Cyndi Lauper

Cyndi Lauper CD single "Stay"

Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper (born June 22, 1953), better known as Cyndi Lauper, is a singer whose melodic voice and wild costumes have come to epitomize the 1980s and New Wave thrift store kitsch, the decade, genre, and style in which she first came to fame.

Biography

Cyndi Lauper was born in Queens, New York to Swiss German-American Fred Lauper and Sicilian Italian-American Catrine Dominique. She began her career in a cover band, but soon began performing her own songs - though she almost quit singing altogether due to strained vocal chords in 1977). By 1980 she'd released a rockabilly album on Polydor with the New Wave band Blue Angel. Despite much critical acclaim, the album "went lead" as Lauper says, and the band split as Lauper filed for bankruptcy.

In 1983, David Wolff Lauper's new manager and boyfriend, produced the album She's So Unusual, a worldwide hit which made Lauper a household name. A mixture of teen-friendly pop-rock, synthesized dance music, punk-edged vocals and a mainstream New Wave sound. The record's biggest hit, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", quickly established itself as a female anthem, and it's accompanying video proved very popular onMTV.

The album also included the hits "She Bop", a paean to masturbation; "Money Changes Everything" (a slick cover of The Brains' New Wave number); the romantic ballad "Time After Time" (which has since been covered by over 70 artists, most notably Miles Davis); and "When U Were Mine" (by Prince).

Lauper was popular with teenagers, in part because of her quirky image, which took the popular late 1970s punk look and marketed it to a mainstream audience. At this stage of her career, it was predicted that she would surely outlast the up-and-coming Madonna. Lauper won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and was the first female to have four consecutive Hot 100 Top 5 hits from one album.

From 1984 to 1985, she appeared as herself in a number of WWF professional wrestling events, where she supposedly was the manager of Wendi Richter. This cross-promotion arranged by David Wolff and Vince McMahon also lead to a number of professional wrestlers appearing on her early videos. She later described the period as fun, but a distraction to her musical ambitions, and largely stopped her WWF appearances after 1985.

In 1986, after recording the song "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" for the 1985 film The Goonies, Lauper released her second album, True Colors. Revealing a more mature sound and sensibility, it reached number 4 on the Billboard 200. The title song went on to become her second Platinum number 1 hit, and Lauper rerecorded "Maybe He'll Know", which was originally from her debut album with Blue Angel. "She also sang the jaunty theme song for the series, "Pee-wee's Playhouse" as well. The album sold 12 million copies worldwide.

In 1987, Cyndi traveled all the globe with the True Colors World Tour. Later Cyndi went travelled to the former Soviet Union as part of a project to collaborate with Russian songwriters. Her trip resulted in the song "Cold Sky," on the album "Music Speaks Louder Than Words."

In 1988 she appeared as the female lead in the quirky comedy Vibes, which was poorly received by critics and a commercial flop. Her soundtrack contribution, "Hole In My Heart (All the Way to China)", also flopped.

Lauper's third album, 1989's A Night to Remember, though critically well-received, was not as commercially successful as its predecessors, spawning just one hit, "I Drove All Night", which was originally penned for Roy Orbison. Orbison's version was not released until 1992, three years after Lauper's version and four years after Orbison's death. "A Night To Remember" sold 5 million copies.

In 1990 she joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. Her second film, Off and Running, went un-noticed, but she did meet future husband - actor David Thornton - on the set.

Lauper took a break from singing at this point, but didn't disappear from show business, and in 1993 she played Michael J. Fox's secretary in My Life With Mikey. She released the critically acclaimed album Hat Full of Stars in the same year, but once again sales were poor. With a smooth new R&B sound and production by Junior Vasquez, she tackled such topics as spousal abuse and abortion.

In 1995 Lauper won an Emmy award for "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series" for her portrayal of wealthy contessa Marianne Lugasso in Mad About You. She also released 12 Deadly Cyns... and Then Some, a greatest hits compilation that included two new tracks, one of which was a reworking of her first big hit, newly christened "Hey Now (Girls Just Want To Have Fun)". The album was released under a number of different titles, packaging and track listings around the world. "Twelve Deadly Cyns" sold over 10 million copies worldwide and she began a world tour to promote the album.

Her 1997 album Sisters of Avalon brought her back into the limelight. With subject matter even more adult than before, it was quickly embraced by the gay community for its dance and club stylings. The topicality of the album also contributed to its "pink" appeal: the song "Ballad of Cleo and Joe" addressed the complications of a drag queen's double life, while "You Don't Know" tackled the thorny issue of coming out. The album's singles were remixed to great acclaim, and Lauper began performing as a featured artist at gay pride events around the world.

In 1999 she co-headlined a tour alongside Cher, and contributed a cover version of The Trammps's classic "Disco Inferno" to the soundtrack of the film A Night at the Roxbury, the remixed version becoming a club hit. She also garnered critical plaudits for her roles in several independent films including The Opportunists (with Christopher Walken).

In 2001 Lauper prepared an album, Shine, which saw her returning to her early pop/rock sound without losing the "maturity" she had embraced on later records. Just weeks before the album's scheduled release, however, her label, Edel America Records, folded, and the tracks were leaked to the public. Although a five song E.P. of the same name was made available through her website and at Tower Records, the full length album concept was scrapped.

She undertook her second co-headlining tour with Cher in 2002.

In 2003, an EP of remixes from the unreleased Shine album was sold on the Edel America Records website. Additionally Lauper's former label Sony issued a new greatest hits CD entitled The Essential Cyndi Lauper. She then re-signed with Sony/Epic Records, the label that made her a star, and a new album called Naked City was in the works.

In November 2003 an album of standards was released entitled At Last (formerly Naked City), which became a top 40 hit in the US and Australia. It showed off her skills as a unique interpreter and critics agreed that Lauper's voice - always a force to be reckoned with - was even stronger at age 50 that it had been in her heyday. In March of 2004 the full length Shine album was finally released, though exclusively in Japan. She was nominated for a 2005 Grammy award for "Best Instrumental Composition Accompanying a Vocal" for her interpretation of the song "Unchained Melody" on the At Last album.

In November of 2005 Lauper released The Body Acoustic, an album which featured acoustic reinterpretations of tracks from her back catalog as well as two new songs. It featured guest appearances by artists such as Shaggy, Ani DiFranco and Sarah McLachlan. Lauper continues to tour the world performing live, and is noted as an energetic live performer. She maintains a devoted fanbase and lives in New York with her husband, and their child.

Samples

Download sample of "Time After Time" from She's So Unusual

Trivia

Married David Thornton in 1991.
Son Declyn Wallace Thornton Lauper was born in 1997.
Wrote "Code of Silence" with Billy Joel. It marked the first time Joel shared a songwriting credit on one of his albums.
Was interested in recording "Voices Carry" by 'Til Tuesday but the band ultimately decided to record the song themselves for their debut album.
Co-wrote the title track of French-Canadian pop star Mitsou's 1992 EP Heading West
Before achieving musical fame, she worked at New York high-end thrift store "Screaming Mimi's".
On the classic game show Press Your Luck, there was a Whammy based on her.