word.

You know what was the best thing about Pretenders 1. The way each song introduced the next. Seamless. For debut albums I'd put it up there with Boston & "Appetite For Destruction."

Same!

add their third also

That line up with Malcolm was really good. Shame it only lasted for part of an album (think Tony Butler did most of the bass tracks on Learning to Crawl) and one tour.

i take that to mean she gave them drugs.

You can kind of see the story of the Pretenders in their videos. With the degeneration of Pete Farndon. The first one, "Stop Your Sobbing," Chrissie seems shy, Pete is the camera hog; him and guitar virtuoso James Honeyman-Scott looking whip lean and cocky. With each video Farndon looks worse, he's the one having the relationship with Crissie H.. But he's unraveling due to........Anything beyond that is their personal business. I did notice on the last videos James H.S looking a little blurry eyed.

@@brianmallen8887 Saw them in 1981 at the Palladium theatre in NYC. Pretenders II tour.

@@MarceloRomero360 When you got guys and girls in the band and they start banging, a la Fleetwood Mac and Heart, No Doubt, Jefferson Airplane ect. things can't stay the same. If the lead singer is a girl and she don't write songs then it can be dicey. If the singer writes the songs, plays an instrument then it's pretty much her band. I bet Pete Farndon felt that preasure, seeing Chrissie taking up with Ray Davies.

Last comment about The Pretenders. The band shoulda called it quits after the second guy died. Sure they fired Pete before he o.d in the bathtub. But still the had to hope he'd cleaned up if he didn't burn too many bridges. Losing Chrissie personally and James had to be crushing to Pete F. Even if he was fucking up there's no Pretenders 2 without him. On Pretenders 1 P.F. shows what a base virtuosic sounds like, he's the rocket fuel that powers the ship. You got two guitar players in a band, there chemistry is vital. The Pretenders had that. You figured that the real spectacular licks had to be J.H-S. and that is probably right. But C.H. blended well with J. H-S and P.F. ...Yeah, this is a band that soulda quit in '81, Chrissie goes solo, "Back On The Chain Gang" and that "I'm Turning 33" song were all her anyways. "The Chrissie H. Experience."

It’s very modest and respectful of her to say that. The pretenders have continued to create great original music so for me, they have to be the greatest tribute band of all time.

Hey Brian, thanks fot sharing! Great story!

And their 3rd album was almost as good. Considering what they had just gone through, that is a bit of a miracle. And Robbie McIntosh was a phenomenal replacement for Honeyman-Scott.

Thanks Marcelo. If that third album had "Back on the Chain Gang" then yeah, well done. Obviously I'm not the kind of fan that takes a deep dive into anyone's music. "for breaking us apart.....whahh wha." Yeah that last chorus on "Chain Gang" gets to me. It's obviously her ode to Pete and Jimmy. Her fallen brothers. One of which Chrissie was intimate with who died in a bathtub with a needle in his arm. Since I lived "New Wave" meaning I tried to dress like it, and in my mind I was always trying to reconcile what the fuck it was, I knew The Pretenders were in there. "Talk Of The Town" captured new wave the best to me. I'm telling you this cause that's exactly what I thought the first time I heard it. Brand new. There was a real distant, existential vibe about that song. It's not meant to be understood. "You've changed...your place in this world." Yeah that song goes way beyond "New Wave," or "Punk Rock," "New Romantics,""post-punk" sensibilities. Or any other label. .In the 70's Chrissy Hyde was hangjng out with Johnny Rotten and Sid Viscous at that "Sex" boutique owned by Malcolm McLaren and Vivien Westwood. Where punk rock was invented. So Chrissy got around. Just like the way The Sex Pistols painted themselves into a corner with "Never Mind The Bollucks," I mean how do you follow that? The Pretenders certainly faced the same dilemma with Pretenders 1 & 2. .....Big time rock star pressure is something beyond labels that curses them all. After two seismic albums, even if Farnden and Honeywell Scott hadn't succumbed to drugs, there's no guarantee of future success. I think that pressure is what destroyed Pete and Jimmy.

They couldnt name them all because there are so many but im sure hes included in the list.

Did you mean that The Pretenders DON’T sound like The Pretenders unless he’s in the band?

​@@MsAppassionata Yes, but you're right to ask because I didn't explain why. First, I'm not the only person to note this. Chrissie recalled that at the first rehearsal with Martin: "We plugged in and started playing 'Precious', and I remember clearly, I had to turn around and face the wall, I was laughing so hard, because as soon as Martin started playing with us, I knew this was it. We had the band." He was so important to the sound of the band that when he injured his hand in 1981, they postponed an entire tour rather than simply hiring a replacement. That cost a LOT of $$ and good will. And yes she rightfully sacked him in 1986 when his playing deteriorated over the inevitable depression he felt after his friends/bandmates Honeyman-Scott and Farndon died, but after he returned in 1994, she said, "We went through one song and it was the same buzz as when we first played together. No one has that swing and feel." Adam Seymour, who was playing lead guitar at the time said simply, "When Martin sat down, it began to feel like a real band."

@@MsAppassionata no he posted right....pretending

not that nite

She doesn’t need the Hall of Fame she has self worth.

Oh wow ! Really ?

​@@redcropukRead his autobiography/memoirs. Great book

@@wisecracker1814 Thank you. I will.