Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" album turns 35

This album was not a flop as it has been deemed in recent years. It was actually a strong album that had a number one single in the title track and Change of Heart which went to number three. It sold over two million in the US alone.

Boy Blue, in particular the Live in Paris performance, is mind blowing. The album is very of its time. Hat Full of Stars and SSU are by far her best albums. The label kind of left her alone for those. Because SSU was such a mega hit, the label execs swarmed all over the project. She has an interesting voice and definitely has a unique way of interpreting songs.

Change of Heart remains a classic. The Bangles elevated it with their harmonies. And it's so different to the original.

Billy Steinberg has some beef with Cyndi. Clearly he earned a ton of money from True Colours and every interview he mentions the lyrics he wrote about his mother that were rejected and he had to re-write. The experience of working with Cyndi on the A Night To Remember songs was not a positive one for him, unlike Susannah Hoffs and Chrissie Hynde.

True Blue all the way. I don’t think “true colors” is that great a song. “Time after time” is good. But there’s a reason Madonna was vastly more popular back then.

True Colors is such an "of the moment" album. It's not very good, and in general most of Cyndi's music has not aged well at all, whereas the majority of Madonna's music from that time period has. And I'm not a Madonna stan. I was a rabid Cyndi fan from the beginning and remained so for about 20 years, but I have found her music lacking, her attitude seriously cunty and the more she tries to diversify her sound, the more bland and forgettable her music becomes. And don't get me started on her covers album, which ranks as one of the worst ever. I barely ever listen to her music anymore, and if I choose anything, it's something super obscure like the pre-techno version of Fleetwood Mac's You make Lovin Fun, the Blue Angel album or deep cuts off A Night to Remember.

[quote]I was a rabid Cyndi fan from the beginning and remained so for about 20 years, but I have found her music lacking, her attitude seriously cunty and the more she tries to diversify her sound, the more bland and forgettable her music becomes.

I wouldn't go that far, but in recent years, it does seem more and more like her attitude was the real reason why her career stalled (something that I think she even admitted to in her book) and not the WWF wrestling thing, which for the longest time was the excuse given. She was much more liked and appreciated among her peers than Madonna was at the beginning.

I listened to True Colors yesterday and... yeah, she just didn't have the hits to sustain a long hit-making career. It was obvious either the creative well had dried up quickly or the label really took over because she already had two covers on this album (What's Going On, Iko Iko), which is not a good sign.

The album just doesn't have memorable songs outside the singles.

It's easy to see why Madonna had a longer career. She had better songs. True Blue had five top ten hits; True Colors had two.

I've mentioned this before in other threads, but I used to go see Cyndi in concert whenever she came around. I have seen her on every tour through I want to say Sisters of Avalon, and then I gave up. Every time I went to see her, she would start her show later and later, making everyone wait a ridiculous amount of time. Then she'd take the stage in a bitchy mood, start and stop songs because she thought her band was fucking up, admonish them onstage in front of all of us (when we could not hear any problem at all) and really come across like she'd rather be anywhere else. I get that people have off nights, but this was every time I saw her from 93-98. I finally stopped going because I was tired of paying to wait for her and then watch her abuse her band.

[quote]It's easy to see why Madonna had a longer career. She had better songs.

This. We love to shit on Madonna, many times deservedly, but she has a very strong discography (up to Confessions). Cyndi's discography pales in comparison.

I’m bumping this thread because I’m listening to this album right now for the first time ever.

I’m 34, I’ve been listening to “She’s So Unusual” since I was 16 and I love that album from the first album to the last.

This “True Colors” is bizarre.

I like it but at the same time, I don’t.

It’s weird because both Madonna and Cyndi did 1960’s girl group pop homage.

I like the very eccentric songs on this album. I really like “Calm Inside the Storm”.

But the song I like most is “The Faraway Nearby”. It’s such a weird song. It’s so 80’s and she’s doing some moments of Kate Bush. It almost sounds like the theme song from a cartoon.

Cyndi made a big mistake with her management early on in her career. He was a huge wrestling fan and wanted to be in the spotlight himself so it hindered her. This album, I believe, was her first effort after leaving him.

She was too gimmicky for long-term stardom

I disagree. I feel that the only songs that are of the same caliber as 1984/85 Lauper by Madonna are Borderline and Open Your Heart. The rest of Madonna is C grade hype.

You anti-Lauper people aren’t taking into consideration her heartbreak of psoriasis. You would be bitchy and temperamental too if you were stricken with unsightly, painfully itchy patches of skin that made it hard to go out there.

Not to mention that she would go on to write SHIT songs for Kinky Boots. Blech.

I LOVED "She's So Unusual" but "True Colors" felt like such a letdown when I bought it as soon as it hit the shops. It felt like such a "playing it safe" move and the lead single still sounds mawkish. That album is a perfect example of a record label stifling artist's creativity and sanding off all the rough edges that made her so interesting when she first appeared. Maybe she felt the pressure to establish herself as an A-lister giving Madonna a run for her money but it felt like such a misfire from which she never truly recovered with some exceptions here and there. In comparison to both "True Blue" and "Control",which came out the same year, it sounded so pedestrian.

Why Calm Inside The Storm wasn't released is a single is beyond me.

As a teen I remember thinking her version of What’s Goin’ On far surpassed Marvin’s. Then I grew up.

True Blue and Control really were far superior. Each album not only had massive hits but they had MULTIPLE massive hits.

True Colors has aged horribly. I could barely get through it when I revisited it.

Could never stand the way she pronounces rainbow as wainbow in the song. Dafuck?

It thounds fine to me!

I was a teenager in 1986 and purchased both True Blue and Control, but never even thought about buying True Colors. The title track was what I thought of as "mom music" and R20, "wainbow" bugged the shit out of me, as well.

I get so sick of people always declaring that an album several decades old “hasn’t aged well.” What the fuck?! Of course albums are going to sound dated after 35 years.🙄 That’s the whole point of appreciating older music - it lets you enjoy the sounds and styles that were popular at that time.

True Blue and Control aged well because the music was and is good.

True Colors sucked even back in 1986.

I think when people say an album hasn't aged well is because usually it is hindered by the excesses of the time. Too much synth or overdubs because producers had something new and flashy but over time is so dated it detracts from the music.

Cindy aged way better than Madonna

I bought it when it first came out. That and Tina Turner Break Every Rule were my fave albums during the fall of 1986. True Colors is and was a great track. Change of heart too.

She’s So Unusual was always going to be hard to follow. It stands as one of the greatest albums of all time. For that alone she has earned her place is music history.

With the exception of a few songs here and there (such as True Colors) she wouldn’t have another great album until Bring Ya To The Brink.

It was one of the first CDs I ever bought. Prior to that I bought stuff on cassette. I was 13 yrs old.

1. Madonna - True Blue

2. Cyndi Lauper - True Colors

3. Tina Turner - Break Every Rule

4. The Outfield - S/T

5. Sheena Easton - Do You

6. Olivia Newton- John - Soul Kiss

7. Prince & The Revolution - Parade

Madonna has aged like milk.

She's was a pop tart who thought she was the next Joni Mitchell. Fail.

She has always been a boutique singer, even though she was able to cash in as an oddball right out of the gate. It wasn't sustainable. She paid her dues before her big break, and seems to have remained the same quirky, cisgender singer we bopped along to all those years ago.

And r29's mom and dad were like "there can no longer be any doubt that our son is a homosexual."

Cyndi took too long in between albums. Her and Madonna both released their debuts in 1983, and Madonna released Like a Virgin in 1984 and then True Blue in 1986 when Cyndi finally released her second album.

True Colors had good singles, but the rest was filler. Also, she should have updated her look by that point.

Change Of Heart was the only good song on that album. As another poster said, True Colors was such a "mom" song, like Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings.

"WAAAAINBOW"

[quote]I get so sick of people always declaring that an album several decades old “hasn’t aged well.” What the fuck?! Of course albums are going to sound dated after 35 years.🙄 That’s the whole point of appreciating older music - it lets you enjoy the sounds and styles that were popular at that time.

True Blue, Control and to a lesser extent True Colours (I'm British) have all aged well - all 3 albums contain classic pop songs that were clearly produced in the mid 80s.

Venus, Take My Breath Away, Chain Reaction, Higher Love, Manic Monday, You Keep Me Hangin' On, Human, even Smamfa Fox's Touch Me (Like A Tramp In The Night) are all of the same era and compliment Madonna, Cyndi and Janet.

This constant desire to put down one woman to demonstrate appreciate for another is one of gay men's worst features.

[quote] Cyndi took too long in between albums. Her and Madonna both released their debuts in 1983, and Madonna released Like a Virgin in 1984 and then True Blue in 1986 when Cyndi finally released her second album.

She's So Unusual was released in October of 1983. It had 5 singles, with the last one peaking in spring of 1985, then she had the song from The Goonies over the summer. True Colors was released a year later. Also, The Fun Tour lasted all of 1984. Madonna didn't tour with her first album and The Virgin Tour was only 2 months.

[quote] I think when people say an album hasn't aged well is because usually it is hindered by the excesses of the time. Too much synth or overdubs because producers had something new and flashy but over time is so dated it detracts from the music.

That is true. Every dance song in the late 80s/early 90s has that same synth sound heard at the :09 mark.