Cyndi Lauper praises wrestler 'Captain' Lou Albano

The Associated Press, Thursday, October 15, 2009, 9:00am (PDT)

NEW YORK -- Cyndi Lauper says that professional wrestler "Captain" Lou Albano took her up the music charts.

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The singer said Thursday that she was lucky to work with Albano on her music videos in the 1980s.

The rambunctious showman and wrestler died Wednesday in New York of natural causes.

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Albano's fame skyrocketed when he appeared in Lauper's 1983 "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" music video, playing the singer's dad.

Lauper says that Albano took her up the charts "from 10, to 5, to 4 to 1, to minus 5 and back up to 1 again."

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She says it was "great fun, too."

Albano was one of the most recognized figures in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1980s, alongside such ring pros as Hulk Hogan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.

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