The Bangles – Eternal Flame

Music video by The Bangles performing Eternal Flame (La Flama Enterna).
(C) 1988 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

“Eternal Flame” – Single by the Bangles from the album Everything
B-side: “What I Meant to Say” / “Walk Like an Egyptian” (extended dance mix)
Released: January 23, 1989
Recorded: 1988
Studio: Studio 55, Ocean Way Recording (Los Angeles, California)
Label: CBS, Liberation (Australia)
Composer: Tom Kelly
Lyricists: Susanna Hoffs, Billy Steinberg
Producer: Davitt Sigerson
Charted No.1 in US, No.1 in UK, No.2 in Canada, No. 5 in France, No.1 in Ireland, No.4 in West Germany

“Eternal Flame” debuted at number 56 on the Hot 100 issue dated February 4, 1989, when “In Your Room” was ranked at number 45, and rose to number one after ten weeks, making the Bangles the third all-female group to top the Hot 100 multiple times, after the Shirelles and the Supremes. In addition “Eternal Flame” set a record for the song’s co-writers: Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, as the first songwriting team to score a number-one Hot 100 hit five years in a row. “Eternal Flame” also afforded the Bangles a two-week tenure at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.

The Bangles announced their breakup on September 21, 1989, less than six months after “Eternal Flame” topped the US chart on April 1. The group was riven with creative tension and generally overwhelmed. When Hoffs and bass player Michael Steele didn’t attend Debbi Peterson’s wedding in the summer of 1989, it was clear their relationship was beyond repair. The split came when Hoffs told her bandmates she was leaving to pursue a solo career, which she did.

Hoffs’ solo efforts underwhelmed, with her biggest hit, “My Side of the Bed,” topping out at #30 in the US. She got the Bangles back together in 1998 to record “Get The Girl” for the movie Austin Powers 2, The Spy Who Shagged Me, which was directed by her husband, Jay Roach. The band stayed together with a much lighter schedule, issuing a new album in 2003 and another in 2011.