This equation is reversed in CBS’s recent “Grammy Salute” special. These are traditionally All-Star salutes, with the legendary artist appearing in a cameo at the end (assuming he is alive). But under the recent Earth, the tributes of wind and fire, and now under the Cyndi Lauper special, we have got a full concert from those artists, along with a selection of guest duet partners. For those who missed or didn’t do Cyndi Lauper’s recent farewell tour, it’s all good. But when Joni Mitchell, SZA, and Cher appear, they have nothing to sneeze.
“She’s so rare,” she promised us in 1983. It’s also very rare to record this special-executively produced by Grammy Award veteran Ken Erich and Roper, academy head Harvey Mason Jr. What’s at stake is how close she is to giving or bringing in a direct transcript of the show she toured nationwide this year, giving or taking several superstars and niche guests. There are two talking heads that are displayed during the time slot. The testimony in the short video from Brandy Kariel and Billy Eilish takes up little space for the minute between them. The rest of it is not a conversation, but a Cindy unequipped on stage. It could have influenced the fact that fans already have a ton of it in the 2023 Paramount+ documentary “Let the Canary Sing.” This time we have to continue the show with Roper. And in reality, only the show was filmed over two nights at the end of August, and her goodbye tour got caught up in the Hollywood Bowl.
As far as “function” is concerned, she generally matches very well, like Divawise. Country Powerhouse (and the recent subject in variety cover) proves an ideal harmonic blend for Lauper early on about how Mickey Guyton could be one of the less familiar numbers of nights that “rashed it down.” In a memorable sparkly black coat, John’s legend goes out with her to the ridge, separating the bowl pool seating area from the other boxes, becoming a closed “old old time.” He lends her smooth counterpart to her always slightly raw tone. Angélique Diidjo and Trombone Shorty add a bit of a regionally exotic touch to the already left-centric New Orleans BOP “Iko Iko.”
Mr. Shorty returns to sit with Roper and Mitchell on the latter legendary beloved “Carry.” (That’s one number where guests do their own number, not headline for one of her, but in Mitchell’s case, the mountain has to come to Mohammed. SZA, deciding that Kendrick Lamar Collab is one of the biggest hits of the year, plays clearly with others, blowing something a little closer into the middle of Showby’s Road. And there’s no better cast for “The Girl Just Want to Have Fun”. Cher has his designer Polka Dot Pantssuit made it by Lauper and sounds like he belongs to the star’s signature song in her catalog.
The only collaboration that really isn’t rewarding in the last two hours is with Jake Wesley Rogers. It offers one of Roper’s biggest songs, “Money Canshage Everything.” On the other hand, even if it’s not a musical highlight, you might appreciate that the duet with Rogers ends with a simulated wrestling match. Wrasslin’ didn’t change everything about Lauper, but whether this meant a connection between meat quality and beef type and long-standing LGBTQ+ Allyship, it was one of the early signs of being an artist trying to do this the way he was.
Have you said a few paragraphs that said this special is not about conversation? Let’s put a lot of asterisks on it. Let’s think about that. Because we meant that (welcome to us) was lacking in interview footage. But you will hear her. Lauper devoted many concerts each night to storytelling this year, bringing her to a version of the show with one woman, even if her band kicked a kickback behind her. This “Grammy Salute” offers an incredible amount of introductions to these long songs. All of that chat may test some people’s patience, but these pretty weather friends can cook and go back at 10:50 and hear “girls just want to have fun.”
Within her night solo numbers, her theme becomes more serious, but nothing precedes the 42 years of joy and self-joy that “her bop” offers. (I wonder what PMRC would make when the camera was cut out by a couple of young girls in the audience’s reaction shots, if PMRC survives, if the young people are exposed to this smut. (The original “Goonies” cast members Coreyfeldman and Martha Plimpton get the reaction shot here.) “The One Who Rained” is the first extended night of introduction for Roper when he wrote it in 1989 when he described her career as having a sudden dip and running a gold chain as running a gold chain. Away from.” Investigating her professional failures after the first stardom, she says, “I forgot that you can’t eat chapters of your life.”
As always, Lauper sounds like a tough Queen’s cookie, even if accused of being snowflakes by non-fans who have heard that something special happens and that we still support those who can consider liberal ideals. In the video clip, Carlile said: Lauper doesn’t explain much about it beyond realizing that her costume designer has encouraged her to add more charm to her for gays. But at the end of “True Color,” when she and SZA blow them a huge pride flag by an invisible fan…well, it may not be enough to steal approval for the network regulations that are coming in, but there is still no doubt that it is not a welcome sight in America right now, and that she is especially true in her pleading for it.
The other undertones are implicit, but they become apparent to fans like “Sally’s Dove.” (The original recorded lyrics “21” has been changed to “52 years”, and it is confirmed that the song is being held even before Roev. Wade was implemented.) On the face of casual viewers, the feminist and gay community can be proud of Lauper as a popper and a popper to win a popper through your popper and as a popper popper.
One of the most important stories Lauper offers is the tradition of tailors in Italian immigrant families and the way they thought “I wish I could do that with fabric.” In other words, “I could have done it with music… I was hooked on dismantling before it happened.” But just as she did with a musical style marriage, she actually did it with a cloth. The music may have been quite scattered and mainstream, but her changing costumes at night still have an interesting avant-garde quality. (She praises Christian Siriano and Jeffrey Mac for tour couture.) At one point, she is just a cock, and elsewhere, she has what appears to be part of a black bodice sewn in front of a white dress shirt. Fashion may be the least of the things most people who watch “Grammy Salute to Cyndi Lauper” care deeply, but in this case it makes a woman… at least symbolically increase the curiosity of a woman’s lifelong career.
