Tag: Music

The Bangles

MAX: I think we should date.
LORELAI: Why?
MAX: Because I think we both want to.
LORELAI: Well I want to be in the Bangles but that doesn’t mean I quit my job and get a guitar and ruin my life to be a Bangle, does it?

The Bangles are an all-female American pop-rock band formed in 1981. Their classic line-up is Michael Steele, Susanna Hoffs, Debbi Peterson, and Vicki Peterson. They are best known for their 1980s hits such as Manic Monday and Walk Like an Egyptian.

Max talks about The Bangles being broken up, and while they did break up around 1990, they re-formed in 1998 and are still together. Lorelai and Max don’t seem to be aware of this yet. The Bangles breaking up and getting back together mirrors Lorelai and Max’s future relationship.

This is the first time we learn of Lorelai’s love for The Bangles, and her desire to be in the band.

Cinnamon’s Wake

The episode title is a play on Finnegan’s Wake, the 1939 comic avant-garde novel by Irish author James Joyce. Experimental in style, it is considered one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language. Upon publication, critics were baffled and hostile, but it is now thought to be Joyce’s literary masterpiece.

The title of the novel comes from a 19th century comical Irish ballad, about a man named Finnegan who falls from a ladder and is thought to be dead, but comes back to life at his own wake. Death and resurrection is a central theme of the novel as well. No such luck for Cinnamon, however.

Pat Benatar

DRELLA: Hey what do you think about Pat Benatar?
LORELAI: Great idea, can she play the harp?

Pat Benatar (born Patricia Andrzejewski in 1953) is an American rock singer, songwriter, and actress. She is best known for her 1980s hits, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Love is a Battlefield, and We Belong.

Lorelai is adding Pat Benatar to the list of music Drella is banned from playing.

B-52s

Lorelai wears a B-52’s (now known as the B-52s) tee-shirt to the parent-teacher night. It’s apparently one she keeps in the car in case of accidents to clothing, and in this case she spilled coffee on herself while driving. The vision of Lorelai sitting half-naked in the car while she changes shirts is a strange one, and we might wonder where and how she managed to do this in a way that nobody noticed.

Perhaps she was able to pull over in the woods on the road to Hartford, or she’s one of those people who think nobody can see them while they’re in a car, despite the windows being made of glass, and happily pick their nose or get undressed in front of others.

The B-52s are an American new wave band formed in 1976, with an original line-up of Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson, and Keith Strickland. They are best known for their 1978 debut single Rock Lobster, and their 1989 hit single Love Shack.

Artie Shaw

DRELLA: I am the Artie Shaw of harpists.

Artie Shaw (1910-2004) was an American musician who grew up in Connecticut, widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz clarinetists of all time. He led one of the most popular big bands through the 1930s and ’40s, and is best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porter’s Begin the Beguine.

A serious artist, Shaw was a perfectionist who was known for forming bands, working to make them successful, and then quickly disbanding them. In 1954 he stopped playing the clarinet, explaining that he had taken the instrument as far as it could go. After World War II, Shaw gradually withdrew from the world of music to pursue a writing career.

This comment may explain why we never see Drella again after this episode – like Artie Shaw, she simply felt she had achieved the pinnacle of success as a harpist and stopped playing. Of course, given her constant rudeness to staff and customers, it is quite believable that Lorelai sacked her. Artie Shaw was apparently a very difficult person as well.

The actor portraying Drella, Alex Borstein, was originally cast as Sookie on Gilmore Girls, playing her in the original, unaired pilot. Borstein was unable to continue in the role as she was still contracted to the sketch comedy show MADtv. Although busy voicing Lois Griffin on Family Guy, Borstein managed to appear as various characters on Gilmore Girls from time to time.

Mozart

Lorelai suggests that Drella play some Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era, who wrote more than 600 works which are regarded as some of the greatest symphonies, operas, choral works, and chamber music of all time. He is extremely popular to this day.

Lorelai’s Forbidden Musical Artists

After stopping Drella from playing Black Sabbath, Lorelai also bans her from playing any compositions by Steely Dan, Boston, and Queen.

Steely Dan is an American jazz rock band founded in 1972 by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Their biggest hit is Rikki Don’t Lose That Number, peaking at #4 in 1974. Steely Dan broke up in 1981; after reuniting in 1993 they continued touring together until the death of Walter Becker in 2017. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Boston is an American rock band founded in 1976 by Tom Scholz, with many of their songs becoming staples on classic rock radio. Their biggest hits include More Than a Feeling (1976), Don’t Look Back (1978), and Amanda (1981).

Queen is a British rock band founded in 1970, with their classic line-up being Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon. They became a success with their self-titled album in 1974, and the 1975 A Night at the Opera brought them international acclaim. Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) was their first single to go to #1, still regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. They are one of the biggest-selling bands ever, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.