Jim Connelly

Certain Songs #1640: Pretenders – “Middle of The Road”

September 25, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Learning to Crawl
Year: 1983

. . .

In the liner notes for his epochal 1977 triple-disc compilation Decade, Neil Young infamously wrote “’Heart of Gold’ put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch. A rougher ride, but I saw more interesting people there.”

This was in reference to what Neil fans have always called the “Ditch Trilogy,” the raggedy, cranky albums that basically killed the commercial momentum he’d built up with Harvest, and as Chrissie Hynde is a long-time Neil Young fan — she was friends with one of the students killed at Kent State, about which he wrote “Ohio” — I can’t help but think that quote was the inspiration for the opening track of 1984’s fine comeback album, Learning to Crawl.

Certain Songs #1639: Pretenders – “Back on the Chain Gang”

September 24, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Learning to Crawl
Year: 1982

SPOILER ALERT: There was no Pretenders III.

And in fact, it’s kind of amazing that there was any new Pretenders music ever again after the events of June, 1982. First, Chrissie Hynde discovered she was pregnant by Ray Davies, then Pete Farndon was kicked out of the band for heroin abuse, and James Honeyman-Scott died of a cocaine overdose. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Certain Songs #1638: Pretenders – “The English Roses”

September 23, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Pretenders II
Year: 1981

. . .

Here’s a thing I didn’t realize when I started writing these posts: just how much of a love-fest they were going to be for James Honeyman-Scott, who died of a cocaine overdose in 1982 and subsequently had such a short oeuvre that he often gets left off the lists of great guitarists.

I mean, Chrissie Hynde was a life-changing force of nature, one of the all-time great singer-songwriters. But holy Jesus fuck, Honeyman-Scott was so fucking tremendous, he helped her tap into her force and then he aided and abetted her in such a way that she’s been able to use what she learned to ride her initial inspiration for four decades now.

Certain Songs #1637: Pretenders – “Pack It Up”

September 19, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Pretenders II
Year: 1981

. . .

As you can imagine, after the twin triumphs of Pretenders and the Extended Play EP, I was totally looking forward to the follow-up. And I was totally disappointed.

Now, by no stretch of the imagination is Pretenders II a bad album, and I loved how the cover hearkened back to the days when the Rolling Stones would glower at you from one of their mid-1980s album covers — though Chrissie Hynde said in her book that she didn’t like it because of the airbrushing both made it look fake and yet still couldn’t hide Pete Farndon’s heroin pallor (not as bad as Brian Jones on the cover of Between The Buttons, but still) — but for a band who had made their name eschewing formula, it seemed, well . . . formulaic.

Certain Songs #1636: Pretenders – “Porcelain”

September 18, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Extended Play EP
Year: 1981

. . .

And then there’s “Porcelain,” maybe the weirdest track that the original incarnation of the Pretenders ever recorded. It’s basically a three-part song, each section distinct from the others, that somehow all fits together.

At first it comes roaring out of the gate, with James Honeyman-Scott stealing and inverting the riff from the Rolling Stones “The Last Time” over a whalloping Martin Chambers drumbeat that occasionally stops to gather breath, then takes off again. This goes on for such a long time that you kinda assume that “Porcelain” is an instrumental like “Space Invader” until it suddenly shifts directions, Chambers downshifting into an almost-reggae rhythm, all kick drum and rim hits, while Pete Farndon plays a hypnotically circular bass riff.

Certain Songs #1635: Pretenders – “Message of Love”

September 17, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Extended Play EP
Year: 1981

. . .

I guess that Sire Records decided to lead off Extended Play with “Message of Love” because it was the most recent single in the U.K., or maybe because it was both the most recent single and a bit more of an uptempo song than “Talk of the Town.” In any event, way back in 1981, “Message of Love” was the first thing I’d heard by Pretenders after the debut, and it pretty much slayed me.

And why not? “Message of Love” is a big glam-rock stomper, featuring a massive tom-laden drum beat from Martin Chambers, and an arrangement that was cooked up in the studio rather than brought to the band by Hynde. And, of course, the lyrics are great.

Certain Songs #1634: Pretenders – “Cuban Slide”

September 16, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Extended Play EP
Year: 1980

. . .

Because the mood is light-hearted, the beat Bo Diddley and the lyrics relatively low-stakes, “Cuban Slide” often gets dismissed as a lightweight song, suitable for a b-side or a stopgap EP, but that’s about it.

But those are all the reasons I love it, of course. “Cuban Slide” isn’t a major Pretenders song by any stretch of the imagination, but on the other hand it’s the sound of a great band loosening up and having fun with a specific musical style. Also, I’ve fucking love the Bo Diddley beat, especially when it’s driven by a tremolo-laden rhythm guitar, which is what Chrissie Hynde kicks off the song with over a tom-filled Martin Chambers rhythm.

Certain Songs #1633: Pretenders – “Talk of the Town”

September 15, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Extended Play EP
Year: 1980

. . .

In 1980 and 1981, Pretenders released two world-beating singles in the U.K.: “Talk of the Town” b/w “Cuban Slide” and “Message of Love” b/w “Porcelain.” All four songs — plus a smokin’ live version of “Precious” — were released on an EP called Extended Play in the spring of 1981.

And it killed me. Dead. To the point where I’m pretty sure that Pretenders were my favorite band in the world that spring and early summer. Or least up until the point where Pretenders II came out. But we’ll talk about that soon enough. First, lets talk about the songs on an EP that I treasure as much as Chronic Town or The Cost of Living EP, leading off with this incredible single, a pure pop confection as good as anything Hynde ever wrote.

Certain Songs #1632: Pretenders – “Mystery Achievement”

September 13, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Pretenders
Year: 1980

Like London Calling, Pretenders came out in the U.K. in 1979 and here in the U.S. in 1980. So while it’s technically a 1979 album, all of its impact — however you define that slippery term — came in 1980. Therefore, like London Calling, I really think of it as the first of the great albums of the 1980s, not the last of the great albums of the 1970s.

Which made sense: while both albums couldn’t have existed without punk rock, both albums were also signposts towards what was going to happen after punk rock, as punk rock became just one more bit of musical history upon which to draw upon when creating a sound.

Certain Songs #1631: Pretenders – “Brass in Pocket”

September 12, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Pretenders
Year: 1979

. . .

While side one of Pretenders bowled me over, up to and including the Nick Lowe-produced wall of sound take on The Kinks, I was initially more skeptical of side two, which after the pure-pop of “Kid” featured their takes on Reggae, Soul and even a proto-power ballad before finally rocking out one last time. So while I often played side two to get that last song (about which more tomorrow), when it came time to put these songs on a cassette for driving purposes, most of them got left off.

Including the massive hit single, which 1980 Jim enjoyed, but didn’t love, possibly because it was on the radio all the time. So it’s only over time that I have come to appreciate what a great song “Brass in Pocket” truly is.