Susanna Hoffs and sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson had each been in bands before coming together in Los Angeles in December 1980. The impetus was two classified advertisements in the weekly paper "The Recycler". One had been placed by Hoffs, and the only person to respond was Annette Zilinskas, and the other was by Lynn Elkind, the Petersons' housemate and a departing member of their then band Those Girls. When Hoffs called in response to Elkind's ad, Vicki Peterson answered the phone, and in their conversation, they discovered a great deal of common interests; when Hoffs spoke to Elkind after Peterson gave her the message, they did not have the same common interests and Hoffs then formed a new band with the Petersons. The Those Girls bass guitarist, Vicki Peterson's lifelong best friend Amanda Hills, had also left the band (now a history professor, Amanda Hills Podany has performed as a guest with the Bangles on a few rare occasions) and this left an opening for Zilinskas. The resulting (and also current as of 2019) lineup first performed as The Colours in 1981.