Susanna Hoffs

Susanna
Hoffs

Born: Susanna Lee Hoffs
January 17, 1959
Los Angeles, Calif.

“Please comfort me
And shelter me
I am weak with love.”

~Susanna Hoffs

Cinnamon Girl
By Michael Holloway

In ‘Weak With Love’, Susanna Hoffs’ plaintive words pay tribute to her favorite Beatle, John Lennon, who was fatally shot by a deranged gunman on Dec. 8, 1980.

Shortly after Lennon’s murder, Hoffs was left feeling shell shocked without her idol to inspire her. She answered an advertisement placed in ‘The Recycler’, placed by sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson. Realising they had much in common, including a love for 60s music, Hoffs and the Petersons decided to make original music with the flavor of that decade.

The Bangles

After many bassists were
interviewed, Michael Steele was added to the band. Vicki Peterson asked Steele what she thought would be the perfect style for the new band. Steele replied she felt the ideal band be like “the Yardbirds with Fairport Convention vocals,” Peterson was visibly impressed and hired her on the spot.

The Bangles, Hoffs, the Petersons, and Steele released four much-loved albums, several “Best of…” compilations, and contributed to movie soundtracks. They broke up in 1989, due to friction within the group over Hoffs’ superstardom, The Bangles reformed in 2000. In 2004, Steele left the band for unknown personal reasons and was replaced with cabaret singer and bassist Abby Travis, who has also recently left the band to work exclusively on her fourth solo album.

Susanna’s Movie

In 1987, Hoffs even got the chance to star in her own movie, a delicious college comedy called The Allnighter. She played Molly Morrisson, a young college valedictorian who laments the fact she has yet to have that one, earth-shattering romance of her life. The main focus is on Molly and her friends, the streetwise Gina (one of Joan Cusack’s funniest performances), and the ingenue Val (Dedee Pfeiffer, real life sister of Michelle Pfeiffer.) Together, the three girls and their two male friends, realise just how much can happen in a single night. Although, critics were not very kind to this movie, it has a loyal fanbase, especially among Bangles fans. It may not be akin to Shakespeare, but The Allnighter is purely and simply, a great deal of fun, with lots of memorable quotes, including Gina finding her friends putting what they think is oregano into the lasagne sauce, so she quips, “Why are you putting my pot in the pot?”
Hunky actor, John Terlesky (pictured above), nowadays known more for his phenomenal writing, producing, and directing, plays the surfer jock, CJ. He is Molly’s love interest and there is a beautiful love scene between Hoffs and Terlesky, which makes hearts melt and eyes steam.

James Anthony Shanta gives the film’s second funniest performance as CJ’s best friend, Killer, who despite his name, is a kind, warm, generous soul–a great friend. There may not be a lot of plot in this movie, but the characters are ones you will grow to love, and there are plenty of brilliantly funny, and tender set pieces to make this movie memorable. The scene where Gina and Val get thrown into jail with a bevy of hookers and a disturbed female junkie is a priceless classic.

Performance In South Australia

I was fortunate enough to see Hoffs, the Petersons, and Travis perform live at the Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide, South Australia on Nov. 9 2005. In a later online chat, I related to Hoffs how funny it had been, all that rain on the night of the concert causing the roof of the theatre to leak.

The ever-mischievous Vicki Peterson quipped, “Now’s a good a time as any to sing The Rain Song, it’s all about precipitation,” comically glossing over the likelihood of her band mate catching pneumonia any second. Hoffs even obliged and sneezed on the audience.

“My first sneeze Down Under!” Hoffs said.

After I relayed the leaky roof incident to Hoffs in the chat, she shared a story about another time she seemed to be facing forces beyond her control, and did what any self-respecting rocker would have done.

An Amazing Time

“I’m glad you came to the show in Adelaide. We had such an amazing time in Australia. I was having so much fun playing that I didn’t pay much attention to the roof leaking – and I tend to worry about things like that. The Adelaide incident was nothing compared with the time the Bangles played a concert for a radio station in Houston, Texas. It was back in the 80’s and the city had just opened a brand new overpass on the freeway. So, if you can believe it, the concert was held right there on the freeway! We had an uneasy feeling as our van pulled up to the stage. Sure enough, as the crowd got going the whole freeway started to shake… We were about to play “Walk Like An Egyptian” and in an effort to calm down the crowd Vicki said “Don’t dance!”

Well, you can imagine what happened next…

People in the audience went wild and started to jump up and down in rhythm to the song. The freeway started to actually bounce and shake! I was so scared I ran off the stage halfway through the song. The concert didn’t last much longer after that. We were told later that the structural engineer was at the show and ran off the stage too! There are so many crazy adventures on tour.

Thanks again for coming to the Adelaide show!”

Sid ‘N’ Susie

In 2006, Hoffs teamed with longtime friend Matthew Sweet to pay homage to the music they both grew up with in the 60s and 70s by recording Under The Covers. Sid ‘N’ Susie, as they affectionately call one another, discuss their song selections in connection with the originals. Here are the duo’s thoughts on their version of Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s sprightly Cinnamon Girl:

Matthew (Sid): “We both love Neil to the extreme, and his two part harmonies work well for us here. Plus it’s a chance to rock!”

Susanna (Susie): “I love the idea of a cinnamon girl, spicy, yet sweet, someone you “could be happy with for the rest of your life,” as it says in the song. I’ve always aspired to be like that!”

Under The Covers For A Sequel

Sid ‘N’ Susie are currently working on a second album of covers which will focus on 70s music, called Under The Covers 2 which will be released on July 21, 2009.

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