True Colors (Cyndi Lauper album)

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox album True Colors is the second studio album by American pop singer Cyndi Lauper, released on September 15, 1986, by Portrait Records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album spawned several commercially successful singles as "True Colors", "Change of Heart", and "What's Going On" reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, with the first two charting within the top five. The album was produced by Lauper herself together with Lennie Petze.

Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album earned Lauper several awards and accolades, including two nominations at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards. True Colors peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. The album is Lauper's second best-selling release with around seven million copies worldwide.

Background and production

By the end of 1985, Lauper was established as one of the best-selling artists in the world. Her first studio album She's So Unusual (1983) was certified four times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)<ref name="Lauperbb85p">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and received a diamond certification in Canada for sales in excess of one million copies, making her the first singer to achieve such a feat at that time.<ref name="Laupercper">Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to Billboard magazine, the music industry was eyeing Lauper's next steps anxious to know if she could maintain the success of her debut.<ref name="Laupertcs">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In her autobiography A Memoir (2012), Lauper said that she had initially planned for Rick Chertoff, who had produced She's So Unusual, to produce what would become her second studio album; however, the experience with him was problematic and she changed her mind, and she likewise refused to produce the album with Rob Hyman since he was affiliated with Chertoff.<ref name="Lauper2017">Template:Cite book</ref> True Colors was then produced by her and Lennie Petze, with Lauper also composing most of the songs on the album.<ref name="Lauper2017"/>

"The second album says, 'Have the courage of your convictions and love yourself a little'," Lauper told The New York Times in 1986, adding that she wanted its songs "to say, 'Love yourself', because we really are taught not to. When babies are born, they're just nuts about everything about themselves. Then, as we get older, we're taught that, oooh, that's disgusting, and that if we like ourselves then that's considered conceit. That's part of the album, too—not to be so hard on yourself."<ref name="TNYT">Template:Cite web</ref>

The title song, written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, has been covered by many other artists, and was used as the theme song for the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 2003 Rugby World Cup and for Kodak cameras and film.

In 2010, the song was also featured on the soundtrack of Sex and the City 2. True Colors was reissued in a Japanese exclusive limited edition box set 11-track digitally remastered CD album.

Critical reception

Template:Music ratings True Colors received favorable reviews from music critics. In the Chicago Tribune, Lynn Van Matre praised it as a "winning effort" with "plenty of fun",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while Ian Cranna singled out Lauper's "outstanding, marvellous voice" for praise in Q, stating that "she breathes life into the songs, and slowly but surely the strengths of this LP begin to reveal themselves through the unorthodox structures and treatments."<ref name="Cranna"/> Jimmy Guterman from Rolling Stone wrote that Lauper "sounds more comfortable at any given moment on True Colors than she did on all of She's So Unusual", and that the album "seems to indicate her extreme ease in her new surroundings". Noting that "she's found a new sense of peace—or at least she's heading in that direction", Guterman also opined, however, that "her uneasiness gave her early work much of its spark; what places True Colors a notch below her debut is that Cyndi Lauper just isn't that unusual anymore."<ref name="RS">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Village VoiceTemplate:'s Robert Christgau was less impressed, commenting that the first side of the LP consists of "cheap sentiment" and is "disheartening" and that "the second isn't much more than a relief", before concluding, "girls just want to have money—and no fun changes everything."<ref name="Christgau"/>

In a retrospective assessment for AllMusic, Eugene Chadbourne wrote that while True Colors is "ambitious" and "some of the stretches really pay off", some of its aspects "date badly", like the "highly reverberated and artificial sounding drums and keyboards" which "were really popular at the time". He concluded that despite those problems "there really wasn't that much music recorded by this artist during her most popular period, so fans will no doubt want to own it all."<ref name="Chadbourne"/> Writing for Classic Pop, John Earls said that although the album's "unusually subdued" cover songs "suggested severe writers' block", the remaining tracks "had no such worries, whether in the peerless title track or the doo-wop delight in 'Change of Heart'."<ref name="Earls"/>

The pan-European magazine Music & Media named True Colors one of its "albums of the week" in the issue dated October 4, 1986.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The magazine felt the album "boasted several hit singles", noting the album began "confidently" with "Change of Heart", had a "striking" cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", with "good build up and atmosphere", and showcased "terrific vocal form" on the song "Boy Blue".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Commercial performance

In the United States, True Colors has been certified double platinum by the RIAA and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. It topped the Australian chart for four weeks and, in Japan, outsold She's So Unusual, although that was not the case in most countries. The album produced the singles "True Colors" (No. 1 Billboard Hot 100), "Change of Heart" (No. 3), "What's Going On" (No. 12), and "Boy Blue" (No. 71). Each single had a music video although the video for "Boy Blue" was just a live performance from her Le Zénith concert in Paris, France. According to Lauper's official website, the album was certified 4× Platinum in Australia and Platinum in Italy.<ref name="laupertcinfo">Template:Cite news</ref> The album sold around 7 million copies worldwide.<ref name="Larson1987"/>

Track listing

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Personnel

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Cyndi Lauper – lead vocals; arrangements; backing vocals (4, 6, 7, 10); jam box (7); Emulator voice (10)
Jeff Bova – keyboards (1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10); arrangements (1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10)
Peter Wood – keyboards (2, 4, 5, 6); arrangements (2, 4, 6, 9); additional keyboards (3); synthesizer bass (7)
Jon Goldberger – sound effects (7)
Nile Rodgers – guitars (1)
John McCurry – guitars (2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10)
Rick Derringer – guitars (5, 8)
Adrian Belew – guitars (6); arrangements (6)
Robert Holmes – guitars (6)
Neil Jason – bass guitar (2, 4, 6, 9)
Jimmy Bralower – LinnDrum programming; arrangements (1, 2, 5, 7–10); percussion (4, 7); jam box (4, 10)
Anton Fig – drums (2, 6)
Stephen Broughton Lunt – arrangements (3)
Lennie Petze – arrangements (3, 5, 6, 7, 10); percussion (7); backing vocals (10)
The Bangles – backing vocals (1)
Billy Joel – backing vocals (2)
Angela Clemmons-Patrick – backing vocals (4, 5)
Ellie Greenwich – backing vocals (5)
Aimee Mann – backing vocals (8)
Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) – guest operator (9)

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Production

Cyndi Lauper – producer; art direction
Lennie Petze – producer
David Wolff – executive producer
Brian McGee – engineer; mixing
Jon Goldberger – assistant engineer
Tim Kramer – assistant engineer
Dave O'Donnell – assistant engineer
Jason Corsaro – additional mixing
George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY).
Jude Wilder – product manager
Holland Macdonald – art direction; design
Annie Leibovitz – cover photography
Bruce Ando – inner sleeve photography
Patrick Lucas – hair stylist; make-up
Ralph Scibelli – hair colorist
Laura Wills – stylist

Accolades

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for *True Colors*
Chart (1986–1987)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Sfn	1
Canadian Albums (The Record)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	7
European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	16
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	14
French Albums (IFOP)<ref>Template:Cite web Select "Cyndi LAUPER" from the drop-down menu and click "OK".</ref>	13
Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	5
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)<ref>Template:Cite web Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "True colors" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".</ref>	23
Japanese Albums (Music Labo)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	2
South African Albums (RISA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	2
US Cash Box Top 200<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	5

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Year-end charts

1986 year-end chart performance for *True Colors*
Chart (1986)	Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)Template:Sfn	25
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	44
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	23

1987 year-end chart performance for *True Colors*
Chart (1987)	Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>	84
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	92
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	50
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	39