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Cover of Different Light by The Bangles — Cover: Different Light

Song · The Bangles

“Manic Monday” by The Bangles

From the album Different Light (1985)

“Manic Monday” by The Bangles appears on 19 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1986 and 2023. It was first released in 1985 on the album Different Light. Its best result is #57 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #121 alternative song of 1986 and #1,850 alternative song of all time.

19countdowns

8stations

#57best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1986–2023years charted

Watch

The Bangles - Manic Monday (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (TheBanglesVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Manic Monday" was the song that broke the Bangles, the first single off their second album Different Light, sent out by Columbia in late December 1985. Prince wrote it under the name "Christopher", first intending it for Apollonia 6 in 1984, and it's pure, deceptively simple pop: a woman dragging herself out of bed for work, wishing the weekend had one more day in it.

Susanna Hoffs sings it with a sleepy, winsome charm, while she and Vicki Peterson chime on guitars over Michael Steele's bass and Debbi Peterson's drums. David Kahne produced and David Leonard mixed. Critics praised the songwriting and the singing, and some heard the Mamas & the Papas' "Monday, Monday" in it. It stalled at number two in America, kept off the top by Prince's own "Kiss". His demo came out in 2019 on Originals.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

#241 of the '80s

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1986	57	KROQ Los Angeles, CA	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986	107

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1988	102	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)	496
1989	353	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)	495
1998	422	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)	488
1999	1006	107.7 The End	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	1077
1999	912	CFNY 102.1 The Edge	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999)	1002
2001	128	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	500
2002	572	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)	2002
2003	767	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)	2044
2004	494	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	500
2007	1570	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	1496	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1515	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	1545	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	1613	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1673	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1739	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2021	282	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s	909
2023	172	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s	850

Charting alongside it in 1986

Best songs of 1986 →

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