WATERMARK
Issue 4.25
Dec. 11 - 24, 1997
Page 12
Cyndi Delivers:
'Sister of Avalon' Cyndi Lauper has just released a new CD — and a new son — into the world. She talks about both in this exclusive interview
Cyndi Lauper: the name is synonymous with Brooklyn, strange hair colors, and "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." But the artist has held her own, both critically and with the masses, since her breakthrough hit burned up the charts nearly 15 years ago.
She went from unknown, oddly-dressed pop singer to oddly-dressed internation pop star almost overnight with the release of She's So Unusual, containing the universal anthem, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," in 1984. He 'gypsy gladrag finery,' her harshly pitched voice, and her penchant for changing hair colors became trademarks of the 80s new wave world. True Colors, her follow-up album in 1988, was tremendously successful, also earning the artist solid critical acclaim. A Night to Remember (1989) and the critical smash Hat Full of Stars (1993) put Lauper firmly inplace as a musical force.
Lauper recently released her sixth album, Sisters of Avalon. The album comes after a year of touring globally, the majority of which was spent pregnant with her first child. The album was co-created with Laupers collaborator and close friend, Jan Pulsford, and includes a wide variety of musical inspirations, from the rustic musical traditions of Japan and Appalachia to the anti-traditions fo the dance club scene.
Lauper transcends shallow pop-music culture, with a sincere commitment to making the world a better place. Although in the last stages of her pregnancy, she was thrilled to talk with Watermakr about her work and her inspirations. Unfortunately, the tape ran out before we could ask her what color her hair was that day, but she ended up telling us anyway when discussing her latest video shoot: "Well, ya know, my hair's red today…we just died it yesterday, but it's black in the videio [for the single, "Cleo and Joe"]. I had'ta wear a wig."
And at the time of this interview, her nine pound baby boy — born naturally, without drugs and at home with Lauper's husband, David Thornton — was still a due date. The son (as yet unnamed) was born on Nov. 21. This interview was conducted days earlier by phone. Those of us at Watermark (practically the whole office listened in on this one!) knew the kid was gonna be heavy, 'cause Lauper was so breathless she sounded like a Darth Vader from Brooklyn.
WATERMARK: Firstoff, congratulations on the new baby!
LAUPER: Thank you!
What was it like touring pregnant?
Different, way different! But I was spoiled. I had two stylists, and they spoiled me. They took care of me, and I don't know how I would have ever gotten through it wiout them. You know, it was hard to pack. Acually, if I had to do it again, I would spend more time working out. I stopped working out, and that was bad.
MTV recently did their Top 500 Videos of All Time, and "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" was right up there. How does that make you feel, 14 years later?
Well, I know it meant a lot to a lot of people I didn't know what was going to happen at the time, and the fact that it happened is great. We were getting notes from people that I sang too high, that I never going to get n any radio format. So that was good.
The new album, Sisters of Avalon, is wonderful. The title is from one of my favorite books, Mists of Avalon by Marian Zimmer Bradley, and I was wondering if you could tell us what about the book inspired you.
It has a great view of history — mixed with mythology — from a women's perspective, and we don't get a lot of history about women. I found it to be very empowering. The reason I called the album Sisters of Avalon was because of my music partner, Jan Pulsford. Jan is Welsh, and she had a son and she named him Merlin, and her husband bought her a book [about Merlin] which was kind of myth, kind of history. That history is all jumbled up now; it is very hard to find facts about these primitive cultures, such as the Celts, the hunter-gatherer tribes, even the Druids.
The Sisters of Avalon were mentioned [in Zimmer Bradley's] book. They were the healers, the wise women, the women who wore black — and Jan always wears black, so I always teased her. ANd I thought Sisters of Alvalon sounded really empowering.
THe song itself, "Sisters of Avalon" on the album, is about the journey, the right of passage of life. At the time I wrote it, we were traveling during the end of '94 and we actually saw some print — in Newsweek — on this little girl who ws being circumcised, and the family treated it like it was some big party. And that is what inspired me in the first place; if one person is hurt like that, it reverberates through the world. Especially with your own species, your own kind, you feel that as women everywhere.
You finished recording the album in a century-old mansion in Tuxedo Park, N.y., which you described as "having its own spirit." What made you choose that particular location?
I was tired of the studio system. Ithink they are overpriced and over-rated, and with today's technology you don't need them. You can use them for certain things. They are very useful if they work for you. But sometimes they are just not as convenient or comfortable, and you can have every piece of equipment you want, and have a great view, a chef, a housekeeper — for the same money.
All the good things in life!
Well, if you are going to do something and you want it to be a magical experience, then you need to find someplace magical. And what was magical about that place — even though its history is very bigoted. At one point they were very rich people who lived their fantasies and built these castles, so it had a lot of history to it — but what was magical was the the land that we were on was butted up next to Bear Mountain State Park. What made it really magical was the amount of bird=life on the place. You could see hawks, and all kinds of birds and hear them in the morning, chanting. You could walk in the woods. You could run around the lake. But, it I was going to do it again, I might even do it at home!
One thing that interests me is that when you record other people's songs, such as "When You Were Mine" by Prince. You never change the gender specifics within the song, which is something few artists do. Why?
I thought it would sound cheesy if I changed it. It's really simple: if it sounds cheesy, I won't do it.
Your popularity cuts across all boundaries — straight, gay, young, old — and is very inspirational. What is your inspiration?
Oh, well….I'm driven by the idea. If I get an idea, and I see and I hear it, I can't help myself, I go after it. I'm just relentless. "That's what I saw, heard, and want!" ANd until it happens in the real world, and it comes out of my head in the real world, I can't stop myself from always trying to figure out how to do it. And every time someone says "No," I have to figure out a way around it.
It is interesting that you phrased it that way, becasue 'relentless is how I house describe the situation you had in the 70s, when you lost your vocal chords and had to regain them. Did you go through that struggle specifically to sing and perfrom again?
I felt that I was born to do this. There are certain things I always feel I was born to do, and I think everyone's born into this world to do something — famous, not famous, rich, poor, doesn't matter. You have your lotin life; and, I wanted to make a difference. I always sang. When I learned how to talk I learned how to sing….stupid songs, but you know! I always felt a strength from my voice, as if it was a gift; a life force of my own that God or Goddess game to enable me to survive and live.
The wonderful thing about the arts and music is that it is a very healing form of expression. It has to be every man's, every woman's, every person's expression; this way, people can use music to feel better, to write a story and let it unravel. Everyone has a story. Every single person has a story. Eveyrone's story is valid. Any kind of storyteller — whether it's ina song, directing a video, or writing a story — is inspiring.
That is kinda why, in a way, the fame thing was never one of my favorite things. The tabloids and all. But you know, it's funny, the stuff you read in the tabloids. I always say, "It must be true!" It's not. None of it! Ihave never read of it that is really true. Have you? (laughs)
For me, it doesn't matter. I'm a performer. I always thing, "What the hell does that matter?" If it is about things in the world and with the government, then you worry. Because, my god, whose slant on it are gettin'? THat is why wer are all taught in school to read many different papers of many different walks of life to figure out what the truth is. I learned that when I started to travel.
I don't think that fame, itself, is a very nurturing forum to communicatte your art. If you become too famous, you can't work as an artist any more. I couldn't. I couldn't work under other people's expectations and rules. I hate rules! I gues it's from being raised Catholic. I'm still recovering from it! They had so many commandments and rules, and this and that. It just never fell into that grey area where real people live. It was just staunch black and white;this right, this is wrong,. And then there is what happens in life, and that isthe grey area. So for me, I tend to explore the grey area. Yes ther is right and wrong, but there is also people in human circumstances. Art imitates life, hopefully…and not the other way around. That would be pretty scary!
Successful recording career, a Grammy, an Emmy, a baby…what could possibly be next? Any acting projects coming up?
I'm not really an actress per se — I'm a multimedia artist, and that is what I have lined up. Although I am in the beginnings of working on a show with NBC, I am not quite sure about it. I thing the really talented actor in our family is my husband!
When you say, multimedia, what exactly are you talking about?
Well, when you get the CD, and you look at the package, you get a little booklet with it. In the booklet, I took those Polaroids. That is something I did with a design artist, and art director. I have partners so that I can move around, go away and come back. ANd people come up with their own ideas…the right horse for the right course. The best kind of 'lead,' which I have always tried to work on being, is someone who brings the best out of people, and soemtimes you really get that.
The big event is the computer, and that is what is going to enable people to do multimedia, I mean real multimedia, and that's exciting.
I am working on a Web site now with a guy named vanGeorgia. The Web site is named "House of Cyn." That'll have things that [unofficial Cyndi Lauper Web sites] don't have; they seem to have covered everything, but what htey don't have is something personalized, and that is what we are working on.
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