It's been a quarter century since she won hearts with the catchy Girls Just Want to Have Fun, the hit single that propelled her debut album So Unusual to 16 million sales worldwide. And though that song remains an anthem for teenaged girls the world over, not to mention a karaoke night favourite, it's been a while since we've heard from Cyndi Lauper.

Sure, she's found success throughout the decades, but not since that white hot single lit up the charts has she been as relevant as fellow 1980's star Madonna.

But with her recently released Bring Ya to the Brink, we get the diva at her bubblegum best. Bring Ya to the Brink has been heralded by a wide range of critics, primarily on the strength of the US Billboard Hot Dance Club #1 hit, Same Ol' F***ing story, produced by uber-cool New York City DJ Richard Morel.

Her musical progression has been the subject of much conversation, from infectious pop, to R&B, to World music, to acoustic. Now, however, she's come full circle. Bring Ya to the Brink is packed to the brim with gooey, groovy dance numbers. And though she's been here before, given the freshness of this latest offering, it's safe to say: this is anything but the same ol' story.

By Sally Browne

SHE describes it like a scene out of Star Trek. Cyndi Lauper was in her hotel room in Australia sitting at her laptop, while her producer was on the other side of the world, in Britain.

They were working on the final mixes of her latest tracks, sending downloads back and forth and chatting online.

"I used to watch Star Trek when I was a little kid and, wow, here I am! Only my iChat screen is not as big as Captain Kirk's."

On the phone from her home in New York State, five months later, the eternally bubbly Cyndi Lauper laughs at the memory.

It was a very futuristic production method for what is a very futuristic record – and quite possibly one of her best.

Bring Ya to the Brink is her first collection of new work in five years, and it's an album full of rich, dance-laden grooves, catchy hooks and Cyndi's strong, youthful vocals.

Getting it done was no easy feat as Lauper's collaborators – including Britain's Basement Jaxx, Sweden's Scum-Frog and Washington DC's Rich Morel – were based all over the world.

She describes working with all these different artist-producers as a "jukebox" approach – each song has a distinctive flavour, but they are all unmistakably Cyndi.

"I can't believe it came out the way it came out because I was nervous about it," she says.

"It was a little rough going because everybody was from all corners of the universe."

Despite her busy schedule, the mum of one, Declyn, 10, and wife of actor David Thornton, found time to make it to Australia this year – where she has a huge fan base.

Girls may just want to have fun, as Cyndi sang in the 1980s, but it seems grown women just want to have fun too. Lauper fans are a rowdy lot. Women in matching T-shirts travelled far to see her perform at Brisbane's QPAC Concert Hall, where her powerful voice filled the room.

A true entertainer, Lauper peppered her performance with talk worthy of its own stand-up routine.

But what the Queens, New York, native loves most about Australia is our accents.

"You know, I always feel bad about my accent, but hanging around with you guys, you've all got a really strong accent, so I don't feel so bad any more!" she laughs.

Another tour could be on the cards early next year, although at this stage she's not making any promises.

In the meantime, Lauper has been busy touring the US on her second annual True Colours tour. The tour, which involves a line-up of top musicians and comedians, raises funds and awareness for gay rights issues.

She has toured with the likes of Debbie Harry, Erasure, Rufus Wainwright and Rosie O'Donnell, and this year the B-52s, Joan Jett, Regina Spektor, and Tegan and Sara joined her on the road.

Lauper is an active political campaigner – at her True Colours shows she encouraged everyone to vote in the upcoming US election. And she has become an important figurehead for the gay community. She performed at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras last year and her sister, Ellen, is a lesbian.

Only 14 months apart, she and Ellen are still close. "She tries to ditch me every once in a while, but I keep popping up!" Cyndi jokes.

Their mother dressed them in matching outfits when they were small – as Irish Twins, Cyndi calls it. "She'd dress us alike and they'd say, 'Oh, are they twins?' And she'd say 'almost'. Actually, there isn't an almost, either you are or you're not!"

Historically, Lauper's family, who lived in a poor neighbourhood in Queens, had ties to the dressmaking industry, working as machinists and pattern-makers. Her grandmother had a sewing machine and dressmaker's dummy upstairs, and growing up in a house full of patterns and fabric influenced Cyndi's unique style.

At 55, she is still an icon to many. Through her tours, she gets to hang out with a new generation of female artists who, like eager students, question her about her life and experiences.

But Lauper says she learns from them, just as much as the other way around.

Still rocking after more than 20 years, she likes nothing better than to create a fun party atmosphere in her dressing room backstage – although there has been more than one occasion where she's had to leap to her iPod before the yoga and meditation tracks kick in.

"That's the last thing you want to be listening to at a party, it's a real downer," she says.

Sometimes technology can get the better of you.

Bring Ya to the Brink is out now.

By Paul Burston

She’s battled the men in suits to get back in the charts. Paul Burston meets a reborn Cyndi Lauper

Cyndi Lauper likes to talk. She can talk for America. And England. And Italy. It’s the end of a long international press day and I’m told that Cyndi is running about 15 minutes late. Then 30. Then 45. Then a whole hour. But this isn’t sulky divaish behaviour The woman who sold 16 million copies of her debut album She’s So Unusual in 1984 is back on a high. She has topped the American Billboard dance chart with Same Ol F***ing Story (there’s no swearing in the title of the UK version, but plenty in the song and sprinkled in her conversation).

She welcomes me into her room at the Mayfair Hotel, dressed in a black dress and grey military jacket, blonde hair slicked back. Her make-up looks subtle but later she confesses: “Someone painted my face for an hour to make me look this good.” She appears nothing like her 55 years. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting,” she says earnestly. “But when I get into an interesting conversation with someone, I just can’t seem to finish on time, y’know? It drives my manager crazy.” Lauper rolls her eyes and orders us some drinks.

The last time I saw her she nearly knocked my drink over. It was five years ago at the Café de Paris. She was show-casing her album of covers At Last, and was clambering on my table as she sang Unchained Melody.

“Were you scared?” she asks, still looking and sounding as cute as Betty Boop. “ ’Cos a lot of people were scared.”

At the time, the huge success of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and She Bop was a distant memory, and people were also scared of letting her make another record. “That album was a side project,” she says. “But then I wanted to do my own record, and the record company were like, ‘Oh, we want you to do another cover record.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t f***ing think so.’ Then I bumped into Jeff Beck and we had this idea to do a blues album together, but they said no. Then they wanted me to do an Eighties record and I was like, ‘Hey, these songs weren’t even as big as mine in the Eighties. What the hell am I doing covering them? I might as well cover myself.’ What can I tell you? They didn’t have faith in me as an artist. They were just a load of suits, and it was the suits who wrecked the f***ing music business.”

In many ways, Lauper is still the opposite of her big Eighties rival Madonna. Where Madonna often comes across as brittle and defensive in interviews, Lauper speaks freely. Where Madonna continues to market herself primarily as a sex object, Lauper has always been a singer first. But like Madonna, Lauper has gone back to the dancefloor, and she has done so aided by a series of European co-writers and co-producers, and by becoming a bit of an anglophile. Collaborators on the new album Bring Ya to the Brink include Basement Jaxx, Digital Dog, Dragonette and the Scum Frog.

So how did it come about? “I tried writing a few things but they weren’t working. So one day my manager said to me, ‘Go to England. Go to Europe. Just go away.’ Just like all the great writers and artists, right? So this became my European period. I already had the movie playing in my head. So I came to Kent. Then I went to Paris. I did my own laundry. I didn’t have a minder. I was free.

“But first I hung out with [the electro-house production duo] Digital Dog. And that’s when it occurred to me, driving to Kent, that here they not only drive on the other side of the road, but they sing on the other side of the beat. Americans always sing a little after the beat, but not the English. They’re right on it. So we started writing together and we came up with the idea of a dance record about someone living 9 to 5.

“I kept asking, what are we writing about and who is the person singing, and what’s her story? Because every time you get on a dancefloor, you’re dancing with somebody, but you’re also dancing with the singer. And who’s the singer? So as I’m writing I’m thinking, who is this girl? Well, she’s in her apartment, she’s getting ready to go out, she’s working class, and she’s English. So suddenly it’s my English period.”

She enjoyed working with Digital Dog. “They were the first guys I worked with on the album. At first I thought they were gay, but they’re not.”

Lauper, of course, is very popular with gays. “But I hate that expression,” she says. Like they are not quite real people.” Unlike some artists, who turn up at GAY or produce an album for the gay fans whenever the hits dry up, Lauper’s commitment to the cause is genuine. Her sister Elen is a lesbian, and for a few years in her teens Cyndi tried to convince herself that she was, too. “My sister was gay, my best friends were gay, so I figured I had to be gay. So I did everything they did. I tried kissing girls. But it didn’t feel right for me and eventually I was forced to come out as a heterosexual.”

In 2007 she launched an annual True Colours tour, which this year features artists including the B52s and Andy Bell, and helps to raise awareness of homophobia. “This community for me is my beloved community,” she says. “This is not a money-making venture. I have been running with this community all my life, and when I hear people like George Bush talk about the gay community being antiAmerican it makes my blood boil.

“The guy who saved the White House, one of the heroes who crashed that plane on 9/11, was gay – the rugby player Mark Bingham, who died on United 93. And does Bush ever mention that? Does he f***! That gay guy saved his lousy ass. And this guy who says he prays to God, this guy who promotes hate and fear, this guy we call our President . . . This guy is the true antiAmerican.”

Bring Ya to the Brink is out now. The True Colours tour opens at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Oct 10

It's late in New York when Cyndi Lauper sleepily talks to us about life after her 24-show True Colours US tour. Teaming up with special guests including the B52s, Tegan and Sara, comedian Rosie O'Donnell and the Human Rights Campaign to launch a national tour in support of gay rights, she treated the crowds to her new album 'Bring Ya To The Brink' which features a who's-who of collaborators including Basement Jaxx.. "When I got back the (album's) first mix... I was in tears because it was the kind of music I wanted to make. It was familiar yet modern."

Cyndi Lauper's latest album 'Bring Ya To The Brink' has affirmed her position as a doyenne of change and innovation, but chatting to us late one Summer's night in New York she sounds contemplative... and a little sleepy.

Having just wrapped her second annual 'True Colours' tour in support of gay rights, she's still summing up in her head the significance of the event where she shared the stage with a host of talent including the B52s, Rosie O'Donnell, Joan Armatrading, Sarah McLachlan, Regina Spektor, Tegan and Sara, Carson Kressley and more.

"The whole thing was a trip. I'm still figuring out how I want to write about it and talk about the last few days that were so amazing. I had an extraordinary tour. You share experiences with other artists that is almost unfathomable. It was about bringing people together and empowering them and making them feel good about themselves. It was an amazing time. In Vancouver I had to stop the show and say 'Excuse me. Excuse Me. Do you realize what we're doing?' It was like 'Oh my God we are doing this together'.

I hope people feel empowered about it and they got the information they need to achieve what they needed in their life."

Inspired by her guests, she learned a lot too.

"I was inspired by their humour, by their sensitivity, by what they wrote about, by their energy. By Tegan's zest for her work and her life and the way she looked at things. Also just the passion for their own work is inspiring. I must say that it also changes your own perspective on yourself..."

One of these perspectives is what she saw looking back on the footage on YouTube:

"Unfortunately sometimes I'll look on YouTube and think 'oh my god! Why did I think that looked good?! Why did I wear that?!' So I can't really look at myself and live in the moment and let it go. Because you'll never be who you think you are in your mind. In your mind you're much taller (laughs) and your hair is long and flowing. You look completely different!"

One thing that has remained is her passion for her music and the fine-tuning to get her vision onto vinyl.

Hand-selecting her producers and collaborators on her new album 'Bring Ya To The Brink', she hired Basement Jaxx, Rich Morel, Kleerup, Peer Astrom, Scumfrog, acclaimed New Wave revivalists Dragonette, and underground U.K. remix-renegades Digital Dog to create 12 tracks which are set to propel her right back to the heart of the dancefloor.

"I had done two special projects 'At Last' and 'Body Acoustic' which were great to do but I wanted to get back to making my regular work again, and writing. When you produce your own work you have a certain mindset and sound. I wanted to create a sound together and so as I started thinking about the album being like a jukebox.

"I always love working in a community of artists - it's always a petrie dish. It doesn't always come out the way you like, but this one did. When I got back the first mix of 'High And Mighty' I was in tears because it was the kind of music I wanted to make. It was familiar yet modern.

"I tried not to make every vocal the same - I tried to find the character of the story teller. I especially loved in 'Raging Storm' to sing in octaves in one song and the low octave in the next song 'Lay Me Down' - it had intrigued me to bend over backwards to find these different characters.

It was tricky, it was like a big old puzzle but we got it together."

As always her narrative explores the position of women's liberation. Using photographer Stephanie Schneider for her album's artwork, she's shot a series of surrealist images of herself dressed up to do the household chores...

"I was taking pictures like that because at a certain time in history as women we were sold a bill of goods. It was the Stepford Wives time where very glamorous housewives were told to look after the whitegoods. It was a backlash against the women's movement. Now we're being sold the bill of goods again and here I am all dressed up in the laundry in a gown.

"But this woman in the picture is still holding onto her disco ball, her joy, she's still having a party wherever she goes and she's going to keep her joy no matter what. I thought using props like gnomes, and the disco ball and the broom were pretty funny."

It seems the girl just still wants to have fun.

'Bring Ya To The Brink' is now in stores.

SHE’S the kooky American singer-songwriter who told us Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

Now 55, Cyndi Lauper proves her dancing days are still not over with this full-on club album.

Madonna’s Hard Candy might have been a dud but Bring Ya To The Brink is the album Madge should have made, lots of Eighties-influenced synths, groove-infused numbers and arms-in-the-air disco dazzlers.

Here Cyndi tells JACQUI SWIFT about feeling much younger than her years, working with Basement Jaxx and campaigning for gay and lesbian rights.

YOU are 55 but to fans you will never grow old. What age do you feel?

Having a ten-year-old son keeps me young. Music keeps me young. And I was told by a friend 55 is the new 35, whatever that means. I do a lot of yoga to keep fit. You can’t sing and run around on stage like I do if you’re not in shape.

Why did you decide to make a club/dance record this time around?

I wanted to move forward with tempo and rhythm. I’ve always done remixes on my projects and love working with remix producers — it’s cool to hear their take. I really love to collaborate with different artists too.

Why Bring Ya To The Brink?

Early on I was calling it Savoir Faire. By the time I finished the CD I realised each song told a different story, like little pictures of life. There is a lyric in the song Lyfe that says, “Life it can break ya, it can make ya, it can bring ya to the brink”. Meaning life’s experiences bring ya to the brink of all emotions and that’s what is exhilarating.

How did you team up with Basement Jaxx on Rocking Chair?

My manager Lisa is a really big fan. She turned me on to their music. They have a very distinct sound and personality. I love that about them. Simon [Ratcliffe] and Felix [Burton] are so musical and inventive, like a pair of musical mad scientists. We gave and took from each other. A true collaboration.

Tell us about your time recording in the UK.

I understand you guys drive on the other side of the street to us Americans and I learned you also sing on the other side of the beat, I learned that while I was there.

I love London. I was there in the fall so it was great just to walk around and get a feel for how the city was changing. I’m coming back to tour in October so plan on having a proper hang out then.

Is Lyfe about your son?

Lyfe is for my son, not necessarily about him. It’s more about how insane life can make you and really break you down. There is a lot of s*** going on in the US today that just outrages me, so it’s a nod to my family to stay strong — and also everyone around me.

And Raging Storm?

I did Raging Storm with a talented US producer, Rich Morel. The song is really about the obsession we all have with celebrity when the real news and issues are sometimes overlooked.

Did Peer Astrom and Johan Bobeck help you change your vocal style?

I really tried to change up my vocals on various tracks. With some it was about the tonality and the rhythm with others. Like Echo, the vocals on that track are based on the drum loops they were throwing around. So I’m like, OK, I’ll try and sound like the syncopation and rhythm of a specific drum beat. In Same Ol’ Story, I hit this really high note which is my own little tribute to Sylvester and how he used to deliver the peak of a dance track.

Who do you listen to?

A lot of hip-hop. That’s what my son is into so we listen to that on the way to and from school.

Tell us about your recent True Colors Tour.

We just finished the tour and did 25 cities. The tour is a great platform for me and other musicians to rock out and get some messaging out about issues relating to the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender/transsexual) community in the US, and anyone else who feels their basic civil liberties are being thrown under the bus. There are a lot of things going in the wrong direction in the US and I have a massive gay following, so it was only right I did something to give back to the community.

Will it visit the UK?

I hope so. We have been talking about it. Music has always been a messenger for the streets and what is happening with the culture. Look at what Thatcher did for the punk movement. It was an answer to the frustration of the times.

You originally wanted to be a painter. Do you still get time to paint?

Not that often. But I do get a chance to use that part of my creative side with CD covers and videos.

When you first appeared you were seen as a rival to Madonna. What do you think of her recent work?

I think Madonna is fantastic. Her new CD is great. I can tell she still makes music and tours because she loves it. That comes through in her music. She is a superstar.

How has the music business changed in all these years?

They say because of the internet it’s easier to be discovered. I’m not sure I believe that. There are just so many websites and fansites I’m not sure how anyone gets real attention. At the end of the day you have to be good enough, it’s that simple.

Which new artists are you a fan of?

I really love Tegan & Sara. Their new CD, The Con, is a new favourite of mine. I really like the new Goldfrapp record and a band out of Toronto called The Cliks.

Time After Time has been covered by so many people. What’s your favourite version?

I have to say the Miles Davis version. I mean it’s Miles. Wow. Mindblowing!

What do you think of Miley Cyrus’s version of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun?

She did a great job. She totally made her own version and that is very cool. I met her when we presented an award at the Grammys. She is a very sweet girl.

CYNDI LAUPER, 55, is an American singer-songwriter. Her latest album, Bring Ya to the Brink is out tomorrow. She lives in New York with her husband, the actor David Thornton, and their son, Declyn, 10

When I was a kid, I dressed differently, so people threw rocks at me. Years later, they dressed like me. So I don’t care if people think I don’t act my age: I never listen to what they say, because what they say changes.

Growing up, I saw how women weren’t afforded the same pay and job opportunities as men, so I wanted to have the same life as a man. When I needed a boy for my band, I suddenly thought, “I’m going to be the boy!”

I was given a letter by a dancer that artists often pass around among themselves, one Martha Graham wrote to Agnes De Mille. She said you must never judge yourself. Reading that was my turning point — if you’re listening to yourself, or others, you become self-conscious.

My sister is gay — I’m a friend and family of the gay community. If you want a strong society, it has to be inclusive. If you have to push a boulder up a hill, do you want 10 people or 100? If you weed out colour or gender, you get 10.

Dressing conservatively is not good for me — it doesn’t feel comfortable. Why stifle your fantasies? If you have to dress down, you don’t have to dress straight.

My son said to me recently, “If you want to be successful, you need to keep the cursing in your lyrics. This stuff sells.”

Doubts have been cleared and it has been confirmed that American Emmy and Grammy award-winning singer Cyndi Lauper will perform in concert in Lima, Peru.

Lauper, who was the first artist in history to have four top-five singles released from one album, is to perform for the first time in Peru at the Estadio Monumental in Lima on November 27.

"She will definitely play on November 27 in Lima. The list of songs for the South American tours has not been confirmed, but all of the region's concerts will be similar," said Teresa McSharry, an executive at So What Management.

Furthermore, Cyndi, who has released almost a dozen albums, over three dozen singles and sold more than 55 million albums worldwide, verbally confirmed that she would perform in Chile and Argentina.

She did not mention when or where, however.

In an interview with a Chilean radio station, the singer, who is most remembered for songs such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time", affirmed that she would sing some of her greatest hits as well as songs in her newly released album Bring Ya to the Brink.