Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Manic Monday (1985)
Not to venture into Garfield territory, but Mondays tend to suck. Prince knew what was up when he wrote "Manic Monday."
He wrote it in 1984 for Apollonia 6 as a duet between him and Apollonia, but at the last minute the song was removed from the album. Instead, after hearing the Bangles' first album, Prince gave the song to the band and they worked up a version that landed on their 1985 album Different Light.
The Bangles formed in Los Angeles in 1981 when Susanna Hoffs (vocals, guitars) teamed up with Vicki Peterson (guitar, vocals) and Debbi Peterson (drums, vocals) and bassist Annette Zilinskas. Originally called the Colours, the band changed their name to the Bangs. They were part of the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene, playing 1960s-influenced rock. After recording an EP, they discovered another band had the same name, so they renamed themselves the Bangles. Zilinskas left to focus on her own band was replaced by Michael Steele, who had played in the Runaways as Micki Steele.
The Bangles got some notice with their 1984 debut album All Over the Place, which featured "Going Down to Liverpool" and "Hero Takes a Fall." Prince was one of those who noticed.
Credited to a Prince pseudonym "Christopher," "Manic Monday" was written from the point of view of a woman who is getting up to go to work on Monday but wishing it was Sunday.
"Six o'clock already, I was just in the middle of a dream/I was kissing Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream/But I can't be late, 'cause then I guess I just won't get paid/These are the days when you wish your bed was already made/It's just another manic Monday/Wish it were Sunday/That's my fun day/My I-don't-have-to-run day/It's just another manic Monday."
The single was released just before Christmas in 1985 and got all the way to #2 in April 1986, kept out of the top spot by Prince of all people with "Kiss."
"Of all my nights, why did my lover have to pick/Last night to get down?/Doesn't it matter that I have to feed the both of us?/Employment's down/He tells me in his bedroom voice/'C'mon honey, let's go make some noise'/Time, it goes so fast (when you're having fun)/It's just another manic Monday."
As the first single off Different Light, "Manic Monday" got things off to a successful start for the Bangles. The next single, "If She Knew What She Wants" went top 40, followed by the chart-topping "Walk Like an Egyptian." A fourth single, "Walking Down Your Street," went to #11 on the Hot 100. The album went to #2 on the Billboard 200.
The photogenic Hoffs became a sex symbol thanks to the band's videos, especially "Walk Like an Egyptian," but the Bangles had chops to spare. All four were excellent singers and musicians and were much more than just MTV eye candy.
The Bangles kept their hot streak going with their cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade of Winter," off the soundtrack of the movie Less Than Zero; the song went to #2 and was much more successful than the film.
The band had similar success with their third album, 1988's Everything, which had a top 5 hit with "In Your Room" and a number one single in "Eternal Flame." However, the band split up a year later, reportedly after tensions arose within the group because Hoffs was getting increased attention as the group's lead singer, when in reality all four members wrote and sang their own songs.
The Bangles reformed in 1998 to record a song for the soundtrack of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, which was directed by Hoffs' husband, Jay Roach. The band toured in 2000 and released an album in 2003, Doll Revolution. Steele left the band in 2005 after disputes over touring and recording; she was replaced on tour by Abby Travis. Hoffs and the Peterson sisters released another album, Sweetheart of the Sun, in 2011. Zilinskas started playing select shows with the Bangles in 2014 and rejoined the band in 2018.
As for "Manic Monday," a version of the song recorded by Prince was released posthumously on the 2019 compilation Originals.
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