"All Through the Night" by Cyndi Lauper

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  2077
Date:  10/06/1984
Debut:  49
Peak:  5
Weeks:  19
Genre:  Pop, Synthpop



Pop Bits:  Lauper was three-for-three with Top 10 singles from her debut album She's So Unusual. Looking for a fourth one, this mid-tempo ballad was released. It proved to be the right choice when the song hit #5 on the Pop chart. In doing so, Lauper became the first female artist to get four Top 5 hits from one album. The tune also became her second Top 10 at AC reaching #4.

ReduxReview:  Here's another winner by Lauper. She transformed Jules Shear's song (see below) into a lovely pop moment. The chorus is very strong and the production with that looping synth line really made the tune. Actually, the song was also made better by a mistake the Lauper apparently made. In Shear's original, the chorus is all sung in harmonies and blended. It included Shear's original melody line and also a harmony line that contains higher notes that the melody. When Lauper got the song, she though that higher line was the melody and used that one. Whether it was really a mistake or a choice she made, it certainly made the song better.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  This song was written and originally recorded by singer/songwriter Jules Shear. Shear was part of two highly regarded bands early in his career, the Funky Kings and Jules and the Polar Bears. Yet, despite critical support, the bands failed to sell a lot of records. After the Polar Bears folded, Shear decided it was time to try for a solo career. His 1983 debut LP, Watch Dog, was another critical success, but sales were slow. However, one of the tracks on the album, "All Through the Night," got the attention of The Cars (thanks to Shear's friendship with Cars member Elliot Easton). The band recorded the song, but in the end up on the shelf. It then got to Cyndi Lauper who changed the slightly upbeat tune into a ballad that fit her style and personality. Shear even sings backup vocals on the recording. The song clicked as a single and became a hit. Another song from Shear's debut LP, "Whispering Your Name," would later be a UK #18 hit in 1994 for singer Alison Moyet.

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