Lipstick on the Mic: The Bangles

 

In the 80s, they were Everything

The Bangles formed in 1981 in Los Angeles and are known for their jangly, Beatlesque guitar sound, which is often referred to as the Paisley Underground style. The classic lineup consists of sisters Debbie and Vicki Peterson, Susanna Hoffs, and Micki Steele. 

The band really is a who's who in rock - Micki was a Runaway before she was a Bangle; Vicki is in the Continental Drifters with sister-in-law Susan Cowsill; Debbie has recorded and toured with indie artist Matthew Sweet; Sweet has collaborated often with Susanna Hoffs, who has also worked with Norah Jones, Neko Case, and Brian May. There are further entanglements with the Go-Gos, Bette Midler, Chrissie Hynde, Cyndi Lauper, and Girlschool, making theirs a true musical sisterhood. 

They were the cool girls of '80s rock with outstanding songs like Be With You, In Your Room, Following, Hazy Shade of Winter, Going Down to Liverpool, and the number one song of 1987, Walk Like an Egyptian. 

Marriage, motherhood, and diverging interests led to the breakup of the band after the release of the stellar Everything album. They reunited for the Austin Powers soundtrack, contributing the catchy Get the Girl.  On the strength of that single, they recorded one more album, Doll Revolution, in the 00s before Micki retired to rescue animals and do session work. They have since brought back their original bassist, Annette Zilinskas, for additional albums and tours. 

November 2025: The Fifth Monkee, George Furth

This guy had an odd range in his repertoire

You gotta hand it to theatre kids - they will do anything to create a character. 

George Furth (who I believe had his name misspelled in the credits for one episode as Firth) appeared in two episodes of the show, first as a jealous suitor competing with Peter for Valerie's affections and the second as a creepy occultist attempting to bring Ruth Buzzi's husband back from the dead. 

But a guest appearance on a rock and roll sitcom is merely a drop in the bucket for this guy. 

After graduating in the early 1950s with a bachelor's degree in theatre from Northwestern, he made his way to Broadway and the Actors Studio, debuting on stage in 1961, a play titled A Cook for Mr. General. He then worked collaboratively with Stephen Sondheim on musicals such as Company and wrote several plays, including Twigs, The Supporting Cast, and Precious Sons, as well as a book for The Act.

Shall I go on? 

On the small screen, he appeared in shows such as Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman;  I Dream of Jeannie; That Girl; Green Acres; Batman; The Odd Couple; Happy Days; All in the Family; Murphy Brown; L.A. Law; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Murder, She Wrote; and Little House on the Prairie. 

Little HOUSE?

On the big screen, he was in The Boston Strangler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Myra Breckinridge, Blazing Saddles, Shampoo, Oh, God!, The Cannonball Run, The Man with Two Brains, and Bulworth. 

His last IMDb acting credit was in 1998; however, his last writing credit was in 2004, penning lyrics for the musical The End, which was reworked under the title Last Call. Furth passed in 2008 after a long, strange, and interesting career. 

As a Generation Disappears

Aunt Doris

Ciocia Tina

It's been a sorrowful year as I lost my Aunt Doris, my mother's sister, in May, and Ciocia Tina, my dad's sister, yesterday. 

With Doris' passing, this means my mother is the only one left in her immediate family; Tina's passing means that my father's immediate family is now gone. Generationally, all that is left are widows/widowers: Uncle Jerry, who was Tina's husband; Uncle Stan, who was married to Aunt Doris; and Aunt Donna, who was married to Uncle Bob, who died back in 2011. Nonnie and Uncle Bill both died within a few years of each other.

There was a horrible situation where technology failed me, as the message I got from my mother's phone translated as "Hi, your mom just died. Talk to me..." after I had missed calls from my sisters and Dave; for about 10 horrible minutes yesterday, I thought my mother had passed. 

So I know how I will react when I get that news. Typing this a day later, my stomach still hurts. 

These losses make me feel like both a child and an adult. There's a shift in the universe, where I feel like my generation is stepping onto the on-deck circle, ready but not ready to take on the ultimate leadership role. I'm also getting nostalgic, thinking back to those moments when I was a kid, just one of the cousins hanging out in the kitchen for a sandwich and a glass of Kool-Aid, waiting to go outside or down to the basement to play. 

My memories with Aunt Doris are sparse, as she married my Uncle Stan and moved to Texas in the mid-70s. Memories are of her living in the big blue house up the street from where we lived. I thought the house was the ultimate in luxury, as it had a sewing room, a hallway leading to different rooms, a second bathroom, and a laundry chute. But I thought the house in East Jackson was more fun, with a big hill to roll down and lots of neighborhood kids to play with. My cherished memory was of the blue denim jumper she made for me when I was in kindergarten, where she went crazy with all the new stitches featured on her machine, with loopy red, yellow zig zags, and green waves. 

When under Tina's care, there was a hands-off approach to minding us, allowing us to experience the freedom to be absolute brats to each other while playing kickball in the field behind the house or making our audition tape in the red playhouse, singing Bruce Springsteen's "Fire" into a black cassette deck and microphone. 

There was always a gift on birthdays or at Christmas, usually money, giving me the freedom to choose something for myself or tuck it away when I would need it later. My ever-responsible father would usually take it to deposit it into our savings accounts for later. I may not have appreciated it then, but now, as I am typing, I realize that nest egg slowly accumulated, and the $10 saved from my 12th birthday was part of the deposit I put on our first house, having drawn that money from my Kelsey Hayes Credit Union account back in 1997. 

Then I remember the Christmas break trip to Lansing, where the aunts gave each of us $10 for the Chuck E Cheese arcade after having taken us shopping and to the movies. While I had a good time, I also remember wishing, after dumping quarter after quarter into Pac-Man and Paperboy, that I had the $10 back. 

Or the time a substitute teacher insisted I had to ride the bus, mistaking me for the other Melissa in our class. I had a deep desire to ride the school bus and was more than happy to obey. My mother, frantic that I was nowhere to be found, called for everyone to help her find me. My aunt said she would be over as soon as she got Brian off the school bus. Welp, she found me, waving goodbye to her and Brian as the bus pulled away. That resulted in her running after the bus, Brian in tow, all while pregnant with my cousin Kevin. 

I imagine my father has already greeted you in heaven, with a "What are you doing here, sis?" 

When my mom visited her on Tuesday, Tina was weak, in pain, and I imagine, ready to join her immediate family again. I do wonder if there is joy in passing. She lost her father so young, barely a teenager, someone she hasn't seen in 65 years. When you die, is there a greater consciousness where you are a part of everything, or does God ease you into that, aware that the first thing you want to do in the afterlife is just see your family again? 

I'll see you again, Aunt Doris and Ciocia Tina. 

Project 3867: The Garage

 Huh, this idea is already a popular one in South Bend

The football and marching band season for Comstock Park HS is wrapping up. Will hangs out in the basement, and teenagers routinely troop through the house to join him down there. I like knowing where he is, but I wish there were more places for kids to go, hang out, and socialize. 

Here's a liability nightmare of an idea: why not a "bar" for kids? 

What were my tween/teen hangouts? Arcades with Pac-Man, pinball, a snack bar, and the bare minimum. ShowBiz Pizza for Friday night dances, which were immediately lame after the age of 15. AllSkate with a hardwood skating rink and concessions. There was one dance place up the hill from AllSkate, but I wasn't allowed to go there since the kids from other high schools hung out drinking cheap booze and getting into fights. Cruising the Ave, which was basically driving along Michigan Avenue and stopping at various parking lots to hang out with friends until the cops chased us away. 

So far as I can tell, CP has none of that; it's mostly kids hanging out at each other's houses, going to the movies, or (Pia) sneaking off to the GVSU apartments for off-campus parties. Even Oscar, Felix, and Diego would go to school events, come hang out here, and then run to McDonald's, where they were for only a short time. 

That's cool.

So create a destination for kids to hang out and chill. I have no idea what is cool, but provide charging stations for their phones, TVs connected to PlayStations and X-boxes, conversation areas, and a non-alcoholic bar to get smoothies, coffees, and stuff like that. In the garage, a small stage for high school bands to have a place to play, with the opportunity to throw those bay doors open for a larger crowd. 

Do kids even put rock bands together anymore?

Oh man, I hope this doesn't sound like lame mom ideas.

The Cereal Project: Light Up Pen/Stylus

Thinking I'm clever, but you can get these in bulk at 4imprint

School supplies, like rulers, erasers, pens, and pencils, were proven winners as premiums back in the day. One of my favorite cereal box prizes from the 70s was the Sugar Crisp eerily colored glow-in-the-dark pen.

It was an eerie light green that seemed to glow even in full daylight

Gord is a songwriter for whom, given her penchant for writing in secret, a light-up pen is appropriate. And in a nod to modern times, have the tip be a smart stencil/stylus to use on touch tablets.

Why Art Matters: Stevie Wonder, Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants

A blind man making us see

We saw Stevie Wonder in concert last year, a miracle in finding tickets the day of, about eight rows back. He was astonishing in every conceivable way. Doing what I do - obsessing - I read every article I could about him afterwards and was clued into the fact that this album, the soundtrack to the documentary Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants, was considered a huge disappointment by Motown. 

I have to take this criticism in context. It was 1979, and the charts were dominated by disco, hard rock, new wave, punk, and country. Stevie was coming off a decade of dominating the charts and awards shows with R&B funk classics like Superstition and Sir Duke, and albums like Songs in the Key of Life. This album was expected to be another massive hit.

This is none of that. 

This is Wonder as a composer and artist. 

And it's gorgeous. 

Yes, there are hits on this album, Send One Your Love and Black Orchid. But there's also the hypnotic Voyage to India, Come Back as a Flower, Seasons, and the Finale. Honestly, this is one where you drop the needle on track one and listen to the whole thing as a soundscape from start to finish. 

Reading more about the album, the packaging is a stroke of genius. The cover is embossed so you can feel the orchid illustration as well as read the cover in braille. It is scented, igniting another of the senses. I'm now in search of the record, hoping the CD offers the same sensation. 

Reading reviews online, it is clear the fans do not feel the same as the critics, Berry Gordy be damned. Please give it a listen, even if you aren't a Stevie Wonder fan. 

Lipstick on the Mic: The Three Degrees

Funky Divas in the 70s

I once mouthed off that I preferred The Three Degrees over The Supremes. The fact Diana Ross and company were ultimately more successful doesn’t change my opinion. Why?

Fact one: When Will I See You Again

Fact two: Maybe

Fact three: their completely random appearance on the TV show Sanford and Son

Fact four: the theme song to Soul Train, "TSOP (Sound of Philadelphia)"

Fact five: the king of England, Charles III, is their most famous fan

Quick bio: the Philadephia-based group formed in high school in 1963 “because it was fun.” The height of their fame was in the 70s, although they have had random chart appearances throughout the years, most recently in 1998 with their cover of Last Christmas. Sixteen women can claim to be a former member of T3D, and there’s a 2006 documentary of the band.