Robert Hazard (né Rimato, August 21, 1948 – August 5, 2008) was an American musician. He wrote, composed, and recorded the song "

Girls Just Want to Have Fun "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a song written, recorded and performed by American musician Robert Hazard, who released it as a single in 1979. It is best known for the version of American singer Cyndi Lauper, who covered the song in 1983. It ...

" in 1979, which was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

in 1983 by

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

, who turned it into a best-selling hit. He also composed the new-wave and

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

songs " Escalator of Life" and "Change Reaction", which he performed with his band, Robert Hazard and the Heroes, that was popular in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

club scene during the 1980s. These songs appeared on the five song EP ''

Robert Hazard Robert Hazard (né Rimato, August 21, 1948 – August 5, 2008) was an American musician. He wrote, composed, and recorded the song "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" in 1979, which was covered in 1983 by Cyndi Lauper, who turned it into a ...

'', released in June 1982 by his own record label "RHA Records", and the next November by major label

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

. RCA released his first LP album, '' Wing of Fire'', in January 1984.

Biography

Early life and studies

Robert Hazard was born in August 21, 1948 in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, the son of an opera singer. He grew up in Springfield Township, Pennsylvania and graduated from Springfield High School in 1966.

Music career and genres developed

Kurt Loder Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contribute ...

profiled him in a 1981 ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' article, describing Hazard as a musician "...who started out as a Dylan-era folkie, then spent eight years singing

country & western Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ol ...

. 'I just love country music', he explains, which of course explains nothing, least of all the two years he subsequently spent with a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

band... or his current

electro-pop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

approach, which owes little to any of the above."

Last albums made of country music

His final recordings were country albums, beginning with ''The Seventh Lake'' (2003) and continuing with ''Blue Mountain'' (2004). In 2007,

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record la ...

signed Hazard and released his album, ''Troubadour''.

Death

Hazard died 16 days before his 60th birthday at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on August 5, 2008 following surgery for

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...

with which he had recently been diagnosed.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Wing of Fire'' (1984) *'' Darling'' (1986) *''Howl'' (1998) *''The Seventh Lake'' (2004) *''Blue Mountain'' (2004) *''

Troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a '' trobair ...

'' (2007)

Extended plays

* ''

'' (1982) – No. 102 ( ''Billboard'' 200)

Compilation albums

* ''Out of the Blue'' (as Robert Hazard and the Heroes) (2005)

Singles

* " Escalator of Life" (1982) – No. 58 ( ''Billboard'' Top 100) * "Change Reaction" (1982) – No. 106 (

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

) * "Hard Hearted" (1984)

References

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazard, Robert Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts Deaths from pancreatic cancer Musicians from Philadelphia People from Springfield Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania RCA Records artists Rykodisc artists Songwriters from Pennsylvania 1948 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American musicians