Customer Reviews

CYNDI LAUPER / SHE'S SO UNUSUAL

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Cyndi Lauper live in Paris - what can I say. One of the best vocal voices in the 80's. I had seen this on VHS many years ago. And just recently wondered if you could get this concert either on VHS or DVD.

Being a huge fan of the 80's Cyndi Lauper, This concert is full of enegry and Cyndi when on stage can "shake her stuff" without losing breath and still be able to hold any long notes.

This is a very rare item, that you cannot find in Australia or New Zealand. I had always wondered whelther I could find this. And I was over the moon when I recently seen this here on Amazon.

For any die hard Cyndi Lauper fan. This is a MUST item to have! I am excitied and I cannot wait to see this concert! The musicians in this concert are extremely talented, and it show cases some of the best songs of Cyndi's career during the 80's.

This is a bootleg copy from VHS, and I'd normally be really upset that I actually paid money to support thieves, but I consider this recording "abandoned art". This is probably my favorite live recording, and has been for more than twenty years, and it still hasn't been released on DVD. Used VHS copies are available if you look. I don't know if the ones you'll find these days are also bootleg, but there was an official VHS release (and also a laserdisc release). As much as I dislike bootleggers, I can't really fault them for keeping this recording available.

The video is really low quality, the audio is marginal, and the audio and video are out of sync. Make sure you check out the alternate audio tracks, because the default track is bad.

Cyndi's goofy and doesn't connect well with the French audience, and Rick Derringer is a dork here, but the performance is very good. Look for the 1987 NY Times review. It's a 1987 recording, so don't expect recent songs.

All the stars I'm giving this are for the performance, which would rate 5-star if it was a quality, official release.

Edited to add: This review was for the Brazilian DVD bootleg of the 1987 live Paris show that aired on HBO in the 80's and was available on VHS and laserdisc. Amazon seems to have attached it to something different now that the Paris DVD is no longer available.

For everybody who loves the 80's this is a great DVD because you can feel the energy of this decade in the voice of one of the most important singers at that time the great "Cyndi Lauper".

My wife and I have also looked for this on DVD for years. We have 2 copies of it on VHS and still play it whenever we have a house full of people and someone has not seen it. Like "Stop Making Sense" it never misses. The Rick Derringer led band is great and energetic and it is obvious that they are having a good time on stage. The songs are from her first two solo albums, so they are the songs that everyone knows. (She has continued to put out good albums and if you liked the first two you should check out the others). Everyone is dancing in our living room by the encores which includes a killer cover of Jackie Wilson's "Baby Workout" that really shows off Cyndi's pipes. After that workout we frequently rewind to "Maybe He'll Know" (from her Blue Angel album) and play the last half of the concert again. The second time we let it go to the final encore - an acapella "True Colours" that Cyndi turns over to the audience midsong. It's a wonderful way to wind down and get back to real life. A friend told us he thinks the cracks in our plaster ceiling are not from the several earthquakes the house has endured since 1926, but rather from our raucus Cyndi parties.
Our tapes are both in good shape, so we will continue to wait for a domestic DVD release from the master tapes. But we are tired of waiting.

This one is hard to find, I got it off Ebay! Awesome concert, she's so funny and quirky!

UPDATE 09/01/07: I scored a VHS copy from ebay for under $10. And I still see no noticeable synch problem looking at the commercial VHS tape. It is a little grainy (typical of lowlight concert films) and maybe 1 or 2 songs are not best quality but this is live and the rest is energetic Cyndi at her peak voice. I still think it's better than Live ... At Last from the standpoint this is a straight forward rock concert with no art school film projects and jerky hand held setups.

Here's the complete song line up: Change of Heart, The Goonies 'R' Good Enough, Boy Blue, All Through the Night, What's Going On, Iko Iko, She Bop, Calm Inside the Storm, 911, One Track Mind, True Colors, Maybe He'll Know, Time After Time, Money Changes Everything, Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Baby Workout, True Colors (acapella). Listed as approx 90 minutes on the box.

***** End Update 09/01/07 ****

Below is my original review of the HBO telecast:

I came across an old videotape I recorded of Cyndi Lauper in Paris when it was broadcast by HBO World Stage. It's a shortened 56 minute version but I didn't notice any synch problems as another reviewer mentioned, so I don't believe it's a problem inherent with the source material. If there is, I haven't been able to notice it yet. There is some graininess, but it's a videotape of a broadcast and did not diminish my enjoyment of the performance.

I came to Amazon to see if a DVD was available.
If it is reissued, get it! If you liked Cyndi Live At Last, you'll love this! No quibbles, no doubts!

*******
CYNDI LAUPER IN PARIS (HBO World Stage broadcast version)

This review is from a videotape copy of an HBO World Stage presentation which was originally broadcast on HBO at 56 minutes.

Simplicity. We see crowd shots and overlaying of Cyndi over crowd dissolves. I prefer this over the Cyndi Live At Last DVD which uses home movies for a some of the background. And here the crowd is more like a French Revolution mob than patrons at a theater.

Cyndi spends a kitschy touristy opening minute to point out some Paris landmarks: Arc de Triumph, Place de la Concorde, Eiffel Tower.

On At Last, the opening video talking about her childhood was fine, but once the music starts artsy fartsy homemovies of cityscapes shown on stage took away from Cyndi time. I would rather see more closeups of Cyndi and the crowd as presented on this Cyndi in Paris video.

The Music: Excellent arrangements and backup musicians mean there are no compromises in sound or the way you remember the original album or CD. The only differences of course are where she points the mike at the audience to let them sing words to songs (which she does to a lesser extent on her Cyndi Live At Last). And the acapella version of True Colors.

Classic Lauper Bushy Hair and attire.
Black loose mad musician's jacket with tails and pocket kerchief.
Lavendar sheer short sleeve top with underlying matching darker bra.
Short black vinyl wavy chalupa like skirt over ruffled petticoat.
Black net stockings and black ankle length fairy boots.
She wails, jumps, twirls and whirls like a dervish.
Confident, in control, energetic throughout.

There is pretty much nonstop music and dancing. Definitely less setup talk than At Last. (Maybe because it was a shortened broadcast version?)

SONG SEQUENCE ON BROADCAST:
1. Change of Heart: energetic.
2. Good Enough: Classic. She does not reference the word "Goonies."
She removes her jacket.
3 Boy Blue: Short introduction. She wails soulfully and goes prone on the floor.
4. All Through the Night: windmill arm and jig and oh those highs.
5. What's Going On: very soulful with nice call and response backing vocals
6. Iko Iko: if you're not smiling and swaying in your seat at home there's no hope for you. At the end she finally pauses a little longer just to acknowledge the audience.

Then breaks into
7. She Bop: And rips off her skirt and petticoat to reveal undergarment with garter straps dangling. Yes. No games or cleverness, this is the original version with electronics and whistles. Shows off her youthful sexy tummy and slender legs.

8. Time After Time: Nice dissolves and double exposures overlaying her against a backdrop of lighters held in the crowd.

9. Money Changes Everything: Showcases her frenetic gumby style of dancing. The gal has got legs and then some. Slamming mike stands to the floor. You wonder if her voice or stomping heels are going to break first.

A much needed break as she changes and returns in torn jeans and white top and suspenders.

10. Girls Just Want to Have Fun. She climbs to the top of the scaffolding to the audience's left to dance and sing. Then returns to the mainstage.
The audience goes crazy. You can feel the love.

Time to calm down the audience so they don't go rioting in the streets.
11. True Colors: acapella. A single subdued spotlight envelopes her in a cone from above as if she might be beamed up any second. She's right at the edge of the stage. Camera angles and crowd shots gives you the intimacy that she's singing in the crowd not just to it.

Although the show is AMAZING, the transfer is just a little off. Her lips don't always match what she's singing &/or saying & the picture is a little grainy but, it's a great performance.

Be aware! No DVD release has officially been made for this concert. Any DVD you buy is a bootleg transfer from the VHS release and will be low quality! Don't waste your money!

Cyndi Lauper Live in Paris --- I have a tatty old VHS tape that I made from the original 1987 HBO concert. It has moved with me, and I have treasured it. I have been looking for this concert on DVD for years. So, here it turns up on Amazon, from a Marketplace vendor, from BRAZIL of all places, with the graphics in Portugese. Another reviewer is right, the video quality isn't great. It looks like it wasn't made from a master tape --- BUT, I was prepared for that. Just the ability to have this wonderful concert in a non-deteriorating DVD is important to me. These live versions are all my favorites, especially "All Through the Night" and "Time After Time." The HBO version was shorter, about an hour. If you are looking for a really sharp picture, you won't find that here. But the sound is fine. And it is probably better than my old VHS tape, by now. All of my TVs are digital now, so my VHS player doesn't even work with them. Overall, very pleased to have found this on DVD!!!!