Book Review: Eternal Flame

From their first meeting in 1981, the Bangles were ambitious, focused, and intentional; their hard-work and determination resulted in millions of records sold across the globe, before becoming the first all-girl band to have five “Top 10” hits. Not long after coming together, they toured the world, released #1 records, and collaborated with the biggest artists of the day. They seemed unstoppable—until tensions within the band, artistic differences, and the pressures of sudden celebrity tore them apart less than a decade later.

This is the story of those eight years: of a diverse and vibrant Los Angeles music scene, unfettered work ethics and self-belief, the dawn of MTV, the unpredictable consequences of fame, life as a touring band, and their rapid rise to global domination--then imploding at the height of success. But it’s also a story of the very real challenges faced by women attempting to follow their artistic dreams in a media and music industry ecosystem which seemed set up for their failure from the start.

Cyndi Lauper - True Colors (30th anniversary)

Today (September 15th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of True Colors, the second studio album from Cyndi Lauper. This 1986 release spent forty-four weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 4.

For the full review of this record, click here.

For more from Cyndi Lauper, click here.

The Bangles - Different Light (30th anniversary)

Today (January 2nd) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Different Life, the second studio album from the Bangles. The record was the group’s best selling to date, having gone multi-Platinum a number of times over. It reached the number 2 spot on the US Billboard Album chart with a total chart run of eight-two weeks.

For my full review, click here.

For more from the Bangles, click here

The Goonies (soundtrack) (30th anniversary)

Welcome to another edition of "Soundtrack Sunday".

Today (June 7th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the soundtrack from The Goonies. Featuring an all-star line-up of artists, the record spent ten weeks on the US Billboard Album chart with a peak spot of number 73.

For my full album review, click here.

The Bangles - All Over the Place (30th anniversary)

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of All Over the Place, the debut album from the Bangles. The album spent thirty weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 80.

For my complete review, please click here.

The Bangles - Bangles

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the debut album by the all-female rock band the Bangles. The original line-up in 1982 included Vicki Peterson (lead guitar, vocals), Susanna Hoffs (rhythm guitar, vocals), Debbi Peterson (drums, vocals) and Annette Zilinskas (bass, harmonica, backing vocals).

The five track EP titled Bangles was first released on the Faulty Products label. In 1983, I.R.S. Records re-released it. The four girls were joined by Craig Leon, who also produced the album, and Ethan James on keyboards.

The Bangles - Different Light

Happy fifty-third birthday today (January 17th) to Susanna Hoffs.

After their 1984 debut album All Over the Place (click here for my review of that one), the Bangles followed it up in January of 1986 with their second album Different Light. The record was the group’s best selling to date, having gone multi-Platinum a number of times over. It reached the number 2 spot on the US Billboard Album chart, number 2 in Australia, number 3 in the UK, number 5 in Norway and number 19 in Canada.

Cyndi Lauper - True Colors

It took almost three years for Cyndi Lauper to release her second studio album. How could she ever hope to top the runaway smash success of her debut She’s So Unusual (click here for my review of that album)?

Turns out, she had nothing to worry about. 1986’s True Colors continued her successful career quite nicely. The album went multi-platinum in the US and Canada. Chart-wise, it reached number 4 in the US, number 7 in Canada, number 2 in Japan, number 25 in the UK and number 1 in Australia. It was nominated for two Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards.

The Bangles - All Over the Place

The all-girl band that would eventually become known as the Bangles started out in Los Angeles in late 1980 when Susanna Hoffs (rhythm guitar) joined sisters Vicki (lead guitar) and Debbi Peterson (drums). In 1982, bassist Annette Zilinskas joined them and they recorded an EP.

When she left, former bassist for the Runaways, Michael Steele, joined up and the quartet of women released their first full length studio album All Over the Place in June of 1984. This first album went to number 80 on the US Billboard 200 album charts and number 86 on the UK album charts.

The Goonies (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of "Soundtrack Sunday".

It was the summer of 1985 and I was living in Dover, NJ, while working a college co-op job for an information processing company. Since I knew very few people outside of work, I spent a lot of my free time on the weekend at the movies - often seeing two to four new films each weekend. One film that came out during that time was the Goonies, an action-comedy written by Chris Columbus, directed by Richard Donner and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg.