SWIK Icon Series: The girl still wants to have fun

After her performance on last month’s final episode of American Idol, some may say she’s back. In fact, she never left us. 1980’s indie-pop icon, Cyndi Lauper has been putting out albums - 12 to be specific - for years. It started with the party anthem, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” in 1983. Since then, she’s done everything from rock to big band. (We’ll forgive her unfortunate foray into WWF). I discovered she had a new album in the previously mentioned dance class (see Trina’s Single Again post), where we warmed up to “Into The Nightlife” a few months ago. It’s a high energy dance tune, but does the rest of the album hold up?

Released last year, Bring Ya To The Brink is straight ahead dance music with a steady techno beat. She collaborated on the album with some heavy hitters in the international club scene including Basement Jax, Dragonette, Digital Dog, Scum Frog, Kleerup, DJ EMZ, and Rich Morel. Despite the crazy names, these are the DJs and producers who re-mix songs to get you onto the dance floor. I want to point out that this woman is well past fifty. She is still kickin' it and creating a new sound for herself with this crew. “Into The Nightlife” is a stand out dance tune that will keep you moving. The rest of the album doesn’t disappoint. It’s catchy and danceable, yet captures some of her '80’s roots. Unlike a lot of club music, her lyrics are often intense and deep, not simplistic and repetitive which is standard for the genre.

“Same Ol' Story” is one of my favorites on the album, which turns out to be about the “same old fucking story” (hence an Explicit Lyrics sticker on the album). Cyndi doesn’t hold back. We still hear her in-your-face personality coming through as it did when she first hit the air waves and MTV. "Rocking Chair" is another example. A few of the songs from Bring Ya To The Brink were hits in the gay club scene. Cyndi has a long-standing relationship with the gay community. Her song “True Colors” has become a ballad for gay pride, which leads me to the album of the same title.

While “True Colors” is a beautiful song and highlights her strong vocals, it’s “Change of Heart” from the same album that can still shake me to the core. With Nile Rogers on guitar and backing vocals from the Bangles, it’s an outstanding pop-rock hit fraught with emotion. Other collaborators on the True Colors album included Billy Joel, Aimee Mann, and Adrian Belew. “Faraway Nearby” and “Calm Inside The Storm” are still favorites of mine. Her covers of “Iko Iko” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” are surprisingly solid.

Speaking of cover tunes, I’ll close with something unexpected, her 2003 album At Last. When this album came out, I could not stop listening to it. Dedicated to the people from the neighborhood where she grew up, Ozone Park (Queens, NYC), the album is a collection of standards and classics. While she doesn’t quite match Etta James, her cover of “At Last” provides a unique interpretation and outshines the recent version by Beyoncé. Other songs include “Walk On By,” “My Baby Just Cares For Me,” and a duet of “Makin’ Whoopee” with Tony Bennett. I highly recommend the album, but also encourage you to go back and pull out her first two albums, She’s So Unusual and True Colors. If you only want her hits, Twelve Deadly Cyns and Then Some is a nice compilation, but you’ll miss some of her truly great work.

Either way, start the conga line around the kitchen table, pull out your puffy crinoline skirt, and call your friends, because even twenty years later...girls still wanna have fun! You know they just wanna.

See and Hear Music in this Blog
Time After Time with Allison Iraheta
Into The Nightlife
Change of Heart
At Last


Recommended Albums
She's So Unusual
True Colors
At Last
Bring Ya To The Brink