Cyndi Lauper is so unusual

Oct. 12—Philly and New York typically mix like oil and water.

However, that wasn't so when Brooklyn native Cyndi Lauper, who has an accent as thick as a stacked pastrami on rye from Carnegie Deli, hooked up with the Hooters' Rob Hyman for a songwriting session.

Lauper and Hyman, who fronts one of Philadelphia's finest bands with his co-conspirator Eric Bazilian, clicked immediately after meeting in New York just over 40 years ago. Hyman and Bazilian became Lauper's backing band during the "She's So Unusual" sessions.

After nearly completing the album, Lauper and Hyman co-wrote "Time After Time" after discussing their failed romantic relationships.

"Time After Time" isn't that complicated of a song," Hyman said. "Most Hooters songs are much more complex. 'Time After Time' is a couple of basic chords."

The song was literally recorded in one take. "I told people the record they heard is the demo," Hyman said. "It just turned out so well, immediately."

"Time After Time" was Lauper's first No. 1 single. The catchy ballad hit the top of the Billboard Top 100 and Adult Contemporary chart in June of 1984 and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 1985 Grammy Awards.

Six months before "Time After Time" launched Lauper into the stratosphere, the program board at my alma mater, Temple University, booked the emerging pop star for a gig in April of 1984.

I can still see local heroes Hyman and Bazilian stepping onto the stage to join Lauper during a sunny Thursday afternoon, which halted everything on our bustling campus.

"I remember that show vividly," Hyman said. "That was just before everything went through the roof for Cyndi. It was just before things really started happening for us as well. I look back so fondly on the time we spent working on "She's So Unusual." That album is much more than "Time After Time."

Fellow Philly singer-songwriter, the late Robert Hazard, wrote "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." However, Hazard's version was crafted from the male perspective. Lauper revamped the tune and it reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart.

Lauper's cover of Jules Shear's "All Through the Night" peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard chart. Hyman added a terrific keyboard melody, which buoyed the track.

The infectious and quirky "She Bop" hit No. 3 on the charts. The last single, "When You Were Mine," failed to chart but it's one of the greatest songs recorded by Lauper. The clever tune was written by Prince and remains a Lauper favorite. Lauper adores Prince.

"It seems like such a cliche to say Prince was one of the greatest artists of recent time but he really was one of the greatest songwriters, possibly the best live performer, ever," Lauper said while calling from New York. "He was brilliant and he was kind and he was funny."

"She's So Unusual," which sold more than 25 million copies, is one of the most popular albums of the '80s. It's from a decade that some arbiters of cultural taste have expressed disdain for while poking at the music of the Reagan era. Lauper was part of an era, which featured the drum machine, legwarmers and the series "Manimal," which bothers Lauper.

"People for some reason malign the '80s when it was a great decade for music, fashion and art," Lauper said. "It was a decade that celebrated individuality. How awesome is that?"

There is no other singer quite like Lauper or another album comparable with "She's So Unusual," which still resonates.