Cyndi Lauper was a breath of fresh air back in the early 80s. The initial impression was of a squeaky voiced, diminutive bundle of energy with multi-coloured hair exploding in all directions. Her biggest hit, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, was a cover of a by-the-numbers 1979 post-punk track by Robert Hazard. Lauper filled it with proto-girl power pep and a New Wave sensibility that immediately improved it by several orders of magnitude.
The rest of the album is equally good, showing an impressive range to her vocals going from a very creditable 1920s style Betty Boop impression on He’s So Unusual to a heart breaking soaring performance on Time After Time.
Definitely one of the best and most underrated performers of the 80s, I think.
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