It has been said (by me) that The Eighties are an entire decade that could be completely eradicated with almost no loss to the English speaking culture and we should only be so lucky. This Bangles record from 1986 doesn’t exactly make me change my mind about that, but I have been enjoying it to a surprising (to me) degree, as uneven as it is. Even more shocking is the cover and back cover, comprised of approximately 32 headshot photos of the band members, and any one of them taken by itself screams NINETEEN EIGHTIES! Taken all together, this hair parade is an awe-inspiring spectacle and expression of a collective, aesthetic insanity. But enough about the hair already!
This album has the distinction of containing one of the worst and unlistenable songs of all time, “Walk Like an Egyptian,” which happens to be written by Liam Sternberg, who wrote some pretty good songs for Rachel Sweet, so it’s hard to say how he came up with such a perfect song for selling cheap, shitty products to stupid people. I suppose the band should take equal blame, but then they are perfectly capable of performing a really good song like “September Gurls”—by Alex Chilton—nearly as compellingly as Alex Chilton. “Manic Monday” is the next worst song on this record, which is also surprising as it is written by a pretty excellent songwriter, The Artist Formerly Known as “Christopher.” The rest of the album is pretty okay to listen to, and the best songs are the ones by the members of the band. But those weren’t the hits, and what else is new?
I’m really glad you’re writing reviews again, and I’m curious what you’ll have to say about that AWB album because I didn’t know anything they did was ever any good at all..
I don’t have this Bangles album, but I do have the Walk Like an Egyptian 12″ single, because I always thought it was a cool and funny song, and always have to smile whenever I hear it. I never was big enough of a fan of this band to buy any of their albums though, and I always hated Manic Monday, but just something about WLaE I always liked. Even the video I thought was funny!
It’s hard to say what I dislike about “Walk Like an Egyptian” so much. I think it’s mostly the perkiness of it, and that “Oh WAY Oh” part of the lyrics. One interesting thing I did see on the wiki-pedia is that it was “deemed inappropriate” by CLEAR CHANNEL after 9/11, due to the “Egypt” reference. Not that any amount of stupidity when it comes to Clear Channel could possibly surprise me, but that’s not even funny. Don’t get me started on Clear Channel. Or radio. Or 9/11. Or stupidity.
Is there any connection between the L.A. Bangles and the Cincinnati Bengals? Just wondering. Thanx!
Our cheerleaders are called “the Ben-Gals”.
Our cheerleaders are called “the Ben-Gals”. Please feel free to delete my NFL nonsense.
“We Dig Repetition”, obviously.
Boomer Esiason was one of the founding members of The Bangles, I believe. Another interesting fact: Michael Steele, the bass player, was considered as a running mate by John McCain (before he decided to go the peckerwood route).