Album information

The title song, written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, secured Lauper's status as a successful record producer and performer. It has been covered by countless other artists including Phil Collins, Anna Tsuchiya and Kasey Chambers, and was used as the theme song for the 1988 Olympic Games, the 2003 Rugby World Cup and for Kodak cameras and film. This album went double Platinum in the USA.

While the album was quite successful in the U.S. and UK, it failed to match the success of Lauper's previous album, She's So Unusual . The album produced the singles "True Colors," "Change of Heart," "What's Going On," and "Boy Blue." Each single had a music video. The fourth and final commercial single, Boy Blue failed to make a big impact on the charts, although a live video was in heavy rotation on MTV in the summer of 1987.

True Colors was re-issued in a Japanese exclusive limited edition box set 11-track digitally remastered CD album the 2nd longplayer from Lauper released in 1986 includes bonus recording True Colours recorded live at Summer Sonic 07 in Tokyo.

Track listing

1. "Change of Heart" (Lauper, Essra Mohawk) – 4:22
2. "Maybe He'll Know" (Lauper, John Turi) – 4:25
3. "Boy Blue" (Jeff Bova, Lauper, Stephen Broughton Lunt) – 4:46
4. "True Colors" (Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg) – 3:46
5. "Calm Inside the Storm" (Rick Derringer, Lauper) – 3:54
6. "What's Going On" (Renaldo Benson, Alfred Cleveland, Marvin Gaye) – 4:39
7. "Iko Iko" (Rosa Lee Hawkins, Barbara Anne Hawkins, Joan Marie Johnson, Sharon Jones, Marilyn Jones, Boogaloo Joe Jones, Jesse Thomas) – 2:08
8. "The Faraway Nearby" (Tom Gray, Lauper) – 3:00
9. "911" (Lauper, Stephen Broughton Lunt) – 3:16
10. "One Track Mind" (Jeff Bova, Jimmy Bralower, Lauper, Lennie Petze) – 3:41
11. "True Colors" [live at Summer Sonic 07] - bonus track
12. Unreleased tracks:
• "Heading For The Moon" (Lauper, Stephen Broughton Lunt, A. Stead) appeared on the b-side of "True Colors".
• "Heartbeats" appeared on the b-side of "Change Of Heart".
• "Pee-wee's Playhouse" Theme. 2:29 1986

"911" was nominated for the 1986 Rock Female Vocalist Grammy Award.

Singles

Personnel

• Cyndi Lauper - vocals, background vocals, emulator, beat box
• The Bangles - vocals, background vocals
• Adrian Belew - guitar
• Jeff Bova - keyboards
• Jimmy Bralower - percussion, drums, beat box
• Angela Clemmons-Patrick - background vocals
• Rick Derringer - guitar
• Anton Fig - drums
• Jon Goldberger - sound effects
• Ellie Greenwich - background vocals
• Pee Wee Herman - guest operator
• Robert Holmes - guitar
• Neil Jason - bass
• Billy Joel - vocals
• Aimee Mann - vocals
• John McCurry - guitar
• Lennie Petze - percussion, background vocals
• Nile Rodgers - guitar
• Peter Wood - synthesizer, keyboards

Production

• Producers: Cyndi Lauper, Lennie Petze
• Executive producer: David Wolff
• Engineer: Brian McGee
• Assistant engineers: Jon Goldberger, Tim Kramer, Dave O'Donnell
• Mixing: Jason Corsaro, Brian McGee
• Mastering: George Marino
• Arrangers: Cyndi Lauper, Adrian Belew, Jeff Bova, Jimmy Bralower, Stephen Broughton Lunt, Lennie Petze, Peter Wood
• Art direction: Cyndi Lauper, Holland MacDonald
• Design: Holland MacDonald
• Photography: Annie Leibovitz

Charts

Certifications

References