cyndi lauper "money changes everything"

Chuck: I'll do what I can. This is a toughie, for a couple of reasons. First, it only got to #27 BB in 2/85. In 1965, if you had a #27 BB hit, the song got TONS of radio airplay - that wasn't nearly as true by '85. I'm betting about 1/2 of the Top 40 stations in America never even PLAYED that song, and mine was among them. Its big buzz was TONS of heavy-rotation MTV play for that live video. We did strongly consider adding it, and if we did, we would've played the studio version, because I remember WE all thought Lauper's vocals were FAR weaker on the "live" version. Surprisingly, there actually aren't tons of differences between the two, if you listen carefully. We thought that Portrait was probably hawking/marketing the "Live" side: 1) To distract radio from the fact that this was the FIFTH single from her debut LP, "She's So Unusual" (after Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Time After Time, She Bop and All Through The Night,) and 2) To get people who already had the LP to also buy this 45, so her many new fans would spend even more money, for this previously-unavailable live version. All 4 of her previous 45s did great for us, but we judge each individual song on its own merits, and we'd all agreed that "Money...", in EITHER of its versions, just wasn't nearly as strong a track as the other 4 had been. On the promo 45, the studio v was on one side, and the live v was on the other, just like on the commercial 45. Ed, I believe Mr. Whitburn is correct to use the "studio" version as the "hit" side. Here's why. I know about the pic sleeve specifying the "Live" nature of the track - I have it also. And you are also correct about the earlier 45 matrix number; that's a decent (although not flawless) indicator of intended A-sides. But Ed, my first commercial 45 for "Angie" by the Rolling Stones said "Side Two" on it! ("Silver Train" was the label's intended A-side). And, my first stock copy of "Beth" by Kiss says "Side B" on it! ("Detroit Rock City" was the original intended A-side.) Does this mean that Mr. Whitburn is wrong to list "Angie" and "Beth" as the hits? Of course not. My gut here: the MTV watchers of the day consider the video's live v to be the hit, and those who discovered the track either on the radio, or by playing their LP through, consider the studio version to be the hit. The immense success of that LP totally shocked the label, and by this 5th single, much of U.S. radio had had a HUGE track record of success with it. By now, we all knew she'd caught "lightning in a bottle" with this LP. "All Through The Night", the 4th single, had those same whispers, too - all the hits on the LP were now gone - well, they weren't, and that one happened to be an especially strong song for us. As a result, the notion of "Why not go to the well a 5th time, albeit with a "live spin" to it, had its supporters at the label.

I never heard the live version on the radio back in 1984-85...and I listened to a lot of radio back then, even worked as a DJ/MD at that time. I consider the studio version to be the "hit" version.

Edited by Paul Haney

I have both a U.S. and a Canadian 45, and although the U.S. 45 does not specify an 'A' or 'B' side, the Canadian 45 has 'Side One' on the live side and 'Side Two' on the studio side.

It's clear that it was the studio version that made the Billboard Hot 100, though, since the Hot 100 listed 'R. Chertoff' as the producer. Rick Chertoff produced the studio version. The live version was produced by Cyndi Lauper and Lennie Petze.

I can send you the remix of Boy Blue.

hey guys.....any further thoughts on which side, the studio or live, should be considered the A-side??

can we take a vote??

i vote for the "live" version as the A-side