‘Hazy Shade Of Winter’ – by the Bangles – Classic Hit or Miss

Let's jet back to the 1980's for today's classic hit or miss!

Susanna Hoffs joined sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson to form a band in Los Angeles in December, 1980. The trio briefly called themselves The Colours, then renamed themselves The Supersonic Bangs, and shortly afterwards The Bangs.

The band was part of the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene, which featured groups that played a mixture of 1960s-influenced folk-rock and jangle pop with a more modern punk–ish/garage band undertone.[1] In 1981, the threesome recorded and released a single ("Getting Out Of Hand" b/w "Call on Me") on DownKiddie Records (their own label). In 1982, Susanna Hoffs asked long time friend Patrick Hirtz to manage the new band until his departure in 1986 to pursue a career in the culinary arts. The trio was signed to Faulty Products, a label formed by Miles Copeland.

The early Bangles line-up of Susanna Hoffs (vocals/guitars), Vicki Peterson (guitars/vocals), Debbi Peterson (vocals/drums) and Annette Zilinskas (vocals/bass) recorded an EP in 1982, and released the single "The Real World". A legal issue forced the band to change their name at the last minute so they dropped "The" and added the letters "les" to the end to become Bangles. 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 re-issued the EP. After Zilinskas left the band to focus on her own project Blood on the Saddle, she was replaced by Michael Steele.

The band would go on to have several hits in the 1980's, and continues to tour.

"Hazy Shade of Winter" was a hit back in '87, how about today?