Maps of Music

She's So Unusual (1983)

Where the lyrics of She's So Unusual take you, and where it was really made.

The name of a wax museum sat above a door in the cover photo, but it was airbrushed out of the final image.

Key places

Recorded at the Record Plant (1983)

Recording site The Record Plant — The whole album was recorded at the Record Plant in New York between December 1982 and June 1983, so the studio is the main recording site. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cover shot on Henderson Walk (1983)

Album cover Henderson Walk — The front cover was photographed on Henderson Walk in Coney Island, New York, in summer 1983 by Annie Leibovitz. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• She's So Unusual: debut solo album by American pop singer Cyndi Lauper
• Released 14 October 1983 by Portrait Records
• Mainly new wave, with synth-pop and pop rock influences
• Six singles released from the album
• Over 16 million copies sold worldwide, over 7 million in the United States
• Lauper's best-selling album
• 2014 re-release as A 30th Anniversary Celebration, with demos and remixes

Background

• Lauper formed the band Blue Angel in 1978
• Blue Angel's debut album, released by Polydor in 1980, was a commercial failure
• After the band broke up, the former manager's $80,000 suit forced Lauper into bankruptcy
• Lauper sang in New York clubs; David Wolff, who met her in a local bar in 1981, became her manager
• Signed with Portrait Records, a subsidiary of Epic Records, in spring 1983
• Promoted by the Fun Tour through 1983 and 1984

Recording

• Recorded at Record Plant in New York from 1 December 1982 to 30 June 1983
• Produced by Rick Chertoff and William Wittman

Cover

• Photographed on Henderson Walk, Coney Island, New York, in summer 1983 by Annie Leibovitz
• Lauper wears a vintage red prom-style dress bought at Screaming Mimi's, the shop where she used to work
• Heavy costume jewelry, barefoot apart from fishnet stockings

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

• Rolling Stone's Kurt Loder praised Lauper's wild and wonderful voice and called the album a progression from her work in Blue Angel
• The Village Voice's Robert Christgau gave qualified praise, complimenting her covers of Money Changes Everything and When You Were Mine
• Christgau found her Betty Boop voice less effective over a full album
• Billboard named the album one of its Top Album Picks for the week of 29 October 1983
• Billboard predicted a successful career launch

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it one of the great new wave/early MTV records
• Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani called it a pop classic
• Classic Pop's John Earls praised Lauper's versatility across synth-pop, rock and power ballads
• Pitchfork's Arielle Gordon said Lauper shoehorned rebellion into the familiar
• Christgau later wrote a glowing reappraisal of the record

Records

• Billboard 200 peak: number 4 (chart dated 2 June 1984)
• Stayed 97 weeks on the Billboard 200
• Japan peak: number 5
• Australia: top three
• Certified seven times platinum by the RIAA in the United States
• Second-best-selling album by a female artist in Canada during the decade
• Six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year
• Won Best Recording Package and Best New Artist at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards
• Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums: number 494 (2003), number 184 (2020)
• Library of Congress National Recording Registry, 2019

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

Trivia

• "She Bop" was placed at number 15 on the PMRC's "Filthy Fifteen" list after its release.
• The sign of the wax museum behind Lauper on the cover was erased from the photograph for unknown reasons.
• Janet Perr won the Grammy for Best Recording Package in 1985 for the cover.
• The Library of Congress selected the album for the National Recording Registry in 2019.
• Discogs notes two obi strips exist: the blue one on the first press, the yellow one promoting the first two big hit singles.

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

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