Appreciating Cyndi Lauper more

Cyndi Lauper has been singing for nearly 30 years. She was the first artist in history to have five Top 10 singles from a debut album, She’s So Unusual. She made her mark with the phenomenal single release Girls Just Want To Have Fun in 1983 and was then considered as really the most unusual among the then line-up of girl singers. She has since then sold over 50 million records worldwide and also gone successfully into acting, writing, producing and lots of other things like social activism.

Now, her heydays in the hit charts may seem like over but I have a feeling that is only for the moment. This is because she continues to make good music and I cannot help but think more of Cyndi when I see what today’s young singers have been doing. No not Adele. But Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, and many others have all been taking their cues from what Cyndi first did many years ago.

She dared to be different. Remember how Cyndi colored and spiked her hair, her tinted contact lenses, her bangles and beads and ribbons, etc. etc. And how she sang and danced in her colorful costumes. She truly looked and sounded like a girl who wants and knows how to have lots of fun. Coincidentally, Madonna also came out that very same year with her first recording, Holiday, but it was Cyndi who led the pack. She introduced the fierce image of a young woman who knows how to have a good time.

The good thing about Cyndi is that her singing matured along with the years. She does not just bop anymore. She can do other things. Truth to tell, it was actually quite a surprise to find out how versatile her singing can be in her later recordings. And pared down of her borloloys, you realize what a great voice she has. Truth to tell, Cyndi today makes me wonder if those artists we now have with their over-processed sounds will be singing as good as she does in the future.

A good example of how Cyndi can surprise listeners is her CD Memphis Blues. This is a gritty, no-holds-barred collection of famous blues tunes like Early In The Morning, Crossroads, Just Your Fool, Shattered Dreams, Don’t Cry No More, Mother Earth and others with authentic blues masters like B.B.King, Allen Toussaint and Ann Peebles as her guests. The results prove that Cyndi sings the blues very well.

And who among us did not fall in love with her At Last? This is her dreamy album of standards that really shows off her musicality and wonderful tone. If you liked Rod Stewart’s American Songbook, then you should not be without At Last. Among the songs included are Sunny Side Of The Street, Making Whoopee, Unchained Melody, La Vie En Rose, Walk On By and of course, At Last. It is often said that the ability to sing these old songs is the most difficult test for a pop singer. I must say that Cyndi passed with true flying colors.

Cyndi is performing at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on March 17. I do not know her repertoire for the show. I do not know if she will sing any cut from Memphis Blues or At Last. What I am sure of though is that her fans here will not be happy unless she does her big hits. To have an idea of what these might be, you can check out the CD Time After Time, The Cyndi Lauper Collection, which includes most of her million sellers. Okay, Good Enough the hit tune from the soundtrack of the enjoyable youth flick The Goonies is not here again. Nobody seems to want to include the song in any Cyndi compilation. But it is now available online so no use complaining.

What you will get in the album are: Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Time After Time, True Colors, I Drove All Night, The World Is Stone, I’m Gonna Be Strong, Money Changes Everything, She Bop, All Through The Night, Change Of Heart, What’s Going On, Who Let In The Rain, That’s What I Think and Come On Home.