Wise men say, only fools fall in love, but...I'm (lucky thirteen? days) late again....
My introduction to this week's tune was when it was originally released, but it really seemed worthy of the pantheon that is Friday Night Jukebox (as if) a few years back when--you guessed it!--I found a CD of this week's group's greatest hits at our semiannual library used book sale and gave it a listen for a few months. While I had a passing interest in the group prior to my find, I came to appreciate their talent for bitchin' pop tunes a lot more after careful listening as I drove back and forth to work. Almost makes the daily grind worth the while....
The Bangles formed in Los Angeles in 1981, with its original lineup of Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson, Debbi Peterson (yes, sisters), and Annette Zilinskas. Zilinskas left in 1983 and was replaced by Michael Steele, thus forming what is considered to be their classic lineup. The band released its first album to good reviews and no sales in 1984, but their follow up made them stars. They'd release one more album before disbanding in the face of internal tensions. They would reunite in 1998 and release two more albums, and have been togethers ever since, though Steele left in 2005, and Zilinskas rejoined in 2018. For their career, the Bangles have released five albums (with one hitting the top five), one EP, ten compilations, and twenty-five singles (with two #1's and three more top five). Along with the Go-Go's, they are considered by many to have paved the way for the many all-female bands that followed them.
"Manic Monday" was the first single from their 1986 LP, the rather illuminatingly entitled Different Light. The single would reach #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as # 2 in Luxembourg (which I mention only because it's the land of my ancestors and when the hell else am I going to get to say, "So many cool kids in Luxembourg!"). The album was the highest charting of their career, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: "Manic Monday" was written by Prince, who, for some odd-ass reason, decided to use the name Christopher for the songwriting credit. Not sure it made any difference, as everyone knows he wrote it and I'm sure he got paid the many, many royalties that came with such a big hit.
Once again, while doing my half-assed research and listening again and again and again (three sounds about right), I noticed for the first time how wonderful the opening piano is for "Manic Monday" and how it sets the stage for the rest of the song (thank you Christopher!). The song is a whimsical take on the horrors of Monday after your weekend off, and getting ready for another work week. Its melody is catchy as catchy can be, the band's backing vocals are exquisite (especially the whoa-oh-ohs in the chorus), and Hoffs' vocals put the manic in their manic Monday. It's all the joy, subtext, and sex of a classic Prince song, wrapped up in a bow by a very talented group of young women who seized the moment and created a scrumptious piece of pop music pie.
Lyric Sheet: "Six o'clock already, I was just in the middle of a dream/I was kissin' Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
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