Debbi Peterson of The Bangles
Debbi Peterson co-founded the Bangles alongside her sister Vicki Peterson and Susanna Hoffs in the early 80's. The band was part of the
Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene, featuring groups that played a mix of 1960's-influenced folk rock and jangle-pop with a
modern punkish garage band undertone. The band's 1984 full-length debut album, "All Over the Place", followed up their early
independent EP releases, spent 30 weeks on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, and featured the singles "Hero Takes a Fall"
and "Going Down To Liverpool" --one of the albums most-played tracks, on which Debbi sang lead.
Their second album "Different Light", featuring the single "Manic Monday" written by Prince, broke the band in the United
States and across the globe, spending 82 weeks on the chart and spawning four Top 40 hits, including the worldwide #1
hit "Walk Like An Egyptian". Singing duties on the group's albums were evenly divided among all the band members, all of whom
wrote or co-wrote their own songs.
The Bangles took their version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade of Winter" from the Less Than Zero soundtrack to Number 2.
Their third album, "Everything" was on the album charts for nearly a year and gave the group two Top 5 hits including their
biggest selling single and second #1 hit, "Eternal Flame".
The Bangles disbanded in 1989, then reunited in the late 90s for work on the Soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged
Me. The Bangles' track "Get The Girl' was written by Debbi, Susanna and Vicki. Debbi wrote or co-wrote several Bangles
songs, including "Let It Go", "Not Like You", Standing in the Hallway", "Bell Jar", "Be With You", and a host of others.
John Wicks of The Records
British powerpop/classic rockers The Records, featuring lead singer John Wicks, are best known for their sublime slice of
sixties inspired melodic heaven: "Starry Eyes" - the Virgin Records label's first U.S. release, and a song that became a
classic of the genre.
The Records, featuring lead singer John Wicks, formed in London in 1978. They recorded three albums for Virgin Records:
"Shades In Bed"/"The Records" (1979), "Crashes" (1980), and "Music On Both Sides" (1982). Their first album, produced by
Mutt Lange and Tim Friese-Greene reached the upper echelons of the Billboard chart in the U.S. - spawning the classic hit
single, "Starry Eyes". Both the single and the album became a classic of the genre that was later named ‘Power Pop’. All
Music Guide called “Starry Eyes” “A near perfect song that defined British Power Pop”. They went on to applaud the Records
and rave, “their high quality output from 1979 to 1982 has not only held up better than most of the era, with it’s timeless
appeal, but has also served as a blueprint for the various waves of British and American Power Pop since then... Within their
genre, they are seen as giants.”
Unlike many bands, The Records lasted through the punk era and into the new wave scene, headlining tours and opening for a wide variety of acts, including The Cars, Robert Palmer, Elvis Costello, The Jam and
Joe Jackson - before finally disbanding in 1982.
Embarking on a solo career in the early 1980s - John wrote a wealth of new material, including "Prisoner of Love”,
"Nowhere Left To Run" and "The Way That Love Goes", the latter being covered by Atlantic Records artist Dominique,
produced by the late great Ahmet Ertegun.
Around 1994 The Records became known as John Wicks And The Records, booking shows primarily in the US. By the middle of 1995,
they recorded "Solace In Wonderland" a limited edition album of country-rock tinged songs reminisicent of Wilco, Whiskeytown
and Ryan Adams. With renewed interest in the band's music, Blue Plate/Caroline resissued "Smashes, Crashes and near Misses".
Celebrating their new incarnation, John Wicks and The Records toured Spain in 1998 releasing the album "rock 'ola" on the
Rock Indiana Label.
In 2007 John Wicks And The Records released the long-awaited brand new CD on the Kool Kat Musik Label entitled "Rotate."
An anthology of sorts, "Rotate" contains material recorded over a number of years in various countries, plus a version of
"We Can Work It Out" which originally appeared as part of a Beatles tribute CD. Virgin reissued "Music On Both Sides" on CD,
including previously unreleased bonus tracks.
The songs of John Wicks have been recorded by 1960s British Invasion band The Searchers (with John McNally and Mike Pender),
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Too Much Joy, Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks, and numerous other artists. Today, John Wicks and The
Records continue to record new albums and tour the world.
Debbi and John have each been writing and co-writing songs for their new project, and their show features some of these
new songs alongside key songs from each of their respective bands, plus a few favorite covers. They generally play
together along with a full band, but also perform as an acoustic duo.
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