‘Let The Canary Sing Review: A Documentary About Cyndi Lauper Captures Her Cracked Pop Joy, But Its Too Celebratory To Dig Into The Drama
When you watch a documentary about a pop star who changed the game, you think you're going to get a musical story and a good insight into life, and that's enough (anyway). I was looking forward to Sing Canary, the Cyndi Lauper documentary, because it was directed by Alison Ellwood, who did Go-Go a few years ago, and this movie has it all: drama, horror. A classic pop reboot saga as we watch the Go-Go Bus slam doors that have been closed for too long. Cyndi Lauper was no less revolutionary, announcing with Madonna in the early 80s that we were in for a new definition of seismic. And that was its meaning: a star that can rule and change the world.
In Street Faigue, the layering of dresses, earrings, bracelets and fishnets, as well as the way she bends her body (regardless of which way her legs are facing in the throes of ecstasy) and more, is fully framed and completely unavoidable. When you completely break down and define the pop landscape like Lauper, there's always going to be drama in the story of how your music and creative life intersect, and Canary Sing does a great job of that. Lapper became... Cindy Lapper.
But it's a unique film because it's the only one that works. I really can't tell the "big story" I want to tell. The film explores aspects of Lauper's life, such as her romance with manager David Wolfe during its prime, as well as her impassioned LGBT activism debut in 1986's True Colors. The anthem of the gay community suffering from AIDS.
However, the image that emerges from Lauper's "Singing Canaries" does not seem so dignified and restrained. It seems surprisingly little. In recent years, a number of documentaries about pop stars have been released, such as Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry, Rose: All I Ever Knew, Gaga: Five Foot Two and Jagged. (About Alanis Morissette) They are controlled and guarded to the point that some critics (not me) accuse them of being hagiographic. But as a mirror image in the documentary school, these stars have revealed a lot about who they are as people. "Canary Singer" is content to highlight Lapper's music and his quirky street persona, but you feel like you're getting an extreme version of Cyndi Lauper's life.
The first 50 minutes of the movie are great. Loper was born in 1953 into a wealthy Sicilian family. She was 30 years old when she grew up, but she knew from a young age that she wanted to be a singer. The film shows how she worked there for more than 10 years. In her family's cool Brooklyn apartment, she grew up watching Queen for a Day on TV as well as The Beatles, where we see priceless footage of her and her sister Ellen pretending. Meeting Patsy Cline on the Arthur Golf show was a big deal for him. But when her family moved to Queens, her parents divorced and she had an abusive stepfather. She left home at 17 to live with Ellen, who was lesbian and open about her sexuality. Cindy herself was a weed and began to flourish in this atmosphere of tolerance.
Initially, the rapper played in cover bands. We hear a live recording of (surprisingly) Janis Joplin's vocal chords. In 1980, she joined the solo band Blue Angel and we began to hear the incredible lyrical power of her voice. I believe I never knew this part of the story and it was a revelation. Blue Angel sounded like they wanted to be Blondie and they had some songs like "I'll Be Strong" that really rocked. Lapper's stage performance, judging by the clips, was volcanic, but success eluded the group. (They were too late for New Wave, too early for Post New Wave.) People kept telling Cindy to go it alone, and after Wolf became her manager, it happened. But her ex-manager is suing her and she has to go to court to get rid of him (and declare herself bankrupt). At the end of the trial, the judge said: "The canaries are singing."
Who would become the canary as a singer? Wolff introduced Lauper to Epic Records executive Lenny Petz, who introduced her to producer Rick Chartoff. They become the perfect couple, but first must face a major obstacle that, in retrospect, defines Lauper's independence, artistic sensibility, and primal femininity. Chartoff found a song he thought was perfect for the performance: "Girls Wanna Have Fun," written and recorded in 1979 by Philadelphia rocker Robert Hazard. We hear his version, and it's a punk song with a terribly fiery quality. Bubble Gum sounds like the worst song the Tubes have ever recorded. It was also a song about girls being noticed by boys.
Loper heard this and told Chartoff, "I would never write that shit." But Chartoff makes this song work again with him, a project they've been working on for months, starting with a fun opener that sounds like the sound of an organ at a summer carnival. The lyrics have changed; The pace has changed; The rhythms and melodies went from fast and massive to deeply infectious. And Lauper's song made it memorable. The catchy song goes, “Girls want to have fun because… well, who doesn't want to have fun? But he also said in street dancing: girls want to have fun just like boys want to have fun . Happiness means fun, freedom and abundant self-creation. The song "What do women want?" It was a triumphant and bold response to an 80-year-old song. An ignoramus scratches his head.
You might think he was destined to strike, but he wasn't - at least out of the gate. The prospect of releasing a follow-up song soon arose, but Lauper recalls one compelling reason she fought the idea. According to her, the Motels were a great band that released slow songs; They did not recover. Embracing the camp aspects of the "Girls Wanna Have Fun"-inspired song, Cindy went out into the world (featuring wrestling captain Lou Albano, who is "still number one" and his "loving father"). Fight professionals to become part of this cartoon universe using the avatar of Gracie Allen and Betty Boop. It worked. This made him popular and the single became a hit at the time.
Canary Song has the best stories and music videos. The film takes us inside the songwriting process and shows how Cindy teamed up with Annie Leibovitz to turn a cover of "She's Extraordinary" into a fantasy. The film's most iconic scene is a clip of Lauper and Patti LaBelle performing "Time After Time" in 1985. Vocally, the two go around each other as if in a secret slow gospel duel, and the entire performance is backed by Billy Porter, who talks about it as a sporting event.
Cyndi Lauper suffered a rather spectacular failure as a pop star. She is very unusual, with singles that put her on the magical Olympus of the 80s with Madonna and Michael Jackson. And while his second album True Colors couldn't match it, it did have a great title. But his two albums, released in 1989 and 1993, were relatively unsuccessful (although the first produced a modest hit "I Drive All Night"). On "Whatever Happened to Lauper's Voice," which was glorious in 1983, it doesn't seem like he's getting what he deserves anymore.
The documentary shows that she has found a second life as an artist, returning to write songs for the Broadway musical Coolie Boots (and winning a Tony for Best Original Song, the only debutant in that category). After already starring in a bad movie ("Vibrations"), she starred in "Famous Apprentices" and went on to star in commercials for the psoriasis drug "Cosentyx." And the film pays tribute to his unique love of work. But after leaving the big pop scene, Canary becomes more of a mechanical documentary. That's because he can't get enough of the story behind Lapper's list of accomplishments. It shows you why she was unusual and amazing, but doesn't convince you that you're seeing all of her true colors.
