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"The suits wrecked the f***ing music business." New Cyndi interview promoting UK tour *****
Paul Burston Cyndi Lauper likes to talk. She can talk for America. And England. And Italy. It’s the end of a long international press day and I’m told that Cyndi is running about 15 minutes late. Then 30. Then 45. Then a whole hour. But this isn’t sulky divaish behaviour The woman who sold 16 million copies of her debut album She’s So Unusual in 1984 is back on a high. She has topped the American Billboard dance chart with Same Ol F***ing Story (there’s no swearing in the title of the UK version, but plenty in the song and sprinkled in her conversation). She welcomes me into her room at the Mayfair Hotel, dressed in a black dress and grey military jacket, blonde hair slicked back. Her make-up looks subtle but later she confesses: “Someone painted my face for an hour to make me look this good.” She appears nothing like her 55 years. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting,” she says earnestly. “But when I get into an interesting conversation with someone, I just can’t seem to finish on time, y’know? It drives my manager crazy.” Lauper rolls her eyes and orders us some drinks. The last time I saw her she nearly knocked my drink over. It was five years ago at the Café de Paris. She was show-casing her album of covers At Last, and was clambering on my table as she sang Unchained Melody. “Were you scared?” she asks, still looking and sounding as cute as Betty Boop. “ ’Cos a lot of people were scared.” At the time, the huge success of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and She Bop was a distant memory, and people were also scared of letting her make another record. “That album was a side project,” she says. “But then I wanted to do my own record, and the record company were like, ‘Oh, we want you to do another cover record.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t f***ing think so.’ Then I bumped into Jeff Beck and we had this idea to do a blues album together, but they said no. Then they wanted me to do an Eighties record and I was like, ‘Hey, these songs weren’t even as big as mine in the Eighties. What the hell am I doing covering them? I might as well cover myself.’ What can I tell you? They didn’t have faith in me as an artist. They were just a load of suits, and it was the suits who wrecked the f***ing music business.” In many ways, Lauper is still the opposite of her big Eighties rival Madonna. Where Madonna often comes across as brittle and defensive in interviews, Lauper speaks freely. Where Madonna continues to market herself primarily as a sex object, Lauper has always been a singer first. But like Madonna, Lauper has gone back to the dancefloor, and she has done so aided by a series of European co-writers and co-producers, and by becoming a bit of an anglophile. Collaborators on the new album Bring Ya to the Brink include Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Dragonette and the Scum Frog. So how did it come about? “I tried writing a few things but they weren’t working. So one day my manager said to me, ‘Go to England. Go to Europe. Just go away.’ Just like all the great writers and artists, right? So this became my European period. I already had the movie playing in my head. So I came to Kent. Then I went to Paris. I did my own laundry. I didn’t have a minder. I was free. “But first I hung out with [the electro-house production duo] Digital Dog. And that’s when it occurred to me, driving to Kent, that here they not only drive on the other side of the road, but they sing on the other side of the beat. Americans always sing a little after the beat, but not the English. They’re right on it. So we started writing together and we came up with the idea of a dance record about someone living 9 to 5. “I kept asking, what are we writing about and who is the person singing, and what’s her story? Because every time you get on a dancefloor, you’re dancing with somebody, but you’re also dancing with the singer. And who’s the singer? So as I’m writing I’m thinking, who is this girl? Well, she’s in her apartment, she’s getting ready to go out, she’s working class, and she’s English. So suddenly it’s my English period.” She enjoyed working with Digital Dog. “They were the first guys I worked with on the album. At first I thought they were gay, but they’re not.” Lauper, of course, is very popular with gays. “But I hate that expression,” she says. Like they are not quite real people.” Unlike some artists, who turn up at GAY or produce an album for the gay fans whenever the hits dry up, Lauper’s commitment to the cause is genuine. Her sister Elen is a lesbian, and for a few years in her teens Cyndi tried to convince herself that she was, too. “My sister was gay, my best friends were gay, so I figured I had to be gay. So I did everything they did. I tried kissing girls. But it didn’t feel right for me and eventually I was forced to come out as a heterosexual.” In 2007 she launched an annual True Colours tour, which this year features artists including the B52s and Andy Bell, and helps to raise awareness of homophobia. “This community for me is my beloved community,” she says. “This is not a money-making venture. I have been running with this community all my life, and when I hear people like George Bush talk about the gay community being antiAmerican it makes my blood boil. “The guy who saved the White House, one of the heroes who crashed that plane on 9/11, was gay – the rugby player Mark Bingham, who died on United 93. And does Bush ever mention that? Does he f***! That gay guy saved his lousy ass. And this guy who says he prays to God, this guy who promotes hate and fear, this guy we call our President . . . This guy is the true antiAmerican.” [Edited 10/6/08 7:27am] “The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them, inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.”
- Thomas Jefferson | |
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I've always respected Cyndi for being herself. In the time when they've tried to make Madonna pt 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on, Cyndi has stayed true to herself "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." |
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Right on, Cyndi! | |
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I love her 
 I'm firmly planted in denial |
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Well its gonna take the more seasoned artists to save what is left of this industry. Honestly with the economy right now in recession, it looks as if that is going to get worse day by day. I think you will see companies start to fold in the next few months leading to total chaos, and i think there will be a day when everyone is free and on their own label or cutting their own deals with retailers. I think the USA is done as far as being the leader in the market, it needs to check itself in the mirror, its a done deal, we are not the SUPER POWER we preached we always were, that day is long gone, time to let it crash and then rebuild "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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midnightmover said: *****
Paul Burston Cyndi Lauper likes to talk. She can talk for America. And England. And Italy. It’s the end of a long international press day and I’m told that Cyndi is running about 15 minutes late. Then 30. Then 45. Then a whole hour. But this isn’t sulky divaish behaviour The woman who sold 16 million copies of her debut album She’s So Unusual in 1984 is back on a high. She has topped the American Billboard dance chart with Same Ol F***ing Story (there’s no swearing in the title of the UK version, but plenty in the song and sprinkled in her conversation). She welcomes me into her room at the Mayfair Hotel, dressed in a black dress and grey military jacket, blonde hair slicked back. Her make-up looks subtle but later she confesses: “Someone painted my face for an hour to make me look this good.” She appears nothing like her 55 years. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting,” she says earnestly. “But when I get into an interesting conversation with someone, I just can’t seem to finish on time, y’know? It drives my manager crazy.” Lauper rolls her eyes and orders us some drinks. The last time I saw her she nearly knocked my drink over. It was five years ago at the Café de Paris. She was show-casing her album of covers At Last, and was clambering on my table as she sang Unchained Melody. “Were you scared?” she asks, still looking and sounding as cute as Betty Boop. “ ’Cos a lot of people were scared.” At the time, the huge success of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and She Bop was a distant memory, and people were also scared of letting her make another record. “That album was a side project,” she says. “But then I wanted to do my own record, and the record company were like, ‘Oh, we want you to do another cover record.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t f***ing think so.’ Then I bumped into Jeff Beck and we had this idea to do a blues album together, but they said no. Then they wanted me to do an Eighties record and I was like, ‘Hey, these songs weren’t even as big as mine in the Eighties. What the hell am I doing covering them? I might as well cover myself.’ What can I tell you? They didn’t have faith in me as an artist. They were just a load of suits, and it was the suits who wrecked the f***ing music business.” In many ways, Lauper is still the opposite of her big Eighties rival Madonna. Where Madonna often comes across as brittle and defensive in interviews, Lauper speaks freely. Where Madonna continues to market herself primarily as a sex object, Lauper has always been a singer first. But like Madonna, Lauper has gone back to the dancefloor, and she has done so aided by a series of European co-writers and co-producers, and by becoming a bit of an anglophile. Collaborators on the new album Bring Ya to the Brink include Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Dragonette and the Scum Frog. So how did it come about? “I tried writing a few things but they weren’t working. So one day my manager said to me, ‘Go to England. Go to Europe. Just go away.’ Just like all the great writers and artists, right? So this became my European period. I already had the movie playing in my head. So I came to Kent. Then I went to Paris. I did my own laundry. I didn’t have a minder. I was free. “But first I hung out with [the electro-house production duo] Digital Dog. And that’s when it occurred to me, driving to Kent, that here they not only drive on the other side of the road, but they sing on the other side of the beat. Americans always sing a little after the beat, but not the English. They’re right on it. So we started writing together and we came up with the idea of a dance record about someone living 9 to 5. “I kept asking, what are we writing about and who is the person singing, and what’s her story? Because every time you get on a dancefloor, you’re dancing with somebody, but you’re also dancing with the singer. And who’s the singer? So as I’m writing I’m thinking, who is this girl? Well, she’s in her apartment, she’s getting ready to go out, she’s working class, and she’s English. So suddenly it’s my English period.” She enjoyed working with Digital Dog. “They were the first guys I worked with on the album. At first I thought they were gay, but they’re not.” Lauper, of course, is very popular with gays. “But I hate that expression,” she says. Like they are not quite real people.” Unlike some artists, who turn up at GAY or produce an album for the gay fans whenever the hits dry up, Lauper’s commitment to the cause is genuine. Her sister Elen is a lesbian, and for a few years in her teens Cyndi tried to convince herself that she was, too. “My sister was gay, my best friends were gay, so I figured I had to be gay. So I did everything they did. I tried kissing girls. But it didn’t feel right for me and eventually I was forced to come out as a heterosexual.” In 2007 she launched an annual True Colours tour, which this year features artists including the B52s and Andy Bell, and helps to raise awareness of homophobia. “This community for me is my beloved community,” she says. “This is not a money-making venture. I have been running with this community all my life, and when I hear people like George Bush talk about the gay community being antiAmerican it makes my blood boil. “The guy who saved the White House, one of the heroes who crashed that plane on 9/11, was gay – the rugby player Mark Bingham, who died on United 93. And does Bush ever mention that? Does he f***! That gay guy saved his lousy ass. And this guy who says he prays to God, this guy who promotes hate and fear, this guy we call our President . . . This guy is the true antiAmerican.” [Edited 10/6/08 7:27am] I didn't know that. America news really suck ass & arse. | |
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lastdecember said: Well its gonna take the more seasoned artists to save what is left of this industry. Honestly with the economy right now in recession, it looks as if that is going to get worse day by day. I think you will see companies start to fold in the next few months leading to total chaos, and i think there will be a day when everyone is free and on their own label or cutting their own deals with retailers. I think the USA is done as far as being the leader in the market, it needs to check itself in the mirror, its a done deal, we are not the SUPER POWER we preached we always were, that day is long gone, time to let it crash and then rebuild
I was already convince that the music industry in Europe was a little better in the 21st century than North America. At least electronic dance music can still sell. | |
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TonyVanDam said: midnightmover said: *****
Paul Burston Cyndi Lauper likes to talk. She can talk for America. And England. And Italy. It’s the end of a long international press day and I’m told that Cyndi is running about 15 minutes late. Then 30. Then 45. Then a whole hour. But this isn’t sulky divaish behaviour The woman who sold 16 million copies of her debut album She’s So Unusual in 1984 is back on a high. She has topped the American Billboard dance chart with Same Ol F***ing Story (there’s no swearing in the title of the UK version, but plenty in the song and sprinkled in her conversation). She welcomes me into her room at the Mayfair Hotel, dressed in a black dress and grey military jacket, blonde hair slicked back. Her make-up looks subtle but later she confesses: “Someone painted my face for an hour to make me look this good.” She appears nothing like her 55 years. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting,” she says earnestly. “But when I get into an interesting conversation with someone, I just can’t seem to finish on time, y’know? It drives my manager crazy.” Lauper rolls her eyes and orders us some drinks. The last time I saw her she nearly knocked my drink over. It was five years ago at the Café de Paris. She was show-casing her album of covers At Last, and was clambering on my table as she sang Unchained Melody. “Were you scared?” she asks, still looking and sounding as cute as Betty Boop. “ ’Cos a lot of people were scared.” At the time, the huge success of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and She Bop was a distant memory, and people were also scared of letting her make another record. “That album was a side project,” she says. “But then I wanted to do my own record, and the record company were like, ‘Oh, we want you to do another cover record.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t f***ing think so.’ Then I bumped into Jeff Beck and we had this idea to do a blues album together, but they said no. Then they wanted me to do an Eighties record and I was like, ‘Hey, these songs weren’t even as big as mine in the Eighties. What the hell am I doing covering them? I might as well cover myself.’ What can I tell you? They didn’t have faith in me as an artist. They were just a load of suits, and it was the suits who wrecked the f***ing music business.” In many ways, Lauper is still the opposite of her big Eighties rival Madonna. Where Madonna often comes across as brittle and defensive in interviews, Lauper speaks freely. Where Madonna continues to market herself primarily as a sex object, Lauper has always been a singer first. But like Madonna, Lauper has gone back to the dancefloor, and she has done so aided by a series of European co-writers and co-producers, and by becoming a bit of an anglophile. Collaborators on the new album Bring Ya to the Brink include Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Dragonette and the Scum Frog. So how did it come about? “I tried writing a few things but they weren’t working. So one day my manager said to me, ‘Go to England. Go to Europe. Just go away.’ Just like all the great writers and artists, right? So this became my European period. I already had the movie playing in my head. So I came to Kent. Then I went to Paris. I did my own laundry. I didn’t have a minder. I was free. “But first I hung out with [the electro-house production duo] Digital Dog. And that’s when it occurred to me, driving to Kent, that here they not only drive on the other side of the road, but they sing on the other side of the beat. Americans always sing a little after the beat, but not the English. They’re right on it. So we started writing together and we came up with the idea of a dance record about someone living 9 to 5. “I kept asking, what are we writing about and who is the person singing, and what’s her story? Because every time you get on a dancefloor, you’re dancing with somebody, but you’re also dancing with the singer. And who’s the singer? So as I’m writing I’m thinking, who is this girl? Well, she’s in her apartment, she’s getting ready to go out, she’s working class, and she’s English. So suddenly it’s my English period.” She enjoyed working with Digital Dog. “They were the first guys I worked with on the album. At first I thought they were gay, but they’re not.” Lauper, of course, is very popular with gays. “But I hate that expression,” she says. Like they are not quite real people.” Unlike some artists, who turn up at GAY or produce an album for the gay fans whenever the hits dry up, Lauper’s commitment to the cause is genuine. Her sister Elen is a lesbian, and for a few years in her teens Cyndi tried to convince herself that she was, too. “My sister was gay, my best friends were gay, so I figured I had to be gay. So I did everything they did. I tried kissing girls. But it didn’t feel right for me and eventually I was forced to come out as a heterosexual.” In 2007 she launched an annual True Colours tour, which this year features artists including the B52s and Andy Bell, and helps to raise awareness of homophobia. “This community for me is my beloved community,” she says. “This is not a money-making venture. I have been running with this community all my life, and when I hear people like George Bush talk about the gay community being antiAmerican it makes my blood boil. “The guy who saved the White House, one of the heroes who crashed that plane on 9/11, was gay – the rugby player Mark Bingham, who died on United 93. And does Bush ever mention that? Does he f***! That gay guy saved his lousy ass. And this guy who says he prays to God, this guy who promotes hate and fear, this guy we call our President . . . This guy is the true antiAmerican.” [Edited 10/6/08 7:27am] I didn't know that. America news really suck ass & arse. I thought I remembered reading that in a magazine, but not a gay specific one. It was something like Newsweek or Time. You know...a straight magazine! Just kidding, but it was mainstream American media. I never did hear it again, though. Doubt Fox News would mention that but I'm pretty sure they talked a whole hellvu a lot to the woman that lost her husband and was also a hero. Funny how that works. Cyndi's points on her label where awesome. The 80s album doesn't sound good even on paper. Really beneath her. She is an artist and you can't just force something like that on people. I never did buy the "Body Acoustic". That also sounded like bad record label idea, but she went along with it. As she ever attempted to go Indie. Seems like she is always going back to Epic, no? I guess that security blanket of a major label is something people really need. Considering what her sales are now, would it make a difference? She is pretty much only selling to the hardcores. They are doing her no favors. Her name is still out there, but so what? She could still have a name without being on a major label that is probably gouging her (and certainly limiting her creatively). | |
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goin to see her next sat nite in dublin....will be great...  | |
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VinnyM27 said: Cyndi's points on her label where awesome. The 80s album doesn't sound good even on paper. Really beneath her. She is an artist and you can't just force something like that on people. I never did buy the "Body Acoustic". That also sounded like bad record label idea, but she went along with it. As she ever attempted to go Indie. Seems like she is always going back to Epic, no? I guess that security blanket of a major label is something people really need. Considering what her sales are now, would it make a difference? She is pretty much only selling to the hardcores. They are doing her no favors. Her name is still out there, but so what? She could still have a name without being on a major label that is probably gouging her (and certainly limiting her creatively).
She did go indie in 2001-2, but it was a nightmare. The company she hooked up with went bankrupt before they could even release her album. She had to go to great lengths to get it back and release it herself as an EP. I think that put her off indies, but I agree, it's not worth the perks of being with a major if they won't let you be yourself. She needs to cut her ties with Sony immediately. [Edited 10/7/08 12:34pm] “The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them, inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.”
- Thomas Jefferson | |
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suits will always ruin something they don't get artistically man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
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L4OATheOriginal said: suits will always ruin something they don't get artistically
Art has nothing to do with the suits' motivation. It's all about the $$$. I'm firmly planted in denial |
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Nothinbutjoy said: L4OATheOriginal said: suits will always ruin something they don't get artistically
Art has nothing to do with the suits' motivation. It's all about the $$$. i know they only c dollar signs instead of a vision man, he has such an amazing body of music that it's sad to see him constrict it down to the basics. he's too talented for the lineup he's doing. estelle 81 | |
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