I still really love most of this entire record, my copy purchased (or given to me, can’t remember) in either late ’83 or early ’84 – I was a huge fan of hers back then and definitely tried to replicate some of her outfits and dance moves as a preteen in the early 80’s. I love most of the singles: she released six (that’s a lot!!) including the iconic “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” which made it into the Top 10 virtually everywhere though just to #2 in the US and UK (Van Halen’s “Jump” prevented the #1 spot – which is understandable, I loved that song and clearly everyone else did as well). That track also earned MTV’s Best Female Video award. I also really love the ballad “Time After Time” which became her first #1 hit (US) and still do – and I am not usually a ballad fan at all but this one is so sad, sweet and beautiful. “She Bop” (#3 US, #46 UK) is still funny though I’m pretty sure I had no clue as a 12 year old about its sexual connotations, I probably thought it was about dancing. “All Through the Night” is a cover of a song originally by Jules Shear and occupies a tempo somewhere between ballad and dance-pop; it’s lovely with glittering synths and went to #5 in the US. Her fifth single, “Money Changes Everything” is actually one track I’m not particularly fond of: it’s another cover, originally by the Brains in 1978, and Lauper’s hard-edge on this track is just a bit off-putting for me; her version hit #27 in the US. Her final single (Canada and Japan only), “When You Were Mine” is yet another cover though since Prince wrote it and included it on his 1980 LP Dirty Mind it is, of course, damn near perfect.

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Relentlessly poppy and infused with synth pop and new wave, She’s So Unusual is filled with Lauper’s chirpy vocals and subversive humor. “She Bop” may seem quaint now, but in the early 80′s it was bordering on scandalous (I’m sure I was pretty clueless about its true meaning at the time). “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” is cute and danceable girl power. “Time After Time” is still a beautiful tear-jerker, as is “All Through the Night” which I recall playing at a junior high dance, me all-pining to slow-dance with some boy.

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