Classic 80s Music Review-Cyndi Lauper's 'She's so Unusual'

I can still distinctly remember my favorite record album of the 1980s and I don't even feel silly about this choice today, like I do with some of my other 80s faves. Perhaps part of the reason for the distinctness of my memories is because the album itself was so distinctive. Indeed, I think it still seems that way even today. The album is 'She's So Unusual' by Cyndi Lauper.

I remember being in the fourth grade and this was the first year I was allowed to have a slumber party for my birthday, for a selection of my girlfriends. I remember being quite excited about my upcoming party. I remember being just as excited about one of my gift requests that year, the record album 'She's So Unusual' by Cyndi Lauper.

I can't quite remember what started my infatuation with Cyndi Lauper. It might have begun when I heard her first single, 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' on the radio or it might have began when I first saw her on TV, probably in a music video for that same song. I had never seen a personal style quite like hers-a kind of scrappy, quirky, punky amalgam of thrift store mixed layers and outrageous costume accessories. I'm sure I didn't characterize it that way at the time, but her unique style and kooky persona definitely piqued my interest. In addition to her unusual attire, she spoke in an accented baby voice, like some tough cookie Betty Boop and I seem to remember there being some sort of minor pop culture controversy associated with whether that was her real voice or some kind of gimmick. She didn't seem like a gimmick to me. She seemed like an idiosyncratic individual who was genuinely quirky and took pleasure and delight in expressing herself creatively. She seemed like a wonderful role model for a creative girl like me.

Cyndi Lauper was the first musical artist I can remember being interested enough in to request her album for my very own. Not that we didn't have record albums in our home, but the records that my sisters and I mostly listened to as little kids consisted of old school 45s that had been part of my parents' and grandparents' childhood collections (old-fashioned girl group gems like 'It's My Party' by Lesley Gore and 'Leader of the Pack' by the Shangri-Las plus novelty-esque hits like 'The Monster Mash' and 'High Hopes), the rather limited selection that comprised my parents' adulthood collection (Chicago, The Carpenters, and a lot of John Denver albums), various children's Christian song compilation albums (my mom was a volunteer instructor of preschool age Sunday school at the time), and the soundtrack to Annie the Musical. Overall, it was a random, but not very diverse or eclectic musical hodge podge Cyndi Lauper was different. She seemed to exemplify a unique breed of creativity that I very much wished to identify with and wanted to investigate further. Luckily, my parents had no objection to my fascination with Cyndi Lauper. I put out my little feelers about wanting the 'She's So Unusual' album and I got it.

I don't know how many hours I spent in our family room, which housed the blue faux marble monstrosity of an old school stereo that my parents owned, but it was a lot of hours. Listening to that Cyndi Lauper album was like an event in & of itself-and for a while there, it was a daily event. I'd oh so carefully place the needle on the record and then wait for the music to begin, the album liner with its printed lyrics clutched firmly in my excited little hand. I'd pace in frenetic yet focused circles around the room listening, my eyes following along with the printed lyrics. Once I became familiar enough with those lyrics, I started to sing along with my favorite songs. It wasn't too long before I had the lyrics memorized and could sing along without the album liner in hand. My favorite songs on the album included, 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun', 'Time after Time', 'Money Changes Everything', 'All Through the Night' and 'She-Bop'.

I didn't find out until years later that 'She Bop' was a song about masturbation; at the time, I didn't really care what the songs were about. I was just enamored of Cyndi Lauper's quirky style, unusual vocal delivery, and fantastic voice. I loved her little bops and boops and yelps peppered throughout the songs on the album, I thought she had an excellent vocal range, I thought her unique voice and singing style pretty much blew Madonna away. Sure, Madonna was sexy in a way, but I didn't care so much about sexy when I was a pre-teen; it was Cyndi Lauper's slightly goofy, uber-kooky, and hyper-fun charm that really appealed to me. I thought she was a positive role model for being oneself with a style all her own and a highly impressive set of pipes. Even to this day, I still have very fond feelings about Cyndi Lauper's 'She's So Unusual' album.

If this article has made you feel nostalgic to replace your own old copy of 'She's So Unusual' or even if you want to buy it for the first time (for yourself or maybe for a creative pre-teen who might enjoy Lauper's positive message of fun self-expression), here are five online sources from which to acquire it:

http://www.cyndilauper.com

http://www.cyndilauperonline.com

http://www.amazon.com

http://www.cduniverse.com

http://www.discogs.com