You sing better naked.

[Jolly]

Pardon me if I've posted all this in the other thread...Senility has set in...

I've been doing a little research on The Bangles recently. For those who may not remember, they had multiple hits after forming in 1981 and practicing in Susanna Hoff's parent's garage. Walk Like an Egyptian was the number one song of 1986. But the thread title has to do with one of the better pranks in rock and roll history.

Eternal Flame was a song co-written by Hoffs after she visited Graceland in the pouring rain and saw that the eternal flame over Elvis' grave had been drowned out. The song is a love song, not a song about Elvis, but the concept of an eternal flame of love that never dies drives the song.

Going into the studio, The Bangles record producer, Davitt Siegerson, rejected the song for their new album, but could not get the tune out of his head. He eventually replaced one of the songs on the album with Eternal Flame. Having just done a record with Olivia Newton-John that had spawned several hits, he confided to Hoffs that Olivia had recorded some of the songs on the record while singing in the nude. She had told him it lent her an air of vulnerability, which showed up in her vocals.

Hoffs agreed to sing the song while nude, so dressing screens were brought into the recording studio, Hoffs disrobed and laid down the track for the song. And then they told her that the whole thing was a prank and as far as anybody knew, no major artist recorded while naked.

But...The joke turned out to be on Siegerson. Eternal Flame hit #1 in nine different countries and sold millions in 1989.

Link to video

BTW, the song led to the break-up of the band the year it was released, as it made many consider Hoffs as the band's lead, while in reality all four ladies sang lead at various times and all worked to harmonize on many songs.

The Bangles reformed in 1999 and opened at the Los Angeles House of Blues in 2000. This is that concert:

Link to video

Micheal Steele quit the band in 2007. The rest still perform when they aren't chasing children or grandchildren. Susanna Hoffs is 62. Still looks pretty good...

[George K]

What a great story. Thanks.

BTW I watched that video the other day. They were a lot better than I gave them credit for back in the day.