If you don’t recognize Susanna Hoffs it could be because you’re not from the 80s and hadn’t been born yet, or you just didn’t listen to rock and roll. Hoffs was the big name behind the band and was a music lover from an early age as her mother used to play Beatles music for her. By the time she was in her teens she was playing the guitar but she hadn’t quite decided on what she wanted to do yet. It wouldn’t be until she’d graduated from the University of California in Berkeley that she would decide that her interest in classical music had shifted just enough that she wanted to think about a career as a musician rather than a dancer. Eventually she would go on to form a group in the 80s known as The Bangles, with band such as The Ramones being used as her inspiration to lay down some awesome tracks and become a sensation that many people still haven’t forgotten.
The original name of the band was The Bangs.
It could have been named this for any number of reason, not the least of which might have had to do with the hairstyles of the band, but unfortunately the name wasn’t bound to stick since before their first album could be printed they learned of an east coast boy band that had the same name. They eventually changed it to The Bangles and the name stuck. It’s kind of funny to think that the name of a band would be so generic that others would have selected it already, but then again there have been instances throughout the past in which band names and songs have had to be retooled in order to really appease those that claim to have had the names first, whether they did or not. Thanks to copyrights however that’s been less of a problem for a while, and it seems like the Bangles have far outlasted the Bangs in terms of popularity and who even remembers them. So to be honest having to change the name was more of a win.
They didn’t really hit their stride until the mid to late-80s.
Their first album came out in 1982 and didn’t do a whole lot. To be fair they were still pretty new to the landscape and likely didn’t have the right hook they needed to get peoples’ attention. Finding the right hook is what a lot of bands need in order to really get people on board with what they’re selling, and until that happens then their status tends to be up in the air and not at all assured. Yet when 1986 came around the Bangles hit the big money with songs like Manic Monday and Walk Like An Egyptian. Both these songs became a huge success and allowed Hoffs and the Bangles to emerge onto the scene finally as the kind of band that knew how to really take the center stage and make it work for them. Their career continued to soar up until the late 80s, as their songs became hits and their song Eternal Flame really took off.
She made four albums with the Bangles.
Hoffs eventually went on to do a solo act despite convincing the Bangles to reunite after their split in the late 80s, but while they are still performing she has managed to keep her own career moving forward. Nothing has really compared to her run in the 80s however when things were first getting started and she was at the top of her game singing for the Bangles. At that time she was new to punk rock and had yet to really become an icon of the decade until around the middle to the end of the decade. But once she and the band did become established it was something to watch since no matter where you went their songs were being sung by eager fans and their albums were being snapped up as fast as they could be put on the shelves. Eventually their fame waned as the 90s loomed, but that was to be expected as a great number of bands kind of went by the wayside. She did however come out with several albums initially with the Bangles that managed to shake things up and grant them a career that has lasted thus far in the memories of their fans.
It’s kind of amusing to think of what might have happened if Susanna had decided to become a dancer instead of a musician. There’s always said to be an uncertain future in becoming a musician since there’s little if any real instant fame or money in the profession. But those that do it manage to stick by their decision if they’re strong enough and show the world that they do indeed have something worth saying.
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