Gemini Rising

Oh the Drama...and some more Bangles

Well, I spotted a rash on Andrew's knees. Sigh.... last Thursday at Kindercare, they had an outbreak of Chicken Pox. He's had a shot, but still, I realize he could come down with a mild case of it. I called the Peditrican who said "Well, it hasn't been 2 weeks for the incubation period. He probably has a rash." I asked if it was okay to send him back to DC and they said "yes." I kept him home yesterday and all day I heard: "Can I go to school, Mommy?" Sigh...

The rash hasn't spread, there's no fever, and I know he really wants to go to DC so I took him today. I have today and Brent and I are going to Babies R Us to finish getting some stuff for the Nursery. The crib is good to go but we need just a couple of stuff to polish it off. The car seat and extra base are hooked up to the cars. Haha. Just waiting on Baby...

THE BANGLES

I just wanted to finish my little "essay" about the Bangles. Now, aside from the fact I think they are a great vocal group. (They've been elected into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame) The Bangles really got started around 1981 when Susanna Hoffs answered an ad in a newspaper that Debbie & Viki were looking for someone who could play guitar. (Debbie & Viki are sisters. Debbie plays the drums, Viki guitar) At the time, Annette Ziaklious (sp?) was bass player. They put a mini cassette simply called "THE BANGLES."

Very raw but full of potential. My favorite song from that EP is "HOW IS THE AIR UP THERE?" hahaha. It's about people who are just flightly.

Well, after that, Annette left and Debbie, Viki & Susanna were on the hunt for another bass player. Michael Steele was just finishing up with the Runaways (i.e., Joan Jett and Lita Ford's bands) and the Bangles asked Michael if she wanted to play with them. Michael said 'yes' and the Bangles put together 'ALL OVER THE PLACE." No big hits came off this LP but it got them recongizied. One of th songs from the LP, "GOING DOWN TO LIVERPOOL" (Debbie sings lead vocals) has Leonard Nimoy in it's video. He plays a limo driver to the girls.

Supposidely this LP caught the attention of Prince and he wrote "Manic Monday" for Susanna to sing because he had the hots for Susanna. Susanna and the Bangles down play this. "Prince just wrote us a song," they say - but Manic Monday got them on the charts and WALK LIKE EGYPTIAN cemented their place as a Top 40 band.

The girls have a very fair sense of each other so when attention really started to shine on Susanna it pretty much drove a wedge between them. They were young, mid-20's and trying to deal with the mega success EGYPTIAN brought them.

IN 1988 they released EVERYTHING. "Eternal Flame" was another #1 hit for them. My favorite songs off the album are all Viki songs haha - including MAKE A PLAY FOR HER NOW.

In 1989 I saw them play at the NY State Fair in Syracuse but shortly after that they broke up.

Susanna married a director (can't remember his name) They have a couple of boys and she had a bit part in AUSTIN POWERS.

Debbie got married & had kids.

Michael went to Northern California and hung out.

Viki...well...I think Viki hung out in LA. She had a couple of projects with Charlotte Caffey from the Go-Go's, but nothing worked out.

In 2000 something they got together for a benefit, had a blast and decided to hang out and make music. DOLL REVOLUTION was released in 2003 and it is the MOST mature and fun effort by the Bangles to date. Michael left to go back to Northern Calif in early 2005 but the Bangles are still rocking, doing gigs in small venues and enjoying themselves. You can catch up to date with them on their official Website.

Next in my musical series: P!NK