Maps of Music

True Colors (1986)

Where the lyrics of True Colors take you, and where it was really made.

Cyndi Lauper dropped the producer of her debut album, and the record that followed became her second best-seller, with around seven million copies sold worldwide.

Key places

Recorded and mixed at the Power Station (1986)

Recording site Power Station Studio — The album was recorded and mixed at the Power Station in New York City. Discogs notes list it as the recording studio, and recording ran from November 1985 to May 1986. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• True Colors is the second studio album by American pop singer Cyndi Lauper
• Released on September 15, 1986, by Portrait Records
• Produced by Lauper and Lennie Petze
• Spawned the singles 'True Colors', 'Change of Heart' and 'What's Going On', all reaching the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100
• The album is Lauper's second best-selling release, with around seven million copies sold worldwide
• Lauper also composed most of the songs on the album

Background

• By the end of 1985, Lauper was established as one of the best-selling artists in the world
• Her debut studio album She's So Unusual (1983) was certified four times platinum by the RIAA
• She's So Unusual also received a diamond certification in Canada for sales above one million copies, making her the first singer to achieve such a feat at that time
• Billboard reported that the music industry was watching her next steps, eager to know whether she could keep the success of her debut
• In her autobiography A Memoir (2012), Lauper said she had first planned for Rick Chertoff, who produced She's So Unusual, to produce the second album
• The experience with Chertoff was problematic, so she changed her mind
• She also refused to produce the album with Rob Hyman, since he was affiliated with Chertoff
• Lauper then produced the album with Lennie Petze
• Lauper told The New York Times in 1986 that the album's message was about self-acceptance and not being too hard on yourself

Recording

• Recording ran from November 22, 1985 to May 31, 1986
• Recorded and mixed at the Power Station
• Additional recording took place at the Hit Factory
• Mastered at Sterling Sound by George Marino

Cover

• Cover photography by Annie Leibovitz
• Design by Holland Macdonald, with art direction credited to Macdonald and Lauper

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

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

• The Chicago Tribune's Lynn Van Matre praised the album as a winning effort with plenty of fun
• Q's Ian Cranna singled out Lauper's voice for praise, saying the strengths of the LP slowly reveal themselves
• Rolling Stone's Jimmy Guterman wrote that Lauper sounded more comfortable on the album than on all of She's So Unusual
• Guterman also felt the album sat a notch below her debut, because she was no longer that unusual
• The Village Voice's Robert Christgau was less impressed, calling the first side cheap sentiment
• Music & Media named the album one of its albums of the week in the issue dated October 4, 1986
• Music & Media praised several hit singles and the striking cover of What's Going On
• Music Week was less positive, saying the album could not decide whether to be sincere or wacky

Reappraisal

• In a retrospective assessment for AllMusic, Eugene Chadbourne called the album ambitious, with some stretches that really pay off
• Chadbourne said some aspects date badly, such as the heavily reverberated drums and keyboards that were popular at the time
• Chadbourne concluded that fans would want to own the album because Lauper recorded little music during her most popular period

Records

• Peaked at number four on the Billboard 200
• 'True Colors' reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100
• 'Change of Heart' reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100
• 'What's Going On' reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100
• 'Boy Blue' reached number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100
• Topped the Australian chart for four weeks
• Certified double platinum by the RIAA in the United States
• Certified 4x platinum in Australia and platinum in Italy, according to Lauper's official website
• Outsold She's So Unusual in Japan
• Around seven million copies sold worldwide
• Two nominations at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Lauper first planned for Rick Chertoff to produce the album, but refused to work with Rob Hyman because of his ties to Chertoff.
• The title song was used as the theme song for the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and for Kodak cameras and film.
• The video for 'Boy Blue' was a live performance from Lauper's Le Zénith concert in Paris, France.
• Cover photography was done by Annie Leibovitz.
• The album outsold She's So Unusual in Japan, although that did not happen in most countries.

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

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