When Cyndi Lauper dropped her sophomore album, the revolutionary ten track package she simply titled True Colors, Lauper knew exactly what she was doing. Gone was the flame haired rebel of ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ & ‘She Bop’ fame; replaced with her was a more subtly hued pop singer who was showcasing one thing with this message-filled sophomore delivery; she had something to say. Lauper mission to position herself as a performer who also had a point of view resulted in True Colors being certified double platinum, reaching Number 4 on the Billboard 200. Of the resulting success, Lauper told Billboard “It was proof that your journey goes along with the music, if you can have the courage to say it”.
Of the actual origin of the title track, Lauper told Billboard that she recalled the original concept for the single arose after a friend was diagnosed with AIDS, as HIV/AIDS took a stranglehold on the community. Lauper remembers the concept of the song coming to her after a friend of hers had been diagnosed with AIDS, during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the ’80s and ’90s. As she noticed how her friend was treated for both who he was and for the disease he had contracted, Lauper took action. “I saw what was happening at that time as an infringement of people’s civil rights,” she says. “Being a friend and family member of the community, I just said, ‘”You know what, I’m not going to be silent.'” As ‘True Colors’ became an anthem & rallying cry for generations of the LGBTQ community, it also resulted in Lauper founding her own non-profit advocacy group (aptly titled True Colors United) an ongoing effort to end LGBTQ youth homelessness
To commemorate the 35th anniversary of the landmark album, Lauper is releasing two new singles. First, the original B-side to the ‘True Colors’ single, the much sought after ‘Heading To The Moon’, a string heavy & ethereal track. Additionally, Lauper’s “good friend” and collaborator contributed a brand-new remix of ‘True Colors’, aptly titled the ‘Junior Vasquez Pride Mix’. Vasquez crafts the “event” that ‘True Colors’ has always been with his music (as well as his numerous Lauper remixes in the past). A haunting intro sprinkled with Lauper’s vocals leads to a wonderfully frenetic lead up to the gorgeousness that is the single and lyrical content itself. While simultaneously showcasing both Lauper’s original musical intention of the single as well as his own take on it, Vasquez found and displays why each of us fell in love with ‘True Colors’ to begin with.
To purchase a copy of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors (35th Anniversary Edition) click here
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