“She was on board with everything except that… She hated it. She said, ‘I will never sing that song!’” How an unsung session hero salvaged one of Cyndi Lauper’s biggest hits

It’s often an unfortunate part of the job that session guitarists largely go unnoticed for their contributions, even if their electric guitar playing can be heard on some of music’s most popular hits.

The Hooters frontman Eric Bazilian, for example, has a hugely impressive session resume to his name, having crafted songs with the likes of Mick Jagger and Joan Osborne throughout his career.

Not only did he write Osborne’s 1995 smash One of Us, but Bazilian also helped record Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 mega hit Girls Just Want to Have Fun – and, not only did he track it, he actually salvaged it from the potential scrap.

In the new issue of Guitar World, the unsung session hero recalled the making of the Robert Hazard-written track, and revealed that Lauper initially hated it. In fact, it was the only song from the proposed album that Lauper wouldn’t get behind.

“She was on board with everything except Girls,” Bazilian says. “She hated it – [imitates Lauper] ‘I will never sing that song!’”

As such, Bazilian and co tried to get creative with the opening riff, repurposing it in a number of different ways before landing on the final version that took inspiration from an unlikely source.

Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun (Official Video) - YouTube

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“We tried it every which way – rocking it out, doing it ska – but she still hated it,” he continues. “One day, I heard Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, so I started playing the opening lick of Girl… with that feel.

“Cyndi started singing to it, Rob played a keyboard pad on top, and [producer] Rick Chertoff’s eyes opened wide. It was like magic.

“By the end of the day, Cyndi was saying, 'I’ve always wanted to sing that song!' She thought it would be very empowering to women.”

As Bazilian rightly says, the experiments were a success, and a song that had once been dismissed by Lauper would go on to become arguably the most recognizable cut from her repertoire.

Indeed, Girls Just Want to Have Fun was released as Lauper’s first major single as a solo artist, and was selected to be the lead single from her debut studio album, She’s So Unusual (1983).

It landed a couple of Grammy nominations upon its release, and has gone on to become widely regarded as one of the greatest pop songs ever released. For Bazilian, though, the reaction has been somewhat bittersweet.

Dexys Midnight Runners, Kevin Rowland - Come On Eileen (1982 Version) - YouTube

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“I saw the Barbie movie, and all they used was my guitar riff,” he goes on. “People hear those first three notes, and they know what the song is. I played that, but I didn’t get credit for myself because I was paid as a session musician.

“It just gets tiring because I’m not getting paid. But when I saw Barbie and I heard that riff, it’s like, I know what a sync like that is worth.”

Lauper herself also helped shape the direction of the track. Speaking to ABC News Radio, she once recalled how she revamped the single's lyrics because she thought the first draft was sexist.

Visit Magazines Direct to pick up the latest copy of Guitar World, which features interviews with Eric Bazilian and Trey Anastasio, who reveals why playing amps onstage at the Sphere is impossible.