8/14/09
Deconstructing Cyndi
The River 105.9, broadcasting somewhere in Connecticut, does terrible things like truncate Zeppelin guitar solos but it does have a nightly 'Acoustic After Dark' show that is fascinating. They play live performances from the most random assortment of artists: The Beatles, Asia, Cyndi Lauper to name a few. It was listening to Cyndi perform an acoustic 'True Colors' that I got to thinking: how did she make it so big? In the retrospect-o-scope, she seems so average. Was it really that we thought she was so unusual when the world had already known Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Tina Turner, Patty Smith? Or maybe it's that she was a little bit quirky and unselfconscious thus channeling our collective inner dork? Perhaps she just wrote/performed some unbelievably catchy pop songs that stand on their own. But I'd argue that even then -- and certainly now -- 'True Colors' is the only song that was listenable. Am I singling out Cyndi unfairly here? I dont know, I can even listen to some Phil Collins songs today (Easy Lover is an all-time classic).
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4 comments:
First off -- I can't believe you reference "True Colors" without referencing Ted Kim.
Inexcusable.
Second, I think Cyndi was the Avirl Lavigne of her time. She bridged the gap between punk and pop. Little girls who wanted to dress like a punk rocker could do so, while their parents could only be so upset by "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Avril looked like a disaffected Sk8tr grl but sang syrupy crap like Taylor Swift.
I agree that True Colors is the only tolerable song by Lauper, by that is only the second song I can remember by her.
Third, I have to give her props for the WWF deal with Captain Lou Albano. That bit of nonsense is a great example of why I love and hate the 80s.
I thought she was the Gwen Stefani of her time, but pretty much for the same reasons.
Don, you're right, terrible oversight. Ted, if you're out there, sing us a few bars.
It's funny -- I think I didn't get the fact that Cyndi was supposed to be punk, pseudo-punk or quasi punk. But everyone else did apparently. I thought the hair was just supposed to be zany. But definitely whatever the image was supposed to be, the music was pure pop.
Captain Lou -- he was like a human cartoon. Was there any link btw Lou and Lyle Alzado or did they just *kinda* look alike and both show up in bad movies?
Julie, the Stefani link is probably more apt. Avril doesn't seem nearly as much fun as Cyndi or Gwen -- and maybe she has more of an edge.
How much street cred will I lose with Will, when he finds out that I kinda sorta really like Gwen Stefani....
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