In 1987 the Bangles were huge having released major hit singles and albums during the previous three years.  The group sounded great, looked even better, and I was in love with Susanna Hoffs (far left hand side in the picture above).  I know, I know….but how could you not fall in love with that?

The girls were picked to record a song for the soundtrack of Less Than Zero.  Instead of writing an original song for the movie, they decided to cover a song that was more than twenty years old…..A Hazy Shade Of Winter. The song was written by Paul Simon and recorded by Simon and Garfunkel in 1966.  At first glance the pick was a strange one.  The original was an acoustic song and sounded nothing like a Bangles song but the girls were not looking to do a note for note cover…..they had plans.  With the help of producer Rick Rubin they turned the song into a rocker with a killer riff.  Let’s listen…….

The song was a huge hit, rising to #2 on the Billboard singles chart but amazingly enough was not included on any Bangles album until they released a greatest hits album.

Amazingly the Bangles cover was a much bigger hit that Simon and Garfunkel’s original recording that topped out at #13 on the 1966 Billboard singles chart and was later included on their Bookends album.

Let’s listen to the original…….

I love both versions of the song but have to say that The Bangles deserve a lot of credit for reworking the song and making it their own!  As always, let me know what you think….