Cyndi Lauper "True Colors"

True Colors is the second studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper, released on September 16, 1986, by Portrait Records. The album spawned several commercially successful singles as "True Colors", "Change of Heart", and "What's Going On" reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, with the first two charting within the top five. The album was produced by Lauper herself together with Lennie Petze.

Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album earned Lauper several awards and accolades, including two nominations at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards. True Colors peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. The album is Lauper's second best-selling release with around seven million copies worldwide.

By the end of 1985, Lauper was established as one of the best-selling artists in the world. Her first studio album was certified 4 times platinum by RIAA and received a diamond certification in Canada for sales in excess of 1 million copies, making her the first singer to achieve such a feat at that time. According to Billboard magazine the music industry was eyeing the singer's next steps anxious to know if she could maintain the success of her debut.

In her autobiography, the singer says that she initially planned that Rick Chertoff, who produced She's So Unusual, would produce what would become her second album, however, the experience with him was problematic and she changed her mind, likewise she refused to produce the album with Rob Hyman since he was affiliated with Chertoff. The album was then produced by her and Lennie Petze. Lauper said that the songs of the album are a way to say: "Have the courage of your convictions and love yourself a little", and "not to be so hard on yourself". In addition to composing most of the songs on the album, the singer also produced it.

The title song, written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, has been covered by many other artists, and was used as the theme song for the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 2003 Rugby World Cup and for Kodak cameras and film.

In 2010, the song was also featured on the soundtrack of Sex and the City 2. True Colors was reissued in a Japanese exclusive limited edition box set 11-track digitally remastered CD album.

In the United States, True Colors has been certified double platinum by the RIAA and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. It topped the Australian chart for four weeks and, in Japan, outsold She's So Unusual, although that was not the case in most countries. The album produced the singles "True Colors" (No. 1 Billboard Hot 100), "Change of Heart" (No. 3), "What's Going On" (No. 12), and "Boy Blue" (No. 71). Each single had a music video although the video for "Boy Blue" was just a live performance from her Zenith concert in Paris. According to Lauper's official website, the album was certified 4× Platinum in Australia and Platinum in Italy. The album sold around 7 million copies worldwide.

Track listing

1. "Change of Heart" Essra Mohawk/Cyndi Lauper (additional lyrics)  4:22
2. "Maybe He'll Know"    Lauper/John Turi   4:25 
3. "Boy Blue"  Lauper/Stephen Broughton Lunt/Jeff Bova   4:46
4. "True Colors"   Tom Kelly/Billy Steinberg   3:46
5. "Calm Inside the Storm"   Lauper/Rick Derringer   3:54
6. "What's Going On"  Renaldo Benson/Alfred Cleveland/Marvin Gaye  4:39
7. "Iko Iko" Rosa Lee Hawkins/Barbara Anne Hawkins/Joan Marie Johnson/Sharon Jones/Marilyn Jones/Boogaloo Joe Jones/Jesse Thomas   2:08
8. The Faraway Nearby" Lauper/Tom Gray  3:00
9. "911" Lauper/Lunt   3:16
10. "One Track Mind" Lauper/Jimmy Bralower/Lennie PetzeBova 3:41

Total length: 37:57