If there isnt any controversy, we make it up, because weve gotta have something to talk about in interviews, says Steele. The Debunker: Should You Wait an Hour After Eating to Swim? Bangles facts: Where are the band members now, who is the lead singer and are they sisters? Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a2d4f462ce9e05a Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Peter Tork, who played guitar, bass, banjo, harpsichord, and piano/keyboards, was actually the first Monkee to do his own playing on a Monkees recording, playing guitar on "Papa Gene's Blues" (written by Nesmith) on their first album. [14]. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. As the legend goes, this was the listing that led to the formation of the "Prefab Four," TV's The Monkees. The ones that come to mind are the Lovin Spoonful and Herman's Hermits. The Bangles are too big, out of touch with the street. Vote For The Bangles In 2023. [6] When Hoffs spoke to Elkind after Peterson gave her the message, Hoffs and Elkind did not have the same common interests and Hoffs then formed a new band with the Petersons. Whats the difference between simulation and simulacra? There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. [24] Hoffs was naked when she recorded the song, convinced by Sigerson that Olivia Newton-John got her amazing performances by recording everything naked. "They completely lived it, they became us. I began collaborating with the songwriting team Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, who wrote Like a Virgin and True Colors. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. The same year, 1966, the Monkees began touring, so Mickey Dolenz quickly picked up the drums, while Davy Jones played tambourine and eventually got proficient enough on rhythm guitar, bass, and drums to fill in when necessary. The biggest hit for the Bangles, "Walk Like An Egyptian" gave them a new level of notoriety, but not the kind they wanted. That is a great name for a song. Within about an hour we had the lyrics. Nearly 40 years later, no other instrument-playing all-female band has managed to match their achievement, sadly, though The Bangles came close in 1986 when their Different Light album peaked at . The Those Girls bass guitarist, Vicki Peterson's lifelong best friend Amanda Hills, had also left the band (now a history professor, Amanda Hills Podany has performed as a guest with the Bangles on a few rare occasions)[7][8][9] and this left an opening for Zilinskas. Woot.com is operated by Woot.com LLC. The producers were already planning on building the band around British actor Davy Jones, fresh off his role as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! So, despite writing most of their music and lyrics, The Bangles' biggest hits weren't actually written by them. The Bangles broke up in 1989, reformed in 1998 and have clearly all found their peace with 'Walk Like An Egyptian' after all these years. I do miss playing in the clubs. The Bangles were not a gimmicky "girl group". Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Spouse (m. 2003) Wed spent our 20s together, starting as a powerpop, garage-rock, local club band and eventually releasing three albums with Columbia records. The women responsible for the national dance craze brought on by their number one hit, "Walk Like An Egyptian", were Susanna Hoffs, Michael Steele, and Debbi and Vicki Peterson. The Go-Go's beca Getty Images. Required fields are marked *. Commented Michael Steele to a Nine-O-One Network Magazine writer: "When I go out now it is usually girls who recognize me. Susanna Hoffs But oddly enough, it isn't a gig from that era, but rather a concert recorded in 2000 at the House of Blues in Hollywood. par ; juillet 3, 2022 In 1981, she founded the Bangs, later renamed the Bangles, with her sister Debbi Peterson and Susanna Hoffs. Vicki: We have always played our instruments. Weve always had additional instrumentalists on the records, but so did the Rolling Stones, and nobody says, Oh, did Keith Richards play that solo? . Susanna Hoffs, "Commentary", the Bangles, Last edited on 15 February 2023, at 17:04, "The Bangles' Debut Album 'All Over the Place' Turns 35 | Anniversary Retrospective", "Susanna Hoffs talks about the Bangles playing Arroyo Seco Weekend and that band's random connection to headliner Robert Plant", "The Bangles He's Got a Secret Whisky December 8, 2016", "There's More Than Meets The Eye to The Bangles and You Should Know Why", "30 Years Ago: The Bangles Rock Out for 'Less Than Zero', "Story of the Song: Hazy Shade of Winter, The Bangles (1987)", "Burning an Eternal Flame: The Bangles' Influences and Legacy", "Reunion Concerts: A Million Paisley Underground Fans Can't Be Wrong! Your IP: Vicki and Debbi Peterson. Can you drive a forklift if you have been banned from driving? The action you just performed triggered the security solution. What to know: The Bengals have clinched the AFC North with their win over the Chiefs. They later bonded over their shared . ., Susanna Hoffs, rhythm guitar: The whole concept of the band was just to be a band, people who write songs and play music together--not to be like an Elvis impersonator or something., Debbi Peterson, drummer and sister to Vicki: Seeds impersonators. / Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. now is your opportunity! . In 1999, she was the last member of The Bangles to rejoin the group. In We Can Work It Out, the bridge is the part that starts, Life is very short / And theres no time And in Eternal Flame it begins, Say my name / Sun shines through the rain In the 60s, it wasnt that unusual to have songs structured in that way, but, by the 80s, choruses were much more developed and middle eights had started to disappear. Luckily, they were too busy singing to put anybody down. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. But Nesmith was allowed to write and produce a few tracks on each of the first two Monkee LPs, and he brought Tork in to play alongside the session musicians, even if he himself had been banned from playing guitar on his recordings. the Princeton you're looking for might be a super champ . Yes, we accepted outside material--big deal. In Leaders of the Pack: Girl Groups of the 1960s and their Influence on Popular Culture musician and music historian Sean MacLeod surveys the hundreds of girl groups that appeared not only in the United States but also in Great Britain during the early 1960s. The Bangles dont play their own instruments. A quick check of Discogs or Wikipedia should give you more information about this, and about the band in general. Answer (1 of 5): Yes. "Manic Monday" went on to become a number-two hit in the US, the UK and Germany, outsold at the time only by another Prince composition, his own "Kiss". In January 2018, they played their first show since 2016 at Honda Center in Anaheim. Click to reveal I dont think in the reverse people would have that assumption. We've always had additional instrumentalists on the records, but so did the Rolling Stones, and nobody says, 'Oh, did Keith Richards play that solo? The Bangles arent tough enough. Despite their reputation, The Monkees were a real band and their TV series was more accurate in showing the development of a musical unit than history has given them credit for. What episode of Umbrella Academy has Hazy Shade of . I've heard various stories about the Monkees involvement in their albums, as least as far as playing instruments. The Debunker: Will Sharks Die If They Stop Swimming? The real truth about Vicki Peterson, Susanna Hoffs, Michael Steele and Debbi Peterson-- exposed! [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] JavaScript is disabled. Well one has to remeber that a lot of the Wrecking Crew are in the twilight of thier years and one has to take into account failing memories. The Wrecking Crew did the rest, exclusive of the vocals. So I reached out to Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine for some insight into the Byrds. This is a great topic, but what makes it tough is who would know for sure except the engineer and the really good engineers would probably never tell. The Arizona Cardinals are the oldest NFL team. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. The Bangles are a retro/60s thing .. common Seeds worshipers. ), who didn't want even Nesmith and Tork, both gifted musicians, playing on the recordings. It's true that, originally, the Monkees' music was supervised by Don Kirshner (later of The Archies fame! It didn't matter if the four actors wrote their own songs, played their own instruments, or even if that was Michael Nesmith's real hat. When Susanna told me about the eternal flame for Elvis at Graceland, it made me recall a childhood memory. Big hair, big hits - including Walk Like An Egyptian, Eternal Flame and Manic Monday - and . Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. This is a great topic, but what makes it tough is who would know for sure except the engineer and the really good engineers would probably never tell. Once recording the album was under way, Davitt said: I keep thinking about Eternal Flame and I know this wonderful keyboard arranger. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including "Manic Monday" (1986), "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), "Hazy Shade of Winter" (1987), "In Your Room" (1988), and "Eternal Flame" (1989). But for the rest of their career, now entering its fifth decade, the Monkees have continued to endure unwarranted pot-shots about being musical phonies. [5], Three new recordings by the Bangles were released in November 2018 as part of a compilation album called 3 4, which also included the Dream Syndicate, the Three O'Clock and Rain Parade, with each of the four bands covering songs by the other bands. It is structured like an old Beatles song, with the title tagged on to the end of the verse: Am I only dreaming / Or is this burning an eternal flame? The Beatles do a similar kind of thing on We Can Work It Out. There was a band called "The Beatles" that played on all their own records. [33], In 2005, Michael Steele left the band due to disputes over touring and recording. Want spirited Ben Frank's types. It happened one night at one of the bands shows in Hollywood. 2023. We didnt actually sing that song, adds a facetious Vicki Peterson, founding guitarist and runner-up for the wise-gal crown, during a break from rehearsal with her compadre in caustic self-defense. The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. Inspired by Elviss grave from left, Vicki Peterson, Susanna Hoffs, Debbi Peterson, Michael Steele in 1988. Like many bands who achieved enormous but exhausting success in the 80s . "Manic Monday," with the Prince pedigree, was an easy . . The album debuted in the top 10 (one of the first albums to ever do so) peaking at number 8. Answer (1 of 6): They all did. Steele was replaced by touring bassist Abby Travis for live appearances. The Bangles don't write their own hits. Though the band has always written most of its songs, the first four Top 10 singles were penned by Prince, Jules Shear, Liam Sternberg and Paul Simon. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. [22] It was another multiplatinum hit and included the top-five hit "In Your Room", as well as their biggest-selling single "Eternal Flame". They were all musicians. They play their own instruments ("really loud, hard guitars, drums and bass," Hoffs says) and write most of their own songs. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Formed in 1981, they wrote their own songs and were a big part of the Los . Peterson lived for several years in New Orleans before relocating back to Los Angeles. The Bangles don't play their own instruments. Ken Jennings is the author of six books, most recently his Junior Genius Guides, Because I Said So!, and Maphead. I.R.S. This isnt Girlschool, or Joan Jett, or even Michelle Shocked, for that matter. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Openers for the various dates included rock band Antigone Rising and power pop band A Fragile Tomorrow. We've always had additional instrumentalists on the records, but so did the Rolling Stones, and nobody says, 'Oh, did Keith Richards play that solo? The Bangles now: What do they look like today? The Bangles have now made four records from 1983 to 1989. Those songs didnt end up on the record.. 25years (December 10, 1996) The Bangles dont write their own hits. Anybody who knows us knows that. [40] Their set list focused on their early material, with remarks from the band at the beginning of the Fillmore show that they were going to be playing songs that they had not played in 30 years. It validates us. She leaps into a timidly self-defensive posture, with a light English accent: We actually do sing quite on-key . The Bangles had more hits & sold more albums, but I think the Go-Gos seem bigger because they hit as MTV was starting. Now, with Joe Burrow, the Bengals finally have the franchise quarterback needed to bring them back. Their 1984 album was well received and got them gigs opening for Cyndi Lauper and doing a song for The Goonies soundtrack, but they struggled to get airplay outside of their Southern California stronghold, and none of the songs from their debut charted. The title track, which was written by Elvis Costello, was originally recorded for his 2002 album When I Was Cruel. When we got to Elviss grave, we started recreating Spinal Tap singing Heartbreak Hotel there when we noticed that the eternal flame by the grave was out because it was raining. I imagined it would feel like . That was our first priority with it, and we wanted to make it a little more cinematic. Walk Like an Egyptian Though the Bangles do co-write all their songs now, they need help from famous professional hit . Fender Precision Bass [18], The band had another hit with a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "A Hazy Shade of Winter" (1987) from the soundtrack of the film Less than Zero. The record received good reviews and the video for "Liverpool" featured Leonard Nimoy, which helped to generate further publicity. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. At the last minute, they discovered another band had registered the Bangs name and would not let them use it without payment, so they dropped "The" and added the letters "les" to the end to become Bangles. The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Hollies? Name all your Women -- Artist whom you LOVE so .. . The Bangles don't play their own instruments. Books on Van Morrison, Samuel Beckett and The Monkees. 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-female band the Runaways, Toni & the Movers, Slow Children and Elton Duck.[14][15]. A few months later, the band's third record, Headquarters, was released, with the Monkees, at their own insistence, playing on every track. . June 30, 2022 by . It does seem to get very complicated as you go on. You may hear just Who Dey in the coming days, but theres actually more to the chant, which explains that its just Theres a yearning in it, from the awareness that not everything is eternal, but we dont want love to seem fragile; we want to depend on it. 3 seed in the AFC due to having a better conference record than Buffalo. When Tom and I wrote the songs True Colors, Like a Virgin and Alone, we had to make demos and then try to find a record company executive who thought they would be good for one of their artists. She lists among her influences Paul Simon, Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, and Nancy Wilson. What year was the Bangles Eternal Flame? [27][28] Hoffs began a solo career and Vicki Peterson toured as a member of the Continental Drifters and as a fill-in member of the Go-Go's. The group's studio recordings were first handled by Motown's famed in-house studio band The Funk Brothers during their brief recording tenure at Hitsville and later instrumentation . Though the band has always written most of its songs, the first four Top 10 singles were penned by Prince, Jules Shear, Liam Sternberg and Paul Simon. Other than having access to AFM contract logs (and sometimes they are not accurate) there is really no definitive way one can substantiate any claim to the work 100% of the time. The Bangles: Return to Bangleonia is the female quartet's live concert offering. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. You cant worry about offending people. It just sends shivers up your spine." Now, finally, we could take a break from living on buses together. Steele used this Bass since she was a member of Runaways in 1975, she used this bass for recording songs of The Bangles. Vicki: We have always played our instruments. "Manic Monday" was a breakthrough for the Bangles, setting them on a course for stardom. Vicki: "We have always played our instruments. [32] From 20012002, they were in the studio recording the album Doll Revolution at Icon Recording Studios, Hollywood, California. 210.65.88.143 That country //www.thoughtco.com/top-80s-songs-of-the-bangles-10698 answer ( 1 of 1 ): According to BBC sources the Bay City Rollers sold million! I mean, we kinda wanted to put an acoustic guitar and some harmonies on it. The Bangles don't play their own instruments. All Rights Reserved. Doll Revolution was a solid comeback success in Germany after the Bangles had performed in Germany's biggest television show Wetten dass, but failed to make any impact in other markets such as the UK, the U.S. and Australia. ", "Bangles Perform Their Favorites at '80s Concert", The Bangles Vocal Group Hall of Fame page, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Bangles&oldid=1139538280, Derrick Anderson bass guitar (20082016), Greg "Harpo" Hilfman keyboards (1989, 19982011), This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 17:04. [16] This came about through a friendship between the Hoffs and Nimoy families. , Steele jumps in: Bangle Persecution Complex! I can see the headline.. Established in 1968, some may wonder, have the Cincinnati Bengals won a Super Bowl? did the bangles play their own instrumentsrice university roster. However, the rest of the band are unrelated. The Bangles' full-length debut album on Columbia Records, 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). Cut to the tense moment the band sat down with our producer, Davitt Sigerson, to vote which songs would be on the next album, Everything. / These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. In 2005, Michael Steele left The Bangles. / The Debunker: Did Coca-Cola Advertising Create the Modern Santa Claus? She has also been known to use Carvin guitars and amps, and by the time the Bangles reformed, Vicki also used a Gibson mandolin, a pink Fender Telecaster Thinline, several Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, and Gretsch guitars. What does the name Cassiopeia mean in Greek. Age, 63years (August 17, 1958) The couple have no children together. You must log in or register to reply here. It's true that, originally, the Monkees' music was supervised by Don Kirshner (later of The Archies fame! 2. In January 2014, they performed at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California, in celebration of the Whisky's 50th anniversary. 's Ken Jennings tells us that a lot of stuff we thought we knew about our mischievous treetop friends is just bananas. Vicki's primary amps were Carvin amps, as well as a Marshall combo, a Fender Twin, a 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb, and a Fender Super Reverb, but as for pedals, she used an Ibanez Tube Screamer. What a concept!. Alan Parker scattered references to his movies throughout the film A poster featuring Alan Parker's earlier 1984 film Birdy can be seen in the video store, while the title song from Parker's 1980 flick Fame can be heard being sung. Nobody could see me; there was a baffle in front of me and it was dark. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. So it was this sort of interesting feeling of kismet. Susanna Hoffs is a co-founder, vocalist and guitarist of the Bangles. Actually, it was only the first single "Mr. Tambourine Man" and the B-side "I Knew I'd Want You" that had the Wrecking Crew playing the backing track. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The Bangles were not Bananarama or Pat Benatar, they were their own act, standalone in a moment in music when women were not regarded as capable musicians but as robotic and unspeakable mannequins, and continually objectified in music videos. Each member of The Beatles were multi-instrumentalists. Combine this attitude with 1967 and the rise of Hendrix and Cream and the concept of virtuosity. One had been placed by Hoffs, and the only person to respond was Annette Zilinskas, and the other was by Lynn Elkind, the Petersons' housemate and a departing member of their then band Those Girls. [1][2], The band's classic lineup consisted of founding members Susanna Hoffs (guitar and vocals), Vicki Peterson (guitar and vocals), Debbi Peterson (drums and vocals), with Michael Steele (bass and vocals). After finishing the Runaways 1976 demo, Born to Be Bad, Steele was fired from the band reportedly because she was a few years older than the rest of the girls. Despite initial brief tours in 2003, various family commitments for her bandmates meant that the band could not tour and support the album following its American release as much as Steele wished, a problem later noted by Susanna Hoffs as contributing to Steeles leaving the band in the middle of a tour. Stinky! Thats because Get our L.A. What other bands did or didn't play their own instruments? Some songs are hits and then they vanish, and some songs remain evergreen. Quick Quiz: Who sang under the name "Davie Jones" in the mid-1960s, until he adopted a pseudonym to avoid being confused with one of the Monkees? Of 600 million outside of the Bangles Debbi Peterson, Susanna Hoffs, and Hoffs! This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. By 1981, at age 24, Jett left an indelible mark on pop culture with the mega-hit "I Love Rock and Roll," the 25th bestselling record of all time. These people did sessions like a GP sees patients. Take a listen and watch a very professional band in action. Longevity does take care of some of these things. . I imagined it would feel like skinny dipping vulnerable yet freeing and I decided to try it. About The Bangles. Deborah Mary Peterson is an American musician and the drummer of the band The Bangles. 63years (January 17, 1959) "[17] Three additional hit singles released from the Different Light album were: "Following" (top 40 in Ireland), "Walking Down Your Street" (number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100) and the wistful "If She Knew What She Wants", written and first recorded by Jules Shear (which reached 29 on the Hot 100 in the summer of 1986 and was in the German top 20 for 13 weeks). The reunion continued with a tour in 2000. By the mid-1990s, the group had split, but they reunited by the 2000s and have played live sporadically ever since. Location. The Bangles are an American pop rock band which was set up in 1981, in Los Angeles, California, and became known for several hit singles She has been the lead guitarist for the Bangles since their foundation in 1981. Vicki Peterson: We started the band because we did share a common love of a certain type of music that was a little before our time, and most of the people of our own age group werent into it, so we found a camaraderie with these people who were in love with it. In the 1980s, Prince wrote one of the Bangles' biggest hits, "Manic Monday." Now, The Prince Estate has released the demo version of the track as part of the artist's posthumous album, Originals. Thats why we ended up with 13 songs on the record. When we made the demo at Toms studio, we recorded what we instinctively felt should have been a keyboard part, the little tick tock running through the song, on guitar. In 1983, Steele replaced original bassist Annette Zilinskas as a member of the Bangles. The Bangles perform in the music video "A Hazy Shade of Winter" from the original motion picture soundtrack Less Than Zero (1987). . ), who didn't want even Nesmith and Tork, both gifted musicians . The enduring popularity of the song is very gratifying. [11][31] The song chosen for the album was "Get the Girl" and was released in 1999. The words Fender, Telecaster, Stratocaster and the associated headstock designs are registered trademarks of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. John Cowsill is an American musician, best known for his work as a singer and drummer with his siblings band The Cowsills. It also was their first gig with original bassist Annette Zilinskas since 1983. After the first song went so well, I became superstitious about it, like in sports where you have to have your rabbits foot, and ended up compelled to skinny dip my way through most of the album, including Eternal Flame. In 1988, it felt like the Bangles had been touring endlessly. What is Corsola base stat total in Reborn? Some stuff you can just hear and know it is THAT player other stuff, not so much. Liam SternbergWalk Like an Egyptian / Lyricist. "The Stones don't own 'Satisfaction,' " says Blackhearts keyboard player Kenny Laguna. who are they? What kind of music did The Bangles originally play? This was because the Bangles didnt have a keyboard player. She formed her own band, the Blackhearts, and played nearly every electric ballroom, bar and rock club in America. The Debunker: What Color Were Oompa-Loompas, Originally? 5. [13] Their first EP was retitled Bangles and released. Not only did Prince discover the Bangles' early music, he sought out the performers themselves. [29], The band started drifting back together in 1998,[30] and officially reformed to record a song for the soundtrack of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, at the behest of the film's director Jay Roach (who had married Hoffs in 1993). Davitt had recently produced Olivia Newton-John and pranked me by telling me she did her best vocals in the nude. " We have always played our instruments. There is a very detailed book by Monkees archivist Andrew Sandoval and a separate book by Andrew Hickey w. Age. (Band meaning where all the members play their own instruments). Did the Bangles write Walk Like an Egyptian? The Bengals can clinch the No. We were really lucky because Cyndi Lauper, Madonna and Heart sang the songs beautifully. . During their five years on a major label the Bangles made some of the smartest and most likeable pop music of the '80s, including the Prince-penned classic Manic Monday, but the out-of-character . The Bangles always played their own instruments, inspite of being a girl group. 4. , the lead singer of The Bangles, joined Take Twos A Martinez in the studio to talk about her ups and downs with the band and reveal what broke the band up and what brought them back together. I went over to Billys house and was telling him about a Bangles trip to Graceland, in Memphis. The band broke up in 1989. , Victoria Anne Theresa Peterson Cowsill (born January 11, 1958) [1] is an American rock musician and songwriter. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. If you like rock and are not aware of this band. The common rap on the Monkees, then as now, is that they were TV fakes who didn't even play their own instruments. Additionally, she filled in for a pregnant Charlotte Caffey on the 19941995 Go-Go's reunion tour. The Bangles opened for Cyndi Lauper on tour and had a song on the Goonies soundtrack, and people within the industry started paying attention. Why is IVF not recommended for women over 42? . on Broadway. . I suppose the most famous example is the Byrds first album, where only Jimmy/Roger McGuinn played. , The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". [12], The early Bangles lineup 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". Co-writer Billy Steinberg came up with the title after Hoffs told him about the band's recent trip to Memphis, Tennessee, where they visited Graceland, Elvis Presley's estate. In 1986, Hoffs co-wrote I Need a Disguise for the album Belinda for Belinda Carlisle, from the all-girl group The Go-Gos. The Bangles dont play their own instruments. But Billy and Tom would always start with a lyric. The Bangles are all in their early 40s now; it's over 20 years since Hoffs answered the Peterson sisters' newspaper ad. Answer (1 of 4): For the first two albums The Monkees (for the most part) only sang on their recordings.