Searching for stuff on the internet can be a lot of fun, or it can be a pain in the butt. It helps if you not only know where to search, but how to search.
Sometime back in the late 1980s -- February 4th, 1988, to be exact -- I watched a musical performance on the sixth anniversary prime-time TV special for NBC's Late Night with David Letterman. This number, a medley of sorts with the Arthur Conley song "Sweet Soul Music" as a framing piece, featured Cyndi Lauper and Ben E. King as vocalists, along with several "name" accompanists (Billy Joel, Duane Eddy, Warren Zevon, Joe Walsh, Clarence Clemons, Tom Scott, and others!). I remember being blown away by Ms. Lauper's performance in particular.
Of course, I had no real hope at the time the program aired that it would ever be released on videotape, and the internet itself wasn't a reality for us common folk. As the years went by, and things changed, I tried to find this program!
So, yes, I've searched for this performance on YouTube before, using various terms in combo like "Late Night," "David Letterman," "Cyndi Lauper," etc., but it wasn't until today that I found it, by searching for "Cyndi Lauper" and "Sweet Soul Music" only.
There's an incredibly long intro, so if you only want to see "Sweet Soul Music" performed, zoom ahead to 4:17!
Well... I hope you enjoyed it. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed! It wasn't quite as good as I'd remembered it. Maybe it was all these years of anticipation that built it up in my mind. Or maybe the effect was hurt by watching it on a cramped little YouTube screen at a low volume.
But it was still nice to find it, and I don't feel guilty using it as a little Foxyblog filler today, while I attend to other things.
Thanks for your time.
Oh My God I think it's AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteCyndi Lauper was on fire in those days. I know. I worked at a terrific Rock station and she was huge. There isn't an artist in that group I don't admire. Really great.
She was SO popular back then! And I enlarged the clip to full screen, so it wasn't TOO small. ha. Wonder what she's up to now.
ReplyDeleteHappily, Ms. Lauper has stayed active in the music biz, although her visibility during the '90s and beyond has never equaled that of the period of her earliest successes. Or something. (My morning coffee hasn't taken effect yet.)
ReplyDeleteWasn't a bad watch at all and yes things are usually never as good as you remember for one reason or another.
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