The untimely death of Prince has lead to a lot of interesting nuggets circulating across the internet. One of the more interesting things that I've stumbled onto is this demo of "Manic Monday" that was recorded (and never released) by Apollonia 6. Prince originally wrote it for his then-lover Apollonia and her girl group but when their popularity kind of tanked after Purple Rain he instead decided to give it to another girl group- of course The Bangles. We now know that this song launched The Bangles career almost overnight. Take a listen to the demo below, do you think Apollonia 6 would have fared nearly as well?
Hang on to your hopes, my friend That's an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away Simply pretend That you can build them again Look around, the grass is high The fields are ripe, it's the springtime of my life Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery Weaving time in a tapestry Won't you stop and remember me
Not every cover of an already popular hit works even if it's performed by a big name. Just ask Taylor Swift about that recent Earth, Wind & Fire cover. But when it does work, it usually helps to spin the song in a completely different direction, one that introduces it to a new audience.The Bangles version of "Hazy Shade of Winter" did exactly that. It was released in 1987 as part of the Less Than Zero soundtrack, but if you were a longtime Bangles fan, then you knew that they had been playing the song live since the early 80's.
The song, originally done by Simon and Garfunkel back in 1966, has a great arrangement that allows each of the ladies to shine- something that was important to them at the time. They also filmed a slick futuristic video to go along with it and that gave the song an even sharper edge. The Bangles spent the mid-80's fighting for the same band credibility that the men were being given because they could rock out just as much as the guys. "Hazy Shade of Winter" seemed to really be a breakthrough for them.
I tend to go out of my way to choose songs that aren't in heavy rotation on every 80's radio station across the U.S. just to keep things fresh, but this time I'm going to do something out of character. I'm going to choose The Bangles "Manic Monday" on a Monday morning as the 80's throwback of the day. Why? Maybe it's because I listened to their album (yes, as in vinyl) over the weekend and was reminded of just how truly great they were.
Maybe it's because I like to be unpredictable and by doing something obvious, well that is unpredictable for me. Or maybe it's simply because "Manic Monday" is a really good song that so many of us relate to on this very morning, so enjoy it!
Hang on to your hopes, my friend That's an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away Simply pretend That you can build them again Look around, the grass is high The fields are ripe, it's the springtime of my life
Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery Weaving time in a tapestry Won't you stop and remember me
Not every cover of an already popular hit works even if it's performed by a big name. Just ask Taylor Swift about that recent Earth, Wind & Fire cover. But when it does work, it usually helps to spin the song in a completely different direction, one that introduces it to a new audience.The Bangles version of "Hazy Shade of Winter" did exactly that. It was released in 1987 as part of the Less Than Zero soundtrack, but if you were a longtime Bangles fan, then you knew that they had been playing the song live since the early 80's.
The song, originally done by Simon and Garfunkel back in 1966, has a great arrangement that allows each of the ladies to shine- something that was important to them at the time. They also filmed a slick futuristic video to go along with it and that gave the song an even sharper edge. The Bangles spent the mid-80's fighting for the same band credibility that the men were being given because they could rock out just as much as the guys. "Hazy Shade of Winter" seemed to really be a breakthrough for them.
I tend to go out of my way to choose songs that aren't in heavy rotation on every 80's radio station across the U.S. just to keep things fresh, but I think given the loss of Prince last week, it's only right to revisit some of his stuff. The Bangles "Manic Monday" was originally written by him and obviously Prince knew exactly what he was doing when he gave it to this great girl band.
It's funny how such a seemingly simple song can cause so much drama behind the scenes. The Bangles "Walk Like An Egyptian" was first released in late 1986 and went on to become Billboard's top song of 1987. The song was actually inspired by people awkwardly trying to keep their balance on a ferry ride and its fun video shows random NYC people doing their best Egyptian dances. Pretty obvious concept, right? Not so easy was getting The Bangles to get along while recording it.
Producers had each of the girls sing a verse and ultimately they decided to cut Debbi Peterson from the lead and delegated her to just backing vocals. They then also replaced her live drumming with a synthesizer drum machine. The result, a furious band member and lots of discord among the ladies. "Walk Like An Egyptian" may have charted well but The Bangles went their separate ways soon after. The laddies eventually reunited and continue to play shows around the world to this day.
Check out the popular video below and click the link for more music by The Bangles.
I tend to go out of my way to choose songs that aren't in heavy rotation on every 80's radio station across the U.S. just to keep things fresh, but I think given the loss of Prince last week, it's only right to revisit some of his stuff. The Bangles "Manic Monday" was originally written by him and obviously Prince knew exactly what he was doing when he gave it to this great girl band.
I tend to go out of my way to choose songs that aren't in heavy rotation on every 80's radio station across the U.S. just to keep things fresh, but this time I'm going to do something out of character. I'm going to choose The Bangles "Manic Monday" on a Monday morning as the 80's throwback of the day. Why? Maybe it's because I listened to their album (yes, as in vinyl) over the weekend and was reminded of just how truly great they were.
Maybe it's because I like to be unpredictable and by doing something obvious, well that is unpredictable for me. Or maybe it's simply because "Manic Monday" is a really good song that so many of us relate to on this very morning, so enjoy it!
