“Ladies Simply Wish to Have Enjoyable” is an anthem for ladies all over the world, however, surprisingly, Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 No. 2 hit wasn’t written by a girl.

The music was a multi-Grammy nominee, MTV Video Award winner and a radio staple that is since been lined by dozens of artists. It simply occurred to be written by a person named Robert Hazard, who recorded a demo in 1979.

The lyrics had been principally the identical as Lauper’s hit model however advised from the attitude of a younger man looking for his approach on the planet. Occasions have modified was the music’s important message: “The telephone rings in the midst of the night time / My father says, My boy, what would you like out of your life? / Father, expensive, you’re the lucky one / Ladies simply wanna have enjoyable.”

Take heed to Robert Hazard’s ‘Ladies Simply Wanna Have Enjoyable’

Hazard, a Philadelphia-based artist and chief of Robert Hazard and the Heroes, obtained some constructive phrases from Rolling Stone in 1981 that helped deliver consideration to the band. “Robert Hazard and the Heroes are a rock ‘n’ roll occasion ready to occur,” wrote Kurt Loder

Why Cyndi Lauper Modified ‘Ladies Simply Wish to Have Enjoyable’ Lyrics

Hazard typically carried out “Ladies Simply Wish to Have Enjoyable” reside; Lauper’s producer, Rick Chertoff, took her to one in all Hazard’s reveals. She wasn’t all that impressed, particularly with the music’s lyrics, which appeared to indicate that ladies’s enjoyment rested on their intercourse lives.

“Each time we need to have enjoyable, we’re whores,” Lauper mentioned in Let the Canary Sing, a 2023 documentary about her life. If she was going to report the music, she wished to verify she remodeled its message.

“So I started to chop this out, reduce that out, this wants a melody right here, make this alteration, deliver this collectively. Say, ‘Oh, mama, expensive, we’re not the lucky ones / ‘Trigger women need to have enjoyable’ — and we will not,” Lauper recalled to PBS’ Discovering Your Roots [via Billboard]. “Hastily, it had this new life.”

Lauper wished the identical perspective within the music’s video. “I used to be making an attempt actually laborious to make an anthem that will encourage ladies and open the doorways to all ladies,” she defined to Folks in 2023. “Not only one group of girls, however each little woman might see herself and notice that she too might have a joyful expertise in life.”

“Ladies Simply Wish to Have Enjoyable” was the lead single off Lauper’s debut album, She’s So Uncommon, and was a big success.

Learn Extra: 5 Causes Cyndi Lauper Ought to be within the Rock Corridor of Fame

What Occurred to Robert Hazard After ‘Ladies Simply Wish to Have Enjoyable’?

Hazard, in the meantime, stored at his solo profession, incomes a great deal of recognition in his hometown however much less so elsewhere. “I am well-known in three states,” he joked to Dick Clark in 1983. “Issues are robust within the enterprise proper now, simply takes longer for bands to interrupt.”

He launched six albums throughout his profession, the latest arriving in 2007. He died simply shy of his sixtieth birthday on Aug. 5, 2008, following issues from pancreatic most cancers. However his title lives on because the solely credited author of “Ladies Simply Wish to Have Enjoyable.”

Learn Extra: 30 of the Finest Gender-Bending Songs

Watch Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Ladies Simply Wish to Have Enjoyable’ Video