Songoftheday 9/15/14 - Six o'clock already I was just in the middle of a dream, I was kissin' Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream...

The Bangles - "Manic Monday"
from the album Different Light (1986)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #2 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14

Today's Song of the Day comes from the all-female rock band the Bangles, who started out in Los Angeles in the early 80s with lead singer Susanna Hoffs along with sisters Debbi and Vicki Peterson. After releasing an EP and recruiting Micki Steele, who played guitar in the original incarnation of the girl-punk pioneer group the Runaways, the Bangles released their debut album, All Over the Place, in 1984. The record got a little bit of attention, more so in England, where they had a couple of minor hits including the #79 single "Going Down To Liverpool", Touring with Cyndi Lauper, the women caught the eye of Prince, who gave them a song for their next album, Different Light. Credited under the moniker "Christopher", "Manic Monday" was a slice of psychedelic jangle-pop that was even more radio-friendly than most of his own Around The World In A Day album. With a universal theme (a "pre-meme", if you will) of hating the beginning of the work-week, it was a natural to air on the radio, but damn it was a great pop record to boot, with even the Purple One's subtle sexual lyrical flashes ("let's go make some noise") in the mix..

"Manic Monday" became the first big hit for the Bangles, reaching the runner-up spot on the American pop chart in April of 1986. The song that kept it from #1? Prince's own "Kiss". The single also made the top-10 on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart in Billboard magazine. Overseas, the record also stopped at #2 in England, Canada, Germany, and Ireland. And of course it remains a Monday-morning radio staple since then, ensuring Prince's mortgage is paid off till kingdom come.

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Here's the girls live in 1986 touring behind the album...

...and from another show at the House Of Blues more recently...

Christian rockers Relient K actually rocked out the song harder for a covers compilation in 2006, name-checking Quiet Riot in the process..

Just this year British singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor did a sweet cover of the song...

..and finally, back to the Bangles from a 2010 concert, after Steele had left the band...

Up tomorrow: The biggest Austrian artist of the 20th century celebrates the biggest Austrian artist of the 18th century.