The Bangles Are Back
© Michele Morabito
The Bangles started in 1980 when Susanna Hoffs met the Peterson sisters through an advertisement. The girls discovered that they had similar musical influences, from The Beatles (Lennon's assination was thoroughly discussed) to the Mama's and the Papa's.
Debbi Peterson played drums, sister Vicki bass, and Susanna Hoffs handled the guitars and all sang. There was another member, Annette Zalinskas, who left for another group in 1983 and Michael Steele replaced her on bass (Michael was also The Runaways original lead singer).
After producing their own single "Getting Out Of Hand", The Bangs (as they were known then) got some attention and even more so from another group called The Bangs, so the girls decided upon The Bangles to aviod being sued.
Soon, Miles Copeland (also manager for Sting and president of IRS Records whom also broke The Go-Go's) came calling looking for new talent. The Bangles signed and recorded a self-titled EP and went on the road with The English Beat.
Eventually, they signed with Columbia Records and teamed with producer David Kahne to create All Over The Place in 1984. It did well on college campuses with the singles, "Hero Takes A Fall" and "Going Down To Liverpool" and the band supported by going on club tours and being the opening act for Cyndi Lauper.
With the influence of Cyndi and their producer David Kahne, the band contributed to the The Goonies soundtrack in 1985 with "I Got Nothing".
Their second album 1986's, Different Light, also produced by David Kahne, catapulted the band onto the charts with "Manic Monday" (written by Prince), "If She Knew What She Wants" and the semi-dance craze "Walk Like An Egyptian" which hit #1.
The next year, with producer Rick Rubin, The Bangles recorded "Hazy Shade Of Winter", a Simon & Garfunkel cover for the soundtrack to Less Than Zero. Susanne Hoffs took a few months off to film "The Allnighter" directed by her mother.
The Bangles were then back on tour for the summer of 1987, gathering more fans for their past two albums and showcasing some new songs. January would see the start of their recording sessions with a new producer, Davitt Sigerson, replacing David Kahne with whom they started having creative problems.
