After Dinner Speakers: The Bangles, Jim Rosenthal, Douggie Donnelly

In Los Angeles circa 1981, the Supersonic Bangs represented feminine force and ferocity. A four-piece girl band with aspirations to become the Beatles of the '80s, the Bangs rose from a humble "band members wanted" advertisement in an Orange County newspaper to a multi-platinum phenomenon boasting three No. 1 and two No. 2 singles. After posing and primping their way into the "paisley underground" -- a scene riddled with trippy folk bands -- the Bangs landed a management deal with I.R.S. Records, released a debut EP and changed their name to the Bangles. Singer Susanna Hoffs, along with sisters Debbi (drums) and Vicki (guitar) Peterson, welcomed aboard former Runaways singer Michael Steele as bassist in 1983, shortly after Annette Zilinskas ditched the band for Blood on the Saddle. The quartet then joined forces with power-pop producer David Kahne, and recorded All Over The Place , which sprouted the semi-hit "Hero Takes a Fall." Fate struck when the paisley pop god, Prince, saw the video for "Hero" and became infatuated with Hoffs. He then offered the Bangles a song called "Manic Monday," written under the pseudonym Christopher. An anthem for the '80s working woman, "Manic Monday" hit No. 2 on the charts in 1986, setting the stage for the career-making album Different Light. MTV staples like the No. 1 single "Walk Like an Egyptian" and the cover of Paul Simon's "Hazy Shade of Winter" followed, making Hoffs' sexy pout a object of worldwide desire. In 1988 Everything dominated the charts with "In Your Room" and the No. 1 single "Eternal Flame" -- which became an ironic last gasp for the Bangles, who broke up only months after the song ht a peak of popularity. Corroded with jealously and resentment, the band members blamed the media for concentrating too much on Hoffs and therefore destroying the Bangles' working relationship. They wouldn't take table scraps anymore. Hoffs wasted no time in launching her solo career, recording the album When You're a Boy in 1991 with some collaborative help from Cyndi Lauper and Juliana Hatfield among others. Her 1996 self-titled release boasted an all-star lineup as well, the most prominent contributor being the immortal Mick Fleetwood. After the Bangles' split, Vicki Peterson served a short sentence in the Psycho Sisters before joining a band called Continental Drifters. Then in 1994 she joined the Go-Go's' reunion tour, filling in for a pregnant Charlotte Caffey. Meanwhile, sister Debbi Peterson formed the band Kindred Spirit and released a self-titled album in 1994. More than a decade after their breakup, The Bangles announced that they would re -- unite for a short tour in the fall of 2000, to be followed by a new album and full tour in 2001.