The Bangles consists of Debbi Peterson (drums, acoustic guitar, vocals), Michael Steele (bass, guitar, vocals), Susanna Hoffs (rhythm guitar, vocals), Vicki Peterson (lead guitar, vocals).
The Bangles was one of the new generation of independent all-women bands that followed The Go-Go's in the early 1980s. The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 as The Supersonic Bangs, later shortened to The Bangs. They were forced to change their name to The Bangles when a band from New Jersey, also named The Bangs, threatened to sue.
The original lineup was Susanna Hoffs (guitar, vocals), Debbi Peterson (drums, vocals, bass), and Vicki Peterson (guitar, vocals, bass); this lineup made one 45, "Getting out of Hand" b/w "Call on Me". Annette Zilinskas took over bass duties in 1982 and also played harmonica. This lineup put out an extended play disc titled The Bangles that same year. Zilinskas left in 1983 and was replaced with Michael Steele, formerly of The Runaways. Zilinskas would later release records with Blood on the Saddle and the Ringling Sisters.
The Bangles' debut album on Columbia, All Over The Place ( 1984) captured their power-pop roots, and attracted the attention of Prince, who wrote " Manic Monday" for the group. " Manic Monday" went on to become a US #2 hit, outsold at the time only by another Prince composition, his very own " Kiss". The accompanying album Different Light ( 1986) was more polished than its predecessor and, with the help of the worldwide #1 hit " Walk like an Egyptian", saw the band firmly in the mainstream as FM radio and MTV stalwarts. There was friction among band members after the media began singling out Hoffs as the lead singer of the group. In 1986, Hoffs starred in a film, The Allnighter, which was directed by her mother Tamar Simon-Hoffs and was critically panned. That, and the firing of their manager Miles Copeland, further exacerbated to dissent among the band members. But they soon had another #2 hit with a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade Of Winter", from the soundtrack of the film Less Than Zero which they produced on their own.
