Money Changes Everything#Cyndi Lauper version
{{Short description|1978 single by the Brains}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Money Changes Everything
| cover = The Brains Money Changes Everything.jpg
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = the Brains
| album = The Brains
| B-side = Quick with Your Lip
| released = {{Start date|1978}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Pop rock
| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=35}}
| label = Gray Matter
| writer = Tom Gray
| producer =
- The Brains
- Bruce Baxter
| chronology = The Brains
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Raeline / Treason
| next_year = 1980
| misc =
}}
"Money Changes Everything" is a song by American rock band the Brains from their eponymous debut studio album (1980). Originally released in 1978, the song was reissued as the lead single from the album in 1980, by Mercury Records. Frontman Tom Gray is credited as the sole writer of the song, while production was collectively helmed by the Brains and Bruce Baxter. The song was popularized in 1984 by Cyndi Lauper, who released a cover version of the song as a single from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983).
Background
The original single was released in 1978 by the Brains as a 45 rpm single on Gray Matter Records. The B side of the single was a song called "Quick with Your Lip". The initial underground success of the song led to the Brains being signed by Mercury Records. They rerecorded the song under the guidance of producer Steve Lillywhite for their 1980 debut album, The Brains. Critic Greil Marcus, listing it at number 10 of his Real-Life Rock Top Ten 1979, said, "Singer Tom Gray told his story in a strangled voice, as if he were trying to explain, but instead he laid a curse. This damned single ranks higher than I've placed it, but if it were anywhere else I couldn't end with it, and there's no other way the decade could end."Marcus, Greil, "Fear in the Marketplace: Real-Life Rock Top Ten 1979", New West, January 11, 1980 Marcus would later write of the song, "It was hard, it hurt, and Cyndi Lauper's version makes the original sound compromised. She makes you wonder if Brains composer and singer Tom Gray even knew what he was talking about."Marcus, Greil, "Free Speech, #1", Artforum, May 1984.
Gray, with his band Delta Moon, also recorded a version of the song for their 2007 album Clear Blue Flame.{{cite web|author=Hal Horowitz |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/clear-blue-flame-mw0000782770 |title=Clear Blue Flame - Delta Moon | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date=2007-07-24 |accessdate=2016-08-01}}
Critical reception
The single was ranked the 9th best single of 1979 on The Village Voice year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll, with Robert Christgau naming it that year's best single on his "Dean's List".{{cite magazine |url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres79.php |title=The 1979 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll |first=Robert |last=Christgau |magazine=The Village Voice |date=January 28, 1980}} Ralph Heibutzki of AllMusic highlighted the "sassy cynicism" of the song, further commenting that "Money Changes Everything" represented a concession to "mainstream sensibilities" for the Brains.{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-brains-mw0001879389 | title=The Brains – The Brains | publisher=AllMusic | access-date=May 21, 2022 | author= Heibutzki, Ralph}}
Track listings and formats
- "Money Changes Everything" – 3:35
- "Quick With Your Lip" – 3:23
- 7" vinyl reissue{{cite AV media notes|title=Money Changes Everything|others=The Brains|year=1980|type=United States 7-inch vinyl liner notes|publisher=Mercury|id=76065}}
- "Money Changes Everything" – 3:25
- "Girl in a Magazine" – 3:07
Credits and personnel
Cyndi Lauper version
{{Infobox song
| name = Money Changes Everything
| cover = Moneychangeseverythingcover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Cyndi Lauper
| album = She's So Unusual
| B-side = "He's So Unusual" "Yeah Yeah"
| released = May 21, 1984 (UK){{cite web|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1984/Music-Week-1984-05-19.pdf|title=Music Week|page=14}}
December 1984 (US)
| recorded = June 1983
| studio = The Record Plant, New York City
| venue =
| genre =
- Hard rock
- post-punk{{cite book |chapter=Cyndi Lauper|last=Evans|first=Paul|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |year=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages= 476}}
| length = 5:02 (album version)
3:59 (single edit)
| label = Epic
| writer = Tom Gray
| producer = Rick Chertoff
| prev_title = All Through the Night
| prev_year = 1984
| next_title = When You Were Mine
| next_year = 1985
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|pp4suZ4jNXg|"Money Changes Everything"}}}}
}}
Cyndi Lauper's recording of "Money Changes Everything" was released as the fifth US single from her album She's So Unusual. It has been released in over 27 variations across the world, the most common being a two track 7" vinyl single (with varying covers). There was also a less common 12" vinyl single version. Lauper's cover features an appearance by Rob Hyman of the band the Hooters, playing his "hooter" (a Hohner Melodica) on the song's solo.
Lauper recorded an acoustic version, with guest artist Adam Lazzara (from the band Taking Back Sunday), for her 2005 album The Body Acoustic. "Money Changes Everything" became She's So Unusual{{'}}s first release to fail to achieve top 10 status on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 27.
=Critical reception=
Stewart Mason of AllMusic praised Lauper's cover version, stating that the song's arrangement "is brighter, sharper and much more commercial than the Brains' rather weedy, comparatively lo-fi and dullish take on their own song." He further praised Lauper's singing abilities, particularly the long note she holds at the climax of the song.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/money-changes-everything-mt0004491655|title=Cyndi Lauper – Money Changes Everything|last=Mason|first=Stewart|date=|work=AllMusic|accessdate=May 22, 2022}} Billboard described the song as "hard rock meets hard realities" and designated it as one of the new releases with the greatest chart potential.{{cite magazine |last=|first=|title=Reviews: Singles |magazine=Billboard |volume=96 |issue=51 |page=72 |publication-date=December 22, 1984}} Cash Box called the song "a hard rocking effort which forgoes any novel vocal twist" that provides "a sad look at the realities of cash and its effects."{{cite magazine|title=Reviews|magazine=Cash Box|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1984/CB-1984-12-22.pdf|date=December 22, 1984|accessdate=2022-07-26|page=9}}
In Peru's most prestigious radio station, Radio Panamericana, "Money Changes Everything" was in the Top 20 year end charts.
=Track listings and formats=
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
- "Money Changes Everything" (Live) - 4:13
- "Money Changes Everything" (Edit) - 3:59
UK 7" Single (First Release){{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Cyndi-Lauper-Money-Changes-Everything/release/2335834|title=Cyndi Lauper – Money Changes Everything (Vinyl)|accessdate=24 February 2021|website=Discogs.com|date=May 1984 }}
- "Money Changes Everything" (Edit) - 3:58
- "He's So Unusual" - 0:45
- "Yeah Yeah" - 3:17
UK 7" Single (Second Release){{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Cyndi-Lauper-Money-Changes-Everything/release/12251752|title=Cyndi Lauper – Money Changes Everything (1984, Vinyl)|accessdate=24 February 2021|website=Discogs.com|year=1984 }}
- "Money Changes Everything" (Edit) - 3:58
- "Money Changes Everything" (Live) - 4:13
{{col-2}}
- "Money Changes Everything" (That Live Version) - 6:04
- "Money Changes Everything" (This Live Version) - 5:29
- "Money Changes Everything" (Special Live Extended Version) - 6:26
- "Money Changes Everything" (Special Live Version) - 5:51
UK 12" Single (First Release){{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Cyndi-Lauper-Money-Changes-Everything/release/1455887|title=Cyndi Lauper – Money Changes Everything (1984, Vinyl)|accessdate=24 February 2021|website=Discogs.com|year=1984 }}
- "Money Changes Everything" (LP version) – 5:02
- "He's So Unusual" – 0:45
- "Yeah Yeah" – 3:17
- "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Xtra Fun) – 5:05
UK 12" Single (Second Release){{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Cyndi-Lauper-Money-Changes-Everything/release/1316605|title=Cyndi Lauper – Money Changes Everything (1985, Vinyl)|accessdate=24 February 2021|website=Discogs.com|year=1985 }}
- "Money Changes Everything" (LP version) - 5:02
- "Money Changes Everything" (Live) - 6:23
- "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Xtra Fun) - 5:05
{{col-end}}
= Personnel =
- Cyndi Lauper – lead vocals, backing vocals, arrangements
- Rob Hyman – keyboards, backing vocals, arrangements
- Eric Bazilian – arrangements, melodica, guitars, backing vocals
- Neil Jason – bass guitar
- Anton Fig – drums, percussion
=Charts=
References
{{reflist}}
{{Cyndi Lauper singles}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite