She's So Unusual

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She's So Unusual
She's So Unusual cover
Studio album by Cyndi Lauper
Released December 1983
Recorded 1983
Genre Pop
Label Portrait Records
RK-38930
Producer Rick Chertoff, William Wittman
Professional reviews
Cyndi Lauper chronology
She's So Unusual
(1983)		 True Colors
(1986)

She's So Unusual was the solo debut album by American 1980s iconic pop singer Cyndi Lauper.

Contents

[edit] Album information

The album, released in 1983 (see 1983 in music), catapulted Lauper to stardom with such hits as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "She Bop" and "Time After Time". As of 2002 it has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard pop albums chart (US), and stayed in the top-forty of the Billboard 200 for sixty-five weeks; remaining on the charts for 172 weeks.

With a series of quirky videos, Lauper dominated MTV for several months. Her bizarre fashion, consisting of multiple layers of thrift store clothing and dozens of accessories, influenced fashion for the last half of the 1980s.

The album was nominated for five Grammies: Record of the Year (Girls Just Want To Have Fun), Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (Girls Just Want To Have Fun), Song of the Year (Time After Time), Album of the Year, and Best New Artist, winning the last one. Lauper also became the first female artist to have 4 simultaneous top five singles on both the USA Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and the UK top 75 singles chart.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 494 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Money Changes Everything" (Tom Gray) – 5:06
  2. "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" (Robert Hazard) – 3:58
  3. "When You Were Mine" (Prince) – 5:06
  4. "Time After Time" (Rob Hyman, Lauper) – 4:03
  5. "She Bop" (Rick Chertoff, Gary Corbett, Lauper, Stephen Broughton Lunt) – 3:51
  6. "All Through The Night" (Jules Shear) – 4:33
  7. "Witness" (Lauper, John Turi) – 3:40
  8. "I'll Kiss You" (Lauper, Shear) – 4:12
  9. "He's So Unusual" (Al Sherman, Al Lewis, Abner Silver) – 0:45
  10. "Yeah Yeah" (H. Huss, Mikael Rickfors) – 3:18

  11. "Money Changes Everything" (Gray) – 4:35 (Live) (From the Portrait Promotional 12-inch)
  12. "She Bop" (Chertoff, Corbett, Lauper, Lunt) – 5:20 (Live)
  13. "All Through The Night" (Shear) – 4:48 (Live)

  • Tracks 11 to 13 are bonus tracks on the 2000 remastered version.
  • "Right Track, Wrong Train" (Lauper, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Kent) was recorded for the album but only appeared on the b-side of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"

[edit] Singles

# Title Date
1. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" 1984
2. "Time after Time" 1984
3. "She Bop" 1984
4. "All Through the Night" 1984
5. "Money Changes Everything" 1984
6. "I'll Kiss You" 1984 Promo Only
7. "When You Were Mine" 1985

[edit] Personnel

  • Cyndi Lauper - Arranger, Vocals, Vocals (background), Reissue Producer, *Concept, Cover Art Concept
  • Jules Shear - Vocals, Vocals (background)
  • Ellie Greenwich - Vocals, Vocals (background)
  • John Agnello - Engineer, Assistant Engineer
  • Eric Bazilian - Bass, Guitar, Arranger, Guitar (Bass), Saxophone, *Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Hooter
  • Rick Chertoff - Percussion, Arranger, Producer
  • Krystal Davis - Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
  • Rick DiFonzo - Guitar
  • Anton Fig - Percussion, Drums
  • Rob Hyman - Arranger, Keyboards, Vocals (bckgr)
  • John Jansen - Engineer
  • Neil Jason - Bass, Guitar
  • George Marino - Reissue Mastering
  • Rod O'Brien - Engineer
  • Lennie Petze - Producer, Executive Producer, Reissue Producer
  • Maretha Stewart - Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
  • [Richard Termini][1] - Synthesizer
  • Diane Wilson - Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
  • William Wittman - Guitar, Producer, Engineer, Associate Producer
  • Peter Wood - Synthesizer
  • Dan Beck - Product Manager
  • Amy Linden - Liner Notes
  • Janet Perr - Art Direction, Design, Concept, Cover Art Concept
  • Justin Ware - Hair Stylist

[edit] Chart performance

Chart (1983/1984) Peak
Position
Australia albums chart 3
Austria albums chart 5
Chile albums chart 2
Colombia albums chart 1
Germany albums chart 23
Holland albums chart 21
Italy albums chart 21
Japanese albums chart 5
New Zealand albums chart 10
Norway albums chart 4
Sweden albums chart 22
Switzerland albums chart 8
UK albums chart 4
USA Billboard 200 4
USA Billboard 200 Year-End (1984) 11
USA Billboard 200 Year-End (1985) 28

[edit] Certifications

Country Certification
Australia 7x Platinum
Canada 8x Platinum
France Platinum
Germany Platinum
Italy Platinum
Japan 3x Platinum
Philippines 2x Platinum
Switzerland Platinum
UK 2x Platinum
USA 6x Platinum