Pretenders (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Pretenders
Type = Studio album
Artist = The Pretenders


Released = 1979 (UK) January 19 1980
Recorded = 1979 at Wessex Studios and Air Studios
Genre =Rock,New Wave,Punk
Length = 47:04 / 57:07 (Bonus Disc, 2006 Remaster)
Label = Sire Records
Producer = Chris Thomas except as indicated.
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:uaug6j6h71y0 link]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Pretenders link]
*The Music Box Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2006/pretenders-self-titled.html link]
* Rolling Stone Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pretenders2/albums/album/259325/review/9438474/the_pretenders link]
Last album =
This album = "Pretenders" (1980)
Next album = "Extended Play" (1981)

"Pretenders" is an album by The Pretenders, released on January 19 1980 (see 1980 in music). A mix of hard rock, punk, and New Wave, "Pretenders" established the band's career. This album, their first, compiles several previously-released tracks from their 1979 singles "Stop Your Sobbing"/"The Wait," "Kid"/"Tattooed Love Boys," and "Brass in Pocket"/"Swinging London"/"Nervous but Shy," as well as seven new tracks (and a re-recorded version of "The Wait").

Nick Lowe produced the Pretenders first single, "Stop Your Sobbing", but declined working with them again as he felt the band "wasn't going anywhere". Chris Thomas took over on the subsequent recording sessions.

"Pretenders" has been named one of the best albums of all time by VH1 (#52). RS500|155 In 1989, the same magazine ranked it the 20th best album of the 1980s.

The track "Private Life" was covered that same year by Grace Jones, on her album "Warm Leatherette".

"Pretenders" was remastered and re-released in 2006 and included a bonus disc of demos, b-sides, and live cuts, many previously unreleased. "Cuban Slide" and "Porcelain" originally appeared as b-sides to "Talk of the Town" and "Message of Love," while "Swinging London" and "Nervous but Shy" both appeared on the flip side of "Brass in Pocket." The Regents Park Demo of "Stop Your Sobbing" was included initially as a flexi-single in the May, 1981 edition of "Flexipop" magazine.

A shortened version of "Tequila" would turn up nearly fifteen years later on the "Last of the Independents". "Sabre Dance" features Chrissie Hynde singing portions of "Stop Your Sobbing" over lengthy solos by James Honeyman Scott and Martin Chambers' insistent drumming, making it a truly unique version.

The song "Tattooed Love Boys" is featured as a playable track in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 music video game "Guitar Hero II", in the "String Snappers" (PlayStation 2) and "Return of the Shred" (Xbox 360) tiers. The instrumental "Space Invader" contains sound effects from the video game "Space Invaders". "Private Life" is featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on fictional radio station Emotion 98.3.

Track listing

All songs written by Chrissie Hynde unless otherwise indicated.
# "Precious" - 3:36
# "The Phone Call" - 2:29
# "Up the Neck" - 4:27
# "Tattooed Love Boys" - 2:59
# "Space Invader" (Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott) - 3:26
# "The Wait" (Hynde, Farndon) - 3:35
# "Stop Your Sobbing" (Ray Davies) - 2:38 "produced by Nick Lowe"
# "Kid" 3:06
# "Private Life" - 6:25
# "Brass in Pocket" (Honeyman-Scott, Hynde) - 3:04
# "Lovers of Today" - 5:51
# "Mystery Achievement" - 5:23

Bonus Disc, 2006 Remastered Edition:
# "Cuban Slide" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott) - 4:33
# "Porcelain" - 3:54
# "The Phone Call" (Demo, late 1977) - 2:22
# "The Wait" (Regents Park Demo, 12 April 1978) (Hynde, Farndon) - 3:08
# "I Can't Control Myself" (Regents Park Demo, 12 April 1978) (Reg Presley) - 4:24
# "Swinging London" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott, Farndon, Chambers) - 1:55
# "Brass in Pocket" (AIR Studios Demo, 06 February 1978) (Honeyman-Scott, Hynde) - 3:48
# "Kid" (Olympic Studios Demo, 07 December 1978) - 4:04
# "Stop Your Sobbing" (Regents Park Demo, 12 April 1978) (Ray Davies) - 2:22
# "Tequila" (Regents Park Demo, 12 April 1978) - 5:22
# "Nervous but Shy" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott, Farndon, Chambers) - 1:45
# "I Need Somebody" (Live on "The Kid Jensen Show", BBC Radio 1, first transmission 17 July 1979) (Rudy Martinez) - 4:04
# "Mystery Achievement" (Live on "The Kid Jensen Show", BBC Radio 1, first transmission 17 July 1979) - 4:54
# "Precious" (Live at the Paradise Theatre, Boston, MA, 23 March 1980) - 3:26
# "Tattooed Love Boys" (Live at the Paradise Theatre, Boston, MA, 23 March 1980) - 3:06
# "Sabre Dance" (Live at the Marquee Club, London, UK, 02 April 1979) (Aram Khachaturian) - 3:50

Personnel

*Chrissie Hynde - rhythm guitar / lead vocals
*Martin Chambers - drums / backing vocals
*Pete Farndon - bass / backing vocals
*James Honeyman-Scott - lead guitar, keyboards / backing vocals

Additional personnel

*Chris Thomas - keyboards / sound effects
*Geoff Bryant - horn
*Henry Lowther - trumpet
*Jim Wilson - trumpet
*Chris Mercer - saxophone

Charts

Album