Hat Full of Stars

Hat Full of Stars is the fourth studio album by American singer Cyndi Lauper, released in 1993. As of 2003 the album has sold 119,000 copies in the United States.[6]

Hat Full of Stars
Studio album by
Cyndi Lauper
ReleasedJune 30, 1993 (1993-06-30)
RecordedAugust 1, 1992–February 28, 1993
Studio
Genre
Length52:50
LabelEpic
Producer
Cyndi Lauper chronology
A Night to Remember
(1989)		 Hat Full of Stars
(1993)		 Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some
(1994)
Singles from Hat Full of Stars
  1. "Who Let In the Rain"
    Released: June 22, 1993
  2. "That's What I Think"
    Released: October 1993
  3. "Sally's Pigeons"
    Released: 1993
  4. "Hat Full of Stars"
    Released: 2 December 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Rolling Stone[3]
People(favourable)[4]
Entertainment Weekly(B)[5]

Album information

Hat Full of Stars deviated from Lauper's pop-rock sound of previous projects and delved heavily into alternative music. It also furthered her growing penchant for writing topical songs about social issues.

The album was recorded at the Hit Factory, Sigma Sound, Messina Sound, Right Track, The Enchanted Cottage, The Ranch, and World Famous Orbit Sound. It was co-produced by dance-music artist Junior Vasquez and is highly typical of his work of the time; as such, many of the songs are held together by synthetic loops and percussion. Lyrics address issues like abortion ("Sally's Pigeons"), racism ("A Part Hate"), spousal abuse ("Product of Misery" and "Broken Glass") and incest ("Lies"). The track "Product of Misery" was inspired by a teacher of Lauper's, Bob Barrell, who described the masses of struggling people as a 'product of misery' and that misery begets misery unless the chain is broken.[7] The song "A Part Hate" was conceived as an anti-apartheid song and was originally written for Lauper's second album True Colors but was not included because her label felt it would make the album too political; it already had a cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and the title track included.[8]

The album cover was inspired by a photograph of the actress Mary Pickford, taken by photographer Nelson Evans.[9]

Lauper has commented that she wishes that her vocals on the project had been sharper. She worked with a vocal coach to sharpen her vocals for her next studio album Sisters of Avalon, and mentions this in the liner notes.

Commercial performance

The album had limited success due to lack of promotion on the part of Cyndi's label. It was considered a commercial disappointment in the United States and despite some positive critical reviews it stalled at No. 112 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. As of 2003, the album has sold 119,000 copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The album fared better overseas, becoming most successful in Japan and France, achieving a Gold certification in both countries. In Japan, the album spent a total of 7 weeks on the albums chart, peaking at 15.[10] In France the album debuted at 10 before reaching its peak of 9 the following week.[11] This was both her highest debut and peak for a studio album in France and it stayed in the Top 40 for 7 weeks.

The album achieved lower chart positions in the rest of Europe. In Germany, Hat Full of Stars entered the chart at 84 and re-entered at its peak of 52 two weeks later, spending a total of 9 weeks in the Top 100.[12] The album spent four weeks on the Swiss albums chart, entering at 34 and climbing two positions higher to its peak in its second week.[13] The album was released in the UK in November, entering the albums chart at 56 before dropping off the following week.[14]

The tracks "That's What I Think", "Sally's Pigeons", "Hat Full of Stars" and "Who Let In the Rain" were released as singles; the latter of which was re-recorded in 2001 for her album Shine.

Track listing
  1. "That's What I Think" (Cyndi Lauper, Eric Bazilian, Rob Hyman, Allee Willis) – 4:39
  2. "Product of Misery" (Lauper, Bazilian, Hyman) – 4:11
  3. "Who Let In the Rain" (Lauper, Willis) – 4:37
  4. "Lies" (Lauper, Willis) – 3:40
  5. "Broken Glass" (Lauper, Marv DePeyer, Junior Vasquez) – 5:34
  6. "Sally's Pigeons" (Lauper, Mary Chapin Carpenter) – 3:48
  7. "Feels Like Christmas" (Lauper, Bazilian, Hyman) – 4:35
  8. "Dear John" (Lauper, Bazilian, Hyman) – 3:40
  9. "Like I Used To" (Lauper, Willis) – 4:28
  10. "Someone Like Me" (Lauper, Bazilian, Hyman, Willis) – 4:07
  11. "A Part Hate" (Lauper, Tom Gray, David Thornton) – 4:56
  12. "Hat Full of Stars" (Lauper, Nicky Holland) – 4:28

Note

Personnel
  • Cyndi Lauper – lead vocals, background vocals, recorder, production
  • Junior Vasquez – production, background vocals
  • William Wittman – additional production, background vocals
  • Gary Tole – assistant engineering
  • Carl Glanville – assistant engineering
  • Ted Truwhella – assistant engineering
  • Brian Wittmer – assistant engineering
  • Jennifer Monnar – assistant engineering
  • Eric Bazilian – background vocals, bass, drum programming, dulcimer, guitar, mandolin, piano, saxophone
  • Rob Hyman – accordions, background vocals, Casio, keyboards, melodica, organ
  • Peter Wood – additional arrangements, bass guitar, drum programming, guitar, keyboards
  • Allee Willis – additional programming, background vocals, bass guitar, Casio, keyboards
  • Nicky Holland – background vocals, keyboards, piano
  • Hugh Masekela – background vocals, Flügelhorn, vocal chant
  • Joey Moskowitz – bass guitar, drum programming, keyboards
  • Deborah Fraser – background vocals
  • Georgia Jones – background vocals
  • Faith Kekana – background vocals
  • Lawrence Matshiza – background vocals
  • Stella Zulu – background vocals
  • Christopher Garcia – additional programming
  • Kevin Jenkins, Bakithi Kumalo, Danny Sembello – bass guitar
  • Bashiri Johnson – congas
  • Jimmy Bralower – drum programming
  • Carlos Alomar, Nile Rodgers, Larry Treadwell – guitar
  • Rob Paparozzi – harmonica
  • Jeff Bova – keyboards
  • Fred McFarlane – keyboards
  • Anton Fig – live drums
  • David Uosikkinen – live drums
  • Stacy Drummond – art direction, design
  • Dana Shimizu – design assistant
  • Robert Lewis – photograph
  • David Thornton – drawings
  • Laura Wills – styling
  • Jody Morlock – makeup
  • Danilo for Pierre Michel, NYC – hair

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[27] Gold 139,300[28]
Japan (RIAJ)[29] Gold 100,000^
United States — 119,000[6]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history
Country Date Format Label Catalog
Japan[19] 21 May 1993 CD Epic ESCA 5742
21 June 1993 MD ESYA 1020
United States[19] June 1993 LP ET 52878
CD
Cassette ET 56878
United Kingdom[19] November 1993 LP 473054 1
CD 473054 2
Cassette 473054 4
MD 473054 8
Japan[30] 3 September 2008 CD Sony Music EICP-1042
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References
  1. Cyndi Lauper - Hat Full of Stars at Discogs
  2. DeGagne, Mike. "Cyndi Lauper: A Hat Full of Stars > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  3. George-Warren, Holly (2 September 1993). "Cyndi Lauper: Hat Full Of Stars". Rolling Stone. Straight Arrow. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  4. "Picks and Pans Review: Hat Full of Stars". people.com. People. June 28, 1993.
  5. Sinclair, Tom (June 18, 1993). "Hat Full of Stars". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly.
  6. Barth, Keith. "Ask Billboard | Billboard.com". billboard.com. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  7. Lauper, Cyndi; Dunn, Jancee (2012). Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir. Great Britain: Simon & Schuster. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4711-1424-3.
  8. Lauper, Cyndi; Dunn, Jancee (2012). Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir. Great Britain: Simon & Schuster. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-4711-1424-3.
  9. "Picture of Mary Pickford,taken by Nelson Evans". Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20121024044213/http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/79864/ranking/cd_album/
  11. "Les "Charts Runs" de chaque Album Classé" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  12. https://www.offiziellecharts.de/album-details-1635
  13. http://swisscharts.com/album/Cyndi-Lauper/Hat-Full-Of-Stars-1635
  14. https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/21311/cyndi-lauper/
  15. Nanda Lwin (1999). Top Albums: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. ISBN 1-896594-14-X.
  16. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  17. "Les "Charts Runs" de chaque Album Classé" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  18. "Cyndi Lauper – Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  19. "Cyndi Lauper - Hat Full of Stars". cyndilauper.com. Archived from the original on November 20, 2003.
  20. シンディ・ローパーのアルバム売り上げランキング (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  21. "South African Divas Albums". Geo Cities. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  22. "Swisscharts.com – Cyndi Lauper – Hat Full of Stars". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  23. "Cyndi Lauper | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  24. "Cyndi Lauper Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  25. Kimberley, Christopher (2000). Zimbabwe Albums Chart Book: 1973–1998. Harare.
  26. "Les Albums (CD) de 1993 par InfoDisc" (in French). InfoDisc. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2016.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  27. "French album certifications – Cyndi Lauper – A Hat Full of Stars" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  28. "InfoDisc : Les Meilleurs Ventes d'Albums 'Tout Temps' (33 T. / Cd / Téléchargement)". InfoDisc.fr (in French). Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  29. "Japanese album certifications – シンディ・ローパー – ハット・フル・オブ・スターズ" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan.
  30. "Cyndi Lauper - Hat Full of Stars". cdjapan.co.jp.
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