''The Essential Cyndi Lauper'' is a compilation by American pop singer Cyndi Lauper. It was released as part of

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

's ''The Essential'' series in 2003. The album has sold 15,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Five years after its initial release,

Sony Music Entertainment Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

reissued the album accompanied with bonus DVD which features four

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s. The expanded edition debuted at the number 29 on the Japan's

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

, and became her eighth top-40 charting album in the country.

Track listing

Original release (2003)

# "

Girls Just Want to Have Fun "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a song written, recorded and performed by American musician Robert Hazard, who released it as a Single (music), single in 1979. It is best known for the version of American singer Cyndi Lauper, who covered the s ...

" (

Robert Hazard Robert Hazard (né Rimato, August 21, 1948 – August 5, 2008) was an American musician. He wrote, composed, and recorded the song "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" in 1979, which was covered in 1983 by Cyndi Lauper, who turned it into a b ...

) – 3:55 (from She's So Unusual 1983) # " Money Changes Everything" ( Tom Gray) – 5:03 (from She's So Unusual 1983) # " Who Let in the Rain" (Cyndi Lauper, Allee Willis) – 4:37 (from Hat Full Of Stars 1993) # "

She Bop "She Bop" is a song by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released as the third single from her debut studio album, ''She's So Unusual'' (1983). It reached number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in September 1984. Worldwide, the ...

" (Lauper,

Gary Corbett Gary Corbett (July 15, 1958 – July 14, 2021) (from Hendersonville, Tennessee) was an American keyboardist, composer and producer most famous for playing in the glam rock band Cinderella. Corbett has contributed in various capacities to over 27 ...

, Rick Chertoff, Stephen Broughton Lunt) – 3:48 (from She's So Unusual 1983) # " Time After Time" (Lauper, Rob Hyman) – 4:01 (from She's So Unusual 1983) # "

I Drove All Night "I Drove All Night" is a song written and composed by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and originally intended for Roy Orbison. Orbison recorded the song in 1987, the year before his death, but his version was not released until ...

" (

Billy Steinberg William Endfield Steinberg (born February 26, 1950) is an American songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1980s with songwriting partner Tom Kelly; together they wrote or co-wrote the No. 1 hits " Like a Virgin" by Madonna (1984), ...

, Tom Kelly) – 4:12 (from A Night To Remember 1989) # "

Hat Full of Stars ''Hat Full of Stars'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released in 1993. The album was released 4 years after the singer's third studio album, '' A Night to Remember'', which received unfavorable reviews and h ...

" (Lauper, Nicky Holland) – 4:28 (from Hat Full Of Stars 1993) # " Change of Heart" (Lauper, Essra Mohawk) – 4:25 (from True Colors 1986) # "

Sisters of Avalon ''Sisters of Avalon'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper. It was released in Japan on October 15, 1996 and worldwide on April 1, 1997, by Sony Music Entertainment. Thematically the album expounded on the issue of complacency ...

" (Lauper, Jan Pulsford) – 4:22 (from Sisters Of Avalon 1996) # " All Through the Night" (

Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night" and The Bangles' hit "If She Knew What She Wants", and charted a hit as a performer with "Stead ...

) – 4:29 (from She's So Unusual 1983) # " When You Were Mine" (

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

) – 5:03 (from She's So Unusual 1983) # " True Colors" (Steinberg, Kelly) – 3:48 (from True Colors 1986) # "

Unhook the Stars ''Unhook the Stars'' is a 1996 American drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, and starring his mother Gena Rowlands, Marisa Tomei, Gérard Depardieu, and Jake Lloyd in his film debut. Rowlands plays Mildred, a widow who befriends the wayward ...

" (Lauper, Pulsford) – 3:58 (from Sisters Of Avalon 1996) # " The Goonies 'R' Good Enough (Single Version)" (Lauper, Broughton Lunt, Arthur Stead) – 3:38 (Meant for True Colors 1986 but left off, Put On Goonies Soundtrack 1985)

Additional tracks on Japanese editions

* "Hey Now (Girls Just Want to Have Fun)" (Lolly Vegas, Hazard, Lauper*) – 3:53 (from 12 Deadly Cyns & Then Some 1994) * " Set Your Heart" (Victor Carstarphen, Lauper, Gene McFadden, Richard Morel, John Whitehead) – 3:43 (2008 reissue only) (from Bring Ya To The Brink 2008)

Exclusive track on 2007 Wal-Mart edition

* "Shine" (Lauper, William Wittman) (from shine 2004)

Bonus DVD on 2008 Japanese reissue

# "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Hazard, Lauper*) (from She's So Unusual 1983) # "Time After Time" (Lauper, Hyman) (She's So Unusual 1983) # "True Colors" (Steinberg, Kelly) (from True Colors 1986) # "I Drove All Night" (Steinberg, Kelly) (from A Night To Remember 1989)

Chart positions

References

Cyndi Lauper compilation albums 2003 greatest hits albums 2008 video albums Music video compilation albums 2008 greatest hits albums Epic Records compilation albums {{1980s-pop-album-stub