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Learning to Crawl

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.

[Read more…] about Certain Songs #1640: Pretenders – “Middle of The Road”

Filed Under: Certain Songs Tagged With: Learning to Crawl, Middle of the Road, Pretenders

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.

[Read more…] about Certain Songs #1639: Pretenders – “Back on the Chain Gang”

Filed Under: Certain Songs Tagged With: Back on the Chain Gang, Learning to Crawl, Pretenders

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Previously on Medialoper

  • Certain Songs #2545: Sugar – “Helpless”
  • Certain Songs #2544: Sugar – “Changes”
  • Certain Songs #2543: Sugar – “A Good Idea”
  • Certain Songs #2542: Sugar – “The Act We Act”
  • Certain Songs #2541: Sufjan Stevens – “Too Much”

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