The Bangles
 In
1980, a folk-rock singer named Susanna Hoffs rang up a couple of
garage-rocking sisters called Debbi and Vicki Peterson. The Peterson
girls had placed an ad in a Los Angeles newspaper called The Recycler
(the paper of choice if you were in the market for a cheap used car or
some "pre-loved" furniture).
The resulting all-girl quartet
were originally known as The Bangs and played a set of bouncy,
sixties-style tunes. Their eponymous debut EP in 1982 sold
40,000 copies.
Their love for the music of the sixties and
their desire to create a small revival brought them to the attention
of others and in 1983, CBS cleaned up their image and signed the group
to a four-album deal: their first full-length album, All Over The
Place (1984), proved to be 60s-influenced, distinctly lacking
the omni-present 80s synthesizer.
An intensive first round of touring and marketing made
the girls grow up fast. With their new look from CBS, the introduction
of synthesizers and with the most memorable songs penned by outside
songwriters, including Prince, they released the heavily commercial Different
Light (1985), which went multi-platinum and contained the hit
singles Manic Monday and Walk Like An Egyptian.
They
spent the next two years vigorously touring and promoting the album,
pausing to record a rock version of the Simon & Garfunkel hit
Hazy Shade Of Winter for the Less Than Zero soundtrack in
1987, in an attempt to rid themselves of the 'Go-Go' image and
establish themselves as an independent rock band.
Everything (1988) was a departure from their
original material and was more romantic, rich in ballads written
by Hoffs. It was to be their last album, and spawned a few minor
hits and the No.1 Eternal Flame, written by Hoffs and Madonna's
songwriters, Steinberg and Kelly. The four band members had grown into
four songwriters, each with her own musical styles. The original union
of the band was under a strong sixties influence which had slowly
faded with age and due to various commercial pressures. Their
decade-long career ended with a Greatest Hits (1990)
compilation album.
Hoffs moved on to a semi-promising solo career, and
chief songwriter Vicki Peterson found herself in one of the best
unsigned band in America, The Continental Drifters.
| The
Band |
Susanna Hoffs
Vocals, guitar
Vicki Peterson
Guitar, vocals |
Debbi Peterson
Drums
Michael Steele
Bass
|
Annette Zilinskas
Bass |
|
|
