Robert Hazard's (who?) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

[Joyrex]

I did not know this, but Cindy Lauper's hit song from 1983 is actually a cover of the song!

Robert Hazard wrote the song in 1979 - here's his version:

Still prefer Cindy's version, tbh - still, colour me surprised!

[joshuatxuk]

Goddamn I randomly and coincidentally came across this last week - 70s and 80s pop music had a lot of songs penned by essentially unknown songwriters who worked behind the scenes as studio and session musicians, producers, engineers, etc. This is def one of the more obscure ones though.

Hazard's version def showcases the inherent energy and punch of the song itself, Lauper totally took it to a different level that would have never been done justice by most other pop singers. The switch from male to female perspective radically alters the scope and context of the song. It's got a lot more emotional resonance than I could ever appreciate as a kid when I heard it - surface level it's fun 80s pop but I can only imagine how the line like "Some boys take a beautiful girl / And hide her away from the rest of the world / I wanna be the one to walk in the sun" cut deep for many people.

It's akin to Cohen's Hallelujah being covered by Buckley, Reznor's Hurt covered by Cash - credit is due to the writers but it's almost as if they put something out there for a more fitting musician to finalize it's potential.

Edited July 10, 2019 by joshuatxuk

[Joyrex]

6 minutes ago, joshuatxuk said:

Goddamn I randomly and coincidentally came across this last week - 70s and 80s pop music had a lot of songs penned by essentially unknown songwriters who worked behind the scenes as studio and session musicians, producers, engineers, etc. This is def one of the more obscure ones though.

Hazard's version def showcases the inherent energy and punch of the song itself, Lauper totally took it to a different level that would have never been done justice by most other pop singers. The switch from male to female perspective radically alters the scope and context of the song. It's got a lot more emotional resonance than I could ever appreciate as a kid when I heard it - surface level it's fun 80s pop but I can only imagine how the line like "Some boys take a beautiful girl / And hide her away from the rest of the world / I wanna be the one to walk in the sun" cut deep for many people.

It's akin to Cohen's Hallelujah being covered by Buckley, Reznor's Hurt covered by Cash - credit is due to the writers but it's almost as if they put something out there for a more fitting musician to finalize it's potential.

Damn - @joshuatxuk for WATMM Staff Writer™ (seriously)!

I know who I'm gonna reach out to for reviews...

[hello spiral]

I already did, for the press release for my label's new release. Josh always brings the goods.