It may be hard to believe now, but there was a time when the Bangles made brilliantly catchy three-minute jangly pop tunes that were adored by people who listened to "new wave", college radio, underground music or whatever it was called back then.
Although their slide into shitsville is often blamed on Susanna Hoffs becoming the centre of attention to the exclusion of the contributions made by everyone else in the band, I have to say that nearly every single one of my favourite songs on their first few releases, apart from the covers, was hers. She may have been the male fans' favourite Bangle for other reasons but she was also their best songwriter in those early years. Having said that, she did go on to co-write the atrocious "Eternal Flame", which is more than enough to earn her the opprobrium that was unfairly heaped on her in other respects.
Anyway, here's a little slice of the pop perfection that was their first full-length album, All Over the Place, from 1984. The clips that appear on this video, incidentally, were from an old American MTV show which somebody really needs to make available again.
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