— William Shaw
I don't remember the song that was playing. I don't even remember if any song was playing. But I can recall the first time I became aware of Madonna. This was an era of megastars. Michael Jackson had a still-massively popular album and was no less visible two years on from the release of Thriller. Prince was all over the place, the fun-sized minstrel wore little more than a leather jock strap and an a kerchief around his neck and, yet, one couldn't look away. Bruce Springsteen was the everyman who made it big and sang rock 'n' roll like it was keeping him on life support. Culture Club had a singer in drag who was nothing like we'd seen before. Duran Duran made it seem like being in a successful pop group was all anyone could ever dream of — and who could blame them?
But Madonna? She didn't stand out as easily, at least at first. It may have been the weakish voice but, as I say, I don't even think there had been a single of her's playing when I first encountered her. It could have been the fact that she wasn't stunningly pretty but I was seven or eight at the time and her looks didn't factor either way. Maybe it was image that failed to connect. In the end, it was probably all of the above since we already had Cyndi Lauper who managed to do it all much better.
Having spent the entirety of her twenties making of go of this pop business, Lauper suddenly found herself a star at thirty with the global hits "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Time After Time" as well as a giant-selling album She's So Unusual. At something of a loss, she struggled to follow it up but her innate ability to keep the focus on herself meant she was rarely out of the public consciousness. She stole the show on "We Are the World" (not a massive achievement but still) screeching at the top of her lungs and bouncing about like a hyperactive little girl as she stood between the sedate Huey Lewis and Kim Carnes. She was the best thing about the WWF's embarrassing Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, her feisty promos alongside Rowdy Roddy Piper and Captain Lou Albano being TV gold and her post-match celebrations with women's champion Wendi Richter were so jubilant that it almost looked like she wanted to be there. Her Goonies theme, "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", wasn't much cop at all but she was also the soundtrack's musical director and this led to The Bangles getting an early break.
With all that done in the interim, it must have been strange to finally be greeted by some proper work from her that was decidedly downbeat. Sure, she'd already done "Time After Time" but that was on the heals of an infectious pop hit. What was she doing returning with something so pained? This isn't the "kooky" Cydi we all know and love!
Nor is "True Colors" a great song. Lauper gives it her best and it's difficult to imagine it done better but those are some pretty bad lyrics she's been given. Just taking a look at them, it 's remarkable that she was able to get anything out of such drivel. I don't know if I'd go as far as William Shaw to say that they're "disgusting" but they're definitely gauche. It's often easy to read the words to a song and be able to sing along but that's not the case here. The use of meter is applied very inconsistently, as is rhyme. Lines often tail off even in the chorus. Having not heard it in years, I refamiliarised myself over the past week and I still find the trailing "...like a rainbow" to be so painfully awkward. But that's from studying the words; as Shaw says, Lauper transforms it into a "Work of Art". Being a singer with such a unique range, from "screaming away like a wild thing" to "whispering away as sweet as can be", she was the ideal choice to take something trite and turn it into something, well, not quite as trite. I don't imagine Anne Murray (the original choice of composers Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly; incidentally, I would expect something so banal to come from professional pop songwriters but not something so poorly crafted) would have been able to transcend it so effortlessly.
Lauper is proud of "True Colors", identifying it with the LGBTQ movement of which she's a strong supporter. It probably helps to have some meaning added on to this lightweight piece. It did give her a second US chart topper but her time at the top was beginning to wind down. Meanwhile Madonna kept her furious pace of recording, concerts and movies going as the spotlight shifted completely. Cyndi Lauper continues to do things her way and it's incredible to think that she still hasn't been honoured by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Who else managed to chip away at the big time, grabbed on to attention, made the most of her opportunity and did so much with so little as her?
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
Queen: "Who Wants to Live Forever"
Has there ever been a major group with such erratic material as Queen? For every "You're My Best Friend" and "Somebody to Love", there's a "Radio Ga-Ga" or a "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" to cock things up. It's simply amazing their first two Greatest Hits volumes are so popular since they're both so leaden with junk — particularly the second one. With all that said, isn't "Who Wants to Live Forever" incredible? Brian May and Lord Lucan of Mercury do what they both do best to the extent that colleagues John Deacon and Roger Taylor aren't even needed (though the latter is "credited" on Wikipedia with "playing" the drum machine so there is that). Soundtracking the excellent Highlander movie (and, indeed, all those rubbish sequels and TV tie-ins), it surprisingly wasn't a huge hit but it is now beloved by "all the family". Even those of us heretical Queen skeptics.
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