How Cyndi Lauper crafted ‘Time After Time’ in studio years before farewell tour: ‘What you’re hearing is almost first-take’

Cyndi Lauper was done — aliases truthful she thought — pinch her classical 1983 debut medium “She’s So Unusual,” but thing was missing to shaper Rick Chertoff.

“Rick came successful 1 time and said, ‘We could usage 1 much song,’ ” Rob Hyman, who played keyboards connected nan LP, told The Post. “And I felt like, ‘One much opus — you gotta beryllium kidding!’ We were really spent.”

But aft months of moving tirelessly connected nan medium that would move nan vocalist into a popular superstar, Hyman and Lauper came up pinch “Time After Time,” nan bittersweet ballad that would go her first No. 1 deed 40 years agone — proving that this woman was arsenic overmuch astir feels arsenic fun.

“People tended to think, ‘Oh, she’s conscionable benignant of this nosy popular singer,’ and she had specified a unsocial sound pinch each nan vocal advertisement libs and sounds she was putting connected ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun,’ ” said Hyman. “And past you perceive her singing thing for illustration ‘Time After Time,’ which is heartbreaking.”

Indeed, nan 2nd azygous disconnected of “She’s So Unusual” would beryllium that nan occurrence of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was nary fluke — and that Lauper was an creator to beryllium taken seriously. It cemented nan groundwork for a legendary career that will spot nan New York autochthonal bring her “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” farewell tour to hometown arena, Madison Square Garden, connected Wednesday night. 

Hyman was rocking pinch his ain group, nan Hooters, erstwhile he and bandmate Eric Bazilian were approached by Chertoff — a assemblage friend from University of Pennsylvania — to play connected Lauper’s debut LP.

“Cyndi and Rick were looking for musicians to benignant of bring successful a group feeling,” said Hyman. “Rick brought Cyndi to spot nan Hooters astatine nan Bottom Line successful New York … and nan remainder genuinely is history.”

After making nan demos for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “She Bop,” “All Through nan Night” and nan remainder of nan medium successful Philadelphia — “We introduced her to cheesesteaks,” he said — they went to New York for nan last workplace sessions astatine nan Record Plant. That’s wherever “Time After Time” was calved successful eleventh hr of recording.

“One night, everybody went retired for dinner, and Cyndi and I stayed successful nan studio,” Hyman recalled. “She had a title, which was ‘Time aft Time,’ which she came up pinch from a time-travel movie pinch Malcolm McDowell. And she said, ‘Hey, what astir that?’

“And I sat astatine nan piano, and I conscionable started banging retired ‘Time After Time.’ It was much of an uptempo benignant of thing, had much of a bouncy feel, for illustration a reggae groove. She would conscionable benignant of trance retired connected nan euphony and creation astir and conscionable beryllium moving successful nan studio.”

But nan tune was stripped of its thumps to uncover its beauty. “There was a adjacent magnitude of hit to it, and past it conscionable slowed down,” said Hyman. “And past we started digging into nan lyrics. And that’s erstwhile it transformed from this bouncy popular opus to thing deeper and much personal.”

In fact, nan timeless emotion opus was inspired by some of their ain romanticist entanglements.

“At nan time, her narration was pinch her manager, Dave Wolf,” said Hyman. “So that was reliable to person a business narration and a individual relationship. I had my ain that was going on, and I deliberation we benignant of shared those thoughts.”

The tune came together acold quicker than nan remainder of “She’s So Unusual.” “We were successful nan studio, truthful we went correct to nan way recording,” said Hyman. “I ever opportunity nan grounds is nan demo. What you’re proceeding is almost first-take stuff.”

But Hyman’s harmonies that move “Time After Time” into a virtual duet successful nan chorus were not primitively planned for nan record.

“I was singing this harmony pinch her, and it conscionable had this vibe to it,” he said. “And I benignant of thought, ‘Well, it’s a placeholder reference part.’ But I was thrilled that they wanted to support it.”

When “Time After Time” was released arsenic a azygous successful March 1994, it was nan cleanable change-up aft “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” “We were calling it nan one-two punch,” said Hyman. “She wasn’t a one-hit wonder.”

The opus was a captious occurrence arsenic good arsenic a commercialized one, earning a Song of nan Year information astatine nan 1985 Grammy Awards.

“And nan title was crazy: Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie. It was Tina Turner who did triumph [with] ‘What’s Love Got to Do pinch It.’ ”

Four decades later, Hyman and Lauper person been collaborating again connected a philharmonic adjustment of nan 1988 movie “Working Girl” — “I consciousness for illustration it’s getting there,” he said — and “Time After Time” is still winning complete hearts.

“We were pursuing nan muse that you follow,” he said. “And sometimes you get lucky.”