The Bangles
In 1981, a folk-rock singer named Susanna Hoffs rang up a couple
of garage-rocking sisters, from Northridge on the northern rim of
the San Fernando Valley, 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
Colours (with a British "u") and then 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
(including Miles Copeland - manager of The
Police) 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.
Hoffs also
made cameo appearances in two of the Austin Powers movies
as a member of Powers' band, Ming Tea.
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