From Patti LaBelle To Lil' Kim How Cyndi Lauper and 'Time After Time' Connected with Black Audiences

Episode Transcript

*DISCLAIMER: Transcripts are created using AI, and may not accurately represent the content exactly as presented. Transcripts are provided as a courtesy to our listeners who require them.

[00:00:00] Intro Theme

---

[00:00:16] Welcome to Queue Points Podcast

---

DJ Sir Daniel: Greetings and welcome to another episode of Queue Points podcast. I am DJ Sir Daniel.

Jay Ray: And my name is Jay Ray, sometimes known by my government as Johnnie Ray Kornegay III.

DJ Sir Daniel: Queue Points podcast is a podcast, dropping the needle on Black music history and Jay Ray, we are like, this is like the third time we are introducing a non Black individual into the conversation, but when we tie it all together, you'll see why Jay Ray, we are talking about Cindy Lauper on this particular

episode.

Jay Ray: Yeah.

[00:00:51] Cyndi Lauper's Early Influence

---

Jay Ray: And you know, Cindy Lauper for us, especially as generation Xers and products of the music video generation, I remember seeing her multicolored hair with, uh, with, you know, all on the video and jumping around and being inspired by her. So. Even as like a little Black kid, like, we could see possibility in Cyndi Lauper.

So, you know, we love a Cyndi Lauper over in the Black culture.

DJ Sir Daniel: Listen, I was just about to say the same thing like Cindy Lauper, aside from the infectious pop hits, Cindy was colorful. She was kind of cartoonish with her

Jay Ray: With her boy, with

her boy.

DJ Sir Daniel: you was stressed out. But also Jay Ray, um, I was a huge fan of WWF growing up. So when I saw captain

Lou

appearing in the girls, just want to have fun video.

I was like, Oh, I like this chick. She's super fun. And like Jay Ray, she's really a story of somebody who got it out the

mud.

[00:01:51] Cyndi Lauper's Rise to Fame

---

DJ Sir Daniel: after nearly a decade of singing cover bands, singing in cover bands, Cindy Lauper signed a recording contract in 1981 with them. Epic records, which was the, um, the home label of the label that she was on. And then like, since she went through her voice several times going through bankruptcy, but in October 17th of 1983, the anthemic " Girls Just Want To Have Fun" was released and a pop icon was born not only is she a pop icon. She's also an activist for LGBTQ

rights.

Jay Ray: Absolutely. Um, and when we talk about, uh, Cindy Lauper's debut, I mean, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" was a cover tune. Um, it has been said that, um, her label really did want her to not do original stuff at the time. And they really had to for Cindy Lauper to be able to do original tunes.

[00:02:47] The Significance of "Time After Time"

---

Jay Ray: And so of course we had "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" as the first single, but it's this second single, sir, Daniel that we really want to spend some time on because y'all will learn after this, that "Time After Time" actually has a really significant connection to Black music.

So let's talk a little bit about "Time After Time" as a song. Okay. So "Time After Time" was the second single from Cindy Lauper. She's so unusual, which is just such a fitting album title for Cindy.

DJ Sir Daniel: best album

cover,

Jay Ray: Absolutely.

DJ Sir Daniel: I think it won an award, like for best album cover or from billboard or Rolling Stone. I can't remember which one, but yeah, I agree. I love that album cover where she's just like,

Jay Ray: Yes. And so Um, "Time After Time" was released in early 1984. Um, It hit number one in June of 1984 and it actually stayed at number one for two weeks. So I found an interview, Sir Daniel with Cindy Lauper because I'm like, okay, so what was the impetus for "Time After Time"? So according to Cindy Lauper at the time, she really wanted to take bits of her own life and put them in the lyrics. So I actually found a video of Cindy and she talked about of the opening lyric to "Time After Time", which is lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you.

So. What was interesting about that is her boyfriend at the time had bought this clock that apparently was like in another room, but they could hear it in their bedroom. And so it kind of became this, this thing that she used for the lyric. But she said of that lyric, she said, quote, I want it to take bits of my real life.

And put it into music to make real music that people can hear and relate to because they have the same stuff in their life. So when we think about "Time After Time" as a song and why one of the reasons why it resonates, and we'll talk more about that later, but it just feels real. And that's one of the most beautiful opening lines, by the way, for a song.

So.

[00:05:04] Cyndi Lauper and Patti LaBelle's Iconic Performance

---

Jay Ray: Let's talk about its connection to Black music, Sir Daniel, because I think this is really interesting and I don't know that people will remember this. And our first stop on Black music train is going to be with the icon

LaBelle.

DJ Sir Daniel: Yes.

Jay Ray: So I remember this special. So this starts at the Patti LaBelle show.

So and we remember this. So here's what's crazy in 1985.

The Patti LaBelle Show was Patti LaBelle's first. TV special. She was about 20 years into her career at that point. And Sir Daniel, she was introducing herself to the American, the like American audience at that point, which is so crazy to me to think about because in Black culture, let me tell you something, Ms.

Patti LaBelle, she had been an icon.

DJ Sir Daniel: We know her, we know Patty. And like you said, the rest of America was trying to catch up. And she was reintroducing herself to also to a new generation.

Jay Ray: Absolutely. So prior to that year, um, Patti LaBelle in 1984 had released New Attitude, which was part of the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, which became a top 20 hit for Patti LaBelle on the pop chart. So Patti LaBelle was suddenly a pop star in the eighties, right? She had the hair. You know what I'm saying?

Like it was the pointy wig that was hopping. And so, uh, new attitude had given her her first video. It was a lot going on. And so this Patti LaBelle show actually opened with new attitude, but Patti's first guest singing guests. Cause, um, the Patti LaBelle show was like part concert, part were prerecorded skits.

Her first musical guest was one. Cindy Lauper and Patti, they performed Lady Marmalade together. So Patti, of course, went into her Lady Marmalade thing and Cindy bursts out the back singing with Patti. You know, she is jamming and let me tell you what, Cindy, she is beasting Lady Marmalade. It's perfect for Cindy Lauper's voice, right?

And then they wrap their segment together by doing a beautiful rendition of Cindy's. Yes. "Time After Time".

DJ Sir Daniel: Like you could have knocked me over with a feather while this, while this, um, this TV special was on it, you know, I love the fact that we grew up in an era of variety shows and TV specials, like that was just, it was, it was such a treat for that to come on television. And then we get to see two people that we're very familiar with. And it's like the, the, you put chocolate in my peanut butter.

No, You

Jay Ray: You put peanut butter in that chocolate.

DJ Sir Daniel: And it comes together and we love it. We absolutely love it. They both Patty and Cindy, because Patty was known for being over the

top,

Jay Ray: Mm

DJ Sir Daniel: Patty was able to tap into the sensitive nature of that song, the very tender nature of that song. And there's a moment where you, it looks like. Where Cindy and Patty are kind of like, um, I don't know. It's almost like a, a bonding moment between the two of them, almost like mother,

daughter,

of, they're singing to each

other.

And I think that's what really drove it home for all of us. And, you know, in the Black community, we was like, right. Betsy, we like that Cindy Lauper girl. She did that. And so I kind of guess that solidified her with audiences, because to this day, you talk about Cindy Lauper and Black audiences, we go up for Cindy

Lauper.

Jay Ray: Absolutely. Not even a question. That is, and this is just, it, it, it was part of the whole package, right? So "Time After Time". is very reminiscent of classic soul songs that Black folks love so much. And what was interesting is how that song just has such a long life and impacted other folks in other genres of music.

Yes.

[00:09:50] Cyndi Lauper and Lil' Kim's Unexpected Collaboration

---

DJ Sir Daniel: at the Mandela Day concert, 18th, 2009 at Radio City Music Hall. You know, Nelson Mandela at this point. is a figure of freedom, right? hearkening back to the eighties, I remember one of the very first light televised, um, televised, um, fundraisers and ways to bring awareness was about. Um, Nelson Mandela, the Nelson Mandela, um, concerts, um, from back in the eighties. And so since then, there's just been like this through line where musicians use. Their power to bring awareness to the fight that Nelson Mandela had fought, bringing down apartheid and, you know, bringing that to the conscious, the front conscious of Americans watching, you know, consuming media on a daily basis.

Right? So we fast forward to 2009 and uh, a lot of these um, shows they decided to pair up different people for these performances and much to our delight, but also to a lot of like confus and I, and I did say Confus confus me to a lot of people. They paired up Cyndi Lauper. With little Kim, the queen bee.

So at this time, it's 2009 little Kim is a certified superstar, but she just came home from prison from doing her, her bid. And, um, she is an unlikely artist that you would think would be. Paired up with Pat, with, um, Cindy Lauper because, you know, she's the queen bee. She has solidified herself as a hip hop phenomenon. She's hardcore. She's not, you know, her lyrics are abrasive. And of course she comes from the realm of hip hop, but, and we don't automatically think of Kim as a singer. However, at this time, she had just released the naked truth album the Lee's single from the well. That wasn't the lead single. The lead single was shut up, the very follow up single after shut up was lighters up, which we find little Kim singing in a full kind of reggae, um, cadence along to this Latin kind of hip hop beat.

And. And it's, it's, it's a hit. It's a hit. The streets are rocking it. Little Kim is back. She's out of prison. She's back. And so no way. Now we have this moment where our little Kim, because she's our little Kim is in the spotlight with a pop icon because Cindy Lauper is an icon at this point. She's a pop icon. She's old. She's, she's, uh, older than, um, little Kim. And so she's, to set the stage for those of you that did not see it, it's literally Cyndi Lauper. Little Kim sitting to her right, another musician, I think, a guitar player sitting on Kim's right, and then one other musician sitting on Cyndi Lauper's left. That's it. That's the whole band. It is a bare bones, acoustic, version. Of that they're about to sing now, there is a back beat playing because you can, you can hear her asking for the back beat to be played again. And so they kind of rewind and do it over. But much to our surprise after Cindy Lauper sings the first couple lines of "Time After Time". Our very own little Kim the

mic

and in full, in full voice, start singing the lyrics to "Time After Time" now, granted, she, you could tell she was nervous as hell. Her voice is shaking, in that moment. Little Ken was all of

us

all of us at one point or another saying "Time After Time" with our whole chest, even though we were, you know, we've got hip hop and we've got all these R& B songs, but we have sung "Time After Time" with our whole chest, "Time After Time" had been sung in chorus. In school choirs, I remember graduations where people sang that song. So it is embedded in our

culture

and to see little Kim, who herself is a hip hop icon is, and his actually transcended hip hop at this point, singing this with our whole chest in. Is a whole moment for me. I know a lot of people, like I said in the beginning, we're confused and they didn't quite get it.

Of course, people criticize Kim for being, you know, she wasn't necessarily on key with the music, but Jay Ray, it was a whole moment, but it doesn't stop there, Jay Ray. Because after they sing the chorus, the "Time After Time", Cindy Lauper us and I say she gagged us all when Cindy Lauper started singing the hook to Lighters Up.

A

Jay Ray: A moment.

DJ Sir Daniel: moment. J. Ray, Cindy Lauper was talking about some out there in Brooklyn, put your lighters up. What?

Jay Ray: Yes.

DJ Sir Daniel: So he sings the hook and she sings, I believe she starts off the, um, a verse and then little Kim comes in and does a verse to, to light us up, but then Cyndi Lauper finishes the verse for her and it's, It's just one of those moments in time where we're just like, okay, I'm blessed to have this moment have witnessed this. I went out with, when we were researching for this particular topic, I could not find much outside of the show notes, but no, there was no, I was trying to figure out who the musicians were. I didn't find anything on them. I wanted to find out. How they got

paired,

it makes sense. They're two girls from Brooklyn. They've both carved out these lanes in their respective genres of music. Cindy Lauper fighting against the Madonna machine at the time. Comes out on top as her own person, little Kim fighting against misogyny and the predisposed ideas of what a woman in hip hop should look like. And it should sound like completely demolishes those, um, those preconceived notions and becomes an icon in her own right. So in that moment, everybody, it's like our two favorite flavors came together and brought us this moment.

[00:17:03] The Timeless Appeal of "Time After Time"

---

DJ Sir Daniel: of a wonderful performance between Cyndi Lauper and Lil Kim J. Ray, I would just want to wrap up this segment by saying that song, like I said, continues to live within our, um, our collective memory because people keep recording that song.

Even Lil Mo did a cover of "Time After Time" on one of her albums. So it's just one of those songs. Why do you think the song resonates with, with

us?

Jay Ray: Um, I think it goes back to Cyndi's original thoughts about the lyrics piece, and this is why I think music can be so transformative and why music is like a thing that across cultural lines, across economic lines, across Uh, you know, continents that music resonates is because "Time After Time" expresses sentiments that at some point in people's lives, they go through no matter what your experience is, right?

You've had moments that feel like the lyrics of "Time After Time". And I feel like everybody Like we've talked about, all of us, all of us little Black children heard that song and belted out, if you're lost you can look and you will find me. You know, "Time After Time".

DJ Sir Daniel: Absolutely. And see, I told you it was going to make

sense.

you this episode was going to make sense. Right? J

Ray.

Jay Ray: Oh my goodness. It absolutely does make sense.

[00:18:34] Closing Remarks and Farewell

---

Jay Ray: And thank you all for of course, hanging out with Queue Points. Make sure that you follow us on social media everywhere at Queue Points pod. If you subscribe to our, our podcast, that would be amazing. You can not only of course, listen, but you can also share it with your friends, family, and colleagues.

We'd really appreciate it. And. Please visit our website at Queue Points. com over there. You can sign up for our newsletter and in our newsletter, you get a lot more stuff. So we are excited. Thank you so much for hanging out with us.

DJ Sir Daniel: Absolutely. And like I always say in this life, you have an opportunity. You can either pick up the record or you can let the music play. I'm DJ sir, Daniel,

Jay Ray: And my name is Jay Ray y'all.

DJ Sir Daniel: and this has been Queue Points podcast, dropping the needle on Black music history. We'll see you on the next go round. Peace.

Jay Ray: Peace

y'all.

​

[00:19:24] Closing Theme

---