"She Bop" is a song by American singer-songwriter
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...
, written by Lauper,
Stephen Broughton Lunt,
Gary Corbett, and
Rick Chertoff, and produced by the lattermost. It was released on July 2, 1984, via
Portrait Records
Portrait Records was a sister record label, label of Epic Records and later of Columbia Records. Notable artists Cyndi Lauper and Sade (band), Sade signed with Portrait, but their contracts were absorbed by Epic after that incarnation of the lab ...
as the third single from her debut studio album ''
She's So Unusual
''She's So Unusual'' is the first solo album by American pop singer Cyndi Lauper, released on October 13, 1983, by Portrait Records. It stands out for its commercial success, achieving four top-five singles—a pioneering achievement for a fema ...
'' (1983). Lyrically, the song talks about the subject of
female masturbation, which caused controversy upon its release at the time.
One of Lauper's most successful singles, "She Bop" peaked within the top ten of the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number three in September 1984. The track peaked within the top ten of Australia and New Zealand, reached the top twenty of the
European Hot 100 Singles
The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...
chart, and topped the
Israeli Singles Chart. Due to a lack of promotion, the track stalled at number 46 in the United Kingdom. The music video for the track, which utilized animated segments and multiple visual effects, would receive a nomination at the
1985 MTV Video Music Awards for
Best Female Video. Lauper would re-record a quieter version of the song for her 2005 studio album ''
The Body Acoustic''.
Recording and composition
"She Bop" moves at a
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
of 137 beats per minute. The song was recorded at
Record Plant Studios in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and was produced by
Rick Chertoff. Lauper said she recorded the song naked in an interview with ''
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...
''.
Lyrical content
The track is an ode to
masturbation
Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...
.
It was included on the
Parents Music Resource Center
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related, or sexual themes via labeling albums ...
's "Filthy Fifteen" list in 1984 due to it being considered "profane or sexually explicit";
this led to the creation of the
Parental Advisory sticker. Lauper has stated that finding a copy of gay men's magazine ''
Blueboy'' lying around in the recording studio provided the impetus for writing "She Bop". The magazine is mentioned in the first verse.
Reception
''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' said that "with characteristic zaniness, Lauper takes a
be-bop back beat and sparks it with an inspired vocal that pops and chirps with rhythmic intensity."
Chart performance
"She Bop" was released on July 2, 1984. It debuted on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 at No. 52 in the issue dated July 21, 1984, and spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart, reaching a peak position of No. 3 in the issue dated September 8, 1984.
[ It was the third single from Lauper's debut album to make the top 10 of the Hot 100. The single also reached number 10 on the Hot Dance/Club Play Songs chart the week of September 15, 1984,][ and placed at 34 on the ''Billboard'' year-end chart of 1984.][ On April 17, 1989, the song was certified ]gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) for the shipment of half a million copies across the United States.[
]
Music video
The accompanying music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for "She Bop" was directed by Edd Griles. Mark Marek designed the characters in the animated sections of this music video, which were produced and directed by Jerry Lieberman, of NYC's Jerry Lieberman Productions, and the cover of the US 12" version. Wendi Richter and Lou Albano
Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...
appear in the video, with Richter lip-synching the first line of the song.
The video expands upon the references to masturbation in the song's lyrics, although not overtly.Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...
's " What's Love Got to Do with It".
British music magazine ''Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
'' complimented the video, noting that it worked well because "Lauper has a certain Boop-cheeked charm" and also because of the "superb bits of animation" used in it.
Formats and track listings
* US/UK 7" single
# "She Bop" – 3:47
# "Witness" – 3:40
* US 12" single
# "She Bop" (Special Dance Mix) – 6:16
# "She Bop" (Instrumental) – 6:30
* UK 12" single
# "She Bop" (Special Dance Mix) – 6:16
# "She Bop" (Instrumental) – 5:20 (stated)
# "Witness" – 3:40
Official versions
# Album version – 3:42
# Single version – 3:47 (7" single)
# Special dance mix – 6:27 (12" single)
# Instrumental – 5:21 (12" single)
# Video mix – 4:35 (Philippines 7" single)
# Live at Le Zenith (Recorded 1987) – 5:12 (From '' Heading West'' UK single – CD & 12" versions)
# Live at Irvine Meadows (Recorded 1983) – 5:20 (From ''She's So Unusual
''She's So Unusual'' is the first solo album by American pop singer Cyndi Lauper, released on October 13, 1983, by Portrait Records. It stands out for its commercial success, achieving four top-five singles—a pioneering achievement for a fema ...
'' 2000 CD reissue)
# The Body Acoustic Version – 4:16 (From '' The Body Acoustic'')
# Live (True Colors Live 2008) – 3:46 (From ''True Colors Live 2008'' EP)
# Live at the Warehouse, Memphis – 4:04 (From '' To Memphis, with Love'')
# Live (Front and Center Presents) – 3:59 (From ''Front and Center Presents Cyndi Lauper'') (2014)
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Awards and nominations
Won
* 1985 – BMI Awards for Pop Award
Nominations
* 1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
– MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984.
In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of th ...
Release history
Cover versions
* Howie Beno and Cruella DeVille recorded a version of the song for the 1999 movie Jawbreaker
* Hong Kong singer Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok Fu-shing (born 26 October 1965) is a Hong Kong singer, dancer, and actor, known as one of Hong Kong's "Four Heavenly Kings". Active since the 1980s, he has released over 30 studio albums in Cantonese and Mandarin, mostly in the danc ...
recorded a Cantonese and a Mandarin version of the song, both called "絕對美麗".
* Greek band Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
covered the song for their 2007 album, '' Toys Up''.
* Chilean hard rock band Betty Black Boots covers this song in their presentations in the Chilean rock scene.
* In July 2008, J-pop
J-pop (often stylized in all caps; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in trad ...
singer Nana Kitade
is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to being the lead singer of the rock band The Teenage Kissers, she has success as a solo artist, model, actress, and fashion designer. Kitade is particularly known for her songs appeari ...
covered "She Bop" for the album ''We Love Cyndi – Tribute to Cyndi Lauper''; another version of the cover was featured on her 2009 album '' Bondage''.
* South Korean pop singer Wax covered the song. Her version of it is called "Oppa", which means "Brother".
* American heavy metal band GWAR
Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia, in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists, and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. Since ...
performed a version of the song in October 2015 for ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' A.V. Undercover series, in a medley with The Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...
' " Blitzkrieg Bop".Reuben
Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob.
Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...
frontman Jamie Lenman, covered the song for his 2019 album ''Shuffle''.
References
External links
Cyndi Lauper – She Bop – YouTube – Uploaded by CyndiLauperVEVO
{{Authority control
1983 songs
1984 singles
Cyndi Lauper songs
Songs with feminist themes
Songs written by Cyndi Lauper
Fiction about masturbation
Female masturbation
Song recordings produced by Rick Chertoff
Epic Records singles
Songs written by Rick Chertoff
Gay-related songs
Obscenity controversies in music
Gay male pornography
Works about pornography