You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Being A Bangles Fan
As The Bangles continue to neglect their crumbling legacy, what is left for fans?
Being a Bangles fan is hard. While 1980s music is established across the colourful landscape of remastered reissues with delightful extras, everything from carefully constructed sleeve notes to glossy paged boxsets, the same cannot be said about The Bangles.
The Bangles, the only all-female band ever to have held #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, have never remastered and reissued the entirety of their discography. The closest the band has reached to a remastered reissue was the 2014 release Ladies And Gentlemen… The Bangles; which was issued initially as a digital release — lasting for two years — before it eventually made the leap onto vinyl and CD. The release was not comprehensive but was treated as such as it finally issued the band’s debut 45 from 1981 (this, in fact, was not the first time the debut tracks from the 45 had been issued in the modern era, being re-released on a DVD that accompanied the band’s 2003 reunion album Doll Revolution) amongst other recordings.
Ladies And Gentlemen… The Bangles also saw the inclusion of the band’s EP from January 1983, issued for the first time since the 1980s. The release also included a select amount of demos, with no discerning critic’s liner notes, concrete recording dates or studio information, and two random live tracks (one labelled with the incorrect recording date). The lack of care given to the band’s discography is equally frustrating as it is sad. It cannot be understated the negative imprint this leaves on the band’s existence and critical reception. Not only is it a tidal wave of erasure, it makes zero sense.
The band’s critical reception is not the only factor in the crosshairs of this serious misstep. The lack of care offered to the band’s music also casts a long shadow over fans and collectors who obtain rarities relating to the band. This negative cycle plays into people who judge these rarities — often tapes, recordings and films — to be ‘worthless’ with the offered excuse that the ‘market is not there’. This cycle would not happen if the band’s musical legacy had been nurtured instead of the way it has been left to wither and recede. There is no excuse for the lack of remastered reissues, nor are there any excuses for the band’s refusal to release a handful of soundboard recordings spread out across various eras because they, alongside many other demos and recordings, exist.
Another reason why fans who obtain recordings are so reluctant to share them is that the band and its management hold an obtuse regard to unreleased films and recordings. This wouldn’t be much of an issue if they were to spend time issuing the material fans long to see but they hold no intention in doing so, so complaints in regards to the “money fans are making” are not credible (it’s very difficult to believe that anyone is making any money from bootlegs related to The Bangles). The other factor which makes this attitude even more prickly is the realisation that the recordings in question are 31+ years old (in most cases even older) that to quash these attempts just reads as out of touch. The belief that there is a market for selling Bangles bootlegs may have been acceptable decades ago but not now; not when bigger and much more influential artists embrace their fan found rarities with open arms, acknowledging and grateful to their fans for caring and continuing to show an interest in their music.
It isn’t like these rarities and footage are in high-quality mediums so both audio and visual levels are reduced, aging as they are, that to come down so tough on them reads as extreme and unnecessary. The band’s knee jerk reaction transcends an era that no longer exists so to continue to adhere to it remains even more perplexing. Even worse, the band’s Official Facebook page has now started blocking fans who leave constructive comments wishing they would take positive action in regards to the band’s legacy. This action reads like a toxic form of censorship considering the handful of much more severe, abusive and inappropriate comments that arrive in the comments section that are mostly ignored. Susanna Hoffs is often in receipt of Anti-Semitic abuse across the band’s YouTube videos and across social media, also suffering a handful of nasty comments during the 2019 release of her husband Jay Roach’s film Bombshell. Are these the type of fans the band wishes to nurture and encourage? It’s incredibly sad and frankly shocking that they would willingly alienate fans who see the band as much more than the top ten hits, much more than one member just to play into a certain demographic. Why anyone would follow the band’s Facebook or Twitter pages — the band’s main sources on social media — baffles me as the content and structure of the pages are so mind-numbingly cringeworthy. Still, it is disgraceful that constructive, valid fan criticism can be silenced in such a way yet crystal clear nastiness, creepiness and abuse goes unmoderated.
Like the band’s mismanagement of fans, they too have their own issues. I am continually surprised by how selfish Bangles fans can be. Being witness to countless so-called “fans” who brag about the tapes they have, the cassettes of recordings they have tucked away at the bottom of closets and in storage boxes; the ones they will never share, has made me adeptly aware at how egotistical they are. This wouldn’t be so bad if these types of fans weren’t so insolent about it, so unpleasant, and if there was an option that meant that these rare recordings — often featuring previously unheard songs — were widely available. Why do so many cling to their tape recordings with such unshakeable depths? At root, it is selfishness. The ‘exclusive’ of the recordings so tantalising and important to them that the tapes will never be played outside of their own homes. The tapes in question are 35+ years old now, sound quality deteriorating daily, which makes their attitude all the more pointless.
On the other end of the fan spectrum, you have further selfish fans who weaponise their frustration at other selfish fans as they use their annoyance at the lack of fan to fan media finds/posts to push them to the same extremes. They do not share material they have because others do not share the material they have. A petty trade-off that is of no benefit. Nothing would be accomplished if we were all to take this narrow minded, lazily spiteful approach but it still continues to happen.
The selfishness displayed by fans has and will always perplex me. To begin with, the demand for Bangles material is at all time low, thanks in part to the band’s frivolous, near non-existent attitude towards their discography and musical legacy. This self-sabotage has damaged the band’s critical reception in Rock to an unfixable extent, not that this appears to provoke any reaction from the band. It has become increasingly hard for me to believe that The Bangles care for their music and legacy in any form, seemingly reinforced by their lack of (re)action to anything that concerns the band or music especially when it is traversed in a negative light.
A key example of this arrived in July 2020 when Gina Schock, drummer of The Go-Go’s, claimed in an interview with IndieWire, that The Bangles did not write most of their own songs. This statement received no push back from the interviewer and was published as fact into the accompanying article. The Bangles, for the record, wrote, produced and released their debut 45 in 1981 before going on to write four out of the five songs on their debut EP released in January 1983 and nine out of the eleven tracks on their first album, 1984’s All Over The Place on Columbia Records (nine out of twelve if you include the b-side cover of the Grassroots’ ‘Where Were You When I Needed You?’) in 1984. Not to mention their multiple, self-released fanclub tapes, radio commercials and compilation appearances in and around this time. The first song the band ever co-wrote for a film soundtrack, ‘I Got Nothing’, was released in 1985 for The Goonies, before they followed up the soundtrack contribution with their second studio album, Different Light, in January 1986. More than half of the songs on their sophomore album were written by one or more band members; a fact that is often omitted by critics, who are normally too blinkered by an artist whose name begins with the letter ‘P’.
The band’s follow up album Everything — released after the 1987 Less Than Zero soundtrack contribution of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Hazy Shade Of Winter’ — consisted of tracks written by at least one band member (b-sides included). 1999’s first reunion track, ‘Get The Girl’ was also band written, as was fourteen out of fifteen songs on 2003’s Doll Revolution. The band recorded a Beatles cover in 2006 as well as a band-penned track entitled ‘Light My Way’. The band followed this up by recording a Lowen/Navarro cover in 2009 before releasing their most current full studio album in 2011, of which ten of twelve tracks were member written. These are only the officially released songs that we know of, considering that the band’s earliest recordings — such as those featured in The Haircut and the majority of studio demos/outtakes — remain unreleased.
With all this in mind, The Bangles wrote well over 80% of their material, countering Schock’s claim that the band did not write the majority of their own songs. It is continually frustrating to see The Go-Go’s use their large platform to peddle old, tiresome and inaccurate impressions of The Bangles. The quick sidestep of facts should have been followed up by some kind of reaction but a tumbleweed, as per the norm, passed by in Bangles HQ (Vicki Peterson lavished praise on The Go-Go’s in the following days).
There has to be a point when a band stops being on the receiving end of targeted pot shots and misinformation and stands up for itself. The silence on the band’s end signals validation of these falsities which might make them even worse. Schock’s claims reinforce the old stigma against The Bangles using outside songwriters but what most don’t realise is that the band did not outright go and hire songwriters to work with; the outside songwriting they partook in was an outgrowth of their own personal relationships and dynamics that its members had with others. Strangely enough, the same can be said of The Go-Go’s.
Comparing The Bangles to The Go-Go’s is unfair as the comparison does not respect the differing experiences both bands had in the studio. While the latter was in receipt of an encouraging, sympathetic producer in Richard Gottehrer, The Bangles were burned by two-time producer David Kahne during their first and sophomore albums (with derisive tactics that resulted, amongst other things, with members of the band throwing up during sessions). It is clear that this experience changed the band’s dynamic and relationships forever with cracks remaining to this day.
With all this in mind, this tenuous attitude is just another contributing factor as to why many view tape and film recordings of the Bangles as ‘worthless’. The band, in my opinion, have no concept of how badly their lack of care contributes to damaging aspects of their legacy. Is this deliberate sabotage? It certainly feels that way.
At the same time as the band do the bare minimum with releases, they too partake in their own versions of taking advantage of fans. For example, the band’s official site was previously selling damaged copies of Ladies And Gentlemen… The Bangles for an astounding $60, and has since upped this figure to $70. Is there anything more egregious than selling damaged records for $70? A self-proclaimed “Super Fan Bundle” will now also set you back $1500. Is this simply a reflection on how out of touch the band are?
The 2020 Black Friday Record Store Day release of Doll Revolution also retailed at an inflated price; of almost $65/£50, with autographed copies of the album now being listed on the band’s official store for a whopping $150.
This wouldn’t be quite so bad if the release was worthy of the price but it is a standard release double-album (the only ‘exclusive’ being on a limited colour-run) and it remains unclear if it is remastered. This is laughable when compared to other artists. For example, Tom Petty’s estate issued Wildflowers & All The Rest for just $40/£31 in 2020; a release which included three remastered LPs on 140g vinyl which included a handful of tracks which were previously unreleased as well as including digital downloads. The difference in price and quality between releases is astounding and speaks volumes about the contrast in fan treatment. Where one does the bare minimum yet still places a top end price sticker, the other genuinely believes in the music, believes in the care of production and extras; enough to avoid exploiting the wallets of fans and instead rewards them.
Sadly, this treatment has just become the norm for Bangles fans. Asking for better treatment from the band in terms of releases should not be frowned upon when it is more than justified. Few bands have failed, and continue to fail, in remastering and expanding upon their discography. The poor attitude The Bangles hold towards both their music and history remains frustrating as much as it is baffling. The combination of laziness and (apparently willful) neglect has sadly grown to be an encompassing factor of the band.
There are a number of underlying issues, only added to by a certain type of “fan”. It is not an exaggeration to say that a lot of fans like myself feel alienated by most of the fan base, the type who obsess over decades old photo shoots like they were taken yesterday or worse, the stalker types who treat the band members like pieces of chattel. I have been in a lot of musical fan bases and I have never seen such poor treatment of an artist as that I see with The Bangles. This is not an exaggeration.
An even more frustrating aspect to this is that the band and its poorly maintained social media pages play into this crowd, almost dumbing down the band for their own consumption. With this in mind, it’s refreshing to imagine an alternative where the official social media pages did more than just craft cringeworthy posts and captions, ones that played on the intelligence and integrity of the band it is supposed to represent. This is just another aspect where The Bangles fail.
As misinformation and inaccuracies are left to colour the legacy of The Bangles, with no push back from anywhere, is it really much of a surprise that people — not just critics — don’t value their music? It’s disappointing because there is so much to suggest that this is true. How many have stumbled across obscure recordings of the band, taped on old TDK’s, and cast them to the side because they deemed them worthless? How much music has been lost because of this misguided belief?
If you have Bangles rarities in your possession — recordings, films, footage, anything unseen — you must get it out there. I would love to help preserve and remaster the band’s rich, extensive archive in any way possible so please follow the contact links on my site if you have material and would like to help me. My site continues to detail the band in a way that I think they most deserve. It’s about the music, equally about the individual members and no one else. As it should be. It hasn’t been as active lately because of personal reasons but there are lots of rarities on the way…
About the Author
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