Doll Revolution

One of the things my friends and family kid me about is my many celebrity crushes. Among the celebrities that have a special place in my heart are Sandra Bullock, Liz Phair, Uma Thurman, Winona Ryder, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck (Filarski).

The original celebrity crush however was on the lead singer of the Bangles, Susanna Hoffs. Back in the days I used to work in the record store my manager knowing about my crush would constantly kid me about Susanna's bug eyes and the way she said "cawps" instead of cops in the song "Walk Like an Egyptian."

One of the Twin Cities best musicians- Tina Schielske- who used to work at the store with me offered to set me up with her friend Missy Morales who Tina said was a dead ringer for Susanna. Unfortunately that date never took place.

Well last night I got to see the Bangles live for the first time in my life. They played at First Avenue, the club Prince made known, if not famous, in his movie "Purple Rain."

What a fabulously fun show. They opened with "A Hazy Shade of Winter." Next was the Elvis Costello song, "Doll Revolution" which was the title song of their last CD. "Manic Monday" was next and I was in absolute heaven watching Susanna grin ear to ear and do that look to the side thing she does with her eyes that still melts my heart. She dedicated "A Hero Takes the Fall" to Prince. The whistling part of "Walk Like an Egyptian" was replaced by the chorus of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson." Cool. Way cool.

The highlights of the show for me were a superb version of Jules Shear's "If She Knew What She Wants" (a great, great song) and "Ride the Ride" a poppy tune from their last CD that featured the group's peerless vocal harmonies.

They've been out of the spotlight since the early 90's and I never thought I'd see them perform live so it was an absolute kick to go to the show. The bridge to "Doll Revolution" asks the musical question: "What's that sound that turns you around?" For me it was just about every song during the whole show.