MARCH 2002 ARCHIVE: 
Glitter Years - With The Beastie Boys

While packing up the trunks at Bangle Manor, we came across some interesting photographs of the Bangles hanging out with various celebrities. Always nosy, we cornered Susanna and got her to give us all the gossip. Keep tuned to Susanna's bio page for ongoing installments of our journey into "The Glitter Years"...

Incriminating Photo #1

SUSANNA: "This photo was taken in 1987 at our Double Platinum party, which also happened to be held on "Bangles Day" in Los Angeles (declared by Mayor Tom Bradley on February 23rd). We were on Columbia, and the label had invited all their recording artists to the party. And, you know, these guys had just recorded a little record, what was it? Oh, yeah, I think it was called Licensed To Ill? Was that it? (Susanna is laughing very hard at this point.) Yeah, just a little record, no big whoop… So they decided to, y'know, hang with the Bangles at their Double Platinum party! You can see a small clip from this night on our "VH1 Behind the Music" episode. The party was held in this underground club, which I think I remember you accessed by going into the parking lot of the Beverly Center. I may be wrong. (She was right. Check out the scan of the actual rhinestone-encrusted party invitation below, generously lent to us by John Calacci.)

And I was wearing the dress that they made for me for "The Allnighter". That's kind of funny …but you know, back then, designers didn't just call you up and give you clothes! You had to like, scramble the hour before you went to a party, you weren't just hooked up with the right gear, it was like a major deal! (She is pretending to be very upset, but she keeps giggling, so we're not fooled.) Half our lives were spent going to thrift stores on Melrose, looking for what to wear. (We wondered if this was the first recorded Beastie/Bangle encounter…) I hadn't met the Beasties before this, but we all became kind of close - I ended up knowing them pretty well - Mike is married to Tamra Davis who did the "In Your Room" video, and of course Ione Skye was married to the other Adam… I saw them open for Madonna. Our circles became tight, since I was friends with people they were close with. (I couldn't help but ask about the rather cozy pose she and Adam Yauch are in…) Oh, I don't know…I was feeling uninhibited; plenty of Champagne had been flowing courtesy of Columbia… It was a big night (she starts laughing again), I mean, I think even Mickey Dolenz might have been there!