'Flame' Rekindles for Bangles

L O S   A N G E L E S, July 19 -- Vowing to resist a“nostalgia revival thing,” the four women behind 1980s rockband Bangles said Tuesday they were reuniting to go on tour andrecord a new album.

The group, best known for such No. 1 hits as Walk Like anEgyptian and Eternal Flame, last performed on stage duringthe summer of 1989. They broke up later that year, deciding, asthey recalled Tuesday, that it was no longer fun.

But after an 11-year hiatus, during which they remainedfriendly, Susanna Hoffs, sisters Debbi and Vicki Peterson andMichael Steele have revived the group.

“We have songs coming out our ears,” said singer-guitaristHoffs, 43. The quartet say they will enter the studio next monthwith Black Crowes producer George Drakoulias and will shop theirfinished product to record labels.

Tour Starts on Sept. 13

They also plan to take a break from the studio to hit theroad for nine club shows in the United States and Toronto,beginning in San Diego, Calif., on Sept. 13. A bigger tour isin the cards for next summer to coincide with the album’srelease.

“Is this a nostalgia revival thing?” guitarist VickiPeterson, 42, asked during a news conference at the House ofBlues in Los Angeles, where they will play three shows. “Don’treally think so ... We’ve been offered many things over the pastfew years — cheesy and otherwise, mostly cheesy.”

Among the rejected offers were invitations to co-headline anational tour last year with reunited girl group the Go-Go’s andto play some dates on the all-women Lilith Fair road show. Inrecent years, groups as diverse as Culture Club, the Sex Pistolsand Fleetwood Mac have papered over internal problems to playtheir golden oldies for nostalgic audiences.

Writing Songs Together

The seeds for the Bangles reunion were sown about threeyears ago when Hoffs and drummer Debbie Peterson, 38, startedwriting together. Vicki Peterson overcame her initial reluctanceto join the fold, followed by the decidedly hesitant bass playerSteele, 46, who lives a reclusive existence in northernCalifornia.