Susanna Hoffs

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Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Hoffs, 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Susanna Lee Hoffs
Born	January 17, 1959 (1959-01-17) (age 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Origin	Los Angeles, California
Genres	Rock Pop
Instruments	Voice Guitar
Years active	1981–present
Associated acts	The Bangles Ming Tea Matthew Sweet
Website	http://www.thebangles.com

Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.

Biography

Early life

Hoffs was born on the Westside of Los Angeles, California to a Jewish family.^[1] Her mother, Tamar Simon Hoffs, played Beatles 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. In 1980, she graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art. She eventually joined Vicki Peterson and Debbi Peterson in what would later become the pop music group The Bangles.

Career with The Bangles

The Bangles' first recorded release was a self-titled EP in 1982 on the Faulty Products Label. 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 in 1986, which produced the hit singles "Manic Monday" and "Walk Like an Egyptian".

In 1986, Susanna Hoffs co-wrote the song "I Need a Disguise" for the album Belinda for Belinda Carlisle, formerly of the all-girl group The Go-Go's.

With increasing fame, Hoffs also appeared on the covers of numerous magazines, and the Rickenbacker 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 Bangles released their third album Everything in 1989, with their biggest-selling single "Eternal Flame", which was co-written and sung by Hoffs. The Bangles disbanded a year later in 1990.

In the late 1990s, 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 movie in 1999. Subsequently, they announced their decision to reunite full-time in 2000. Their fourth album, Doll Revolution, was released in 2003.

Solo career

Hoffs released a solo album, When You're a Boy, in 1991, which wasn't the commercial success that many people had imagined, although it did spawn a U.S. Top 40 hit with "My Side of the Bed", and also landed decently in Europe. Hoffs recorded another album during 1993/1994, prior to leaving Columbia Records, but it went unreleased. In 1996, Hoffs released her second solo album, Susanna Hoffs. Although it received some praise in the media and yielded a minor U.S. hit with a cover of the Lightning Seeds single "All I Want", but it was not a big commercial success.

Hoffs is the subject of Freddy Blohm's "The Corner of Her Eye". N. N. Maddox released a song entitled "Susanna Hoffs" and she is mentioned in "I'd Love to Kiss the Bangles" by The Saw Doctors.

Hoffs appeared in the first Austin Powers movie as a member of the fictitious 1960s rock group Ming Tea, fronted by the title character. In real life, Ming Tea consisted of actor Mike Myers, Hoffs, Canadian musician/producer Christopher Ward, and singer Matthew Sweet. This group made a number of television performances (with Myers in character as Powers) and had a minor hit with the song "BBC". Hoffs returned with the group in the second and third Austin Powers films. Hoffs also did a cover of "The Look of Love" for the soundtrack of the first Austin Powers movie.

Hoffs recorded a cover of the Oingo Boingo song "We Close Our Eyes" for the Buffy The Vampire Slayer soundtrack.

Hoffs also contributed a song to the film Red Roses and Petrol (written and directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs) titled "The Water is Wide." The song can be heard in the closing credits and is available on the film's soundtrack.

In February 2009, Hoffs appeared on stage at the Key Club in Los Angeles, singing with thenewno2, the "post-Bristol" psychedelic blues band lead by Dhani Harrison. This show can be seen on stickam.com.

Sid n Susie

In 2006, Hoffs teamed up with fellow Ming Tea rocker Matthew Sweet, and under the name "Sid n Susie" they recorded fifteen cover versions of classic rock songs from the 1960s and 1970s for an album titled Under the Covers, Vol. 1. 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, Carly Simon, Rod Stewart and more.

Personal life

In 1993, she married Jay Roach, the director of the Austin Powers movies and Meet the Parents and producer of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She and her husband have two sons, Jackson (born February 9, 1995) and Sam (born November 10, 1998). ^[2]

Discography

Albums

Singles

DVDs and films

References

External links

• The Bangles official website
• Susanna Hoffs at the Internet Movie Database
• Susanna Hoffs British site