She's So Unusual

She’s So Unusual is the debut studio album by American pop singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released in 1983 by Portrait Records (see 1983 in music). The album catapulted Lauper to stardom with such hits as “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, “She Bop” and “Time After Time”. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard pop albums chart (U.S.), and stayed in the top-forty of the Billboard 200 for sixty-five weeks; remaining on the charts for 172 weeks. The album was sold over 9.5 million copies worlwide .

The album was nominated for six Grammy Awards: Record of the Year (“Girls Just Want to Have Fun”), Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (“Girls Just Want to Have Fun”), Song of the Year (“Time After Time”), Album of the Year, Best Album Package, and Best New Artist, winning the latter two.

It was produced by Rick Chertoff and William Wittman. Chertoff would go on to produce Nervous Night for The Hooters. He would also team up with Wittman to produce singer-songwriter Patty Smyth’s debut album, Never Enough for MCA in 1987.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 494 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Allmusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the record 3.5 stars, calling it “giddy mix of self-confidence, effervescent popcraft, unabashed sentimentality, subversiveness, and clever humor”.