Everything about Bangles totally explained
The Bangles are an all-female band that originated in the early
1980s, scoring several hit singles through much of the decade.
History
Formation and early years (1981-1983)
When Susanna Hoffs joined the sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson to form a band in
Los Angeles in the waning days of December, 1980, the trio briefly christened itself
The Colours, shortly renamed itself
The Supersonic Bangs, but soon morphed its name to
The Bangs. The band was part of the so-called
Paisley Underground scene in LA, which featured groups that played a mixture of 1960s-influenced
folk-rock and
jangle pop with a more modern
punk–ish/
garage band undertone.
The band changed its name to the Bangles when a band named The Bangs in New Jersey threatened to sue.
The early Bangles line-up of
Susanna Hoffs (vocals/guitars),
Vicki Peterson (guitars/vocals),
Debbi Peterson (vocals/drums) and
Annette Zilinskas (vocals/bass) recorded at least one single as the Bangs, then made its recorded debut as the Bangles with a self titled EP, which was released on their manager
Miles Copeland's Faulty Products label in 1982. Zilinskas subsequently left the band, and was replaced on bass and vocals by
Michael Steele, formerly of the
all-girl band the Runaways.
Career peak (1984-1989)
The Bangles' full-length debut album on Columbia,
All Over the Place (1984), captured their power-pop roots, featuring the singles "Hero Takes a Fall" and the
Kimberley Rew-penned "Going Down To Liverpool" (originally recorded by Rew's band
Katrina and the Waves). The record attracted good critical notices, and the video for "Liverpool" featured
Leonard Nimoy, which helped to generate further publicity.
All this went some way to attracting the attention of
Prince, who later wrote "
Manic Monday" for the group.
"Manic Monday" went on to become a #2 hit in the US, the UK and Germany, outsold at the time only by another
Prince composition, his own "
Kiss". The band's second album
Different Light (
1986) was more polished than its predecessor and, with the help of the worldwide #1 hit "
Walk Like an Egyptian", saw the band firmly in the mainstream as radio and
MTV stalwarts.
There was friction among band members after the media began singling out Hoffs as the lead singer of the group, due to Columbia Records practice of releasing mostly singles on which Hoffs sang lead vocal. In fact, the group's albums were fairly evenly divided among all of the band's members, all of whom wrote or co-wrote their songs. In 1987, Hoffs starred in a film,
The Allnighter, which was directed by her mother,
Tamar Simon-Hoffs, and was critically panned. That, and the firing of their manager
Miles Copeland, further exacerbated the dissent among the band members. But they soon had another US #2 hit with a cover of
Simon and Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade Of Winter" from the soundtrack of the film
Less Than Zero, whereas on the other side of the Atlantic the melancholic "If She Knew What She Wants" reached the German Top 20.
1988's
Everything was another multi-platinum smash and included their biggest-selling single, the soft ballad "
Eternal Flame". Co-writer
Billy Steinberg came up with the title after Susanna Hoffs told him about the band's visit to
Graceland,
Elvis Presley's former estate in
Memphis,
Tennessee. An "Eternal Flame" in memoriam to Presley is maintained on the site, but on the day the band visited, the flame had gone out and its clear-plastic enclosure was flooded. When they asked what was in the box, they were told, "That's the eternal flame." The single became another worldwide No.1 hit.
The working relationships within the band had broken down, however, and they split shortly after, The second solo album
Susanna Hoffs, released in 1996, fared better critically, but it too had disappointing sales. Hoffs married film director
Jay Roach (
Austin Powers and
Meet the Parents), and their union led to the Bangles' reunion of 2000. The song chosen for the album was "Get The Girl"; it was released in 1999. The reunion continued with a tour in 2000. The group was also inducted into the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2001–2002 they recorded a new album
Doll Revolution. A
cover version of "
Eternal Flame" was a 2001 UK #1 for
Atomic Kitten.
Doll Revolution, featuring such songs as "Stealing Rosemary", "Ride the Ride", "Nickel Romeo", and the single "Something That You Said", was released in early 2003. The title track was written by
Elvis Costello, who initially recorded it for his 2002 album
When I Was Cruel.
Doll Revolution was a solid comeback success in Germany after the Bangles had performed in Germany's biggest TV show
Wetten dass, but failed to make any impact in other important markets such as the UK, the U.S. and Australia.
In July 2004, The Bangles were made Companions of the
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
In 2005, the Bangles announced the departure of Michael Steele. Steele was replaced by
Abby Travis for live appearances. Travis isn't an official member of the group. On
December 31,
2005, they reunited to perform "Hazy Shade of Winter" in front of
Times Square and later performed "Eternal Flame" as part of
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2006. Their third
single, "Light My Way", is available as a download via
iTunes. August 2007 saw the release of their first official live DVD,
Return to Bangleonia - Live in Concert.
In 2008, the band toured with dates in Las Vegas, Louisiana, Austin, Glasgow and Ojai. Summer 2008 sees the Bangles perform European Dates as well, for example in Germany and the Netherlands.
In popular culture
Like many other modern music groups, the Bangles have contributed to many other artists' works and to compilations. They provided the song "I Got Nothing" for for the 1985 film
The Goonies, and made a cameo appearance in Cyndi Lauper's music video for "Goonies 'R' Good Enough". Lauper later enlisted them for backup vocals in her 1986 hit song "
Change of Heart". In 1988, while recording his album
Full Moon Fever,
Tom Petty and his lead guitarist
Mike Campbell called on the group to provide backing vocals for the song "Waiting for Tonight". Unfortunately, the song never made it to the album, but instead made the compilations
Playback and . In February 2001, the first-season
Gilmore Girls episode "Concert Interruptus" involved a trip to see a Bangles concert, and featured cameos and music by the band.
They also covered
the Beatles hit "
Good Day Sunshine" for the 2006 album
All Together Now: Beatles Stuff for Kids of All Ages.
Several artists have referenced the Bangles in their own songs.
The Saw Doctors include an irreverent tribute to them, "I'd Love to Kiss the Bangles", on their 2003 album
Play It Again Sham!.
Alternative-country artist
Robbie Fulks sings a wistful ode to "That Bangle Girl", a song identified as one of his "personal favorites", on his 2000
Very Best album.
Band members
Discography
Albums
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Chart positions |
Album |
Notes |
| U.S. |
UK |
GER |
AUS |
| 1981 |
"Getting Out of Hand" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
— |
Locally released in U.S. only |
| 1983 |
"The Real World" (remix) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
The Bangles |
Promo-only release in U.S. only |
| 1984 |
"Hero Takes a Fall" |
- |
96 |
- |
- |
All Over the Place |
|
| 1985 |
"Going Down to Liverpool" |
- |
79 |
- |
- |
|
| 1986 |
"Manic Monday" |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
Different Light |
Written by "Christopher" (Prince) |
| "If She Knew What She Wants" |
29 |
31 |
17 |
31 |
|
| "Going Down to Liverpool" (re-release) |
- |
56 |
- |
- |
All Over the Place |
UK only |
| "Walk Like an Egyptian" |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
Different Light |
|
| 1987 |
"Walking Down Your Street" |
11 |
16 |
32 |
56 |
|
| "Following" |
- |
55 |
- |
- |
UK only |
| "Hazy Shade of Winter" |
2 |
11 |
52 |
7 |
Less Than Zero soundtrack |
|
| 1988 |
"In Your Room" |
5 |
35 |
- |
41 |
Everything |
|
| 1989 |
"Eternal Flame" |
1 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
|
| "Be with You" |
30 |
23 |
32 |
37 |
|
| "I'll Set You Free" (remix) |
- |
74 |
- |
81 |
|
| 1990 |
"Everything I Wanted" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Greatest Hits |
Continental Europe/Australia only |
| "Walk Like an Egyptian" (remix) |
- |
73 |
- |
- |
UK only |
| "The Eternal Mix" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Promo only, Spain only |
| 2003 |
"Something That You Said" |
- |
38 |
63 |
- |
Doll Revolution |
|
| "Tear Off Your Own Head" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Continental Europe & Japan only |
| "I Will Take Care of You" |
- |
84 |
- |
- |
UK only |
| 2006 |
"Light My Way" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
— |
Download only (iTunes Store) |
DVDs, films
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bangles'.
|
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