Review: The Bangles - Anna Lee (Sweetheart of the sun)

Well. The Bangles are once again back with an EP for now, only available in certain clothing shops in America. I never even heard of that shop so the name is irrelevant. This would have annoyed me if the Bangles, and Vicki Peterson in particular, hadn't been so stupid (there's no other word) about the departure of Michael Steele out if the band in 2005. They're still talking weirdly about it. It made me turn my back to the modern day Bangles and gave Michael Steele even more of a cult status. But, I'm going off track and I've tried to not take this in consideration while listening to the new song on the EP, it's only 1 new song, the flip side are merely acoustic versions of old classics and the new song, called "Anna Lee (Sweetheart of the sun)" will feature on their new CD to be released this summer. I was able to listen to this song because one kind person made a video to the song and placed it on youtube. So, is this something to look forward to?

I've listened to this song a few times now. The start is promising, very promising, a raw electric guitar playing some great riffs. Then the acoustic guitar kicks in, the cow bell and the sugary sweet vocals of the remaining 3 Bangles. They all sing together in harmony on this track, with Susanna Hoffs still to be heard the best but she can't help it with her voice. How can a song starting so strong fall back so dramatically? It's in essential not even a that bad of a song, but they lost the last edge they had. It's a nice track to play in the car with windows wide open on an American highway in the sun but that's about it. You can't argue with it, it's very Bangles and then it isn't.

I guess I'm just disappointed and will stick to the sound I prefer which is the garage sound from the early eighties and the rock sound the brought back in the 80s. To compare, here's the new track back to back to 'Everything I wanted', the single that went with their Greatest Hits album in 1990 and was dropped last minute from their 1988 smash 'Everything' which featured, yes indeed, 'Eternal Flame'. I guess the producers thought it was too rough but I say this is the Bangles most fans preferred. Shame, such a bloody shame.

The Bangles 2011 - Anna Lee (Sweetheart of the sun)


The Bangles 1988 - Everything I wanted

The ballad of Michael Steele

One of the first musicians I admired for who they were was Michael Steele, the red-haired bassist from the Bangles. I don't think I saw it like that at the time but looking back she may be very well the first famous woman I had a crush on. I was a big fan of the Bangles, also after they split (I'm not so after 2005 when Michael left/got kicked out of the Bangles) buying all their records, all versions of the singles, etc. As far as Michael was concerned, I wanted her hair, I so wanted her hair. My mother tried to help me with it ('That's henna red' she said so I tried that, it's disgusting and had little result) but I never got it red so I settled for a Vicki Peterson blond string of hair in my dark brown hair (as where lay the key for not getting that red hair from the drug store). At art class in high school we once had to make an advertisement poster using a certain technique, advertising a product carrying your name. I made a concert poster, advertising myself 'and my bass guitar' drawing a gigantic bass guitar. The teacher had no idea how to deal with a concert poster and gave me a 6/10. But still, Michael Steele ruled!

And she still does.

After the Bangles split new music game into my life and with that punk and grunge. I do see, and try to convince people, that the Bangles very well could have fitted into the riot grrrl scene if they had started in the early 90s rather than early 80s. They were very garage before Prince decided to step in and write them a very sweet Manic Monday. The Bangles have been marketed by their record company and the women all regret not having stepped up more for themselves. It didn't all went the way they wanted it too go which in the end was the reason for disbanding the band.

But, like I said, other music game into my life and the Bangles moved a little bit to the background with me occasionally picking up their records again, mostly their older records, rarely 'Different Light', their pop-album featuring 'Manic Monday' and 'Walk like an Egyptian' (their break-through album). I have always loved Michael's songs the best. Her voice is raw and still very warm. She has written the best songs in my opinion as well. Michael Steele always stood out with the Bangles, it wasn't just her hair, but it was also her attitude. The more internet came to live, the more I was able to look up and the more it became clear. Michael somehow was the black sheep of the Bangles. None surprising she was the one with the least media attention after the split, she kept a low profile with underground bands, taking care of dogs she had rescued from the shelter, with her garden and her painting. She's mysterious, hence her quite cult-like following. And none-surprising, she was the last Bangle to re-join the band issuing concerns about the band still being taken seriously. She left 5 years and 1 year later, feeling that the others in the band didn't take it as seriously as she did. The others quite blamed her for not being understanding. I think it went down pretty ugly.

Due to Michael, I can't get into the Runaways. The oh so cool it hurts Runaways. She was a member of that band, has recorded 1 album that's only been released as a demo-re-release in 1993, and she was the bassist and main vocalist for the time that it lasted. She never wanted to be reminded of that time, called some song ideas retarted and couldn't conform to the sexist wishes of their management. The Runaways were a pretty marketed concept, young girls with guitars exploited for being young girls with guitars. Something young women with guitars 15 years later would rebel against. I do believe that the film made a few years back gives you a wrong picture of the band, Michael not being the only ex-member not wanting to be involved, hence you have a fictional band member in that film.

Michael Steele, she's a hero. She's a true musician. She's such a special lady and still looks amazing after all these years. You could say that unknowingly to myself, she's been an inspiration to me all my life. She still is. She still is in my top 5 musicians list (which only include bassists and drummers, I'm a sucker for the rhythm section, it started with her!). The Bangles can do whatever they want right now, I do not care. Michael Steele rocks. She got class and attitude and you better believe it.

My own bootleg revolution

Bootlegs. They used to be valuable. Kids would record shows, copy them on tapes and pass them on. Some more advanced kids would even press them on vinyl and sell them in shabby record stores. Later on they got copied on CD and spread/sold amng fans and sometimes you'd find them in second hand record stores. Pearl Jam would release every show they did on CD and sell them all over the world in record stores. If you were lucky the sound would have been good, filtered so you wouldn't only get the 'yeah yeah woohoo yeah' from the person who stood next to the person who recorded the show. Along came the internet and the MP3, file sharing sites and youtube. No longer we'd pass on cassettes of a show. We go on youtube, ask in forums if people had recorded the show and mock if no one wants to upload it. We're spoiled aren't we?

I'm not really a big fan of listening to live recordings, it's met with a lot of misunderstanding but it doesn't really appeal to me. I rather be at the show myself or listen to the studio recording. I don't mind the recordings itself, but I don't really like listening to it, that's more like it. I get iritated when the radio isn't tuned properly and you'll hear a minor rustle or other disturbances. This might seem like I'm overreacting but it makes me turn off the radio and rather sit in silence. Knowing this you might understand why I'm not the biggest fan of listening to live recordings, whether you agree or not.

I own live recordings. I have a few Kent bootlegs at home, but I never listened to them. I have the Kaizers Orchestra live album. Listened to it once. I have a live CD of the Cribs that came with the Roses Edition of their latest album. Never listened to it. I own the live CD that came with a special edition of the New Fellas. No, never. I'm a record collecting nerd though. So these are albums that have a place in my collection. I wouldn't necessarily download them from the internet if that would have been the only place I could get these. Unless I was at that show. In that case I'd consider.

However. I do own two bootleg recording of the Bangles on cassette. These shows are from 1983 and 1986. I love them, the 1983 show more than the 1986 show, which mostly is becuase the 1983 is more garage than 1986. In 1983 there were no walking Egyptians and manic Mondays. I've played these tapes a lot and I still occasionally do. I love some old school Bangles and these are live recordings I can listen to. The mysteries of life.

So, with my history of letting digital bootlegs pass me by, why am I being so excited about the few Wild Flag bootlegs I found? I haven't been in the position to listen to them yet but I intend to. Heck, I even intend to copy them on a disc! Could it be, considering that the Bangles bootlegs are the only ones I listen to on a relatively frequent basis, that I only like women's bootlegs? That's nonsense. I think with Wild Flag it's a totally different story and it might relate to the tape sharing from the early punk days.



Chances are that you don't understand why I'm so much into Wild Flag in the way that I am. I'm at the wrong side of the ocean for one to really participate in this start of the young punk/garage/nugget band. But there's sincerely a revolution going on. Think Riot Grrrl. Think Nirvana. (think that this was all around the same time and these girls were musically active themselves around that time). Something's going on. And despite living on the wrong side of the ocean, it's possible thanks to the band being relatively active on both twitter and facebook, to be part of it anyway. It's because of Wild Flag I got myself a facebook in the first place, I was highly anti-facebook. Even if you'd think Wild Flag are nothing less than a bunch of middle-aged women who are living a midlife crisis (shame on you!) then so be it. Maybe that's exactly what I am then. I know of course that this is not the case. Wild Flag is a little music revolution. They're loving it. A bunch of other people are loving it. I'm loving it. And if that means consuming bootlegs before the first album hits the stores, it's all part of the game. I love this game.

This is burning an Eternal Flame

If you read my blog before or if you are lucky enough (or not) to know me personally, you'll know that I'm a fan of the band The Bangles. The fab four of the eighties, those four women who had so many hits in the eighties, the band with lead-singer Susanna Hoffs, that band of the song 'Eternal Flame'. Of course 'Eternal Flame' is the highest entry of the Bangles in the top 2000 at 427 and has been in the top 100 in that very list once and of course it's a beautiful ballad. It was that song that made me fan of the band, even though I always sang the chorus of 'Manic Monday' unaware it was the same band and secretly (not even sure why that was a secret but young teenagers are even weirder than teenagers) loving their version of 'Hazy shade of winter'. I got their 'Everything' album, the album that features 'Eternal Flame' and I loved it. I played the single 'Eternal Flame' so many times it actually turned grey. The b-side of that 7" was the non-album track 'What I meant to say', a raw rock song, not sung by Susanna Hoffs but by the Peterson sisters Debbi and Vicki. Every Bangles fan will be able to tell you that Hoffs is not the lead singer of the Bangles, all the women sang. In 1989, 'Eternal Flame', my 'Eternal Flame' ended up being the biggest selling single of that year. And I was proud.

In 1989, the Bangles split up. The final straw in the friction between the members was the release of 'Eternal Flame'. That, however, is my version. The story of the split of the Bangles is not one to tell in one paragraph, there's a back story to be told. But, if you ever needed to tell this in one sentence, you'd use 'Eternal Flame'.

'Eternal Flame', even though it's the song that turned this girl a fan and glued to the television every time the video appeared on screen (which was an awful lot those days, we still had an MTV that played music videos), is by far not my favourite song by this fab four. It's not even because of the split association. It's a nice song, it's lovely, it's highly romantic. But on 'Everything' you'll find one song, which comes right before 'Eternal Flame' that is even more beautiful, romantic, heartbroken that that, it's Michael Steele sung 'Something to believe in'. That song is gorgeous. Steele's warm, bluesy voice is amazing, which is also evident in the first song of side B 'Glitter Years'. The Bangles are no matter what a rock band. They made fantastic pop songs, but their rock songs are so much better.

Still, I'm really pleased by 'Eternal Flame' featured in this List of All Lists here in the Netherlands. Be it the one that isn't their best and doesn't do the band justice for what they really were. It's the one people remembered and still cherish. People still remember the Bangles and that's great indeed.

Where Garage Girls come from

The raise of female fronted garage rock bands is great. Vivian Girls. Dum Dum Girls. Best Coast. Grass Widow. Girls at Dawn. Pens. Veronica Falls. Las Robertas. You may argue they kind of sound the same but if they would drop the reverberation imagine how great that would be. Sure, it might be exactly that what makes current garage rock (male voices are doing the same) garage rock but The Splinters don't use it and they sound genuine and absolutely great. What a band they are, the Splinters. Pure garage rock. But are the new generation garage rock bands, or lo-fi as they probably prefer, fronted by women something new and so 21st century? I'm sorry, but it's nothing new.

Because, for instance in 1980, there were the Bangs. Not to be confused by the 90s band The Bangs, though in sound you'd love both. The 80s Bangs were three LA girls who shared their passion for 60s music. Beatles, Mamas & the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel (they would later in their career have a hit single with a cover), The Seed, The Byrds, the Randalls, these girls loved harmonies and they loved 60s garage. They released a fairly (underground) successful single 'Gettin' out of hand/Call on me' and were the darling of the Paisley Underground. They then did something the now generation garage rock bands don't - they got themselves a bassist. They rocked, they had fantastic voices which sang in harmonies and yes, they looked sexy too. If the Dum Dum Girls had been living at that time, they'd probably look and sound like the Bangs.

As the Bangs got more known, another band with the same name got aware and threatened to sue the girls. They renamed themselves and recorded a self-titled EP: The Bangles were born. Their debut EP was filled with 5 garage rock pearls and the future looked bright for the four, but not before firing their bassist and hiring a new one. With their new bassist they recorded a long player which was released in 1984, 'All over the place'. It sounded raw and sweet. The Paisley Underground was proud of their very own Fab Four as they were dubbed. The girls enjoyed their sweaty gigs and were giving their new bassist her very own moment, the Seeds 'Pushin' too hard'. It was a highlight of their shows.

Then something happened which might be typical for that time and probably wouldn't happen anymore, mainly because record labels will not spend their time and money into turning small bands into mainstream chart toppers. Record labels are not interested in that anymore. The Bangles were signed to a Big Label and damn you Prince for having an interest in the Paisley Underground and the Bangles.He wrote them the power pop tune Manic Monday. Add a marketing campaign for Susanna Hoffs Big Brown Eyes and you have a more successful version of the Go-go's. The rest is history. The Bangles released 'Hazy shade of winter' an old-school Bangles version of the Simon and Garfunkel classic for the now cult movie 'Less than zero'. Also 'Everything', their 1988 album, featured heavier songs but also spawned their biggest hit 'Eternal Flame' which launched the band into a break up. The band had turned into a huge success but not the way the girls had wanted to, not to mention they agreed on.

But before all that, before it all was over, the Bangles were the pride and joy of the Paisley Underground, their jangle pop-folk-garage-rock with punkish hooks was a delight and it still is today. Whenever I hear the early Bangles stuff I sigh happily and wish reverberation was never invented. Sure, it gives a lo-fi 60s sound, but you can accomplish that without. Do it girls, I'm begging you!