This is classic albums from the 80s week. This week will be classic albums from the MTV era. The classic album of the day from the 80s is Shes So Unusual (1983) by Cyndi Lauper. Shes So Unusual is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released on October 14, 1983 by Portrait Records. The album was re-released in 2014 to commemorate its thirtieth anniversary, and was called Shes So Unusual: A 30th Anniversary Celebration. The re-release contains demos and remixes of previously released material, as well as new artwork. In 1978, Lauper formed the band Blue Angel. The band soon signed a recording contract with Polydor Records; however, their debut album, Blue Angel, was a commercial failure. The band parted ways after firing their manager, who sued Lauper for $80,000 and forced her into bankruptcy. Lauper went on to sing in many New York night clubs, and caught the eye of David Wolf, who became her manager and subsequently got her signed to Portrait Records. The album is primarily new wave-based, with many of the songs being influenced by synthpop and pop rock. Upon its release, the album received positive reviews from music critics, who noted Laupers unique vocals. Lauper earned several awards and accolades for the album, including two Grammy Awards at the 27th Grammy Awards, one of which was for Best New Artist. Shes So Unusual peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and stayed in the charts top forty for sixty-five weeks. It has sold over 6 million copies in the United States and 22 million copies worldwide. This makes it Laupers best-selling album to date and one of the best-selling albums of the 1980s decade. The album was the second best-selling album in Canada by a female artist in 1980s, behind Whitney Houstons self titled debut album, selling more than 900,000 copies. The album ranked at #487 on Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, and ranked at #41 on Rolling Stones list of Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2012. Seven singles were released from the album, with Girls Just Want to Have Fun becoming a worldwide hit and her first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Time After Time became her first number-one hit on the chart and experienced similar success worldwide. Lauper found success with the next two singles as well, with both She Bop and All Through the Night peaking in the top five. This makes Lauper the first female singer to have four top five singles on the Hot 100 from one album. Shes So Unusual was promoted by the Fun Tour throughout 1983 and 1984. The lead single from the album was Girls Just Want to Have Fun, released on September 6, 1983. This single achieved great success in the United States with its music video in heavy rotation on several stations, and it eventually peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. It received Platinum certification from the RIAA for sales of 2,000,000 copies. The single was a success internationally, reaching the top ten in 19 countries and number one in 10 countries, including; Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Brazil and Norway. Girls Just Want to Have Fun received nominations at the 1985 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and won Best Female Video at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, among several nominations. Time After Time was the second single released from the album, and was released in April 1984. It repeated the success of the previous single and spent two consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot 100, becoming Laupers first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually spending a total of 20 weeks on the chart and receiving Gold certification from the RIAA for 1,000,000 copies sold. Like the previous single, Time After Time was an international success and reached the top ten in 15 countries. The song received a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year. The third single from the album was She Bop, released on July 2, 1984. This single reached number three on the Hot 100, becoming her third consecutive top five hit, and spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart. With sales of over 1,000,000 copies, the song was certified gold by the RIAA. The single proved to be another international success for Lauper, reaching the top ten in 8 countries. She Bop was controversial upon release and placed at number 15 on the PMRCs Filthy Fifteen. All Through the Night was the fourth single released from the album, released in September 1984. Like Laupers previous three singles, All Through The Night reached the top five of the Hot 100 with a peak of number five. The song was a moderate international success, reaching the top ten in 6 countries, and received Gold certification in Canada. The fifth single from the album was Money Changes Everything, released in December 1984. It was a moderate success and reached number #27 on the Hot 100, Laupers first single to not reach the top ten. The sixth single from the album was Ill Kiss You, released on August 11, 1984. It was released as a promotional single only, and as such, was ineligible to enter the Hot 100. The seventh and final single from the album was a cover of the Prince song, When You Were Mine, released on January 31, 1985 in Canada and Japan and as a promotional single in the United States. It achieved little success, reaching number #62 on the Canadian Singles Chart.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 17:33:30 +0000
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