The Bangles in the Lunchroom today – recorded at The Syria Mosque Aren in Pittsburgh on December 13, 1986.

Hard to imagine it’s been almost 40 years since this concert. The Bangles have always been a quintessential 80s band to me. Probably because my fondest memory of the period was racing around Downtown L.A., filming their video for Manic Monday, dodging busybodies asking where our permits to shoot were and getting the whole thing done before Christmas.

To me they represented this boundless energy, coupled with a certain pragmatic view that if Manic Monday didn’t make the charts, that would be it for the band. That seemed impossible to imagine since everyone involved in making the video were 100% convinced it was destined to become a classic.

And fortunately for everyone, it was. The Bangles were good and serious, and in the context of making the video, complete team players. That was crucial because there was a lot riding on it – they came too far to get suddenly dropped by their label and even if there was friction within the band (as had been variously reported), it was put aside for the sake of making something special – we were all caught up in the spirit.

Well, there was friction within the band and it would be almost three years after this concert that everything fell apart – perfect timing when you think a band so closely associated with the 80s would go out with the 80s. Who says nothing is a coincidence?

During a period of time where Women were making waves and starting their own careers and leading their own bands, The Bangles were something of pioneers in getting the ball rolling. Although you could point to several other examples of Women doing the same, The Bangles had such mass appeal, even more than The Go-Go’s (a band getting up and rolling in the earlier part of the 80s), everyone either knew of them or was a die-hard fan. Girls were flocking to Big-Hair and Prince fashions while boys were falling in love with Susanna (or Michael as a lot, including yours truly, did).

So listening to this concert, cognizant of the period of time around it, makes for a nostalgic, if not dewy-eyed experience.

So yes, it wouldn’t be the 80s without The Bangles and this concert is a perfect example of what made it that way.

Dive in.