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She's So Unusual

 
Album Review: She's So Unusual

  • Artist: Cyndi Lauper
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: 1984
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

One of the great new wave/early MTV records, She's So Unusual is a giddy mix of self-confidence, effervescent popcraft, unabashed sentimentality, subversiveness, and clever humor. In short, it's a multifaceted portrait of a multifaceted talent, an artist that's far more clever than her thin, deliberately girly voice would indicate. Then again, Lauper's voice suits her musical persona, since its chirpiness adds depth, or reconfigures the songs, whether it's the call to arms of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" or the tearjerking "Time After Time." Lauper is at her very best on the first side, all of which were singles or received airplay, and this collection of songs -- "Money Changes Everything," "Girls," "When You Were Mine," "Time," "She Bop," "All Through the Night" -- is astonishing in its consistency, so strong that it makes the remaining tracks -- all enjoyable, but rather pedestrian -- charming by their association with songs so brilliantly alive. If Lauper couldn't maintain this level of consistency, it's because this captured her persona better than anyone could imagine -- when a debut captures a personality so well, let alone a personality so tied to its time, the successive work can't help but pale in comparison. Still, when it's captured as brightly and brilliantly as it is here, it does result in a debut that retains its potency, long after its production seems a little dated. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Money Changes Everything Tom Gray Cyndi Lauper
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Lyrics) Robert Hazard Cyndi Lauper
When You Were Mine (Lyrics) Prince Cyndi Lauper
Time After Time (Lyrics) Cyndi Lauper, Richard Hayman Cyndi Lauper
She Bop (Lyrics) Cyndi Lauper, Rick Chertoff, Stephen Broughton Lunt, Gary Corbett Cyndi Lauper
All Through the Night (Lyrics) Jules Shear, Traditional Cyndi Lauper
Witness (Lyrics) Cyndi Lauper, Tony Martin, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, John Turi, Mark Sten Cyndi Lauper
I'll Kiss You (Lyrics) Cyndi Lauper, Jules Shear Cyndi Lauper
He's So Unusal Abner Silver, Al Sherman Cyndi Lauper
Yeah Yeah (Lyrics) Mikael Rickfors Cyndi Lauper

Credits

Cyndi Lauper (Concept), Richard Termini (Synthesizer), George Marino (Reissue Mastering), Cyndi Lauper (Arranger), Janet Perr (Concept), Cyndi Lauper (Vocals), Ellie Greenwich (Vocals (Background)), Rob Hyman (Arranger), Rod O'Brien (Engineer), John Jansen (Engineer), Rick DiFonzo (Guitar), William Wittman (Engineer), Cyndi Lauper (Vocals (Background)), Janet Perr (Design), Maretha Stewart (Vocals), Anton Fig (Drums), Eric Bazilian (Arranger), Cyndi Lauper (Cover Art Concept), Annie Liebovitz (Reissue Photography), Rick Chertoff (Percussion), Amy Linden (Liner Notes), Diane Wilson (Vocals), Eric Bazilian (Guitar (Bass)), Jules Shear (Vocals), Eric Bazilian (Bass), Janet Perr (Art Direction), Peter Wood (Synthesizer), Neil Jason (Guitar), Eric Bazilian (Guitar), Neil Jason (Bass), William Wittman (Associate Producer), Maretha Stewart (Vocals (Background)), John Agnello (Assistant Engineer), Annie Liebovitz (Photography), Rick Chertoff (Producer), Diane Wilson (Vocals (Background)), Eric Bazilian (Vocals), Dan Beck (Product Manager), Howard Fritzson (Reissue Art Director), Rob Hyman (Vocals (Background)), Ellie Greenwich (Vocals), Lennie Petze (Producer), Janet Perr (Cover Art Concept), Lennie Petze (Executive Producer), Lennie Petze (Reissue Producer), Krystal Davis (Vocals), Eric Bazilian (Hooter), Eric Bazilian (Vocals (Background)), William Wittman (Producer), Rick Chertoff (Arranger), Justin Ware (Hair Stylist), Ralph Scibelli (Hair Stylist), Rob Hyman (Keyboards), John Jackson (Reissue Director), Krystal Davis (Vocals (Background)), Eric Bazilian (Saxophone), William Wittman (Guitar), Jules Shear (Vocals (Background)), Cyndi Lauper (Reissue Producer), John Agnello (Engineer), John Christiana (Reissue Package Coordinator), Anton Fig (Percussion)
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Wikipedia: She's So Unusual
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She's So Unusual
Studio album by Cyndi Lauper
Released October 14, 1983
Recorded 1983
Genre Pop, Rock, New Wave
Length 38:42 (standard version)
Label Portrait Records
RK-38930
Producer Rick Chertoff, William Wittman
Professional reviews
Cyndi Lauper chronology
She's So Unusual
(1983)
True Colors
(1986)

She's So Unusual is the debut studio album by American pop singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released in 1983 by Portrait Records (see 1983 in music). The album catapulted Lauper to stardom with such hits as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "She Bop" and "Time After Time". As of 2002 it has sold more than sixteen million copies worldwide[1]. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard pop albums chart (US), and stayed in the top-forty of the Billboard 200 for sixty-five weeks; remaining on the charts for 172 weeks.

Contents

Album information

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.

Track listing

  1. "Money Changes Everything" (Tom Gray) – 5:06
  2. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Robert Hazard) – 3:58
  3. "When You Were Mine" (Prince) – 5:06
  4. "Time After Time" (Rob Hyman, Lauper) – 4:03
  5. "She Bop" (Rick Chertoff, Gary Corbett, Lauper, Stephen Broughton Lunt) – 3:51
  6. "All Through The Night" (Jules Shear) – 4:33
  7. "Witness" (Lauper, John Turi) – 3:40
  8. "I'll Kiss You" (Lauper, Shear) – 4:12
  9. "He's So Unusual" (Al Sherman, Al Lewis, Abner Silver) – 0:45
  10. "Yeah Yeah" (Hasse Huss, Mikael Rickfors) – 3:18
  11. "Money Changes Everything (Live)" (Gray) – 4:35 (From the Portrait Promotional 12-inch)
  12. "She Bop (Live)" (Chertoff, Corbett, Lauper, Lunt) – 5:20
  13. "All Through the Night (Live)" (Shear) – 4:48
  14. "Money Changes Everything (Live)" [live at Summer Sonic 07](2008 Japanese exclusive limited edition)
  • Tracks 11 to 14 are bonus tracks on the 2008 remastered version.
  • "Right Track, Wrong Train" (Lauper, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Kent) was recorded for the album but only appeared on the B-side of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"

Singles

# Title Date
1. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" 1983
2. "Time after Time" 1984
3. "She Bop" 1984
4. "All Through the Night" 1984
5. "Money Changes Everything" 1984
6. "I'll Kiss You" 1984 Promo Only
7. "When You Were Mine" 1985

Personnel

  • Cyndi Lauper — Arranger, Vocals, Vocals (background), Reissue Producer, Cover Art Concept
  • Jules Shear - Backing Vocals
  • Ellie Greenwich - Backing Vocals
  • John Agnello - Engineer, Assistant Engineer
  • Eric Bazilian - Bass, Guitar, Arranger, Saxophone, Backing Vocals, Hooter
  • Rick Chertoff - Percussion, Arranger, Producer
  • Krystal Davis - Backing Vocals
  • Rick DiFonzo - Guitar
  • Anton Fig - Percussion, Drums
  • Rob Hyman - Arranger, Keyboards, Synthesizers, Backing Vocals, Hooter (Melodica)
  • John Jansen - Engineer
  • Neil Jason - Bass, Guitar
  • George Marino - Reissue Mastering
  • Rod O'Brien - Engineer
  • Lennie Petze - Producer, Executive Producer, Reissue Producer
  • Maretha Stewart - Backing Vocals
  • Richard Termini[1] - Synthesizer
  • Diane Wilson - Backing Vocals
  • William Wittman - Guitar, Producer, Engineer, Associate Producer
  • Peter Wood - Synthesizer
  • Dan Beck - Product Manager
  • Amy Linden - Liner Notes
  • Janet Perr - Art Direction, Design, Concept, Cover Art Concept (Winner of 1985's Grammy Award for Best Recording Packaging that awards the visual look of an album)
  • Justin Ware - Hair Stylist
  • Annie Leibovitz - Photography

Chart performance

Charts (1983/1984) Peak
position
Sales Certification
(thresholds)
Australia Albums Chart 3 490,000 7x Platinum
Argentina Albums Chart 2 20,000 Gold
Austrian Albums Chart 5
Canadian Albums Chart 1 720,000 9x Platinum
Chile Albums Chart 2
Colombia Albums Chart 1 270,000+ 13x Platinum
France Albums Chart 14 200,000 Platinum
German Albums Chart 23 200,000 Platinum
Holland Albums Chart 21
Italy Albums Chart 21 70,000 Platinum
Japanese Albums Chart 5 750,000 3x Platinum
Mexican Albums Chart 3 250,000 Platinum
New Zealand Albums Chart 10
Norway Albums Chart 4
Philippines Albums Chart 1 50,000 2x Platinum
Sweden Albums Chart 22
Switzerland albums chart 8 30,000 Platinum
UK Albums Chart 16 100,000 Gold
U.S. Billboard 200 4 6,000,000 6x Platinum
U.S. Billboard 200 Year-End (1984) 11
U.S. Billboard 200 Year-End (1985) 28

Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – U.S. Gold March 1984
RIAA – U.S. Platinum May 1984
RIAA – U.S. Double Platinum October 1984
RIAA – U.S. Double Platinum October 1984
RIAA – U.S. 4x Platinum March 1985
RIAA – U.S. 5x Platinum December 1991
RIAA – U.S. 6x Platinum February 1997

References

  1. ^ Canadian Idol 2006

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "She's So Unusual" Read more

 

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