The Vinyl Project: The Pretenders Self-Titled Debut Release (1980)
A Trip Thru Your Grooves - Episode 7
Release Date: 07-January-1980
Genre: Rock
Producer: Chris Thomas, Nick Lowe
Label: Sire
Time: 47m 04s
Review Date: 15-November-2018
Format: LP
Side One
Release Date: 07-January-1980
Genre: Rock
Producer: Chris Thomas, Nick Lowe
Label: Sire
Time: 47m 04s
Review Date: 15-November-2018
Format: LP
Side One
- Precious
- Stop Your Sobbing
- Up the Neck
- Tattooed Love Boys
- Space Invader
- The Wait
- Stop Your Sobbing
Side Two
- Kid
- Private Life
- Brass in Pocket
- Lovers of Today
- Mystery Achievement
Review: Dropping the needle on the debut album by the Pretenders is something I should probably do more frequently. As great as side two of this LP is - Brass in Pocket and Mystery Achievement were both industry and publicly praised - side one is arguably the most groundbreaking and underrated album side of anything released in 1980. With it, Chrissie Hynde flipped a big middle finger to the music industry and the misogyny that prevailed among the major labels through most of the 1970s.
As far as female artists were concerned, up until 1980 the music industry was really about the commodification of those women. Label executives turned women into sexual products specifically marketed for male consumerism. As exploitative as that sounds, the practice still exists today on many levels. Music purchases have historically been male-dominated, but the Pretenders proved that a female-fronted band could drive sales without all of the forced sexuality. Hynde takes a swipe at the male-dominated music industry in the lyrics of Mystery Achievement:
Mystery achievement
Don't breathe down my neck, no
I got no trophies on display
I signed them away
I mean what the heck
All of your promises
Don't fill me with pride, no
I just wanna get out on the floor
And do the Cuban slide, slide, slide, slide
.......mystery achievement you're so unreal.
I have to tell you something about the Cuban Slide before I go any further: The band released an EP in March, 1981, ironically titled Extended Play, which spawned two more hit singles, Talk of the Town and Message of Love. The B side to the former is a song called Cuban Slide and the latter single boasts a deliciously grinding B-side called Porcelain. I don't normally buy 45s but those songs are definitely must-own if you dig on the Pretenders. Get the singles if you can find them. Yes, it is true that the Cuban Slide was an exercise in group dance popular in nightclubs in the late seventies and early eighties.
A second musical note: Up the Neck is a truly great song that sounds like Rush in its arrangement.
This album really reflects the dynamism of the birth of the 80s. Side one is decidedly punk while side two is a little more pop and mainstream. Brass in Pocket was a huge hit thanks to MTV, which was initially relegated to showing a lot of underground and new wave acts to fill video showcase hours. That single also attaches itself to my very first kiss, though I'll spare you the details. I was 15 when it was released.
Hynde wrote the bulk of the material on this debut spin and found a nice niche with her blend of rock and pop with the slightest hint of punky edge. The driver of the album's success however was Sire's foresight to drop its three most popular singles ahead of the album release to get video airplay on the upstart music television network. All three singles - Stop Your Sobbing, Mystery Achievement, and Brass in Pocket - received rotational airplay in audio and video formats in 1979 and 1980.
But it wasn't the popularity of the songs that makes this album so special to me. Instead, it was Chrissie Hynde basically nuking the stereotype that female-led rock and roll was a tough sell. Within six months of its release the album was certified gold, and later that year Pat Benatar found mainstream success of her own with the release of Hit Me With Your Best Shot.
The re-release of the self-titled album on CD pushed it to platinum level sales in 1982. Yes, a million-plus copies of this album were purchased, probably the bulk of them by late teen and early twenty-something males all across the country. Not a bad debut for the Akron, OH punker and her band.
Best Songs: Brass in Pocket, Up the Neck, Mystery Achievement, Kid, Tattooed Love Boys, Stop Your Sobbing, Precious
A Deep Cut You'll Love: Private Life
You see that woman over there who you basically ignored after working with her? Big mistake: Nick Lowe produced the Pretenders' first single, Stop Your Sobbing, but decided not to work with Hynde again as he thought she and the band were "just not going anywhere." Chris Thomas took over during the subsequent recording sessions. Thomas would play a critical part in achieving worldwide recognition for Australian band INXS in 1985. The Kinks' remake is a great song, but the difference between it and everything else on this album is palpable, so maybe Lowe did the band a favor.
An interesting note about this album: Hynde got the idea for the song Brass in Pocket during an after-show dinner when she overheard someone asking if anyone had, "Picked up dry cleaning? Any brass in pocket?" The lyrics describe Hynde about to have her first sexual encounter while expressing her confidence that the experience was going to be unforgettable. According to Rolling Stone magazine critic Ken Tucker, the song uses "an iron fist as a metaphor for [Hynde's] sexual clout."
Hey.... buy me an album from my wish list in the left sidebar and I'll review it! I thank you kindly in advance.
As far as female artists were concerned, up until 1980 the music industry was really about the commodification of those women. Label executives turned women into sexual products specifically marketed for male consumerism. As exploitative as that sounds, the practice still exists today on many levels. Music purchases have historically been male-dominated, but the Pretenders proved that a female-fronted band could drive sales without all of the forced sexuality. Hynde takes a swipe at the male-dominated music industry in the lyrics of Mystery Achievement:
Mystery achievement
Don't breathe down my neck, no
I got no trophies on display
I signed them away
I mean what the heck
All of your promises
Don't fill me with pride, no
I just wanna get out on the floor
And do the Cuban slide, slide, slide, slide
.......mystery achievement you're so unreal.
I have to tell you something about the Cuban Slide before I go any further: The band released an EP in March, 1981, ironically titled Extended Play, which spawned two more hit singles, Talk of the Town and Message of Love. The B side to the former is a song called Cuban Slide and the latter single boasts a deliciously grinding B-side called Porcelain. I don't normally buy 45s but those songs are definitely must-own if you dig on the Pretenders. Get the singles if you can find them. Yes, it is true that the Cuban Slide was an exercise in group dance popular in nightclubs in the late seventies and early eighties.
A second musical note: Up the Neck is a truly great song that sounds like Rush in its arrangement.
This album really reflects the dynamism of the birth of the 80s. Side one is decidedly punk while side two is a little more pop and mainstream. Brass in Pocket was a huge hit thanks to MTV, which was initially relegated to showing a lot of underground and new wave acts to fill video showcase hours. That single also attaches itself to my very first kiss, though I'll spare you the details. I was 15 when it was released.
Hynde wrote the bulk of the material on this debut spin and found a nice niche with her blend of rock and pop with the slightest hint of punky edge. The driver of the album's success however was Sire's foresight to drop its three most popular singles ahead of the album release to get video airplay on the upstart music television network. All three singles - Stop Your Sobbing, Mystery Achievement, and Brass in Pocket - received rotational airplay in audio and video formats in 1979 and 1980.
But it wasn't the popularity of the songs that makes this album so special to me. Instead, it was Chrissie Hynde basically nuking the stereotype that female-led rock and roll was a tough sell. Within six months of its release the album was certified gold, and later that year Pat Benatar found mainstream success of her own with the release of Hit Me With Your Best Shot.
The re-release of the self-titled album on CD pushed it to platinum level sales in 1982. Yes, a million-plus copies of this album were purchased, probably the bulk of them by late teen and early twenty-something males all across the country. Not a bad debut for the Akron, OH punker and her band.
Best Songs: Brass in Pocket, Up the Neck, Mystery Achievement, Kid, Tattooed Love Boys, Stop Your Sobbing, Precious
A Deep Cut You'll Love: Private Life
You see that woman over there who you basically ignored after working with her? Big mistake: Nick Lowe produced the Pretenders' first single, Stop Your Sobbing, but decided not to work with Hynde again as he thought she and the band were "just not going anywhere." Chris Thomas took over during the subsequent recording sessions. Thomas would play a critical part in achieving worldwide recognition for Australian band INXS in 1985. The Kinks' remake is a great song, but the difference between it and everything else on this album is palpable, so maybe Lowe did the band a favor.
An interesting note about this album: Hynde got the idea for the song Brass in Pocket during an after-show dinner when she overheard someone asking if anyone had, "Picked up dry cleaning? Any brass in pocket?" The lyrics describe Hynde about to have her first sexual encounter while expressing her confidence that the experience was going to be unforgettable. According to Rolling Stone magazine critic Ken Tucker, the song uses "an iron fist as a metaphor for [Hynde's] sexual clout."
- Previous Review: Live 1975-1985 by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (1986)
- Up Next: Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon (1975)
Hey.... buy me an album from my wish list in the left sidebar and I'll review it! I thank you kindly in advance.
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