one of the greatest new bands at the time , and it was gone as soon as it began. the original pretenders were the best

It is sad that Pete and Jimmy are gone. R.I.P. guys.

I love the smoking during this interview. So un corporate. I still have their first album; it's one of my most treasured possessions. And Martin Chambers drumming is exquisite. Pete and James, you're much missed.

You'd probably not know it by the videos but Pete Farndon was a really intelligent guy. I'd never seen an interview with him until now. What an amazing era for music. Such a great club that brought the British invasion together with New Wave. The influence was so present and powerful. If you're a musician nowadays you owe it to yourself and your listeners to study this era thoroughly. it's a giant treasure chest.

This is a good honest interview by JJ. He shows that he actually listened to the music and has real opinions and questions,not just trying to play to the guys or make sensation. It was still about the MUSIC. Where as today, to so much.

Oh my God Pete Farndon was one cool dude

pete farndon seemed in good shape here

Damn! You could fight crime with those side burns.

Pete Farndon seemed a wild character.

Aww man why did you do this to me? Really I'm appreciative, this is a great interview done by JJ Jackson RIP Rise In Power also with Pete & James. They have such a sense of humor balanced with seriousness about their art and show the Pretenders were a group, not all about the 'stars' or gimmicks. Martin is so cool and Pete is really funny and not the image of self-absorbtion that his promo pics and videos show. I'm ashamed that I ever thought he was some rocker punk because of his tough guy image. Salutes & love to these guys along with James Honeyman Scott and Chrissie Hynde. JJJ, Pete & James please welcome Bowie, Natalie Cole and Glen Frey warmly to that stadium on the other side.

I was gonna' see them at The Ritz in NYC. The gig was cancelled because Chambers "hurt his hand". In an alternate universe I meet them outside The Ritz, we hang out, I somehow become their best friends. That's my story.

I feel so honored to have seen the original 4 in 1981 about 20 rows back. It broke our hearts when Jimmy left us soon after, then Pete after ..

Martin & Pete were the epitome of cool. I would have been stoked to see Jimmy in the mix. For a brief time, the original Pretenders lineup had that mojo working. The first two albums have aged well.

Two Cool Englishmen. Chambers is one of those superb British drummers that have been around for decades. And they know who they are( if still alive). The Pretenders are a wonderful band.

I was married to Ken Cooper of Brimstone Concert Productions in Calgary when Martin's injury happened and I stayed up all night with Ken rescheduling the Cdn Middle Western tour. Thanks!!

I was at the Philly show the night Martin cut his hand-we talked to the guys when they pulled up in the alley on the side of the Tower Theater they were always nice and loved their fans! The band picked the tour back up in January in Philly and I was back for that show. My buddy and I were the lucky ones-when the house lights went down we rushed the stage, I can remember banging my fists on the stage during Louie Louie - fun times!

great interview. just 8 months after this Pete was booted from the band b/c of drug use. and another 9 months after that, he was dead, in 1983 !! so sad really. he seemed very together here. and to think Keith Richard was a druggie for all those yrs and is still here today !

What a freakin" history this band had! Imagine how completely scary it would be to find yourself as a big time rock star drummer and suddenly the tendons in one of your hands are just about sliced through! The 70's are over, it's been years since Janis and Jimi, and then, three years in, the Pretenders lose two of four members to drugs. Whoa.

I remember Pete Farndon sadly dying as I copied his look in the late 70s with the punk ted hair etc..My band were doing a radio interview in 1983 when the news item before us just announced Farndon's death..it really threw me and I still think he is much under appreciated..Mystery Achievement was a killer bass line..not sure if he or Chrissie Hynde wrote the line but it is a classic..much missed Pete!!!

Pete actually attended public school and was highly intelligent. He had a great sense of humour, such a shame drugs killed him and Jimmy. He might not have been technically gifted but I still loved his playing especially on Message of Love. Around this time Pete told Martin he wasn't coping following a break up with Chrissie with her hanging out with new man Ray Davies, Jimmy tried to attack Davies backstage. I don't think he ever got over her and ramped up the heroin use. Martin got ditched by Chrissie a couple of albums later but she brought him back, good move. When MTV was good, I miss those days.

awesome !! Pete farndon is one of my favorite bass players

Pete Farndon looks like out of the Ramones. (And Martin Chambers could have been in that band, incredibly fast drummer)

I think, without exception, everyone who loves The Pretenders feels the same way, post Jimmy & Pete. ‘Middle of the Road’ was a diamond; it lacked the tight rawness, but felt the early timbre, and that was very welcome. Pray up.

Bloody good interview, makes a change from the vacuous airheads on TV today.

Smoking inside a building, the good old days.

Nice to hear accents from my county in rock n roll!

I think he was asking some pretty good questions, that J.J. Jackson. The media back in the day were usually unintelligent about musicians and bands. He actually gave Pete maybe a bit too much credit, asking if he had a "jazz background". But yeah. This is a rare clip.

Didn't expect much from this video from the first minute, but I was really surprised. Another reason to love these guys!

Let this stand as a warning to anyone that wants to dabble in drugs.

Happy birthday, Pete. Still missed.

fucking miss Pete

no doubt, they had a certain rough edge that was never recaptured.

Great interview!!

this is gold!

yea..totally agree with you "as soon as it begun..it was over in the same fashion"...even though they put out 2 cool albums..it seemed the time that they were happening was so brief...sure would've love to seen another 6 or 7 albums from them...but unfortunately..that was never meant to be...((

starting 9;29 chambers nails it - the variety of the material, not playing hard rock all the time. i think chrissie and honeyman were key to that.

Man I still love your channel and website so much! And of course i've stopped stealing your stuff now 😄. I hope all is well my friend, these video's get me through tough times ❤

Pete looked a lot like Chrissie.

I think Chrissy's words about the lalent energy from Jimmy's creativity hanging around for years after he passed shows just how big this band were and could have been. I did hear that after Jimmy's passing Chrissy did consider bringing Pete back.

dam shame Jimmy & Pete couldn't keep their drug use in some sort of check..sad..((..they were so badass back in the day....Talk of the Town...Tattooed Love Boys..etc..

Pete Farndon looks like he could have fit in with the "heavy metal" crowd. If he had lived, I could picture him hanging out with Guns N Roses

LEGENDS

Wow. MTV used to be so good.

Seen these guys open for the Stones at Comiskey in the early 2000's. Chrissy told the audience that it was Pete and James's dream to open for the Stones.

Great interviewer. He knows his stuff.

"shit, I haven't done any shopping" awwwe

chrissie did indeed write the lyrics . but chrissie herself said James Honeyman Scott was responsible for the unique and diverse pretenders music or "sound" . Imho the pretenders first album was their best ever, to this day . they came out with some good singles with robbie MacIntosh on quitar . and even in 1986 with Crissie's had a few good tunes on album GET CLOSE "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "My Baby". Although the album was too over produced. it had an overlay that was too fucking i don't know what...yeah like dolby use to sound like if you know what i mean because i can't put it into words? different line up but still including macintosh . refreshing that she the rest of the band for this album and perhaps some live performances were black including Blair Cunningham - drums, T. M. Stevens - bass guitar , and Bernie Worrell on keyboards. but after that she sorta went of society . In the 2000's she made a comeback . you can tell how bad young guitarists are these days because thats all she has to chose from for her live shows.

The Pretenders were so great there first 2 albums after that kind of lost there identity and never really got it back. Chrissie kept the band alive through the name but that's all it is now same name different band not just the musicians the whole feel of the band.

I was obsessed w MTV from the second it launched. Remember the 24 hour countdown? Well, when I saw those first Pretenders videos I instantly fell in love w Chrissie and immediately bought those records. I highly recommend her audio book “Reckless”.

changin tires ,upstairs bro I shot my mouth off and you showed me what that hole was for

Ironic' " Pete" They could replace me.

rockers, rolling

Breaks my heart. But I am life long fan. " Can you see it' in the home" the Punky party! X

Pete says 'they could replace me'....and they did...shame it went down like that

Martin Chambers looks like the punk in the bar fight at the at of ‘The Ninth Configuration’.

look at them side burns

Where is James?

Love the boys. Spoof from Mtv?

Now I know where Conan O'Brien based his appearance

Agreed, Robert. What could have been....

To lose Jimmy in ‘82 and Pete in ‘83 would probably have ended lesser bands but Chrissie was always there.

So, those 'next few weeks' were Pete's undoing? He doesn't seem stoned here. By December he had a sleeve on left arm. 'By early 1982 Farndon's drug use was causing increasingly strained relations with his bandmates. He became increasingly belligerent and, according to Hynde, "was in bad shape. He was really not someone you could work with." manager Dave Hill fired Farndon on 14 June 1982'

God bless the PRETENDS!!!

Are you sure that isn't Hall and Oates?

anyone remember pete playing with aussie band the bushwackers

Pete reminds me of Sid Vicious so much

Tight rhythm section, even here!

One of the best bands ever. But not me baby, I’m too precious, f*** off

​@PoppysGuitar There weren't drug issues as far as I know. In fact from what he's said what happened with Pete and Jimmy scared him. I know he got divorced and the loss of the other two sent him off the rails a bit. Chrissie was quite mean to him though yeah. She did admit the band didn't even sound like The Pretenders anymore once Martin left and they became an American band really, then she was relying on U.S writers to get her hits again. Martin is a great performer too and his backing vocals are underrated. For me they haven't got the same appeal without him but I do like the guitarist and bassist she uses now, they do sound like The Pretenders should sound I think. I do wish she'd have treated him better though, it must have been hard for him being hired and fired so often.

Pete Farndon looks like Christie Hynde’s brother.

At 5.34 Pete, ‘they could replace me’, guess what?

Pete died doing a speedball while in the bath, passing out and slipping underwater. I've never done drugs due to him and JAMES dying from drugs.

hah, they're in bits..

CH should never have sacked Pete over smack. Considering she was a heavy user herself. Did that cause JHS to take too much Charlie to compensate.

Pete Farndon Reminds me of the infamous Ian Watkins both had this rock n roll attitude but took it too far

My uncle worked at a record store in Harvard Sq in Cambridge in the late 70s and early 80s where he'd get comp'd into a lot of shows and had bands come in for in-store signings, etc, as a perk for the gigi. Apparently, Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott used to hang out in town when they came through, gacked out of their gourds. Huge waste of talent with both of those guys.

R O C K

Some the things they were asking to do were ridiculous Like performing seals.

It is so sad what cocaine drugs can do to talented musicians, die at a young age,

Drugs

Pete has a Dee Dee Ramone look going on. Right down to the smoking. And the heroin. What a gutter drug.

Grass in pocket...

see how phoney these promo videos for mtv were and are. is there still an mtv. AND YOU DON'T LOOK AT MUSIC; YOU LISTEN, DANCE, PLAY IT, GET HIGH ON IT.

coke

MTV sucks... MTV and Apple have destroyed real bands.

Martin Chambers had lackluster fashion sense.

This was a great group especially Chrissie. I can't believe even then they were redefining Christmas time as happy holiday season. to include the jews on some obscure festival affecting precious few. These rebels should of rebelled against this dictatorship.

I wish Pete had done little dry-out kicks with the heroin like Burroughs recommended, good for the soul, it's why I'm still alive, myself, and I ain't talented like Pete was, I have wicked survivor guilt, why did I live through it and he didn't? A lot of heroin users didn't die because they were addicts, they died because they were pigs. Have a sense of limits with the stuff, okay guys?!...He who binds himself to a joy, does the winged life destroy. Kiss the joy as it flies and live in tomorrow's sunrise (Blake)

Now I know where Conan O'Brien based his appearance