INSPIRATIONAL SONG SATURDAY

We are skipping the letters today because it is Inspirational Song Saturday. That means we start out with a song that is inspirational to me and then move on to a singer or band from the 80s that rocked out on MTV. As usual, the 80s singer came, the song choices were a bit tougher, and I didn't nail my inspirational song down until this morning. In other words, today is pretty much like every other Saturday!

We will kick it off with the song that feels inspirational to me. I was debating between two songs by the same singer, but then decided that this is the one that really lights me up. For those of you who haven't been reading this blog since I started writing it, you might not know that I wanted to be Cher when I was about seven. I had Sonny and Cher records, Cher's Greatest Hits, watched their show on TV, and wrapped my towel on my head in order to pretend that I had that long black hair. Of course, an orange towel on a pale white kid still does not add up to Cher. I was living in the land of pretend.

However, pretending to be Cher wasn't a bad choice all in all. Her career has had amazing longevity. Her body is fantastic (still). And just when you think that she is done, washed up, not going to be in another movie, make another record, have another hit song, she surprises you and does one or all of those things. *Bang* That is what I like about Cher. Don't ever think she is out of the game, because she will turn around and surprise you. "Cher? She hasn't had a hit in forever. She's done." Don't say it because she will burn you and come out with a movie and a soundtrack and be back on the charts. Or just a kicka$$ record and land on number one. Never ever think she is out of the game. And I might pick her as one of my 80s singers at some point because she has blasted through every decade since the 60s. That is freaking awesome. And she looked HOT the whole time. Now who does that???



I like that song because it is all about not settling. It is ALL OR NOTHING. Nothing in between. Not just a little bit. I will take what you're willing to give. Okay, well just give me what you've got left over. ALL OR NOTHING. Yeah.

Moving on to the 80s and MTV. I think about how some singers rode MTV to the top. If you watched the clip last week, that was said in a clip about Michael Jackson and MTV. It was the perfect storm. Thriller came out at just the right time. Michael Jackson and MTV rode each other to success. However, he wasn't the only one that did that. We have looked at other artists who did the same thing. I wonder what would have happened without MTV? Of course, we will never know.

Today we are looking at Cyndi Lauper. I had a wonderful time reminiscing as I wandered through her videos on youtube. I picked out three and had H-Girl watch them. She hadn't seen any of them and didn't know the songs, either. I asked her to tell me which two she liked best. (H-Girl spent the night last night.) So, based on her selections, these are the two best Cyndi Lauper videos:





What made Cyndi Lauper great? Well, I think people were intrigued with her hair. I am not kidding. She was making a bold fashion statement. She also had a lot of fun songs versus really serious songs. She Bop and Girls Just Want To Have Fun on the fun side and True Colors and Time After Time on the serious side, for example. She also tender and sweet and her voice was unique. In terms of MTV, she was another artist who understood the value of making a good video. A good video tells the story of your song. And she rode the wave. My hat is off to you Cyndi and your hair of many colors.