It's been more than two decades since Cyndi Lauper and the B-52s were issuing some of the most beloved pop tunes of the 1980s. Lauper's landmark debut disc, She's So Unusual, dropped in '84 and produced four Top 10 hits, including "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and the timeless classic "Time After Time," plus a killer cover of Prince's "When You Were Mine." The coed B-52s managed to bookend the decade with a pair of dance-rock nuggets: the 1980 smash "Rock Lobster" and 1989's "Love Shack." Fast-forward to 2008: Rolling Stone recently three-starred Lauper's freshly minted disc, Bring Ya to the Brink (which I haven't heard). And in March, the B-52s released the delectably bubbly Funplex, the band's first new album in 16 years. I gave it three-and-a-half stars. I saw Lauper perform maybe five years back at Jannus Landing and recall being impressed by her solo rendition of "Time After Time," which she played on Dobro. My B-52s experience came a few years ago at a Sarasota Film Festival party that took place under a big top and found me dancing like a fool from start to finish. Let's just hope that at this show, Rosie's set is short. Same goes for the role of host Carson Kressley (Queer Eye).
True Colors Tour: Cyndi Lauper w/B-52s/Rosie O'Donnell/Deborah Cox/The Cliks/Carson K, 7 p.m. Wed., June 18, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, $85-$225.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2008.