By Josephine Agostino
The self-confessed ‘loser’ overcame a troubled past to become an ’80s pop icon.
For a generation of orange-haired, ankle-boot-and-tutu-wearing women, Cyndi Lauper was the quintessential girl who just wanted to have fun. Yet by the time the Queens-raised singer showed her True Colors to the music world in the ’80s, fun was something she knew little about.
To say Cyndi’s childhood was tumultuous is an understatement. At five her father left her Italian-American mother to raise three children on her own. By the age of 10 the girl born Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper had been exposed to an abusive home life and expelled from four schools, including a convent. As a teen, she left the family nest, found herself homeless and was treated in hospital for mal-nutrition.
Through all this, she shunned what was expected of her as a young Italian girl and doggedly pursued a music career.
Eleven albums later, and now aged 53, the still sassy singer is a wife to Law & Order actor David Thornton [Little Richard performed at their wedding] and a mother to her 10-year-old “miracle” son Declyn.
Girls Just Want To Have Fun was such a hit in 1983 it overshadowed Madonna’s release of Like A Virgin. Did you ever meet her?
I saw her once in a while and saw her play bass in a band and thought she was really cute. I didn’t see her again until the American Music Awards and I had won for Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. I saw her in the audience and I was such a fan of Like a Virgin that I went over and told her how great I thought it was. I also felt really guilty because they were acknowledging me and not her. There was also this thing in the press about “Who do you like better, Cyndi or Madonna?” that I felt bad. I have the Catholic guilt. Oh, how that was drilled into me! I was even supposed to be a nun but they wouldn’t have me.
You’re recording a new album?
Yeah, it’s going well. I’m still writing a few songs. I went to Sweden and wrote with some Swedes and stayed in an old medieval town. I loved it and all these poems and stuff came to me. I’d like to call it Life.
What are you a fan of?
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube, that’s really funny. I watch one where people try to fit their bodies into different shapes [Hole In The Wall].
Would we ever see you in a tracksuit?
No. But there are some tracksuits that are attractive and those are good. But generally it’s not my thing. I always want to look nice on stage but not conservative. This time I’ll wear something fun that I can run around in. I usually end up barefoot too. Hey, I thought we were going to talk about recipes and stuff?
OK, what is your favourite thing to cook?
Well one day when I was in Canada I had dinner at a guy’s place who didn’t like to work but he hunted. One day he comes home with a squirrel and asked me if I could cook it. Well, being Italian, I was put in the kitchen at eight years old and I was cleaning chickens and all sorts. My ma worked so everyone had their chores. So anyway, I had to clean this squirrel and take the head off and everything and I thought, how do I do it? So I cleaned the squirrel the same way I would clean a fish and made a pasta sauce out of it. It was quite good but when everyone was around the table saying, “That was delicious, what kind of meat was that?” So I said it was chicken. They didn’t believe me so when I showed them the pelt they got really mad at me. I made “squirrel-ognese”. [laughs]
Have you eaten squirrel since?
No, I haven’t. I went vegetarian for a while but now I eat meat again.
What do you cook these days?
I don’t much. I make what Declyn likes and just try balance his diet with vegetables and organic food, even if it’s a hamburger.
Is it true you have psychic abilities?
[laughs] Yeah! I could read your cards but I have to have the instruction manual. They are really just tools and tell you what’s going on right now. As soon as you know what it is, then you change it if you want to. Destiny is what you make it. Enjoy the journey and if you want to go in a direction, you walk the path.
Read more of this interview in Woman’s Day (on-sale January 28, 2008)
Cyndi Lauper is touring Australia during February and March. Tickets are available for some shows.
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