'Flame' Rekindles for Bangles

L O S   A N G E L E S, July 19, 2000 -- 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.

While the Bangles were never beset by sordid drug use ormassive internal friction, there were some issues that needed tobe settled. They opted to be brutally honest about pastperceived slights in order to clear the air, and to insist onexercising creative and personal control over their latestventures. Hoffs, the daughter of a psychiatrist, said she triedto make sure that everyone was happy.

“I want everything to be talked about, discussed, open,”Hoffs, the wife of Austin Powers director Jay Roach said. Drawing on her experience as the mother of two smallboys, she added: “It’s gotta be a family ... I’m aware of thegroup dynamic.”

‘We Rocked’

The band’s de facto leader Vicki Peterson, who lives in NewOrleans and also plays with cult rock band the ContinentalDrifters, said the Bangles still have scores to settle.

“We rocked. We were a really good — albeit slightlythrashy and not perfect by any means — rock band. It’s great tobe remembered at all. But I think it would be nice to go backand point out to the people who weren’t just the die-hardBangles fans ... that there was a lot more to this band than thetop 40 hits.”

The Bangles will try to strike a balance between playing thefamiliar tunes, which also included the Prince-written ManicMonday and Paul Simon’s Hazy Shade of Winter, andincorporating about eight new songs into their set list.

“People will come to hear the hits or the Bangles songsthat they feel in love with when they were 12. But we’redefinitely going to try their patience with some new stuff,”Vicki Peterson said.

Reflection of Punk Roots

Steele said that she hoped the new album would be amore accurate representation of the group’s garage punk roots.Their three studio albums, beginning with 1984’s “All Over thePlace,” were elaborately produced affairs betraying the powerpop roots of veteran producer David Kahne.

“My main interest in doing it again this time was, ‘let’ssee if we can do something that feels more owned by us.’ Ifother people like it, that’s great. If they don’t, well we gaveit a try.”