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Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper (born June 22, 1953) is
an American Grammy
Award-winning singer, MTV VMA-winning video and Emmy Award-winning film, television and theatre actress. She became a household name in the
mid-eighties with the release of the album, She's So Unusual and became the first
artist in history to have four top-five singles released from one album. Cyndi
has released 11 albums, over 40 singles, and has sold more than 50 million
albums worldwide. She continues to tour the world in support of human rights.
Early life and pre-fame
Arguably one of the bigger female stars of the early MTV era, Lauper was born
in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in a
rough area of Queens.[1] Her parents are Fred and Catrine Lauper. Her
mother uses the stagename, "Catrine Dominique" for the music videos she has
starred in.[2] Her father was of German and Swiss descent and her
mother was Italian
American (from Campania,
precisely).[3] She has a sister (Elen) and a brother
(Fred/Butch).
At the age of five, Cyndi's parents divorced, and her mother took the three
children and moved them to Ozone Park which was at that time a poor
neighborhood in Queens, New York.
Cyndi's mother had remarried and divorced again, and went to work as a
waitress trying to support three children. It was during this time that Cyndi
saw how women can be oppressed, and how things aren't always equal in the world.
Cyndi knew this was a situation she wanted to get out of, and she found hope
through music. She began listening to artists like Judy Garland, Billie
Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Beatles. Her mother always wanted her to be
independent and encouraged creativity, but Cyndi always felt like an
outcast.
At the age of twelve, Cyndi learned how to play a guitar that she had
inherited from her sister. Cyndi started to write her own lyrics during this
time. She had a great love of art and music and tried to find ways to express
herself. Even at the early age of twelve, Cyndi started dying her hair different
colors and wearing clothes that most people would find unusual.
Cyndi 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 and earned
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 ended up taking art classes at Johnson State
College. She supported herself by working various odd jobs. Feeling
homesick, she eventually returned to Ozone Park.
In the mid-seventies 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 Cyndi was now performing
onstage, she wasn't happy singing cover songs.
In 1977, Cyndi damaged her vocal cords, and took a year off. She was told by
three doctors that she would never sing again. Cyndi's friends told her to see a
vocal coach, which led her to (Katie Agresta), who helped Cyndi regain her voice
by teaching her proper vocal exercises.
Blue Angel
In 1978, after Lauper regained her voice, she met saxophone player John Turi through her manager Ted
Rosenblatt. John and Cyndi became writing partners and formed a band called Blue
Angel. They decided to put everything they had into making an album of original
material.
A few demos were recorded and the tape found its way over to Steve Massarsky,
who was managing The Allman Brothers Band. Massarsky
said the tape was horrible, but he was attracted to Lauper's voice. He saw them
play live and eventually started managing the band after buying their contract
out for $5,000. Many people wanted to sign Cyndi only if she would sign on as a
solo artist. Cyndi held out, wanting the band to be included in any deal she
made. Polydor
Records eventually signed them as a band.
In 1980, they released a self-titled album on Polydor Records. The album charted #37 in
Austria with the single "I'm Gonna Be Strong". In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine
included it as one of the 100 best new wave album covers. Cyndi hated the cover,
often saying they made her look like Big Bird.
Despite critical acclaim, the album sold poorly (or "went lead", as Lauper
says) and the band broke up. Polydor Records had a regime change, and the label
wouldn't let the band back into the studio unless they had a hit. The members of
Blue Angel had a falling out with Massarsky and fired him as their manager. He
later filed an $80,000 suit against them. This forced Lauper into
bankruptcy.
Lauper started working in retail stores such as the New York high-end thrift
store Screaming Mimi's to make ends meet. Cyndi still sang in local clubs.
Her most frequent gigs were at El Sombrero. Music critics that saw Cyndi perform
with Blue Angel thought that she had star potential since she had a wide singing
range (4 octaves)[citation needed],
perfect pitch, and a vocal style all her own. She was in her late twenties and
had yet to achieve stardom. When asked about her age, Cyndi would usually get
defensive, saying, "What am I, a car?"
Then in 1981, while singing in a local New York bar, Lauper met David Wolff, who gave her a ride home that night.
The two fell in love and eventually moved in together. They painted their living
room pink and purchased a chihuahua.
Wolff took over as her manager and got her signed with Portrait Records, a
subsidiary of Columbia
Records. Wolff had been working with a band called Arc Angel. He introduced
Cyndi to CBS executive Lennie-Petze, who in
turn introduced them to producer Rick Chertoff.
In 1985, the Blue Angel album was re-issued and it brought moderate success,
particularly in South East Asia where it produced several hits like Fade,
I'm Gonna Be Strong, and Late.
[edit]
She's So Unusual
On October 14, 1983, She's So Unusual was released, and
became a worldwide hit. With the help of Rick Chertoff, Eric Bazilian and Rob
Hyman (of The Hooters) as her primary studio musicians, She's So
Unusual's popularity spread like wildfire. At the time, Lauper became
popular with teenagers and critics, in part due to her hybrid punk
image.
Cyndi knew she could write songs, but the record company had a lot of
material they wanted her to record. She altered a lot of the songs that were
thrown her way, often changing the lyrics to suit her. (This would end up
helping her in the long run financially as she could claim credit as a co-writer
and collect royalties.)
An example is "Girls Just Want to Have
Fun", Cyndi says the original lyrics of the song dealt more with a girl
pleasing a man, therefore she changed the lyrics, wanting the song to be more of
an anthem as she felt the original song seemed misogynistic.
The album's second single was the ballad "Time After Time". Cyndi
co-wrote "Time After Time" when her producer, Rick Chertoff, suggested to the
band that the album could use one more song. The record label didn't have much
faith in Cyndi as a songwriter, but they gave her the chance to prove herself.
Notably, "Time After Time" was one of the biggest hits of 1984. It has been
covered by more than 100 artists, including Blaque, Gospel Boyz Clique, Red Darling and the Pickup
Band, Brooke, Cassandra Wilson, Dave Matthews
Band, Donna Hughes, Downtown Singapore, Eva Cassidy, Everything
But The Girl, Flying Pickets, The Gandharvas, Happy Hardcore, The Hooters (whose member
co-wrote the original), Inoj, Julio Iglesias, Kane and Able, Li'l Mo, MC
Prince Paul, Jacob Anders, Matchbox Twenty, Miles Davis, Novaspace, Paul Anka, Paul Parker Jr., Phil Keaggy, Richard Clayderman, JJ McCocky, Flip Mode
Squad, Marylin Manson, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sarge, Sparklehorse, Sugar Ray, Tuck Andress & Patti Cathcart, Uncle Kracker and Willie Nelson, and is
considered an American pop standard.
Cyndi came up with the title for "Time After Time" while reading TV Guide. "Time After Time" was the
name of a 1979 science fiction movie starring Malcolm McDowell as a man who
invents a time machine. She has also stated that the apartment that she shared
with David in New York had a very loud alarm clock, and that's where the lyrics
"the clock ticks and I think of you" originated.
The third single, "She Bop", was
a paean to masturbation. Cyndi claimed in
a 1993 interview with Howard Stern that she recorded the vocals naked.
"All Through the
Night" was written by Jules
Shear, who also wrote The
Bangles hit "If She Knew What She Wants" and the Alison Moyet hit "Whispering Your Name". It was
later released in Europe as the lead off single for Roxette's female lead vocalist (Marie Frederickson)'s
solo album. He and Cyndi had also collaborated on his hit single "Steady" which
became a Billboard Top 40 hit that year.
The album also includes a cover of The Brains' New Wave track "Money
Changes Everything" (another Top 40 hit for her), and "When You Were
Mine", a cover of Prince's song that was later released as a promotional
single in 1985.
Cyndi spent 1984 touring and promoting She's So Unusual. By the end of
the year, she was the first female to have four consecutive Billboard Hot 100
Top 5 hits from one album. The LP itself stayed in the Top 40 charts for more
than 65 weeks and sold 16 million copies worldwide. The original title of She's So Unusual
was "She's So Wonderful".
The video for "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" made Cyndi an MTV staple. The video
ran constantly on MTV, and featured wrestler Captain Lou
Albano as Lauper's father. It won the first ever award for Best Female Video
at the 1984 Video Music Awards. The video featured many of Cyndi's family
members and dog, Sparkle. Cyndi appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine
in May of 1984. The photo on the cover had been reversed to make room for the
title. She also appeared on the cover of Time Magazine and
Newsweek with the headline, "Women In Rock". Cyndi was voted by Ms.
Magazine as one of its women of the year.
The video for "Money Changes Everything" was shot during a concert at the
Summit in Houston, Texas. The concert was broadcast over the radio and fans were
told to show up wearing white t-shirts. The video featured pop singer Martikaof Toy
Soldiers hugging Cyndi onstage.
She started 1985 by participating on USA for Africa's famine-relief fund-raising
single "We Are the
World".
The WWF
Cyndi always claims that David was a major fan of wrestling and it was his
idea to get her involved with the WWF (World Wrestling Federation). The WWF
television show had a massive audience, and David thought that he could sell
more albums if she appeared on the show. The idea worked, but Cyndi's image as a
songwriter and artist would be tarnished. David set up a cross-promotion deal
with the WWF. The wrestlers would be promoted through her videos and special
appearances, and Cyndi would be featured on the WWF program.
In 1985, Cyndi won a Grammy
Award in the Best New Artist category. At the event, she appeared with WWF
Superstar Hulk Hogan, who
played her "bodyguard". In return, she made many appearances as herself in a
number of WWF's "Rock and Wrestling"
events, where she was the manager of Wendi Richter. Their entrance music was "Girls Just Want to Have
Fun".
Cyndi and David had a long drawn out storyline involving WWF wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Cyndi appeared on
"Piper's Pit" which was Roddy Piper's segment on the WWF show. The story
involved Captain Lou Albano, who came out during
Cyndi's segment claiming that he had given Cyndi her start, and that he was the
one that discovered her. Cyndi became outraged, flipping over a table, and
hitting the Captain over the head with her purse.
On December 28, 1984 at Madison Square Garden, an award was being
presented to Captain Lou Albano by Cyndi Lauper and David Wolff. "Rowdy" Roddy
Piper turned on Lauper and started attacking her music. Roddy climbed into the
ring, slammed the award over Captain Lou's head, and during the confusion, Roddy
kicked Cyndi, knocking her back about two feet. Roddy then picked up David Wolff
slamming him down in the ring. Hulk Hogan came to Cyndi's rescue but Piper ran
away.
The event made for good television, and Roddy's story is conflicting as to
whether or not the kick was intentional or staged. On his most recent DVD "Born
To Controversy", Piper claims he was asked to kick her. In 2007, during an
interview at a GI-Joe convention in Atlanta, Piper claims it wasn't intentional
(You Tube).
A small riot ensued, and Piper became the sworn enemy of Hulk Hogan. He and
Hogan wound up in a match that took place a few weeks later called "The War to
Settle the Score." Celebrities like Dee Snider and Little Richard filmed
segments for the WWF talking about Cyndi and Roddy Piper.
In February of 1985 "The War to Settle the Score" was aired live on MTV. The
event would feature Hulk Hogan against Rowdy Piper. Paul Orndorff jumped into the ring to help Piper
attack Hogan. Cyndi was standing near the ring screaming at them, when they
decided to come after her. Mr. T, who
was sitting in the front row, came to her rescue. Paul Orndorff and Piper ganged
up on Mr. T while Hogan was down, but when Hogan came to, Piper and Orndoff ran
out of the ring. This was the event that started "WrestleMania".
The WWF wrestlers recorded an album in 1985 with David Wolff. Lauper
contributed to "The Wrestling Album", under the pseudonym
"Mona Flambé" as guest backing vocals. She later described the period as fun,
but it became an increasing distraction to her musical ambitions. Also by the
end of 1985 she started to feel that the WWF involvement was starting to turn
her into a joke within the music industry. The album also led to a collaboration
with Rick Derringer.
Rick wrote Real American, which featured Cyndi on backing vocals. Rick
and Cyndi would write "Calm Inside The Storm" for her True Colors
album.
During David Wolff's early career, he produced a band called Captain
Chameleon. They had a song called "Grab Them Cakes". That song would turn up
again on the WWF wreslting album being sung by the wrestler Junkyard Dog. Cyndi
and Wolff became the associate producers for the animated series "Hulk Hogan's
Rock 'n' Wrestling".
The Goonies
Steven
Spielberg had asked Cyndi to be the musical director of his latest film
The Goonies, an
adventurous family film about lost treasure. Cyndi had the power to choose whom
she wanted on the soundtrack, so she tried to make the album very diverse. The Bangles were just one of
the bands that contributed to the soundtrack. Cyndi thought the band was very
raw and fresh.
Cyndi worked so hard on the soundtrack that she wound up in the hospital.
Cyndi states in a 1986 interview that she had been working 12 hour days and had
gynaecological problems. Cyndi had a minor operation and spent some time in the
hospital. Her doctors told her that she needed some rest. This was the reason
she wasn't able to participate in the Live Aid concert.
Cyndi scored another hit with the single "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough",
which earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance,
for the film The
Goonies. The video featured many guests including WWF Wrestlers such as
The Iron Sheik, Captain Lou
Albano, Roddy Piper, André the Giant,
"Classy" Freddie Blassie,
The Fabulous
Moolah & Nikolai
Volkoff, the Goonies cast as well as the Bangles. The video was split up into two acts, making
Cyndi the very first artist to have a two-part video. Steven even allowed her
access to the set pieces from the film.
Cyndi stopped performing "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough",
in concert around 1987. It was at a show in Baltimore on Cyndi's 2006 tour that
she finally played it again. The crowd was chanting "Goonies" and she sang the
song a cappella to an ecstatic
crowd. She finally agreed to play the song again on her "True Colors" tour in
2007.
During the video commentary for "The Goonies" actor Sean Astin can be heard thanking Cyndi for the song.
He says that they all appeared tired on the set of the video, due to the
rigorous shooting schedule, but they really did love the song. Sean apologizes
to Cyndi again in footage that can be seen in the upcoming "Goonies
Documentary".
In 1985, The Women In Crystal Film Awards awarded her with the New Directions
Award, given to those who are known for their creativity and originality.
[edit]
True Colors
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. Cyndi
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, it
contained three high-charting singles, including the title track (which become
her second platinum number-one hit), "Change of Heart" (#3)
and a cover of Marvin Gaye's
"What's Going On"
(#12). The album also featured an older song called "Maybe He'll Know" which was
on Cyndi's 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. Cyndi had no control over the song which was
written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly.
The 4th single from the album, "Boy Blue", became Cyndi's
first non top 40 song. The proceeds of the song were donated to AIDS
research.
In 1986, Cyndi appeared on the Billy Joel album The Bridge on a song
called "Code of Silence". Cyndi also sang the theme song for the series "Pee-wee's
Playhouse" the same year, though she was credited as "Ellen Shaw". The theme
song is speeded up making Cyndi's voice sound a bit distorted. On adult swim
broadcasts, Lauper's portion of the opening was cut out. Playhouse star Paul Reubens appeared on the
True Colors album track "911" as an emergency operator. The album sold
nearly 12 million copies.
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