Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American singer and guitarist, best known as a co-founder of the pop-rock band
The Bangles.
Hoffs founded The Bangles (originally called the Bangs) in 1981 with
Debbi and
Vicki Peterson
Victoria Anne Theresa Peterson Cowsill (born January 11, 1958) is an American rock musician and songwriter. She has been the lead guitarist for the Bangles since their foundation in 1981. After their first disbandment in 1989, she has returned ...
. They released their first full length album ''
All Over the Place'' on Columbia Records in 1984. Hoffs started a solo career after The Bangles disbanded in 1989. She released her first solo album, ''
When You're a Boy
''When You're a Boy'' is the debut solo album by Susanna Hoffs. It begins with the ''Billboard'' Top 40 single " My Side of the Bed", includes the track "Unconditional Love" (co-written by Cyndi Lauper), and ends with a cover of "Boys Keep Swingi ...
'', in 1991. She later formed the faux British 1960s band
Ming Tea
Ming Tea is a faux retro- mod band consisting of:
* Mike Myers (as Austin Powers, lead vocals, guitar)
* Susanna Hoffs (as Gillian Shagwell, lead guitar and backing vocals)
* Matthew Sweet (as Sid Belvedere, bass and backing vocals)
* Stuart J ...
with
Mike Myers and
Matthew Sweet. Hoffs has also appeared in a supporting role in several movies.
Early life
Hoffs was born in Los Angeles, California, to a Jewish family.
She is the daughter of film director/writer/producer
Tamar Ruth (née Simon) and Joshua Allen Hoffs, a psychoanalyst. Her mother played
Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
music for Hoffs when she was a child, and she began playing the guitar in her teens. Hoffs attended
Palisades High School in
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, graduating in 1976. While in college, she worked as a production assistant and made her acting debut in the 1978 film ''
Stony Island''.
In 1980, Hoffs graduated from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
, with a bachelor's degree in art. When she entered college, she was a fan of
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...
bands that played in large stadiums, and while a student, she attended the final
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
show at
Winterland Ballroom and a
Patti Smith concert. Exposure to
punk rock changed her career goal from a dancer to musician in a band.
Career
The Psychiatrists/The Unconscious
Hoffs,
David Roback
David Edward Roback (April 4, 1958 – February 24, 2020) was an American guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as a founding member of the alternative rock band Mazzy Star.
Early life
Roback was born on April 4, 1958 and raised in Los ...
, and his brother Stephen Roback started their first band together, The Psychiatrists/The Unconscious, in the late 1970s while Hoffs was a student at the University of California, Berkeley.
The Bangs
Inspired by
The Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United St ...
and other punk bands, Hoffs founded the Bangs with
Debbi and
Vicki Peterson
Victoria Anne Theresa Peterson Cowsill (born January 11, 1958) is an American rock musician and songwriter. She has been the lead guitarist for the Bangles since their foundation in 1981. After their first disbandment in 1989, she has returned ...
. After recording their first album, the night before it was pressed they learned of a legal claim by an East Coast boy band, called "The Bangs", requiring a sudden change of name, so the "Bangs" morphed into the "Bangles".
The Bangles
The Bangles' first recorded release was a self-titled EP in 1982 on the Faulty Products Label (which lived up to its name by folding during the first promotional tour). The Bangles released their first full album ''
All Over the Place'' in 1984 on Columbia Records. They had a moderate hit with the single "Hero Takes a Fall", but their commercial breakthrough came with the album ''
Different Light
''Different Light'' is the second studio album by American pop rock band the Bangles, released in January 1986. The album's Top 40 sound was a departure from their earlier 1960s-style rock'n'roll sound. It is their most successful album, reachin ...
'' in 1986, which produced the hit singles "
Manic Monday" (which
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...
had written and passed along to the Bangles), "
If She Knew What She Wants
"If She Knew What She Wants" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Jules Shear and introduced on his 1985 album ''The Eternal Return''. The Bangles recorded the song for their 1986 album '' Different Light''. That version, a call-and-res ...
", and "
Walk Like an Egyptian".
In 1986, Hoffs co-wrote "I Need a Disguise" for the album ''
Belinda'' for
Belinda Carlisle, from the
all-girl group
The Go-Go's. With increasing fame, Hoffs also appeared on the covers of numerous magazines, and the
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range ...
guitar company issued a Susanna Hoffs model of the 350, which she customized herself.
In 1987, Hoffs starred in the film ''
The Allnighter,'' which was directed by her mother Tamar Simon Hoffs, and also featured
Joan Cusack and
Pam Grier. The film was critically panned and failed at the box office. Hoffs later said: "It wasn't a great movie but the whole experience of it was great."
In 1988, the Bangles released their third album, ''
Everything.'' The first single, co-written by Hoffs, "
In Your Room" became a top 10 hit. ''Everything'' also produced their biggest-selling single "
Eternal Flame", which was also co-written and sung by Hoffs.
In the BBC programme ''I'm in a Girl Group,'' Hoffs revealed she actually sang the studio recording of "Eternal Flame" completely naked due to producer
Davitt Sigerson pranking her by telling her
Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one s ...
had done the same thing. He later told Hoffs he had been lying.
In 1989, the Bangles formally disbanded. In the late 1990s, however, Hoffs contacted the other members of the Bangles with the hope of reuniting. They recorded the single "Get the Girl" for the second ''
Austin Powers
''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and '' Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced ...
'' movie in 1999. Subsequently, they announced their decision to reunite full-time in 2000. Their fourth album, ''
Doll Revolution,'' was released in 2003, and their fifth album, ''
Sweetheart of the Sun'', was released in 2011.
Solo career
Hoffs released a solo album, ''
When You're a Boy
''When You're a Boy'' is the debut solo album by Susanna Hoffs. It begins with the ''Billboard'' Top 40 single " My Side of the Bed", includes the track "Unconditional Love" (co-written by Cyndi Lauper), and ends with a cover of "Boys Keep Swingi ...
'', in 1991,
which spawned a U.S Top 40 hit with "My Side of the Bed". In the UK the single landed at No. 44, for only 4 weeks on chart, and the album also landed decently in Europe.
Hoffs recorded another album in 1993–94, prior to leaving
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...
, but it went unreleased. In 1996, Hoffs released her second solo album, ''
Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American singer and guitarist, best known as a co-founder of the pop-rock band The Bangles.
Hoffs founded The Bangles (originally called the Bangs) in 1981 with Debbi and Vicki Peterson. They r ...
''. Although it received much praise in the media and yielded a minor US hit and a UK hit at No. 33 for 2 weeks with a cover of the
Lightning Seeds single "All I Want", it was not a commercial success.
Hoffs recorded a cover of "
The Look of Love" for the soundtrack of the first Austin Powers movie ''
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' and a cover of the song "
Alfie" for the soundtrack of the third ''
Austin Powers in Goldmember''. She recorded a cover of the
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the y ...
song "We Close Our Eyes" for the ''
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although the events of the film are not consid ...
'' soundtrack. She is also responsible for the song "Now and Then", from the 1995
film of the same name.
Hoffs also contributed a song to the film ''
Red Roses and Petrol
''Red Roses and Petrol'' is a 2003 drama film based on the stage play of the same name by Joseph O'Connor. The film was directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs, and stars Malcolm McDowell and Max Beesley. It was released, on DVD, in 2008.
Plot
Amid a haze ...
'' (written and directed by
Tamar Simon Hoffs
Tamar Simon Hoffs (née Tamar Ruth Simon; October 23, 1934) is an American filmmaker, best known for directing the indie films '' Red Roses and Petrol'' (2003) and ''Pound of Flesh'' (2009), both starring Malcolm McDowell.
Life and career
Hoffs ...
) titled "The Water Is Wide".
Hoffs self-released her third solo album of new material (the first since her 1996's
self-titled album) called ''
Someday'' via
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...
on July 17, 2012. The set was produced by
Mitchell Froom and is influenced by the music of the 1960s. American Songwriter gave ''Someday'' a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars and described it as "easily and undeniably Hoffs' most definitive musical statement to date".
Hoffs donated her vocal talent to the end credits song from the film, ''
A Dog Named Gucci'', in the song "One Voice", which also features the talents of
Norah Jones,
Aimee Mann
Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...
,
Lydia Loveless
Lydia Loveless (born September 4, 1990; as Lydia Ankrom) is an American alternative country singer-songwriter from Columbus, Ohio. Her music combines pop music, classic country, honky tonk, and punk rock.
Early life
Loveless was born in Cosho ...
,
Neko Case,
Brian May and
Kathryn Calder. It was produced by Dean Falcone, who also wrote the film's score. "One Voice" was released on
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
, April 16, 2016, with profits from the sale of the single going to benefit animal charities.
Ming Tea
Mike Myers, singer-songwriter
Matthew Sweet, and Hoffs formed the faux British 1960s band
Ming Tea
Ming Tea is a faux retro- mod band consisting of:
* Mike Myers (as Austin Powers, lead vocals, guitar)
* Susanna Hoffs (as Gillian Shagwell, lead guitar and backing vocals)
* Matthew Sweet (as Sid Belvedere, bass and backing vocals)
* Stuart J ...
after Myers' ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
'' stint in the early 1990s.
They all adopted pseudonyms for the band, with Hoffs using the name Gillian Shagwell and Myers creating
Austin Powers
''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and '' Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced ...
. The trio made a number of club and TV performances and had a minor hit with the song "BBC". Myers's then-wife Robin Ruzan encouraged him to write a film based on the character.
The result was ''
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'', directed by Hoffs' husband
Jay Roach
Mathew Jay Roach (born June 14, 1957) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Austin Powers'' film series, '' Meet the Parents'', '' Dinner for Schmucks'', '' The Campaign'', '' Trumbo'', and '' Bombshell''.
Roach also e ...
. Ming Tea performed in all three
''Austin Powers'' films.
With Matthew Sweet
In 2006, Hoffs teamed up with fellow Ming Tea member
Matthew Sweet to record fifteen
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...
s of
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...
songs from the 1960s and 1970s for an album titled ''
Under the Covers, Vol. 1
''Under the Covers, Vol. 1'' is the first collaboration between alternative rock artist Matthew Sweet and Bangles singer/guitarist Susanna Hoffs. Released by Shout! Factory in 2006, the album contains 15 cover versions of songs from the 1960s ...
''. The album was released in April 2006. On July 18, they appeared on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' to promote the album and tour. The duo released another album ''
Under the Covers, Vol. 2'' on July 21, 2009, which included covers of songs by
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epo ...
,
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include " Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Th ...
,
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
and others. In 2012 ''
Under the Covers, Vol. 3'' was released.
In 2013, Hoffs collaborated with Sweet and
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his rol ...
for a cover of the traditional "Marianne" for the
Sea shanty
A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...
-compilation ''
Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys''.
Personal life
Hoffs has been married to filmmaker
Jay Roach
Mathew Jay Roach (born June 14, 1957) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the ''Austin Powers'' film series, '' Meet the Parents'', '' Dinner for Schmucks'', '' The Campaign'', '' Trumbo'', and '' Bombshell''.
Roach also e ...
since 1993.
They have two sons. Roach
converted to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. ...
upon marrying her.
Hoffs is a vegetarian.
Discography
Albums
Singles
Filmography and appearances
References
External links
The Banglesofficial website
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffs, Susanna
Living people
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American women guitarists
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from California
American acoustic guitarists
American Jews
American women pop singers
American women rock singers
American women singer-songwriters
American rock guitarists
American rock songwriters
American film actresses
American television actresses
Film producers from California
Jewish American actresses
Jewish American musicians
Jewish rock musicians
Jewish women singers
Rhythm guitarists
Guitarists from Los Angeles
Singers from Los Angeles
University of California, Berkeley alumni
The Bangles members
Rainy Day (band) members
Singer-songwriters from California
1959 births
Ming Tea members