CYNDI LAUPER Singer still does wanna have fun -- playing the dulcimer on latest CD

You won't hear the singer making music that reeks of '80s sounds.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Somewhere in Cyndi Lauper's New York City house is a closet filled with instruments.
Success may afford celebrities expensive hobbies, but Lauper's fame in the '80s resulted in her living out a dream inspired by Ruth Gordon's character in the 1971 feature film "Harold and Maude."
"One day when I had enough money, I went to a music store and bought a closet full of instruments," said Lauper, calling from her Big Apple home. "I bought a dulcimer, what I thought was an autoharp but turned out to be a zither, which is different. It doesn't have any buttons. And I have a trombone, violin and more."
Considering the "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" singer is unlikely to be featured in an MTV "Cribs" episode, the intriguing closet will forever remain a mystery. However, fans are now getting to hear her dulcimer ability on the recently released "The Body Acoustic" disc, which features Lauper's '80s hits reworked with guests such as Jeff Beck, Sarah McLachlan, Ani Difranco and more.
Revealing another side
Perhaps surprising is the fact Lauper has been writing music on the dulcimer for decades. It was only recently that she decided to bring it out for audiences.
"I had been doing these benefits and you can't take a lot of stuff with you," Lauper said. "And I saw Sting do 'Roxanne' once with just his bass guitar, so I figured I could do it with my dulcimer. But that would be quite funny if I bought a big old bass, too, [and played my songs] but then I'd have to learn how to play it and it takes a long time."
There's no denying Lauper is somewhat zany in conversation, changing subjects faster today than she did her hair color 20 years ago. And it's this same energy that explains why even though she's touring "The Body Acoustic" this fall, the show is not an unplugged date. Lauper performs Saturday at the Lakewood Civic Auditorium.
"To do the whole thing like that I would definitely need some Prozac," Lauper said. "We're going to have a raucous time. It's fun."
At this point in her career, Lauper is pretty much doing whatever she wants, without having to worry about commercial success driving her craft. Her last studio album, "At Last," was a torch album featuring covers such as the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody," Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose" and Smokey Robinson's "You've Really Got a Hold on Me."
Though Lauper admits she has a wish list of albums she'd like to record -- a blues project could be right around the corner -- the one thing you won't find her doing is touring alongside bands such as Berlin, Uh-Huh and other first-generation MTV acts on a package tour.
"I don't do them because I don't make music that sounds like the '80s," Lauper said. "They may have been hits in the '80s but it's not that sound. That's kind of like for oldies [acts]."
She pointed to her popular radio song "True Colors" as transcending an era. "When you hear that song, you know it's special," Lauper said. "You have to let the song dictate what it is supposed to be. And you would hope that what you're spending so much time on always remains relevant because what you sing is timeless. It's more important about people's souls than just the fashion of it."