Maps of Music

A Night to Remember (1989)

Where the lyrics of A Night to Remember take you, and where it was really made.

The album was first planned as Kindred Spirit, reworked, and released under a new title in 1989. Lauper later jokingly called it A Night to Forget.

Key places

Recorded at The Hit Factory (1989)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album was recorded and mixed at The Hit Factory in New York. The point sits at the New York City centre, not at the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cover photo at Plymouth and Pearl Streets (1989)

Album cover Rough Customer — The final cover photo was taken at the intersection of Plymouth and Pearl Streets, just east of the Manhattan Bridge, in Brooklyn. The point marks the Brooklyn area, not the exact corner. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Third studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper
• Released May 9, 1989 by Epic Records
• Originally titled Kindred Spirit, planned for October 1988
• Delayed to 1989 and reworked; the title changed by March 1989
• Sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide

Background

• The original Kindred Spirit tracklist had 10 songs, and eight of them made the final album
• 'Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)' came from the film Vibes, which failed, so the album was reworked
• 'A Night to Remember', 'Dancing with a Stranger' and 'I Don't Want to Be Your Friend' were added after the release date moved to 1989
• 'My First Night Without You' was previewed in October 1988 at CBS UK's annual conference
• Production was troubled by problems with producer and boyfriend David Wolff

Recording

• Recorded between January 1, 1988 and February 28, 1989
• Recorded and mixed at The Hit Factory, mastered at Sterling Sound
• Producers credited include Lennie Petze, Phil Ramone and Eric Thorngren

Cover

• Photography by Chip Simons; art direction and design credited to Cyndi Lauper and Stacy Drummond
• The cover photo was taken at Plymouth and Pearl Streets in Brooklyn, New York

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · www.discogs.com · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper, born June 22, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, is an American singer, songwriter and actress.
• Known for an eccentric image and a four-octave vocal range; dubbed the "Queen of Quirky Pop".
• Has sold over 50 million records worldwide.
• Debut solo album She's So Unusual (1983) produced four top-five Billboard Hot 100 hits, a first for a female debut artist, and won Best New Artist at the 27th Grammy Awards.
• Won the Tony Award for Best Original Score for Kinky Boots (2013), the first woman to win the category solo.
• Received two Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy, a Tony, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2015).
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2025.
• Has been a prominent LGBTQ rights advocate, founding True Colors United in 2008 to address LGBTQ youth homelessness.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, looking back, gave it two out of five stars and wrote that the songs did not always work, except 'I Drove All Night'
• Chicago Tribune's Chris Heim gave it two and a half stars out of five, saying the production and vocals could not keep the album afloat
• Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times praised Lauper's voice but noted the material was inconsistent
• The New York Times criticized the anonymous vocals, submissive clichés and slapdash production
• The Village Voice compared it with Lauper's earlier work and wrote 'How embarrassing to have placed hope in this woman.'
• Billboard gave it a spotlight in its May 20, 1989 album reviews, though it described the settings as somewhat unchallenging
• Music & Media gave a positive review, calling it wayward, girlish pop aimed firmly at the charts, and named it one of its albums of the week

Reappraisal

• People, reviewing Sisters of Avalon in 1997, later described A Night to Remember as joyless
• The same review blamed the album for a large chunk of Lauper's following moving on

Records

• Billboard 200 peak: number 37
• UK Albums Chart peak: number 9, her highest-charting album in the UK
• About half a million copies sold in the United States in 1989, per St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
• 1.3 million copies sold worldwide as of November 1989
• Certified platinum in Australia and the UK, and gold in Germany, Italy and the US, per Lauper's website
• 'I Drove All Night' earned Lauper a Grammy Award nomination

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Lauper jokingly preferred to call it A Night to Forget, given its poor reviews and disappointing sales
• Of the songs cut from Kindred Spirit, 'Hole in My Heart' would appear only on Japanese CD editions of A Night to Remember
• The album's cover credits list David Tabatsky as the fire juggler
• 'Unabbreviated Love' was recorded for the album but appeared only on the B-side of the 'My First Night Without You' single
• 'Unconditional Love' was released in 1991 as an exclusive single in Hong Kong

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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