The Bangles biography
The Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.
History
Formation and early years (1981-1983)
Susanna Hoffs joined sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson to form a band in Los Angeles in December, 1980. The trio briefly called themselves
The Colours, then renamed themselves
The Supersonic Bangs, and shortly afterwards
The Bangs. The band was part of the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene, which featured groups that played a mixture of 1960s-influenced folk-rock and jangle pop with a more modern punk-ish/garage band undertone.
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In 1981, the threesome recorded and released a single ("Getting Out Of Hand" b/w "Call on Me") on DownKiddie Records (their own label). The trio was signed to Faulty Products, a label formed by Miles Copeland. In 1982, Susanna Hoffs asked long time friend, Patrick Hirtz, to manage the band until his departure in 1986 to pursue the culinary arts.
The early Bangles line-up of Susanna Hoffs (vocals/guitars), Vicki Peterson (guitars/vocals), Debbi Peterson (vocals/drums) and Annette Zilinskas (vocals/bass) recorded an EP in 1982, and released the single "The Real World". A legal issue forced the band to change their name at the last minute so they dropped "The" and added the letters "les" to the end to become Bangles. Their first EP was retitled Bangles and released. In 1983, Faulty Products issued a 12 inch "remix" single of "The Real World" to radio and media, but another setback came as the label folded. I.R.S. Records picked up distribution and re-issued the EP. After Zilinskas left the band to focus on her own project Blood on the Saddle, she was replaced by Michael Steele, formerly of the all-girl band The Runaways, Toni & The Movers, Slow Children and Elton Duck.
Career peak (1984-1986)
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 Beatlesque "Going Down to Liverpool" (originally recorded by Rew's band Katrina and the Waves). The record received good reviews, and the video for "Liverpool" featured Leonard Nimoy, which helped to generate further publicity. This came about due to a college friendship between Hoffs and Nimoy's son Adam, now a television producer. They received a much wider audience serving as the opening act of Cyndi Lauper on her Fun tour.
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 No. 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 No. 1 hit "Walk Like an Egyptian", saw the band firmly in the mainstream. The song was sent to them in mid-session and the group was divided about whether it would be a failure or a success. When the song was released the group was amazed to discover that it brought them a new audience of female fans, most of them very young. Commented Michael Steele to a Nine-O-One Network Magazine writer: "When I go out now it is usually girls who recognize me."
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