chrissie hynde Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

The Pretenders “Get Close”

sfilzen — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 16:57:56 +0000

The Pretenders “Get Close” 1986. Today, September 7th, is Chrissie Hynde’s 70th birthday (b. 1951). Get Close, released just about 35 years ago in Oct. ‘86, was The Pretenders’ fourth LP. Hynde was the only consistent member of the band during the album’s recording (there were deaths, firings…a fair bit of drama) and she wrote the majority of material. There are two cover songs, one by Carlos Alomar, “Light of the Moon,” and one by Jimi Hendrix, “Room Full of Mirrors.” Hydne’s friend Meg Keene wrote “Hymn to Her,” a power ballad released as a single in the UK where it hit #8. Two other singles were released as well, “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” which went to #10 in the US and the UK, and “My Baby” which reached #64 on the US Billboard chart (though went to #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart) and #84 in the UK. It’s an OK album overall but definitely not as strong or as catchy as their earlier releases, most likely because of the personnel drama mentioned above.

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Pretenders “Pretenders II”

sfilzen — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 18:56:43 +0000

Pretenders “Pretenders II” released 40 years ago today, August 15th, 1981. Pretenders II is the Pretenders second LP. It hit no. 7 in the UK and went to no. 10 in the US. It includes the previously UK-release singles “Talk of the Town” from 1980 and “Message of Love” (one of my favorite Pretenders songs) from early ‘81; those two songs were also on the March ‘81 EP Extended Play. Other singles from Pretenders II were “Day After Day” (a UK-only single), “Louie Louie” (a US-only single and NOT a cover song), and “I Go to Sleep.” “I Go to Sleep” was written by Ray Davies in ‘67 – Chrissie Hynde was dating him at the time. Pretenders’ version went to #7 in the US; Davies never recorded it with The Kinks but an unreleased version does exist here.

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Pretenders “Extended Play”

sfilzen — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 13:25:17 +0000

Pretenders “Extended Play” released 40 years ago today, March 30th, 1981. The US-only EP came out between the Pretenders’ first and second albums (Pretenders, 1980 and Pretenders II, 1981) and includes singles released in both the UK and the US: “Message of Love” (#11 UK, #5 US Mainstream Rock chart) and “Talk of the Town” (#8 UK); both songs also appeared on Pretenders II. The EP has the B-sides to both of those singles – “Porcelain” and the Bo Diddley-esque “Cuban Slide” as well as a live version of “Precious” that they recorded at Central Park on August 30th, 1980. “Precious” originally appeared on Pretenders and was a single in some European countries.

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the Pretenders “Pretenders”

sfilzen — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 18:46:38 +0000

the Pretenders “Pretenders” released on this date, January 19th, 1980. Their debut album, it charted at #1 in the UK the week of its release and reached the top10 in the US. The single “Brass in Pocket” was the album’s biggest hit, reaching #14 on the Billboard pop singles chart.

I guess I like the Pretenders alright; Pretenders is a hard-driving, aggressive pop album with whispers of punk influences. But it is Chrissie Hynde who really fascinates me. Not just for her songwriting talent and unique voice but for her Forrest Gump-like romp through the Zeitgeist of 70′s counterculture history. I believe the story goes is that she was at Kent State University shooting in 1970, then moved to England in 1973, landing a job with Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood working at their SEX store. She almost married Johnny Rotten and then Sid Vicious. In ‘76 she auditioned for 999 and nearly became a member of what would become The Damned and teamed up briefly with Mick Jones of The Clash. Hynde then capped off in the early 80′s having a daughter with Ray Davies of the Kinks and then marrying Jim Kerr of Simple Minds. But NONE of this made her famous – it is her own band, songwriting and voice that brought her into the pop culture lexicon.

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