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PH OTO BY VICTORIA PEARSON

,

The founder of the Bangles, Susanna Hoffs
has gone on to greener pastures,
still with a banjo (sort of) on her knee.

LYNNE KONSTANTIN STAFF WRITER

G

rowing up, Susanna Hoffs had always admired
Joni Mitchell, Dionne Warwick, Petula Clark.
So it's not surprising that in the mid-'80s,
when she found herself an icon for female mu-
sicians, she was a bit surprised, and a bit amused.
The founder of and guitarist/vocalist for the Bangles,
one of the first well-known all-female pop ✓rock bands, Hoffs
7 recently released her second solo effort.
With the slightly bemused cynicism that only the ad-
vantage of time can bring, Hoffs says, "The Bangles tried
to downplay the gender thing. We didn't want to be viewed
as a novelty; we didn't understand, just because there were
four of us (women) in a band, why that was so strange.
"Things have changed in a very positive way," Hoffs con-
tinues. 'There were times when we were actually told by
radio stations that they [couldn't] play our song, that they
could only play one female single per week.
"Now, it's more accepted. There are more female artists
having success." In fact, included in her upcoming tour
dates are a few, as yet undetermined, stops with the Sarah
McLachlan-founded, all-female Lilith Fair tour.
In a sense, Hoffs forged the way for her present ac-
complishments. She founded the Bangles in 1981 when
the Peterson sisters — Vicki and Debbi — responded to
an ad Hoffs placed in a paper. Although not the first all-
female band to appear — the Go-Gos, for one, was the gid-
dy pop counterpart to the Bangles' street-smart image —
it was among the first to achieve success.
The band lasted for eight years. In the time since then,
Hoffs has put out two solo efforts.
The 1991 When You're a Boy garnered one hit, "My Side
of the Bed," but the final product was not what Hoffs want-
ed. Her recent Susanna Hoffs, however, is precisely what
she wanted.
Featuring 12 new songs, the album was mostly co-writ-
ten by Hoffs and former Go-Go Charlotte Caffey. "I'm re-
ally proud of this record," says Hoffs. "It took a while to get
this record out — it was an obstacle course, really," she
says, referring to her label change from Sony to London
Records.
/– "I didn't feel that close to [my first solo record]. But this
project was about making a personal record that told sto-
ries from my life, that was representative of my life — who

I am and what
I'm about."
The assistance
she got on Su-
sanna Hoffs, in
addition to Caf-
fey, is enough in
itself to make
Hoffs proud:
Sparklehorse's
Mark Linkous,
Cracker's David
Lowery, Mick
Fleetwood, Four
Non Blondes'
Linda Perry and
Matthew Sweet
are just a few of
the talents to
make cameos on
the album.
Most noticeable, however, is the evolution in content.
Lyrical imagery ranges from the death of John Lennon,
on 'Weak With Love," to "Enormous Wings," influenced
by an atmospheric adult fairy tale by Gabriel Garcia Mar-
quez.
"It's been sort of excruciating, waiting for the album to
come out, because I put so much into it."
Born on January 17, 1959 —"A whole bunch of rock en-
cyclopedias are getting my birthday wrong" — Hoffs grew
up in Los Angeles. Her grandfather, Ralph Simon, is a rab-
bi in Chicago, and he won the Israel Man of the Year award
in 1980 — "I think Truman got the first one," says Hoffs.
Her uncle, too, is a rabbi, in Maryland. "My immediate
family was less involved [in the Jewish community], but
it was definitely an important aspect of my life."
And actually, she adds, "My husband converted to Ju-
daism; we had a Jewish wedding. My grandfather and un-
cle both officiated." She and her husband have a 2-year-old
son, Jackson.
Hoffs has always been involved in one art form or an-
other. She began teaching herself guitar while still in el-
ementary school. Upon entering the University of

California-Berkeley, Hoffs began majoring in theater. She
then focused on dance, and graduated as an art major.
"When I [finished school], it was a very exciting time in
the music business. I had moved to LA., and there was so
much happening. I began trying to put together a band
with a friend from elementary school (Dave Roback, now
of Mazzy Star)." That endeavor didn't pan out; it was then
that Hoffs formed the Bangles.
In addition to the release of her new album and an in-
ternational tour, Hoffs also can be spotted as the guitarist
in Ming Tea, Mike Myers' band in his new movie Austin
Powers, International Man of Mystery.
The lessons Hoffs learned in her long road of experience
are all coming to fruition. She paid her dues in paving the
way for future female rockers; now, she is one of them.
"My experiences during the last few years have kind of
taken me back full circle, to the feelings that originally
drew me to music," she says. "Now I feel like everything
was for a reason."

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LLJ

Susanna Hoffs performs with Lincoln 8 p.m. Friday,
June 6. $8.50. 7th House, 7 N. Saginaw, Pontiac. ca
(248) 335-8100.

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