WITH HITS SUCH AS WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN, MANIC MONDAY AND ETERNAL FLAME, THE BANGLES WERE ONE OF THE BIGGEST BANDS OF THE EIGHTIES. THEY’RE ALL STILL ACTIVE, AND SUSANNA HOFFS HAS JUST RELEASED COMPLETELY UNDER THE COVERS, A QUADRUPLECD BOX SET OF THE SIXTIES, SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES COVER VERSION LPS SHE HAS MADE ALONGSIDE POWER POP VETERAN MATTHEW SWEET…

PAUL LESTER

There have been three Under The Covers albums so far… how come you’re so into cover versions?

Everybody loves covers. Musicians are generally obsessed with music, and so the chance to do some beloved songs is an incredible experience. Even when we were with The Bangles we would do droney, reverb-drenched covers of Beach Boys songs. I think it’s part of the process of figuring out who you are as musicians.

Which decade did you prefer doing covers from: the Sixties, the Seventies, or the Eighties?

The Sixties have always been the touchstone era for everything and really formed The Bangles’ sound, and I still listen to Sixties music every day. I’m painfully unaware of what’s been going on since the Nineties. I lived through the Eighties as a musician, but I’m so entrenched – and I’m not necessarily proud of it – in the Sixties that it’s often prevented me from knowing about other things. That said, both Matthew and I were taken by surprise when we realised how essential the Seventies were to us. It was such a diverse era.

There’s a distinct lack of synthpop on Under The Covers – no Human League, Soft Cell, Depeche Mode…

We couldn’t do everything! That’s one of the sweet little tortures of doing this. There’s an endless sea of songs we want to do, but can’t.