Although there’s been female representation on this list before, it feels like Lauper takes it in a new direction. It’s not the mournful regret of Loretta Lynn, but closer to the bolshy rebellion of The Slits, except that Lauper is less directly confrontational; she instead carries a level of confidence that gives her an unapologetic joie de vivre, typified by the flagship song on the album, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Her voice may at times sound Betty Boop cutesy, but she can also belt out the power when needed.
Yes, the sound often has a very early Eighties feel to it, from the thumping bass and The Cars-like synth of Money Changes Everything to Rob Hyman’s Popcorn style synth break on Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, or the Eighties synth patterns on the ballad All Through The Night. But although it often puts the music in a particular time, it doesn’t date it in a bad way. Time After Time, however, has withstood the changes in music to become iconic.
While Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is the Girl Power anthem on the album, the rock-and-roll based She Bop makes it plain that sometimes girls just wanna have fun... by themselves - “I can't stop messing with the danger zone, I won't worry, and I won't fret, ain't no law against it yet”. Although somewhat couched in innuendo, it’s surprisingly frank, and Lauper is similarly so on I’ll Kiss You, where her character purchases Love Potion #9 and is warned that “Better make sure your boyfriend isn’t busy”.
More than other female artists on this list so far (including all the nonconformists like The Slits, X-Ray Spex, Patti Smith or Siouxsie Sioux), it feels like Lauper paves the way for unapologetically partying female artists, from the packaged pop of the Spice Girls to the anarchic punk of the Lambrini Girls. And others that don’t call themselves “girls”, but still just wanna have fun.
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