The Pretenders are an English-American rock band formed in Hereford, England, in March 1978. The original band comprised initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion). The band has experienced numerous subsequent personnel changes, with Hynde as the only consistent member, and Martin Chambers returning after an absence of several years. (More from Wikipedia)
Later, Deborah Harry in Blondie and Chrissie Hynde in Pretenders led two of the most successful rock bands of the 1970’s and 1980’s. The above record covers illustrate the difference in the way the women appeared within their groups, with Deborah Harry standing out among the men, though frankly, it could hardly have been any other way. Chrissie Hynde though is often regarded as being of equal status with the male bandmembers; what’s more, Hynde was also a guitarist in the band, whereas Harry primarily sang. This is a stance that alternative rockers would take later on, such as identical twins Kim Deal and Kelley Deal in Pixies and the Breeders.
Years ago, I heard that there was an unwritten rule among disc jockeys (maybe not unwritten in some places) that you were not supposed to play two songs with female singers one after another, under the theory that listeners wouldn’t be able to tell the songs apart. I cannot imagine that this has ever really been true, but it certainly wasn’t the case by the punk rock/new wave era: Picking artists almost at random, would anyone really have trouble distinguishing Blondie, Pat Benatar, Patti Smith, and Pretenders?
(December 2013)
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After taking several years off from making music, Mick Farren resurfaced in 1978 with a brilliant solo album, Vampires Stole My Lunch Money. The album opens with what might be the best cover of a Frank Zappa song by anybody: “Trouble Coming Every Day”, a seething litany of what’s wrong with the world that could surely have come straight from Farren’s pen.
Vampires Stole My Lunch Money is a more personal record than his other albums. There are no less than three songs about drinking – “I Want a Drink”, “Half-Priced Drinks”, and “Drunk in the Morning” – plus a monologue about personal demons called “(I Know from) Self-Destruction”. Whether this is just a persona or the actual state of Mick Farren’s life at that point – I doubt anyone could tell the difference, the music is that heartfelt. Musicians on hand include Larry Wallis of the Pink Fairies and Wilko Johnson of Dr. Feelgood; supporting vocals are provided by Sonja Kristina of Curved Air and Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer of Pretenders (a year and half before their first album, Pretenders came out).
