The Story Behind 'Manic Monday': How Prince Handed the Bangles Their First Hit

Prince didn't just admire The Bangles from a distance. He tracked them down at a show, jumped onstage to play with them, and later left a song at a front desk that would become their biggest hit.

It's been 40 years since "Manic Monday" became The Bangles' breakout hit, and the band has Prince to thank for it.

Susanna Hoffs, the group's co-founder, lead vocalist and guitarist, recently detailed how Prince became a fan of the all-female band and eventually gave them the song that changed their career.

The Bangles (l-r): Debbi Peterson, Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson, Michael Steele on June 14, 1986 in Munich | Source: Getty Images

Hoffs first encountered Prince's music in 1984, when she heard "When Doves Cry" on the radio not long after The Bangles' debut album. That same week, she learned Prince had discovered the band. He tracked them down at one of their Hollywood shows and jumped onstage to jam with them during "Hero Takes a Fall."

What had caught his attention, she later found out, was the band's music video for that song, which she called "the most cheesy '80s video," featuring her in a French maid outfit. "He was a fan of the band," she said.

Prince performs onstage during the 1984 Purple Rain Tour on November 4, 1984, in Detroit, Michigan | Source: Getty Images

While recording their second album, "Different Light," Prince sent word he'd written a song for them. Hoffs went to pick it up, but Prince was busy recording, so he left a cassette at the studio's front desk. It featured him singing the "Manic Monday" demo himself, marked with his own copyright insignia in red ink.

"We Bangles hovered around the cassette machine... and we were smitten with the song," Hoffs recalled. The band made some adjustments to the song to make it their own before releasing it in 1986, and it became their first radio hit.

The Bangles formed in the early 1980s after sisters Debbi and Vicki Peterson placed an ad looking for a female musician, and Hoffs answered. Micki Steele later joined on bass, and the four recorded 1984's "All Over the Place."