (#68 U.K.), A Night to Remember (#96 Australia), Primitive (#26 Chile), and Unconditional Love (promo only).







Tracklist:

1-) Intro.
2-) I Drove All Night.
3-) Primitive.
4-) My First Night Without You.
5-) Like a Cat.
6-) Heading West.
7-) A Night to Remember.
8-) Unconditional Love.
9-) Insecurious.
10-) Dancing with a Stranger.
11-) I Don't Want to Be Your Friend.
12-) Kindred Spirit.

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Hat Full of Stars (1993)

Hat Full of Stars is Cyndi Lauper's fourth studio album, released on June 30, 1993. It deviated from her pop-rock sound of previous projects and delved heavily into alternative music. It also furthered Lauper's growing penchant for writing topical songs about social issues; thematically it was inspired by her childhood in the 1950s in Brooklyn. The album was co-produced by dance-music artist Junior Vasquez and is highly typical of his work of the time. As such many of the songs are held together by synthetic loops and percussion. Lyrics address issues like abortion ("Sally's Pigeons"), racism ("A Part Hate"), spousal abuse ("Product of Misery" and "Broken Glass") and even incest ("Lies"). The album had limited success overseas, it managed to achieve Gold sales in France and Platinum sales in Japan (where her albums routinely sell exceptionally well.) However it was considered a commercial disappointment in the United States. Despite glowing critical review, it received little or no promotion, and it subsequently stalled at #112 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. The singles "That's What I Think," "Sally's Pigeons," "Hat Full of Stars" and "Who Let in the Rain" were released; the latter of which was re-recorded in 2001 for her album Shine. Lauper has commented that she wishes that her vocals on the project had been sharper. She worked with a vocal coach to sharpen her vocals for her next studio album Sisters of Avalon, and mentions this in the liner notes. The album was recorded at the Hit Factory, Sigma Sound, Messina Sound, Right Track, The Enchanted Cottage, The Ranch, and World Famous Orbit Sound. The singles released from this album were: Who Let in the Rain (#32 U.K.), Sally's Pigeons, That's What I Think (#31 U.K.), and Hat Full of Stars.







Tracklist:

1-) That's What I Think.
2-) Product of Misery.
3-) Who Let in the Rain.
4-) Lies.
5-) Broken Glass.
6-) Sally's Pigeons.
7-) Feels Like Christmas.
8-) Dear John.
9-) Like I Used To.
10-) Someone Like Me.
11-) A Part Hate.
12-) Hat Full of Stars.

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Sisters of Avalon (1996)


Sisters of Avalon is Cyndi Lauper's fifth studio album, released in November, 1996 in Japan and in April 1, 1997 in the rest of the world. Thematically the album expounded on the issue of complacency and ignorance in popular culture and the discrimination of minorities, gays, and women. Songs like "Love to Hate" and "You Don't Know" address the entertainment industry and media and their corruption. "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" is a song about the double life of a cross dresser. "Say a Prayer" is about the AIDS epidemic. The record takes a deviation from previous projects, incorporating a blend of electronica production with a variety of antiquated instruments such as the guitar, zither, appalachian dulcimer, slide dulcimer, and omnichord. There is a permeating pagan theme highlighted by the track "Mother," an ode to Gaea. The Japanese version features a bonus track, "Early Christmas Morning". The track "Lollygagging" is a hidden track which is nothing more than Lauper and her musicians attempting to record the song "Hot Gets a Little Cold" but making a musical mistake and laughing about it. The singles released from this album were: You Don't Know (#111 U.S.), Ballad of Cleo & Joe (#125 U.S.), and Sisters of Avalon.





Tracklist:

1-) Sisters of Avalon.
2-) Ballad of Cleo & Joe.
3-) Fall into Your Dreams.
4-) You Don't Know.
5-) Love to Hate.
6-) Hot Gets a Little Cold.
7-) Unhook the Stars.
8-) Searching.
9-) Say a Prayer.
10-) Mother.
11-) Fearless.
12-) Brimstone & Fire.
13-) Lollygaging.

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Merry Christmas… Have a Nice Life (1998)

Merry Christmas…Have a Nice Life is Cyndi Lauper's sixth studio album, released on October 27, 1998. It combines original compositions by Lauper and collaborator Jan Pulsford with traditional Christmas songs. Reportedly much of the vocal was recorded in Lauper's cedar closet as it had a reverb that she liked. "Feels Like Christmas" previously appeared on Lauper's 1993 album Hat Full of Stars. The album peaked at number seventy-five on the Japanese Albums Chart.





Tracklist:

1-) Home on Christmas Day.
2-) Early Christmas Morning.
3-) Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.
4-) Christmas Conga.
5-) Minnie and Santa.
6-) Feels Like Christmas.
7-) Three Ships.
8-) New Year's Baby.
9-) December Child.
10-) In the Bleak Midwinter.
11-) Silent Night.

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Shine (2004)

Shine is Cyndi Lauper's seventh studio album, recorded in 2001. However, it wasn't released until May 3, 2004 exclusively in Japan due to the fact that Edel Records, the record company in which Cyndi recorded the album, folded. The leaked tracks from a demonstration disc quickly circulated on the Internet and by 2002 Lauper realized there was no point in trying to release it in a widespread fashion. Two EPs were released instead: One was also called "Shine" and the other was called "Shine Remixes". The album expounds on the sound Lauper developed with her 1997 album Sisters of Avalon. Mostly pop songs, it flirts with electronica and New Wave while incorporating old-fashioned instruments like sitars and fiddles. The songs are not lyrically linked, and explore themes ranging from the Madonna-Whore Complex to celebrity life. The track "It's Hard to be Me" was penned about Anna Nicole Smith; Smith attempted to buy it as the theme song to her reality show, but Lauper declined.





Tracklist:

1-) Shine.
2-) It's Hard to Be Me.
3-) Madonna Whore.
4-) Wide Open.
5-) Rather Be With You.
6-) Who Let in the Rain.
7-) Comfort You.
8-) Eventually.
9-) Valentino.
10-) This Kind of Love.
11-) Higher Plane.
12-) Water's Edge.
13-) I Miss My Baby.

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At Last (2003)

At Last is Cyndi Lauper's eighth studio album, released on November 18, 2003. It made the top 40 of the album charts in both the US (#38) and Australia. It was Cyndi's first album since A Night to Remember to achieve this. The album features a duet with Tony Bennett on "Makin' Whoopee". Lauper co-produced the album with Russ Titelman. The US long box was available only at Costco or Sam's Club shops within the first two weeks when it was released. The song Walk On By was #15 in Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play and the S.A.F. & Eddie X Mixes version hit the same chart at #10. The inspiration behind the release of this album was Cyndi paying tribute to her hometown Queens and her childhood memories of it.





Tracklist:

1-) At Last.
2-) Walk On By.
3-) Stay.
4-) La Vie En Rose.
5-) Unchained Melody.
6-) If You Go Away.
7-) Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do).
8-) My Baby Just Cares for Me.
9-) Makin' Whoopee (duet with Tony Bennett).
10-) Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.
11-) You've Really Got a Hold On Me.
12-) Hymn to Love.
13-) On the Sunny Side of the Street.

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Bring Ya to the Brink (2008)

Bring Ya to the Brink is Cyndi Lauper's tenth studio album, released on May 27, 2008. Lauper visited England and Sweden during early 2007 where she wrote songs with dance artists such as The Scumfrog, Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Dragonette, Kleerup and Axwell. She also wrote and produced four of the album's tracks with Washington DC DJ Richard Morel. Art direction on the album was credited to Cyndi Lauper, Sheri Lee & Meghan Foley, with photography by Stefanie Schneider.The song "Set Your Heart" was released as a promo-only single in Japan in early 2008 and "Same Ol' Story" was the first official single released worldwide on May 6, 2008. "Into the Nightlife" was released as the album's second official single. In December 2008, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. The album reached #41 in the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart.



Tracklist:

1-) High & Mighty.
2-) Into the Nightlife.
3-) Rocking Chair.
4-) Echo.
5-) Lyfe.
6-) Same Ol' Story.
7-) Raging Storm.
8-) Lay Me Down.
9-) Give It Up.
10-) Set Your Heart.
11-) Grab a Hold.
12-) Rain on Me.
13-) Got Candy (Japanese Bonus Track, not in this uploaded file).
14-) Can't Breathe (Japanese Bonus Track, not in this uploaded file).

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Memphis Blues (2010)

Memphis Blues is Cyndi Lauper's eleventh studio album, released on June 22, 2010 (on her 57th birthday). Lauper announced via her official Twitter account in December 2009 that she would be recording a blues album. Sessions were held in March 2010 at Electrophonic Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with producer Scott Bomar, her frequent collaborator Bill Wittman and special guests Charlie Musselwhite, Ann Peebles and Allen Toussaint. Just Your Fool has just been released as the album's lead-off single. Many people who aren't into blues music, have said that this album is quite good.



Tracklist:

1-) Just Your Fool (ft. Charlie Musselwhite).
2-) Shattered Dreams (ft. Allen Toussaint).
3-) Early in the Mornin' (ft. Allen Toussaint & B.B. King).
4-) Romance in the Dark.
5-) How Blue Can You Get?
6-) Down Don't Bother Me (ft. Charlie Musselwhite).
7-) Don't Cry No More.
8-) Rollin' and Tumblin' (Traditional).
9-) Down So Low.
10-) Mother Earth (ft. Allen Toussaint).
11-) Crossroads (ft. Jonny Lang).
12-) Wild Women Don't Get the Blues (Bonus track, not in the uploaded file).

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More Cyndi



This is a compilation made by myself which includes many non-album Cyndi tracks, such as The Goonies 'R' Good Enough, Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China), her re-recorded version of I'm Gonna Be Strong, among many others.







Tracklist:

1-) Right Track, Wrong Train.
2-) What a Thrill.
3-) She Bop (Single Version).
4-) The Goonies 'R' Good Enough.
5-) Heading for the Moon.
6-) What's Going On (Single Version).
7-) Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China).
8-) Across the Universe.
9-) Unabbreviated Love.
10-) The World Is Stone.
11-) Cold.
12-) I'm Gonna Be Strong.
13-) Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun).
14-) Come On Home.
15-) Above the Clouds (ft. Jeff Beck).
16-) I'll Be Your River (ft. Vivian Green).
17-) Got Candy.
18-) Can't Breathe.
19-) Slumdog Millionaire (ft. Wyclef Jean).

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