The Bangles Perform Manic Monday On American Bandstand (1986)

2 min read

Friends, by the time that 1986 was rolling around I was sort of beginning to get into music, thanks to the handful of music video programs I had access to – namely Nick Rocks on Nickelodeon as well as Night Tracks, which aired on TBS on the weekends. While it would be around three more years before I found myself finally starting to buy the occasional cassette tape on a regular basis – thanks to these programs I was being introduced to much of the popular music of the day. As I have previously shared with the 1985 appearance of Weird Al Yankovic on American Bandstand – in my youth I didn’t watch the show – I sadly looked on it as the signal that Saturday Morning cartoons had come to an end. Which is why I am very grateful that others had the foresight to tape performances from the likes of not just Weird Al but Prince, Cyndi Lauper, Oingo Boingo, and the Bangles to name just a few.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtH65jT6qUQ
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I think you will agree that “Manic Monday” is still a fantastic tune and that the Bangles were delivering a wonderful performance – although I am going to have to share with you that I wasn’t aware where the band received that song. Most of you probably already know this but “Manic Monday” was given to them by none other than the late and great Prince, as I understand it from reading online, the artist originally intended it to be performed by Apollonia 6 – the female band he created. Apparently the song was recorded in ’84 but it was arranged as a duet in it’s original form – the songwriter was credited as “Christopher”, his character from Under the Cherry Moon in ’86.

You might be interested to know that this was not the first time that the Bangles had made an appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. In fact in this separate video, they bring up this fact with Clark, relating day job woes in addition to where they see themselves in the near future.

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Most of us probably have a little disdain for Monday – maybe watching this 1986 performance by the Bangles will take the edge off a little?

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