CYNDI LAUPER - GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

Publicació: 1983

Llistes: Regne Unit: #2 EUA: #2

Cindy Lauper va començar la seva carrera a la banda Blue Angel, que va publicar només un àlbum al 1980 abans de separar-se. Va haver de fer de venedora, encara que ocasionalment feia alguna actuació, fins que l'any 1981 va ser vista en un club pel seu futur manager, que li va oferir un contracte amb CBS. Al 1983 va debutar en solitari amb "She's So Unusual", l'àlbum que conté "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" i el seu altre gran èxit "Time After Time", que de seguida la va convertir en l'artista femenina més original de principis dels 80. tant per la seva actitud com pel seu notable talent vocal.

"Girls Just Want to have Fun" es converteix en el primer senzill de l'àlbum i el vídeo fet per promocionar la cançó va tenir una gran repercussió a la recentment inaugurada MTV, empenyent "She's So Unusual" al capdamunt de les llistes d’èxit. Lauper va escriure moltes de les seves cançons, però aquesta no. Com "I will survive", és una cançó de girl power escrita per un home. La cançó la va escriure Robert Hazard, publicada l'any 1979 i tractava sobre. el punt de vista masculí quan estàs envoltat de noies que volen divertir-se. En una entrevista a Rolling Stone, Lauper va dir que havia alterat la lletra de Hazard. "Originalment es tractava de la sort que tenia perquè era un noi rodejat de noies que volien passar-s'ho bé" amb ell. Cindy va reprendre la cançó, la va modificar i va canviar el punt de vista, centrant-se en el que podria ser la perspectiva femenina: les noies no són menys que els nois amb el desig de diversió. La cantant sempre havia estat feminista i amb aquella cançó va aconseguir plantejar les seves idees sobre la igualtat de drets entre homes i dones. La versió de Lauper va guanyar reconeixement com a himne feminista.

Aquesta cançó va ser el gran èxit de Lauper i es va convertir en un èxit mundial a finals de 1983 i principis de 1984. Es considera una de les cançons indispensables de Lauper i va ser una de les cançons més populars dels anys 80. La cançó va ser una part fonamental en la cultura d’aquells anys. Es va convertir en un himne per a l'actitud femenina i va marcar tendències de moda, ja que el vídeo mostrava a Lauper amb roba vistosa i escandalosa que semblava treta d'una botiga de segona mà. Va preparar l'escenari per a artistes com Madonna: dones independents que porten roba barata però de moda amb gust pels accessoris cridaners.

Lauper no volia gravar aquesta cançó, però el seu productor, Rick Chertoff, estava convençut que podria convertir-se en el seu himne. El repte per a Lauper era esbrinar com cantar-lo. Va acabar adaptant la seva veu a l'estil de l‘èxit dels anys 50 "Let the good times roll" de Shirley & Lee, que Shirley Goodman cantava amb una veu aguda. Ellie Greenwich va fer els cors de suport i va crear el contrapunt idoni per a Lauper. Greenwich va ser una compositora llegendaria que va treballar amb Phil Spector en moltes cançons clàssiques dels anys 60, com ara "Be my baby" i "Leader of the pack". Altres cançons en què va cantar inclouen "Evil Woman" d'Electric Light Orchestra i "Dreamin'" de Blondie.

El vídeo, que es passava constantment a MTV, presenta el Capità Lou Albano com el pare de Lauper, i també a la seva mare en la vida real, que no tenia experiència actuant però ho va fer bé. El clip va guanyar el premi al millor vídeo femení als MTV Video Music Awards de 1984. Al vídeo la Cindy s'enfronta a la submisa mare, colpejant contra la paret ofesa amb el pare. Després de contactar amb els seus amics, engega un carrusel als carrers que creix fins que la seva habitació explota. El moment en què tots els convidats a la festa es mostren al vídeo caient en una pila quan s'obre la porta, es va fer com a homenatge a una escena similar de la clàssica pel·lícula dels germans Marx "A Night at the Opera". La idea de la cantant era que els amics de la protagonista havien de ser de totes les races i classes socials, per aquest motiu "Girls just Want to have Fun" es considera el primer vídeo multirracial de la història.

La cançó es va publicar a finals de 1983, però gran part del seu èxit a les llistes es va produir durant la primera meitat de 1984. El senzill va arribar al Top 10 a més de 25 països dels quals va arribar al número 1 en deu.

CYNDI LAUPER - GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

Released: 1983

Charted:  UK: #2  US: #2

Cindy Lauper began his career in the band Blue Angel, which released only one album in 1980 before splitting up. She became a saleswoman, still performing occasionally, until she was noticed in 1981 in a club by her future manager, who gave her a contract with CBS. In 1983 she debuted solo with “She’s So Unusual”, the album that contains “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” and her other great success “Time After Time”, which immediately set her as the most original female artist of the early 80s, both for her colourful and bizarre attitude and for her remarkable vocal talents.

“Girls Just Want to have Fun” becomes the first single of the album and the video made to promote the song went in heavy rotation on the newborn MTV, pushing “She’s So Unusual” at the top of the charts. Lauper co-wrote many of her own songs, but not this one. Like "I will survive" it's a girl power song written by a man. The song was originally written by Robert Hazard, published in 1979 and it highlighted the male point of view when you are surrounded by girls who want to have fun. Speaking with Rolling Stone, Lauper said that she had to alter the lyrics from Hazard's original. "It was originally about how fortunate he was 'cause he was a guy around these girls that wanted to have 'fun' - with him - down there, which we do not speak lest we go blind," she said. Cindy resumed the song, modified it and shifted the point of view, focusing on what could be the female perspective: girls are not less than boys in wish for fun. The singer had always been a feminist and with that song she managed to raise her ideas on equal rights between men and women. Lauper's version gained recognition as a feminist anthem. 

This song was Lauper's breakthrough hit and becoming a worldwide hit throughout late 1983 and early 1984. It is considered one of Lauper's signature songs and was a widely popular song during the 80s. The song was a huge part of '80s culture. It became an anthem for female attitude and set fashion trends as the video showed Lauper wearing bright, outrageous clothes that looked like they came from a thrift store. It set the stage for artists like Madonna: independent women wearing cheap, yet fashionable clothes with a taste for garish accessories.

Lauper didn't want to record this song, but her producer, Rick Chertoff, was convinced it could become her anthem. The challenge for Lauper was figuring out how to sing it. She ended up doing her vocal in the style of the '50s hit "Let the good times roll" by Shirley & Lee, which Shirley Goodman sings in a high-pitched voice. Ellie Greenwich sang backup vocals and helped come up with the distinctive counterpoint. Greenwich was a legendary songwriter who worked with Phil Spector on many classic songs of the '60s, including “Be my baby” and “Leader of the pack”. Other songs she sang on include "Evil Woman" by Electric Light Orchestra and "Dreamin'" by Blondie.

The video, which ran constantly on MTV, features the wrestler Captain Lou Albano as Lauper's father, and also Lauper's real-life mother, who had no acting experience but did just fine. It won the first ever award for Best Female Video at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. In the video Cindy confronts the gray and submissive mother, hitting against the wall raised by the father. After contacting her friends, she starts a carousel in the streets that grows up until her room was exploding. When all of the party guests in the video are shown falling out of the bedroom in a pile when the door is opened, it was a tribute to a similar scene from the classic Marx Brothers film “A Night at the Opera”. The idea of the singer was that the protagonist’s friends must have embrace all racial and social extractions and for this reason “Girls just Want to have Fun” is considered the first multi-racial video in history.

The song was released in late 1983 but much of its success on the charts came during the first half of 1984. The single reached the Top 10 in over 25 countries 

and reached No. 1 in ten of those countries.