Editing The Bangles (section)

===Formation and early years (1981–1983)===
[[File:The Bangles - Los Angeles Times (1982).jpg|thumb|The Bangles in 1982]]
Susanna Hoffs and sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson had each been in bands before coming together in Los Angeles, California, in December 1980. The impetus was two classified advertisements in the weekly paper ''The Recycler''. One had been placed by Hoffs, and the only person to respond was Annette Zilinskas, and the other was by Lynn Elkind, the Petersons' housemate and a departing member of their then band Those Girls. When Hoffs called in response to Elkind's ad, Vicki Peterson answered the phone, and in their conversation, they discovered a great deal of common interests.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sobczak |first=Gene |date=November 1984 |title=Bangles |pages=12 |work=Hard Times |url=https://archive.org/details/HardTimesNumber4MaywoodNj/page/n11/mode/1up |access-date=May 11, 2014}}</ref>

When Hoffs spoke to Elkind after Peterson gave her the message, Hoffs and Elkind did not have the same common interests and Hoffs then formed a new band with the Petersons. The Those Girls bass guitarist, Vicki Peterson's lifelong best friend Amanda Hills, had also left the band (now a history professor, Amanda Hills Podany has performed as a guest with the Bangles on a few rare occasions)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jan-02-tm-bangles01-story.html|title=Rock Like a Historian|date=January 2, 2005|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re-GfMvJmLY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Re-GfMvJmLY| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=The Bangles – He's Got a Secret – Whisky December 8, 2016|date=December 9, 2016 |publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://rockintheoc.com/2018/07/02/the-bangles-at-arroyo-seco-weekend/|title=The Bangles at Arroyo Seco Weekend|website=Rockintheoc.com|date=July 2, 2018 }}</ref> and this left an opening for Zilinskas. When Annette Zilinskas responded to the ad in ''The Recycler'', Hoffs told Zilinskas that the band was looking for a bass player and asked if she would be interested. Zilinskas accepted and the lineup was set.  The resulting (and also current as of 2018) lineup first performed as the Colours in 1981.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@rachel_macari/theres-more-than-meets-the-eye-to-the-bangles-9bfdb968ec2e|title=There's More Than Meets The Eye to The Bangles and You Should Know Why|first=Rachel|last=Macari|date=August 13, 2019|website=Medium.com}}</ref>

Shortly afterward, the group renamed themselves '''the Bangs'''. The band was part of the Los Angeles [[Paisley Underground]] scene, which featured groups that played a mixture of 1960s-influenced rock.<ref name="story">{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/19990220144013/http://www.seds.org/~michaelk/Bangles.html | archive-date=February 20, 1999| url = http://www.seds.org/~michaelk/Bangles.html | title = The Story of The Bangles | access-date =August 11, 2010 }}</ref> In 1981, Hoffs and the Petersons recorded and released a single ("[[Getting Out of Hand]]" with "Call on Me" on the B side) on DownKiddie Records (their own label). The Bangs were signed to Faulty Products, a label formed by [[Miles Copeland III|Miles Copeland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bangles |url=https://ramentertainment.com/bangles |website=RAM Entertainment |access-date=December 23, 2021 |date=August 26, 2013}}</ref>

The early Bangles lineup of Susanna Hoffs (vocals/guitars), Vicki Peterson (guitars/vocals), Debbi Peterson (vocals/drums) and [[Annette Zilinskas]] (vocals/bass) recorded an [[Bangles (EP)|EP in 1982]] and released the single "The Real World".  For the release of the EP, they played in the Lhasa club in Hollywood.  At the last minute, they discovered another band had registered the Bangs name and would not let them use it without payment.<ref>{{cite web |last1=DeYoung |first1=Bill |title=Meet The Bangles |url=http://www.billdeyoung.com/music-archives/meet-the-bangles/ |access-date=December 23, 2021 |date=April 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401223023/http://www.billdeyoung.com/music-archives/meet-the-bangles/ |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the meantime, Hoffs and Vicki Peterson appeared on a 1983 album [[Rainy Day (band)|Rainy Day]] (also the name of the group) which also featured members of [[Rain Parade]], [[the Dream Syndicate]] and [[the Three O'Clock]]. The album was released in 1984 on Llama Records (E1024), and featured Hoffs on lead vocals on cover versions of [[Bob Dylan]]'s "[[I'll Keep It with Mine]]" and [[Lou Reed]]'s "[[I'll Be Your Mirror]]". 

Their first EP was retitled ''Bangles'' and released. In 1983, Faulty Products issued a 12-inch "remix" single of "The Real World" to radio and media, but another setback came as the label folded. [[I.R.S. Records]] picked up distribution and reissued the EP. After Zilinskas left the band to focus on her own project [[Blood on the Saddle]], she was replaced by [[Michael Steele (musician)|Michael Steele]], formerly of the all-female band [[the Runaways]], Toni & the Movers, [[Slow Children]] and [[Elton Duck]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=DeYoung |first1=Bill |title=The Bangles: California Dreamin' |url=http://www.billdeyoung.com/bangles.htm |access-date=December 23, 2021 |date=August 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822031919/http://www.billdeyoung.com/bangles.htm |archive-date=August 22, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About chart-topping band The Bangles |url=http://www.thebangles.com/about_thebangles.html |website=THE BANGLES |access-date=December 23, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>