Eldergays, Tell Me about The Pretenders/Chrissie Hynde

Choking* NOT choked

OH, my. They used to play their shit on the radio until you cried for mercy. Back on the Chain Gang was one of my favorites. I had an urge to snip off her bangs, they drove me mad.

She's an original.

Chrissie was actually on the Kent State campus on the day of the killingd.

She has always looked exactly like Tom Petty

One of my first albums was The Pretenders "Get Close" album (because of the Don't Get Me Wrong single). But there are so many great tracks on it. Probably my most favorite is "Light of the Moon".

I heard Chrissie gets along with Siouxsie Sioux (who also has a certified diva bitch reputation), because they share their fondness for animal rights activism.

I saw them in concert once. Her voice was amazing. I know she's not known for a huge vocal range, but her vocals were very strong. It was a good concert.

The Pretenders self-titled debut record is about all you need to know about their impact and excellence. Anyone interested in good music from that era (late 70's New Wave/post-punk/pop), or good music period, should have this in their collection.

Stop Your Sobbing, Brass in Pocket, Kid, Tattooed Love Boys and Precious all required listening, and some of the best songs of that era.

One of rock’s great vocalists. Love her.

Chrissie rocks. One of the most underrated artist.

Yes, the first record is the best.

Listen to Chrissie doing a cover of Space Oddity. AMAZING.

I’m 34. I recall “Stand By You” and “State of Independence” being on the radio and MTV.

I got into them as a teenager.

“Talk of the Town” is an absolute favorite. “Kid” is up there too.

I heard this in 1979 on an extended play cassette in 1979. They were a group that was part of what redefined music after almost a decade of hippie/country rock

These "Eldergays, Tell Me About The Big Bad World And Hold My Hand While Doing So..." are pitiful

Chrissie Hynde is the Queen of Rock.

Saw them live three times. At one of the concerts, Chrissie was in a really sour mood. This particular gig was at The Ritz in NYC (now Webster Hall), she was making odd faces, pointing and yelling at the official photographers who were upfront and on assignment. Even the late bassist, Pete Farndon, was looking at her wondering WTF was going on.

I've never quite understood when a rock musician has this sort of attitude, being photographed during a performance is part of the deal.

Shooting concerts is someone's job, a legit job. Chrissie was trying to stop these men and women from working? Thought she was an activist.

It’s Pretenders

NOT “The” Pretenders

Her memoir is amazing, listen to it as an audiobook as she narrates it. There’s a very controversial section where she talks about her rape by Hell Angels and she says she’s partially responsible for it happening because she put herself in the situation. There was a lot of backlash by women's groups who accused her of victim blaming.

One of the hardest things for me though is how much she dislikes Brass in Pocket to the point where it’s barely performed at all. For me that is their defining song and the one that introduced and drew me to them. There’s just something that is so heartbreaking and melancholy about it.

Great musician and singer songwriter.

Kind of a bitch. Vegan PETA freak.

In the early 80s, I loved her and the first album from the Pretenders. At that time, had never heard a female voice like hers in terms of frank, fuck-you songwriting (and her voice, like Elvis Costello’s, was soul-soothingly appealing to me, the music fantastic).

She sounds in interviews like an awful person these days.

R18 Yeah they attacked a rape victim for her own feelings about being raped. It just shows how full of shit those feminists were.

Saw the Pretenders once in concert. After the first song, she lectured the audience about taking pics and threatened to walk off stage. She went on for several minutes and I could only think, "Chrissie, you've been in the public eye for 40+ years and you should be happy that people are still paying money to come to your shows and want to take a pic or two to commemorate it." This incident changed my opinion of her forever.

Shouldn't "Bad Boys Get Spanked" be the theme song for DL? (fingers crossed formatting works)

You're not supposed to do that - You know you're not allowed to - But you seem to get some kind of kick - Out of doing what you're not allowed to - You deliberately defy the rules - 'Cause the law's upheld by fools - Shit on that - Bad boys get spanked

You can look but don't touch - But no you can't resist - Don't you ever think about the consequence - Guys like you never do That's the kind of stuff boys are made out of - That's the kind of stuff girls are made out of - Bad boys get spanked - Bad boys get spanked

You don't listen do you asshole - Don't be a punk all your life - Someone's gonna sort you out - They'll try to make a man out of you Say yes sir, say no sir - Say yes ma'am, say no m'am - hit on that - Bad boys get spanked

Bad boys get spanked - Get spanked, get spanked - Come here, get spanked - Bad boys get spanked - Come here, get spanked

And turn it up!

She knows all the chords.

All of them.

She’s special, so special.

The first album was perfectly realised, one of my all time favourites with clever lyrics and beautiful melodies. I was too young to see them perform live at the time.

I got my chance in the 90s when they played the T and C, now the Forum, in Kentish Town. They were promoting Last Of The Independents, but played everything to a very enthusiastic crowd. Chrissie Hynde has a magnetic stage presence, in total command.

I'm not an eldergay (yet), but I started getting into their stuff a few years ago. This is a novelty song, but it's a total delight. The rhythm and phrasing of "would you like sour cream... on your potato, honey?" always makes me laugh.

The Last of the Independents is very good.

The Adultress from their newly remastered second album is one of my fave songs by them. Also notable is “Popstar” and “Human” from 1999.

Popstar and Human from their 1999 album are very good.

I saw her opening for Stevie Nicks just a couple of years ago with The Pretenders. She was amazing. Her voice is as strong as ever.

James Honeyman-Scott was a fantastic guitarist.

Somehow avoided hearing '2000 Miles' this season which I'm OK with, as it always makes me well up.

So old I bought 'Stop Your Sobbing' as a vinyl 45 in picture sleeve - classic old photo of a poor young boy hugging a new pair of shoes, grinning. It was produced by Nick Lowe, and I played it often and loud. Happy days.

She's a mean drunk. Like Neely O'Hara in real life.

Saw them perform live three times. The one time, at Hara Arena in Dayton, was probably one of the loudest concerts I had ever attended.

According to Carly

"Well, Chrissie was a bit intoxicated and was yelling out during Joni's performance which needless to say, everybody wanted to hear. Chrissie was sitting right next to me and I asked her to be a little quieter. No one else would have dared say that to her, but me, stupid me, didn't know it was Chrissie.

She started choking me in a loving way, saying: "You're great too Carly, get up there, you need to do this too". Very nice, the only problem being that it was right in the middle of Joni's song and people were looking at US. So I moved seats. That's all it was about. I must say that her choking me in 'fun intoxication' looked to a lot of the audience like a fight. It was not. I just couldn't believe that no one was interceding and saying anything to her. I love her music and respect her as an artist. It was just one of those things. Go figure."

I still love Brass in Pocket, but can understand why she's had her fill of it after playing it for so long. I never liked 2000 Miles.

Middle of the Road is great.

"Chrissie rocks. One of the most underrated artist."

She does rock, but she's incredibly appropriately "rated." Every positive thing written about her here has been written about her in the music press numerous times. Her cool, independent rock chick bona fides have been commented on a lot. The classic Pretenders albums are often cited on bests of all time lists.

One of my faves

Carly Simon beat the shit out of her one time.

Her music's great but she can definitely be a C U Next Tuesday.

The beginning (bass?) line of "My City Was Gone" is still heard and used somewhere. Maybe Fox News, actually. Sorry to bring them up.

[quote]Saw the Pretenders once in concert. After the first song, she lectured the audience about taking pics and threatened to walk off stage. She went on for several minutes and I could only think, "Chrissie, you've been in the public eye for 40+ years and you should be happy that people are still paying money to come to your shows and want to take a pic or two to commemorate it." This incident changed my opinion of her forever.

I mentioned the same exact type of situation upthread @ R16.

The only difference, Chrissie did this to a group of on-assignment professional music photographers who were upfront shooting the gig. This incident occurred at NYC's The Ritz, this was at the height of the bands popularity. The Ritz never had an actual roped off photographer pit, the venue never had seating except in the upstairs reserved balcony area where the 'important guests' were allowed to enjoy a concert in comfort. The Ritz always packed every important concert over the legal limits. It was usually beyond SRO! The only good thing about this venue, tickets were always low-priced.

In retrospect, I was wondering, perhaps Mean Drunk Chrissie assumed all the people upfront with cameras were actually fans and she was having none of that!?

Apparently Chrissie hates having her photos taken, unless she can control the situation, such as a photo session with a famous photographer. Of course, her logic is bizarre, being photographed during a performance is always part of being a famous rock musician. Chrissie is talented, but has always been a bit off.

Chrissie didn't exactly have good things to say about the late Pete Farndon's musical talent. Odd, as Pete's style was influenced by the great Stanley Clarke! Stanley is one of the world's most famous bassists, he's mostly known as a jazz bassist, however, Stanley has been a huge influenced to many rock musicians. Pete wasn't a terrible bassist at all.

As a performer, Hynde recalled, "Pete was fantastic. Pete was blagging it a lot because technically he wasn't any kind of great musician. But he had real heart, like in boxing terms, he could win the fight on heart alone. And he had a great energy, borne of a kind of desperation."

Interesting, as they were fucking during the early years of the band.

Their first album was one of my first record purchases (my Dad actually paid for them, thanks Dad!)

And my wonderful Dad drove my friends and I way out to San Bernardino for the US Festival and I think I saw the Pretenders there.

Have seen her in concert twice, seriously phenomenal live!!!! Best concert experiences of my life, just so so good. At one of them John McEnroe was there and came up and played on guitar for a few songs, was actually pretty great!

Courtney Love and CH had an old dust-up (I can't find a link, that's how old the dust-up was). Anyway, IIRC, Love did/said something innocuous and CH retaliated for no reason. Love then said something about Hynde putting on the same old WIG and getting on stage. I think they've since made up. I think Love considers Hynde an idol. But Love will definitely hit below the belt with some ad hominem remarks if you cross her.

I love her voice.

She's a tough old broad who doesn't take shit from anybody. She got in hot water a few years ago when she commented on #metoo in her autobiography.

The first two Pretenders albums were reissued in album-size box sets. Terrific albums.

I think the take-away of what she said about getting raped was: be careful of your surroundings. You can't necessarily 100% getting raped, but you can sometimes GTFO of situations that are ripe for rape. E.g., excessive alcohol / drugs, strangers, violent people, etc.

I really loved their music. The first two albums are perfect, and the first after the death of two members, Learning to Crawl, included the song Back on the Chain Gang, which is simply one of the best pop songs ever written (the ending is amazing).

To me it was the soundtrack of my rust belt surroundings circa 1980, and Chrissie grew up not so far away, so I identified with that sound.

After "Get Close" the band wandered from the original sound they had. Chrissie herself has said that they turned into a "Pretenders cover band" and she's right. "I'll Stand By You" is OK but it's not really a Pretenders song, it's one of the Steinberg/Kelly songs - the songs that artists would pick up if they were sagging in popularity and needed a hit. (See under Alone by Heart, or I Drove All Night by Cyndi.)

The songs they've made more recently are OK, but really, the first three albums are the best IMHO.

What she said about women asking for rape if they are dressed a certain way is beyond stupid. Not a word about the men who took advantage of the naive and trusting young woman she was. Millions of men seem to be able to not rape a woman even if she puts herself in a compromising situation, but of course, she doesn't hold men accountable.

Still, love her and the Pretenders. Yes, I do think she is underrated as a songwriter.

In 1984, I drove the rest of my family crazy playing the "Learning To Crawl" LP. No one else was impressed by their sound. My mother used to taunt me by insisting that "Thin Line Between Love & Hate", a remake of the Persuaders' No. 1 R&B hit, was the only listenable song on the LP and the rest was noise. Oddly, I have not missed Hynde and the gang since my teenage years, even though their early-80s recordings bring on waves of nostalgia.

Rock queen related, I'm watching Stevie Nicks on something on axstv - a channel on Sling.

She sounds pretty damn good, but is pretty immobile (comparatively to the past) - unsurprisingly since she's pretty old. Does that bother you when artists don't have the physicality anymore, even if they they sound good?

Not really, R55. I'd rather have the voice intact. Mariah Carey tries to move on stage and she was never even known for that. Someone like Beyonce, maybe ppl expect her to be moving around with some dance moves.

R55 I saw Blondie a few years ago and Debbie was tottering around in these wedge shoes, I was worried she was going to topple over.

Stunning

[quote] What she said about women asking for rape if they are dressed a certain way is beyond stupid. Not a word about the men who took advantage of the naive and trusting young woman she was. Millions of men seem to be able to not rape a woman even if she puts herself in a compromising situation, but of course, she doesn't hold men accountable.

The thing is that you can more likely control yourself than you can others, otherwise "hey men, stop raping women!" would've worked by now. It's about being proactive and not put yourself in unnecessary danger. There are a lot of freedoms we can enjoy, but some of them do come with a price even when we are allowed to do them. And if something does happen, don't give the rapist more power by living the rest of your life as a victim. Take your life and power back through any means necessary in order to move on and come out stronger than before.

Martin Chambers was having lunch with two or three young children in Crouch End, London 16 Feb 1996. I think he was cruising me. But that wasn't the significant thing. I kept looking at him because he looked familiar. I was pretty sure he had some connection to rock and roll.

It wasn't until much later that I twigged to who it was. I never approach celebs if they're out with kids, ever. The most I'll do is make eye contact and then look down at the kids. He is fucking hot, BTW.

Oh, and it was an Italian restaurant and the food was shite. I think it was the only time I sent back a glass of wine because it tasted like vinegar.

I graduated high school in 1994, and I had Pretenders: The Singles on cassette. Songs like Kid, Stop Your Sobbing, Talk of the Town, Show Me, and Day After Day hooked me. I would recommend their live album, The Isle of View for a stunning version of Sense of Purpose. Night in my Veins off Last of the Independents is a classic.

I think of this song on every birthday

I was always amazed she managed to snag both Ray Davies and Jim Kerr. Impressive.

R39: "underrated" is ridiculously overused in reference to music and art--often, it is simply not true. People like using it because it makes them feel they are "in the know" about something others are not. Someone on DL recently even referred to Leonard Cohen (!) as an "underrated songwriter."

I still can't get the image of Hynde choking Carly Simon at a Joni Mitchell concert out of my head, esp. with Hynde yelling at Mitchell who was famously aloof toward her audiences---the whole thing must have been hilarious to the right person (e.g., someone who wasn't a hardcore Joni fan and put up with her bitchy snobbishness).

I love Joni but I know she can be prickly....and I think the Chrissie/Carly bit is fucking hilarious.

James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon OD’d and died 10 months apart in 1982-83.

I saw Chrissie play an outdoor venue in Knoxville in the late 90s. She was not pleased with the smell of BBQ meat wafting over from a nearby food stand.

Back On The Chaingang is one of my favourite songs of all time.

R68 You have good taste!

Chain Gang was written in tribute to or at least dedicated to Honeyman-Scott. Apparently 2000 Miles was too. I always thought that one was about Santa Claus.

I don’t think anyones mentioned Hymn to Her yet, that song guts me every time and makes me cry. It was their contribution to the Lady Diana memorial album, and I felt by far one of the best. It captured the sadness, but the refrain of:

“She will always carry on,

Something is lost,

But something is found.

They will keep on speaking her name,

Some things change,

Some stay the same.”

Was just so on the mark, as if it was written for her.

I flashed my pussy yesterday

I wonder how relations with her daughters are. Her younger daughter, the one with Jim Kerr, shows up every holiday in her ex-stepmother Patsy Kensit's social media feeds. She always brings her husband and kids around to see her and attend her holiday parties, they seem very close.

R43. It was used as intro and bumpers on the Limbaugh Show. He paid a ton of money to use it and she donated it all to PETA.

R71 I love that song. I always think about my mom when I hear it - the first time I heard it was on a TV show where a mom and daughter were reunited.