Search - Cyndi Lauper :: Time After Time: The Best of Cyndi Lauper

Missing "Money"

Gregor von Kallahann | 12/17/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've probably posted this story before in a review of one of Cyndi Lauper's albums, so I won't belabor it here. But the thing that convinced me that Cyndi was a good as I had been hearing (and reading) back in 1984 was not either of the first two hit singles played constantly on the radio (good as "Girls Just Wanna..." and "Time After Time" were). I had no idea what a commanding singer she could be until I walked into a record store where they were playing "Money Changes Everything" on the stereo. It was one of thos "aha" moments you hear about. So that's what they were talking about. I stood riveted as she wailed out those final beautifully angry notes. As scorching a vocal eruption as anything Janis had ever put to record.



Ever since I've been fan, whether it was the hip thing to be or not. When others were writing her off as a cute novelty act, I was championing Cyndi Lauper as a great singer. My diva pantheon is select and a bit quirky, but for me Cyndi was right up there with Janis, Grace, Judy Henske, Nico, Laura Nyro and Tracy Nelson (no, NOT the actress, silly).



But it was that one song that made a believer out of me, so imagine my disappointment when this German "best of" import left it out. I mean, I won't argue with too many of the songs that did make it onto this disc, and maybe it's kind of a European thing. It's hard to imagine "Money..." being left off of ANY American compilation (so far it has not, to my knowledge). But it did not make it onto this Deutsche disc nor its French equivalent (LES INDISPENSIBLES).



Unlike the American (and British) 12 DEADLY CYNS, this compilation is a little less heavily weighted toward SHE'S SO UNUSUAL. Well, actually both had five tracks from the first solo album, but this European product at least gives the sophomore effort TRUE COLORS equal representation with five tracks from that one. The oft maligned and always underrated NIGHT TO REMEMBER is at least represented by two songs, and it's nice to see that aside from "I Drove All Night" (still the best version for my money) the brooding, very grown-up sound that album introduced is captured by one of its better ballads, "I Don't Want To Be Your Friend," on which Cyndi surprised many by sounding uncannily like Joan Armatrading.



The more recent American release THE ESSENTIAL CYNDI LAUPER also includes the much in demand "Goonies R Good Enough," so its inclusion here may no longer be reason enough for fans to shell out for this import. However, TIME AFTER TIME does offer another much sought after rarity, the European single "The World Is Stone." This gorgeously sombre composition has also finally appeared on an American CD--oddly a budgetline Christmas CD entitled "Feels Like Christmas," which is certainly inexpensive, but the Gallic gloom seems totally out of place on a holiday CD. It's like mixing absinthe in the egg nog.



And here it's all of a piece with such other bits of tristesse as "True Colors" and "Time After Time." It hangs together beautifully. Whoever determined the sequence of the songs did a masterful job by wisely throwing chronology out the window (pretty much) and coming up with a record that flows pretty much seamlessly from beginning to end.



But then it works pretty well on random select too. A testament ot Cyndi's talent for sure. And the entire CD is a testament to her universal appeal, I'd say. Too bad she lacks the recognition in this country that the Europeans and Japanese have accorded her since the beginning."

Missing "Money"...Otherwise Fine

Gregor von Kallahann | 10/19/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"
I've probably posted this story before in a review of one of Cyndi Lauper's albums, so I won't belabor it here. But the thing that convinced me that Cyndi was a good as I had been hearing (and reading) back in 1984 was not either of the first two hit singles played constantly on the radio (good as "Girls Just Wanna..." and "Time After Time" were). I had no idea what a commanding singer she could be until I walked into a record store where they were playing "Money Changes Everything" on the stereo. It was one of thos "aha" moments you hear about. So that's what they were talking about. I stood riveted as she wailed out those final beautifully angry notes. As scorching a vocal eruption as anything Janis had ever put to record.



Ever since I've been fan, whether it was the hip thing to be or not. When others were writing her off as a cute novelty act, I was championing Cyndi Lauper as a great singer. My diva pantheon is select and a bit quirky, but for me Cyndi was right up there with Janis, Grace, Judy Henske, Nico, Laura Nyro and Tracy Nelson (no, NOT the actress, silly).



But it was that one song that made a believer out of me, so imagine my disappointment when this German "best of" import left it out. I mean, I won't argue with too many of the songs that did make it onto this disc, and have to wonder if maybe it's not just a kind of European thing. It's hard to imagine "Money..." being left off of ANY American compilation (so far it has not, to my knowledge). But it did not make it onto this Deutsche disc nor its French equivalent (LES INDISPENSIBLES).



Unlike the American (and British) 12 DEADLY CYNS, this compilation is a little less heavily weighted toward SHE'S SO UNUSUAL. Well, actually both had five tracks from the first solo album, but this European product at least gives the sophomore effort TRUE COLORS equal representation with five tracks from that one. The oft maligned and always underrated NIGHT TO REMEMBER is at least represented by two songs, and it's nice to see that aside from "I Drove All Night" (still the best version for my money) the brooding, very grown-up sound that album introduced is captured by one of its better ballads, "I Don't Want To Be Your Friend," on which Cyndi surprised many by sounding uncannily like Joan Armatrading.



The more recent American release THE ESSENTIAL CYNDI LAUPER also includes the much in demand "Goonies R Good Enough," so its inclusion here may no longer be reason enough for fans to shell out for this import. However, TIME AFTER TIME does offer another much sought after rarity, the European single "The World Is Stone." This gorgeously sombre composition has also finally appeared on an American CD--oddly a budgetline Christmas CD entitled "Feels Like Christmas," which is certainly inexpensive, but the Gallic gloom seems totally out of place on a holiday CD. It's like mixing absinthe in the egg nog.



And here it's all of a piece with such other bits of tristesse as "True Colors" and "Time After Time." It hangs together beautifully. Whoever determined the sequence of the songs did a masterful job by wisely throwing chronology out the window (pretty much) and coming up with a record that flows pretty much seamlessly from beginning to end.



But then it works pretty well on random select too. A testament ot Cyndi's talent for sure. And the entire CD is a testament to her universal appeal, I'd say. Too bad she lacks the recognition in this country that the Europeans and Japanese have accorded her since the beginning

"