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When Grammy nominations were announced on January 10, 1985, Cyndi Lauper had the rare distinction of landing in each of the Big Four Categories. Her debut album, She’s So Unusual, received a nod for Album of the Year. Her singles Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Time After Time showed up in the Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories respectively. Lauper was acknowledge in the Best New Artist category as well. She also garnered nominations for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for “Girls”) and Best Recording Package, making her the first female artist since Bobbie Gentry in 1967 to receive at least five Grammy nominations.
She won the Best New Artist and Best Recording Package awards. She was also honored by MTV for Best Female Video of the Year for “Girls”, which also was nominated for Video of the Year. That video introduced her fun-loving, even cartoonish persona, but also showcased her ability to deliver a hook-laden song. It went top 10 in 19 countries and hit #1 in 10 countries. WK
On the flip side, second single “Time After Time” served up Lauper’s more sensitive side. The emotional ballad hit the top ten in 15 countries. WK “Time” has been covered by everyone from Everything But the Girl to Miles Davis, “if you need further proof of her credibility.” BB
Lauper also hit the top 5 in the U.S. with She Bop and All Through the Night, making her the first female singer to land four top 5 singles from one album on the Billboard Hot 100. WK A fifth single, Money Changes Everything, was a top 40 hit. They all helped propel the album to 6 million in U.S. sales and 16 million worldwide.
Far from being a guilt pleasure, Lauper’s She’s So Unusual should be acknowledged not as “self-deprecating or even self-parodying; it’s self-congratulatory.” BB The album displays “a giddy mix of self-confidence, effervescent popcraft, unabashed sentimentality, subversiveness, and clever humor” BB and is “one of the great new wave/early MTV records.” STE
Awards for She’s So Unusual:
- one of the top 1000 albums of all time according to Dave’s Music Database
- one of the top 100 albums of the 1980s
Awards for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”:
- one of the top 1000 songs of all time
- one of the RIAA’s top 365 songs of the 20th century
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll
- one of the top 100 videos of all time according to the DMDB
- one of the top 100 songs of the 1980s
Awards for “Time after Time”:
- one of the top 1000 songs of all time
- VH1’s top 100 songs of all time
- top 100 adult contemporary songs of all time
- one of the top 100 songs of the 1980s
Resources and Related Links:
- DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry for Cyndi Lauper
- DMDB page for She’s So Unusual
- BB Beth Bessmer, Amazon.com
- STE Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
- WK Wikipedia
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