::: Welcome to the Bangles :::

V & A Chronicles Part 3
(Angels and Strippers)

Amanda: So then we started writing songs, that's true, before we thought about actually doing a band. We were just gonna be Simon & Garfunkel-only I couldn't sing. There's this tiny little problem…

Vicki: You could sing…

A: Not as well…
V: We recruited some other poor, unsuspecting people.
A: To play the flower show.
V: The flower show!
A: No, no, no. Before that there was the piano recital.
V: The piano recital!
A: What was your teacher's name?
V: God only knows. Another poor music teacher who tried so hard.
A: But she let you perform on guitar at a piano recital.

V: I know, it was ridiculous--again I'm in the wrong place, wrong time-I don't know why I was taking piano. But I did learn to read music, which was fun. Fast forwarding another fifty years when the Bangles just last week did a quartet, a string quartet on one of our songs for the brand new CD and the fabulously talented David Campbell doing the arrangement, and I got to sit there and follow through because I could actually read the music and I was very pleased with myself and that all comes from PJ's music in Northridge and Mrs. Whatsername in high school.

A: Some lady. But she let us perform, and it was you, me, and Julie and Michelle, right? And we played a song that we wrote, and I can't remember which one.
V: All on guitars.
A: All playing acoustic guitars. And do you remember we went to McDonald's afterwards, and that lady came up and she said, "You're gonna be famous". Do you remember that?
V: I do…
A: Which was so weird.
V: (whispering mysteriously) She said, "I saw you. And you're going to be famous."
A: Yeah.
V: She was an angel of GOD!
A: She was! It was so great…
V: But we were absolutely convinced that she was right.
A: Oh, absolutely.
A&V (together): Of course!
A: So we had a sundae, celebrating…
V: A little fat and sodium to celebrate our future fortune.
A: So. Let's jump forward. Favorite moment playing before Bangs. Bangles.
V: (pauses, thinking) Was the time we played for the stripper, was that the Bangs?

A: Oh, that was us. That was a trip. That was at Laird.
V: That was at my day job, at Laird Studios, which is now I think Culver Studios in Culver City. And my boss, God bless him, thought it would be appropriate to hire a stripper to be at the birthday party for one of our co-workers, and hired our band-
A: Well, first we were just playing, I mean, we weren't initially backing up a stripper, we did a set just by ourselves.
V: We did do a set, right. We were supposed to play this party.
A: Right.
V: Which we did. But we knew about the stripper.
A: I don't think I did. You may have…Somebody just came up to us and said, "there's a stripper now, you have to play something."
V: Oh, you're right, maybe we didn't know.
A: And she was quite…a stripper.
V: (unsure) Yeah…
A: She was rolling around on the floor…
V: I wouldn't know, I mean my post-party stripping experience is rather limited…
A: Yes, mine too…
V: That's not true, you had that other career, Amanda.
A: (sarcastically) Oh, right, right.
V: You don't talk about it too much…But yeah, she had a little consultation with us before she started her show, and she said she wanted to start off with something sorta sultry and end up with an up tempo number.
A: Right. It was very embarrassing. We played "He's Got a Secret", which at the time was still "Johnny's Got a Secret".

V: And I think we did "I'm On Fire" by Dwight Twilley as the sultry number!
A: It was just the three of us, wasn't it?
V: It was the power trio. Debbi was involved in this historical moment.
A: I was just sort of averting my eyes…
V: I was fascinated.
A: It reminded me of "Magical Mystery Tour."
V: Oh yeah, the really embarrassing stripper scene…because this was old school, this was not state-of-the-art stripping. I mean, stripping has come so far.
A: You told me you had hadn't seen any strippers since then.
V: I lied…

This month's recipe comes courtesy of the wonderful Indian cookbook, Curried Favors by Maya Kaimal MacMillan. The spices play nicely with the sweetness of the coconut and peas, and you can adjust the amount of "heat" by using more or less of the chilies and cayenne.

the PEAS THOREN

	¼ cup grated unsweetened coconut 1 green chili (Serrano, Thai, or jalapeno), split lengthwise 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with side of knife Spice mixture: ½ teaspoon ground cumin ¼ teaspoon ground coriander 1/8 teaspoon red pepper (cayenne) 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric 1-teaspoon salt ¼ to ½ cup water, as needed 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 2 dried red peppers 10 curry leaves or 2 bay leaves 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon uncooked long-grain rice 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen peas, thawed
In a small bowl combine coconut, green chili, crushed garlic, spice mixture, and salt with enough water to make a moist ball; set aside. In a covered wok or large frying pan over high heat, heat mustard seeds, dried red peppers, and curry (or bay) leaves. When mustard seeds begin to pop, add rice and stir until it turns white, 20 to 30 seconds. Add peas, turn heat down to medium-high, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add coconut-spice mixture and stir frequently until peas are done, about 2-3 minutes. Avoid overcooking.
Preparation time: 30 minutes Serves: 6