THE BANGLES: Making Pop Her-Story

You can almost hear the buzz of excitement in the air at Mike Gormley�s L.A.P.D. (for �personal direction�) management offices in Hollywood. After months of anticipation, the Bangles� second LP (after one independently-produced EP), Different Light, has finally hit the streets, and the media reaction is swift for El Lay�s reigning gurl group Queens now that the Go-Go�s are Gone-Gone.

�We�ve got US, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, People, USA Today..,CREEM? We�ll try to squeeze you in.� See what happens when you�re off the newsstands a couple of months?

The Bangles are a case study of democracy in action. Four interchangable, singing/songwriting/playing parts. In the classic tradition of True Groups like (of course) the Beatles, the Seeds, the Knickerbockers, the Beau Brummels, the G.T.O�s, the Byrds...Whaddya mean I can�t talk to Susanna Hoffs? Not to worry. In true interlocking pop fashion, we get to interview the gals two by two, in rotation with BAM, no less.

How I learned to stop worrying about Susanna Hoffs and love the Bangles: On the new album, duties are shared most equitably. Even bassist Michael Steele gets to debut as both a singer (a delightful, faithful take on Alex Chilton�s �September Gurls�) and songwriter (the brooding, jazzy �Following�). Elsewhere, the sisters Peterson (guitarist Vicki and drummer Debbi) make their own case for equal opportunity employment.

Suddenly, we�re discussing the merits of Dodger Dogs, a food specimen available only at Chavez Ravine. Seems Vicki�d given up meat three years ago with no ill effects except a lingering desire, nay, a craving for—you guessed it—Dodger dogs, the large size, of course.

�Bangles eat foot-longs,� squeals the blonde California native with ill-disguised delight. �There�s your title right there!! Or you can put it in boldface. We always complain to writers that the things that are put in bold type are always the sleaziest things said.�

I promised both Vicki and Michael, couple #1, I wouldn�t do that, so don�t make me a liar, Ed.! With kudos pouring in for the new album, the Bangles� enthusiasm is at fever pitch, but reality sets in fast when the gals acknowledge they haven�t played live in more than a year. It�s the reason why the foursome are headed for Europe pronto to whip the mutha into shape for what will be, hopefully, a long-running hit album and tour.

�There�s a bit of that innit,� admits Vicki. �You always want to give the album a little time to sort of ripen and rot, as Woody Allen would say. We do very well over there, considering we�re just a bunch of American chicks.�

Geez, the Bangles quote the Woodman. I�m starting to lose my journalistic distance. In fact, I�m rubbing up against Vicki�s leg under the table. No, I�m only kidding. I�ll save that for my encounter with Susanna.

We talk a little about the almost-too meticulous production job by David (Rank & File, Translator, Romeo Void) Kahne.

�He has a strong input with the band,� agrees Vicki.

�He�s a very talented arranger. Our tendency is to do something like �Let It Go,� on which we locked David in the control room, except for his piano solo.�

�We just go in there and bash it out,� says husky alto Michael. �David approaches music from-completely the opposite end, which is to polish each piece until it shines

and interlocks with the whole. It�s an interesting combination and, even though it is sometimes difficult, we get good results.�

The first single from the album, a slice of sing-song psychedelia called �Manic Monday,� was given to the girls by an ardent fan who goes by the pseudonym Christopher—and who made the band swear not to reveal his identity.

�We can�t figure out why, but we�ll respect his wishes,� offers Michael.

�He�s a nice man, with a beautiful complexion,� says Vicki, tongue firmly planted in cheek.

And short...

�Yeah, but everything�s relative, Roy,� laughs Vicki.

�He�s been a supporter of ours, sort of like a jock strap, for awhile. He had a couple of songs he realized might be good for us. He actually sent us both, and we picked �Manic Monday.� Everyone could relate to that lyric.�

Of course, lysergic breath, we�re talking about the Paisley Pipsqueak himself, Prince.

�He told us, if we wanted to, we could use his tracks and just sing over them,� says Vicki.

�And we went, �Ehhhh, thanks, but...�,� chimes in Michael. �No judgment on his work, we just wanted to make it as much ours as possible.�

�What�s interesting is, I think we share a lot of the same influences and roots,� says Vicki about the band�s patron saint. �We were at a party to hear his new album and Joni Mitchell walked in and he was clearly excited she showed up. And Joni�s a goddess to us...�

�If it weren�t for Joni Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix, we wouldn�t be in bands, either,� adds Michael, who started out in the original Runaways with Joan Jett and Sandy West.

The discussion turns to yet another eccentric genius, Alex Chilton, and Michael�s moving cover of Big Star�s immortal pop gem, �September Gurls.�

�I�d wanted to do that song for a long time, ever since I first heard it on a tape a friend made of good, old, weird, unusual songs from the �60s and 70s,� tells the auburnhaired bassist. �I�ve never sung lead on record before, but I had to do it. I was nervous. I mean, how can you reproduce that record? The sound of the guitar makes the hair stand up on your arms. I just went in, grit my teeth and did it. I�m pleased with how it turned out. It�s a tribute to the art of singing without ever opening your mouth.�

Michael says another of the LP�s covers, the aching fourpart harmonies of �If She Knew What She Wants,� is a particular favorite of its composer, Jules Shear. �He�s even said—and I don�t know if we should say this, but it has been quoted elsewhere—of all the people who have done his songs, he likes ours best,� she boasts. �And then he went, �Oh, no, Cyndi�s gonna kill me!!��

The question of the band�s group image and the confusion as to its �real� leader is tackled by Vicki, who reaches into history, er, �her� story, for her comparison, �When you

think of the Mamas & Papas, you might have Mama Cass in mind, but John Phillips did many of the lead vocals.�

Doesn�t the joint identity ultimately prove frustrating on an ego level?

�Of course, but there�s an element of compromise that we all agree to,� offers Michael. �It�s like any relationship. You have to give to get. This is the first band I�ve been in which is a true democracy.�

Though management beckons, I can�t let Vicki and Michael go without first asking them about the recent demise of their cohorts, the Go-Go�s. Did the manner of that band�s dissolution serve as any kind of cautionary example to the Bangles as they hurtle into the big time?

�I was kind of disappointed they broke up,� reveals Vicki. �We�re friends with them but, in talking with several of the girls, I realized it was the best thing for them to do. It�s kept them sane and alive.�

�Every time a band that you enjoy falls asunder, you ask yourself, is that going to happen to us?� Michael questions rhetorically. �The pressures are the same for all rock groups. Luckily, this is not an outfit that went to #1 with its first album. We�re building more gradually. The expectations aren�t as severe. We�re being allowed to make progress with each record.�

It�s time to play musical chairs, as diminutive Susanna Hoffs and broad-shouldered Debbi Peterson enter the room to pick up the threads of the discussion.

�There�s a lot of pressure on us right now because people like the record so much,� chirps Hoffs in a lilting soprano. My designated Bangles leader is much smaller in person than I expected. Her trademarked bangs hide a forehead marred with adolescent acne. Strangely enough, it only makes me like Susanna more, a sign the Bangles are all-too-human.

�I�m excited,� she enthuses. �It�s just that we haven�t played since last New Year�s Eve at the Ritz in New York. We�ve got to get our sea legs again, y�know? We�ve built up a lot of anxieties waiting for the record just to come out.�

Although it was finished in September, 1985, Different Light wasn�t released by Columbia until this past January, a shrewd move to take advantage of what is generally a slow month for new records, to garner maximum attention for an elpee the label was prepared to get behind in a big way.

�It�s the fear of success,� explains Susanna. �We have to say goodbye to all our friends for a long time. Because, if this record does well, we�ll be on the road a lot. It�s like how I used to cry the night before going to school for the first time every year. My mother keeps reminding me of this. She tells me, �Honey, it�s just another case of those prefirst-day-of-school jitters.� And she�s right.�

The Bangles are anxiously anticipating the European tour, which was to begin in five days. It will be the culmination of over a year�s worth of work.

�I�m like an Olympic athlete waiting for that one high jump, that one moment,� says Susanna. �In a way, making a record is a series of those little moments you have to find, because you�re going to have to live with them your whole life.�

Has being female gotten in the way of the band�s progress?

�I don�t know,� says Susanna. �Right now, I feel lucky because we�re special. It�s nothing to be defensive about. This is our unique thing. We happen to be four women who write about how we feel, our point of view on love, sex, life and whatever.�

If it weren t for Joni Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix, we wouldn�t be in bands. �

—Michael Steele

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�We just do what we do naturally,� adds Debbi. �We write and play the songs we�d like to hear.�

When the chat turns to private lives, the effusive Susanna suddenly turns silent, refusing to reveal the identity of her musican boyfriend, ex-Three O� Clock guitarist Louis Gutierrez, while acknowledging the difficulty of maintaining long-distance relationships.

�Hopefully, they�re gonna stick by us,� she says wistfully. �But the traveling, the pressures and the tension make it hard.�

I imagine Susanna still living at home in her parents� Brentwood garage. My daughter, the rock star. The one-time Berkeley grad, whose relatives are �all doctors and lawyers,� going from a dance, then painting major to a career in pop music, where they went wrong?

�Not at all, though my grandparents still think I should be making more money,� she laughs. �They see me at these clubs and wonder how I can work so hard and not have a dime. They keep telling me they have an �in� at Brooklyn Law School. My aunt is a judge in New York and she can arrange for me to get into school there. But I have no interest in law.�

And what happens when she sees all her yuppie friends, driving around in their Beamers and �Cedes?

�Hey, we got an endorsement from Reebok today,� she exults. �They give all the touring bands complimentary shoes. But we�re not yupped yet. We�re not anything. That�s the problem. We�re just the Bangles. That�s what we are.�

For now, that�s more than enough. ®