Hello, fellow in-Cyndi-aries! Greetings also to RAWites, who will see an
interesting connection made between Cyndi, my favorite performer, and my
favorite rogue philosopher ("rogue" not meant in disrepute in this
context.)
It was twenty years ago, that "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "Time After
Time",
etc., were hitting the video and radio airwaves! Initially released in
late
1983, _She's So Unusual_ began picking up sales and video play around
March '84.
Many top-5&10 hits came out of that record. Cyndi won Best New Artist of
1984 at
the '85 Grammies (2/26), and was the first the first woman in history to
have
four Top Five singles off a debut album (first artist since the Beetles?)
There's a cute little story about my getting to watch that show. Just my
luck,
the power went out in my neighborhood that evening. I was distraught!
Well, I
remembered the line, sometimes we need "a little help from our friends." I
went
to the local Irish style pub, Mike's Place, in New****t News (ZIP code
23601...
Hence, I live in the "Land of 23", and even worked in ZIP 23666! One of
my
buddies into RAW and Forteana calls that his "favorite ZIP code in
America.") So
I begged Mike to let me watch the show on one of their spare TV's. I was
rapt,
charmed and yet amused by Cyndi's antics and humor. As she accepted her
award
and began to go on about who she wanted to thank (of course, her mother
was
tops, but she mentioned dog Sparkle and so on, and the old Dave.) A host
was
trying to lead her off stage and she said in that inimitable squeaky
Queens
voice: "Wait a minute, I ain't finished yet!" I first saw her live in Dec.
'84.
How the crowd murmured at that flaming orange-red hair and doll-baby
appearance,
with cherub face and perfect peachy skin like a character in a Victorian
valentine (age 31!) Gurgle gurgle! Now, at fifty, she still sings great
and
looks about 35! Try her new album, "At Last", with powerfully-sung old
romantic
favorites.
Here's another cool thing: In 1987, I invited RAW over to stay and give a
seminar in my town. Later, we went to Mike's, which he thoroughly enjoyed,
and
we got Guinness of course. I kept his bottle, and it sits on a shelf in my
bedroom.
My ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy: sitting next to don Juan in his
shack in
Sonora with Cyndi on my lap, with a sack of Peyote, watching Bugs
Bunny/Road
Runner etc. Warner cartoons (Speedy Gonzales was good, but they seem to
have
moved it away for "PC" reasons. It didn't disparage such people at all,
since
Speedy was rather clever.)
PS - Sorry I forgot to say, Happy Valentine's Day for Cyndi and her
fansthis
year! Belated blubberings..., and so forth for RAWites as well.
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