Bangles – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Bangles – Dover Beach ….Power Pop Friday

I love the guitars in this song. Great hooks all the way around. This song was not released as a single…I would have bought it.

This song was on their debut album All Over The Place. It was written by Hoffs and Peterson. The song has no mention of Dover in the lyric…the title comes from the poem Dover Beach, published by the Englishman Matthew Arnold in 1867. The beach in question is the one at the bottom of the white cliffs in Dover, England, as in the 1940 song “The White Cliffs Of Dover.”

When they released this song they were part of the Paisley Underground scene… a Los Angeles scene with bands like Rain Parade, The Dream Syndicate, Green On Red, and others. The Bangles were undoubtedly the most successful band to come out of that group of bands.

Their album All Over The Place was released in 1984. It didn’t have a hit single and the album only peaked at #80 on the Billboard 100, #32 in New Zealand, and #86 in the UK. However…the album sold respectively and stayed on the charts for 30 weeks and that set their next album up.

Their next album Different Light shot them to stardom with the hits Manic Monday, Walk Like An Egyptian and my favorite song by them… If She Knew What She Wants. They made just one more album called Everything before breaking up in 1989. It had the hits In Your Room and Eternal Flame.

Dover Beach, although not a single, remains on their current setlist.

Vickie Peterson: “Susanna and I were slightly geekish about opening the Norton Anthology of English Literature, flipping through that and going, ‘Hey, this is a great line.’ She had come across the Matthew Arnold poem Dover Beach at some point and that inspired that song, that idea of applying the fantasy of escape and the reality of what that would really mean. It was a really fun time to just mine the world for ideas.”

Dover Beach

If I had the time
I would run away with you
To a perfect world
We’d suspend all that is duty or required.

Late last night you cried
And I couldn’t come to you
But on the other side
You and I, inseparable and walking.

Yeah, oh woe.

If we could steal away
Like jugglers and thieves
But we could come and go
Oh, and talk of Michaelangelo.

Oh woe.

If we had the time (we had the time)
We had the time.

The day you looked at me
And it was on your mind
The world is no one’s dream
We will never ever find the time.

Oh woe.

If we had the time
I would run away with you
To a perfect world
(To a perfect world).

…

Bangles (The Bangs) – Getting Out Of Hand

The Bangles were The Bangs at first, and their line-up consisted of Susanna Hoffs, Debbi Peterson, and Vicki Peterson. The group was part of the Paisley Underground movement, a musical scene based around Los Angeles in which groups mixed 1960s-inspired pop with garage rock. They produced the song themselves and Vicki Peterson wrote the song.

The Bangs released Getting Out Of Hand on their own label DownKiddie Records and distributed it locally around Los Angeles in 1981. They renamed themselves The Bangles because a band in New Jersey was already called The Bangs and threatened to sue. The B side was written by Hoffs called Call On Me.

The songs didn’t chart but they drew the attention of Miles Copeland, who signed the band to his label Faulty Products. They would then release the 1982 EP called The Bangles which contained the song The Real World.

Faulty Products issued a 12-inch “remix” single of The Real World to radio and media, but a setback came as the label folded. I.R.S. Records picked up distribution and reissued the EP. Michael Steele soon joined the band at this time.

The Bangles were a breath of fresh air in the mid-eighties. The band played sixties-inspired rock with Byrd’s chiming guitars. I’ve said it before…and I’ll say it again. The lead singer on this song, Susanna Hoffs, caught my eye right away. Yes for the normal ways but also for the fact she was playing a Rickenbacker guitar…what more could I want? Game over…life complete.

Getting Out Of Hand

A friend told me yesterday
You’ve been lookin’ for me
If I’ve been stayin’ out of your way
I’ve done it intentionally

Saw you walking with her (walkin’ with her)
Always kept that few steps behind, yeah
Wonder if she knows for sure (she knows for sure)
Her man’s goin’on walking the line

Then I say to myself ‘beware’
It’s getting out of hand (out of hand)
It’s getting out of hand (don’t look now)
If he’s lovin’ you, he’s not being true
He’s got another woman, yeah

Look me right in the eye
Tell me I’m the one that you love
Right back into your lies
Forgetting how determined I was

Then I say to myself ‘beware’
It’s getting out of hand (out of hand)
It’s getting out of hand (don’t look now)
If he’s lovin’ you, he’s not being true
He’s got another woman, yeah

A friend told me yesterday, hey

Merry Go Round – Live

This song was written by one of my favorite power pop artists… Emitt Rhoads. It’s some mid-sixties bliss. The song is catchy and will stick with you.

In 1967 this pop band called The Merry-Go-Round was formed in Los Angeles. It featured singer-songwriter Emitt Rhodes, drummer Joel Larson, lead guitarist Gary Kato, and Bill Rinehart on bass. The band released just one album in the spring of ’67 called The Merry-Go-Round. This song was their debut release. Rhodes disbanded The Merry-Go-Round in 1969 and began working on solo material.

Emitt Rhodes’s first album was self-titled called Rhodes. Billboard magazine called him “one of the finest artists on the music scene today” and later called his first album one of the “best albums of the decade.” Emitt Rhodes reached #29 on the Billboard 200 Album charts. A single called “Fresh as a Daisy” climbed to #54 on the Billboard Hot 100.

After several more album releases, Rhodes became a recording engineer and record producer for Electra Records. Emitt Rhodes died in his sleep at the age of 70 in Hawthorne, California, in July 2020.

The Bangles recorded this song for their debut album All Over the Place in 1984.

Live

Oh you’re the kind of girl who’s got theirself wound up in a ball
Oh – you think you live – but how can ya
Locked up in four walls

If you gotta go you better live your life before you pass away
Don’t waste a day
All your life’s been spent locked in your room
You never had a chance to roam – away from home

So – You’re gonna go – Go today – Don’t waste any time
For in life a day – Is worth a million – Soon you will find

If you gotta go you better live your life before you pass away
Don’t waste a day
All your life’s been spent locked in your room
You never had a chance to roam – away from home

Live Live Live Live
Live Live Live Live

Now – Do what you want – Go where you want
It’s all up to you
For in life the rule – Is just to do
What you want to do

If you gotta go you better live your life before you pass away
Don’t waste a day
All your life’s been spent locked in your room
You never had a chance to roam – away from home

If – You don’t know now – What life’s about
Go on now and live
And if – You don’t know how – It’s not so hard
Just let go and live

If you gotta go you better live your life before you pass away
Don’t waste a day
All your life’s been spent locked in your room
You never had a chance to roam – away from home

Live Live Live Live

Bangles – The Real World

I’ve been posting bands that were in the Paisley Underground scene back in the 80s. This one is probably the most well known. Over the last few months I’ve become a fan of this 80s movement. For me…a better alternative to the top 40 at the time. I want to thank Dave at A Sound Day for introducing me to the song! They were called The Bangs before they released this song.

The Bangles were a breath of fresh air in the mid-eighties. The band played sixties inspired rock with Byrd’s chiming guitars. The lead singer, Susanna Hoffs, caught my eye right away. Yes for the normal ways but also for the fact she was playing a Rickenbacker guitar…what more could I want?

“Paisley Underground” was a moniker that helped music journalists describe their sound, which didn’t fit the New Wave or Rock. This song is an example of the genre, with a jangly guitar and ’60s-style reverb reminiscent of The Byrds or early Beatles. Other bands that fit this mode were The Rain Parade, The Dream Syndicate, and Rainy Day.

The scene also had a bit of early alt country rock (The Long Ryders and Green On Red) made more popular in the 90s.

The Real World was a song on the self titled EP the band released after signing with Miles Copeland’s I.R.S. Records. The EP wasn’t too successful but it did help get the band signed to the major label Columbia Records, which issued their first album called All Over The Place in 1984.

Guitarists Susanna Hoffs and Vicki Peterson wrote this song. This is one of the few Bangles tracks bassist Annette Zilinskas played on; she left the group soon after, replaced by Michael Steele. The song was released on the small label Faulty Products.

Rain Parade covered this on a 2018 compilation called 3 x 4, where four Paisley Underground groups…Rain Parade, Bangles, The Dream Syndicate and The Three O’Clock – cover each others’ songs.

The Real World

Forgot to tell you
Sins are very hard to say
And you know that the words are there, my love
When I first saw you
I didn’t notice it that day
Now you’re the one I’m thinking of.

[Chorus:]
Oh, you never bring me down
Make me sad, it’s such a change, oh yeah (oh yeah)
If I was insecure
That was yesterday and now I’m sure
Oh, so sure (oh so sure, so sure).

When I was a little girl
I wanted everything ideal
Yeah, and a love I could depend on
This is the real world
And I believe our love is real
And it’s the only thing I’m counting on.

[Chorus]
Oh, you never bring me down
Make me sad, it’s such a change, oh yeah (oh yeah)
If I was insecure
That was yesterday and now I’m sure
Oh, so sure.

[Chorus]
Oh, you never bring me down
Make me sad, it’s such a change, oh yeah (oh yeah)
If I was insecure
That was yesterday and now I’m sure
Oh, so sure, oh.

This is the real world
I really want to be your girl
This is the real world (real world)
I really want to be your girl
This is the real world (real world)
I really want to be your girl.

The Bangles – If She Knew What She Wants

When I heard this song and saw the video I knew I liked this band. I like the call and answer vocal arrangement and the jangly guitar. This song came out right after the massive hit Manic Monday but I always favored this one.

It peaked at #26 on the Billboard 100 in 1986 and #31 in the UK.

If She Knew What She Wants

If she knew what she wants
(He’d be giving it to her)
If she knew what she needs
(He could give her that too)
If she knew what she wants
(But he can’t see through her)
If she knew what she wants
He’d be giving it to her
Giving it to her

But she wants everything
(He can pretend to give her everything)
Or there’s nothing she wants
(She don’t want to sort it out)
He’s crazy for this girl
(But she don’t know what she’s looking for)
If she knew what she wants
He’d be giving it to her
Giving it to her

I’d say her values are corrupted
But she’s open to change
Then one day she’s satisfied
And the next I’ll find her crying
And it’s nothing she can explain

Some have a style
That they work hard to refine
So they walk a crooked line
But she won’t understand
Why anyone would have to try
To walk a line when they could fly

No sense thinking I could rehabilitate her
When she’s fine, fine, fine
She’s got so many ideas traveling around in her head
She doesn’t need nothing from mine