A Night to Remember (Cyndi Lauper album)

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: May 8, 1989<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=The Best Remixes1989Hat Full of Stars1993studioA Night to RememberA Night to Remember (album cover).jpgCyndi Lauper (seen wearing a colorful outfit) holding a microphone that is attached to a stand on a cobblestone street. The Stand is seen nearly leaning while Lauper is holding the stand. The Manhattan Bridge can be seen in the background. Near Lauper, a School Bus and another person doing a fire performance on the sidewalk.Cyndi LauperMay 8, 1989<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>January 1, 1988 – February 28, 1989The Hit Factory (New York City)<ref>Template:Discogs release</ref>Pop rock39:53EpicTemplate:Hlistx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

A Night to Remember is the third studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper, released on May 8, 1989, by Epic Records. The album was originally set to be released in 1988, under the name Kindred Spirit, but was delayed until 1989 and the songs from the initial project were reworked. Although the album managed to score a top-10 single, it failed to enjoy the commercial success of her previous two albums, was met with mixed-to-poor reviews and in interviews, Lauper refers to it as A Night to Forget. Worldwide, the album has sold more than 1.5 million copies.

Background and production

The album was originally conceptualized as a project called Kindred Spirit, due for release in October 1988,Template:Efn and was going to include the track "Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)", but when that song and the film it was featured in, Vibes, were unsuccessful, the album was reworked.<ref name="web.archive.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The original Kindred Spirit tracklist included 10 songs, eight of which were eventually included on the final album.<ref name="web.archive.org"/> The two songs that were removed were "Hole in My Heart," which would only appear on Japanese CD editions of A Night to Remember, and "Don't Look Back," written by Lauper and John Turi, which remains unreleased. The songs "A Night to Remember", "Dancing With a Stranger" and "I Don't Want to Be Your Friend" were added to the tracklist later on after the release date was pushed back to 1989, with the other songs being remixed some time between their original 1988 planned release date and their eventual release.<ref name="cla2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The song "My First Night Without You" was previewed in October 1988 at CBS UK's annual conference, and the album was still known as Kindred Spirit at the time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> By March 1989, the album's title had changed to A Night to Remember and was initially announced for an April release with this title.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Some proof sheets of the original album artwork exist with the alternate title and track listing.Template:Citation needed

"Unabbreviated Love," penned by Lauper, Dusty Micale and Franke Previte, was recorded for the album but only appeared on the B-side of the "My First Night Without You" single.<ref name="mfnwy">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The photo used in the album's final cover artwork was taken at the intersection of Plymouth and Pearl Streets, just east of the Manhattan Bridge, in Brooklyn, New York.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Critical reception

Critically, the album was met with mixed-to-poor reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic website retrospectively gave the album two out of five stars and wrote that with the album Lauper tried "becoming a self-consciously "mature" singer/songwriter" and that the album's songs didn't "always work" except for "I Drove All Night" which made "a lasting impression" and illustrated "what Lauper was attempting to achieve with the record". Chris Heim of the Chicago Tribune pointed out that the album bears the same name as the 1958 film about the Titanic; he gave the album two and a half stars out of five and wrote that the "crisp" and "spunky" production and the "appealing" vocals "can't quite keep this album and its predictable pop love song cargo afloat." Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times singled out Lauper's voice as a strong point, while noting the material was inconsistent.<ref name="Heim" /><ref name="Boehm" /><ref name="Guterman"/> Other reviewers were more harsh: The New York Times criticized A Night to Remember's "anonymous vocals, songs full of submissive cliches and slapdash production",<ref name="Parales">Template:Cite news</ref> while The Village Voice, in comparing the album to Lauper's previous work, declared "How embarrassing to have placed hope in this woman."<ref name="Christgau"/>

Billboard magazine gave the album a 'spotlight' in its album reviews section for the May 20, 1989, issue. Despite this, the album was described as having "somewhat unchallenging settings", though the lead single "I Drove All Night" was marked out as a "solid" start to the album campaign and album track "Like a Cat" was also highlighted as of interest.<ref name="Billboard-review">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Music & Media gave a positive review of the album, calling it "wayward, girlish pop aimed firmly at the charts" as well as "clever and sophisticated",<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and named it one of its "albums of the week".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In a review for Lauper's 1997 album Sisters of Avalon, People magazine retrospectively described A Night to Remember as "joyless" and blamed the album for her decline in popularity, stating that the album caused "a large chunk of her considerable following" to move on.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Commercial performance

The album sold moderately well but did not enjoy the same commercial success of her two previous albums,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> despite the success of the album's lead single, "I Drove All Night", which became a Top 10 hit, her last in the U.S.A., earning Lauper a Grammy Award nomination. In the UK, however, A Night to Remember was Lauper's highest-charting album, peaking at No.9.<ref name="UK Charts">Template:Cite book</ref> According to the book St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture (Volume 3), the album sold half a million copies in the United States in 1989.<ref name="Tom 1999">Tom & Sara Pendergast, (1999). St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Volume 3. St. James Press. Template:ISBN (set) Template:ISBN (v.3)</ref>

Although the album is called A Night to Remember, Lauper jokingly preferred to call it A Night to Forget, given its poor reviews and disappointing sales, compounded by the problems she encountered with producer and boyfriend David Wolf⁠f during the production of the album.<ref name="memoir">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Although not certified by RIAA, BPI and others trade associations, according to Lauper's official website, the album was certified platinum in Australia and United Kingdom and gold in Germany, Italy and United States.<ref name="lauperantrinfo">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of November 1989, the album had sold 1.3 million copies worldwide.<ref name=worldsales>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Singles and popular album tracks

• "I Drove All Night" was the album's lead single and was released in April 1989. It was the most successful single from the album, reaching the top 10 of the singles charts in Canada, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the top 20 in Australia, Ireland, Finland and West Germany.
• "My First Night Without You" was released in July 1989 as the second single from the album worldwide. The song failed to achieve the same success as "I Drove All Night", stalling at no. 62 in the United States and reaching low Top 50 positions in Australia, Belgium and France.
• "A Night to Remember" was the album's third single in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, though failed to reach the top 100 in any of these territories.
• "Heading West" was released in December 1989 as the third single in the United Kingdom, where it reached no. 68 on the singles chart. It was also released as the third single from the album in Australia, Japan and continental Europe.
• "Primitive" was released in early 1990 as the fourth European single from the album but did not enter any singles charts.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Music & Media named the song as a "sure hit" and described it as a "punchy rock song" with a "good dance beat".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
• "Unconditional Love" was released in 1991 as an exclusive single in Hong Kong.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

Despite not yet being a single, "Primitive" did receive airplay in Greece beginning in June 1989.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Insecurious" received radio adds in the United Kingdom in July 1989, but never became a single despite this.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Soon after the album's release in Japan, "Unconditional Love" began receiving airplay on the radio station J-Wave in May 1989.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} N.B. Select "1989", "5" and "4" in the three drop down lists and press "GO!".</ref>

Track listing

Notes

• In 2013, the 2008 Japanese remaster was reissued on BSCD2 format, with the same 2008 track listing.<ref name="BSCD2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Tracks 13 and 14 are bonus tracks on the 2008 Japanese remastered mini-LP version, as well as its 2013 reissue.<ref name="miniLP">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Track 14 recorded at the Summer Sonic Festival on August 12, 2007, in Chiba, Japan.

Personnel

Musicians

• Cyndi Lauper – lead vocals, backing vocals, dulcimer, arrangements
• Jeff Bova – keyboards, arrangements
• Tommy Mandel – keyboards
• John Turi – keyboards, saxophone
• Peter Wood – keyboards
• Rockin' Dopsie (Alton Jay Rubin) – accordion
• Bobby Bandiera – guitar
• Eric Clapton – guitar (9)
• Dave Dale – guitar
• Rick Derringer – guitar
• John McCurry – guitar, coral sitar
• Rob Newhouse – guitar
• Paul Pesco – guitar
• Bootsy Collins – bass
• Leigh Foxx – bass
• Neil Jason – bass
• Bakithi Khumalo – bass
• T.M. Stevens – bass
• Tom "T-Bone" Wolk – bass
• Steve Ferrone – drums
• Jimmy Bralower – drum programming, arrangements
• Joe Bellia – drum machine
• Carole Steele – percussion
• George Recile – triangle
• Lennie Petze – arrangements (1–5, 7, 9, 10, 12)
• Eric "ET" Thorngren – arrangements (1–5, 7, 9–12)
• Billy Steinberg – arrangements (6, 8)
• Phil Ramone – arrangements (7, 11)
• Larry Blackmon – backing vocals
• Angela Clemmons-Patrick – backing vocals
• Gordon Grody – backing vocals
• Tomi Jenkins – backing vocals
• Tom Kelly – backing vocals
• Nathan Leftenant – backing vocals
• Franke Previte – backing vocals
• Frank Simms – backing vocals
• George Simms – backing vocals
• David Spinner – backing vocals

Technical

• Cyndi Lauper – producer
• Lennie Petze – producer (1–6, 8, 9, 12)
• Phil Ramone – producer (7, 11)
• Eric "ET" Thorngren – producer (10), recording
• David Wolff – executive producer
• Gary Lyons – recording
• Gary Wright – additional engineer, assistant engineer, recording (12)
• Tim Leitner – additional engineer, assistant engineer
• Rich Travali – additional engineer, assistant engineer
• Craig Vogel – additional engineer, assistant engineer
• Joe Pirrera – assistant engineer
• Dave McNair – mixing (12)
• George Marino – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City)
• John Doelp – product manager

Artwork

• Cyndi Lauper – art direction, design
• Stacy Drummond – art direction, design
• Chip Simons – photography
• David Tabatsky – fire juggler on album cover

Accolades

Template:Awards table |- |rowspan="1"|1990 |"I Drove All Night" |Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance |Template:Nom

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Charts

Weekly charts

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Weekly chart performance for A Night to Remember

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Canadian Albums (The Record)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	34
European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	20
French Albums (IFOP)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} Select "Cyndi LAUPER " from the drop-down menu and click "OK".</ref>	15
Finland (Suomen virallinen albumlista)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	21
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "A night to remember" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".</ref>	18
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	3
South African Albums (RISA)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	29
Zimbabwean Albums (ZIMA)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	10

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for A Night to Remember

Chart (1989)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	56
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	75
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	83

External links

• A Night to Remember at Discogs