Pretenders (album)

Pretenders is the debut studio album by British-American band The Pretenders, released on 7 January 1980 under Real Records in the UK, and on 27 December 1979 on Sire Records in the United States. A combination of rock, punk and pop music, this album made the band famous. The album features the singles "Stop Your Sobbing", "Kid" and "Brass in Pocket".

Pretenders
Studio album by
The Pretenders
Released11 January 1980 (1980-01-11) and 27 December 1979 (1979-12-27) in the U.S.
Recorded1979
StudioWessex Studios, London and Air Studios, London
GenreNew wave, punk rock
Length47:04
LabelReal (UK), Sire (US)
ProducerChris Thomas, except "Stop Your Sobbing" produced by Nick Lowe
The Pretenders chronology
Pretenders
(1980)		 Extended Play
(1981)
Singles from Pretenders
  1. "Stop Your Sobbing"
    Released: January 1979
  2. "Kid"
    Released: June 1979
  3. "Brass in Pocket"
    Released: November 1979
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Austin Chronicle[2]
Blender[3]
Chicago Tribune[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]
Spin[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide10/10[9]
The Village VoiceA−[10]

Nick Lowe produced the Pretenders' first single, "Stop Your Sobbing", but decided not to work with them again as he thought the band was "not going anywhere".[11] Chris Thomas took over on the subsequent recording sessions.

Pretenders debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart in the week of its release and stayed there for four consecutive weeks. It also made the top 10 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum during 1982 by the RIAA. Pretenders has been named one of the best albums of all time by VH1 (#52). In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 155 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[12] In 1989, the magazine ranked it the 20th best album of the 1980s. In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at #64 on its "Best Albums of the 1980s".[13]

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. The tracks "Message of Love", "Talk of the Town", "Porcelain" and "Cuban Slide" alongside a live version of the album's opening track, "Precious", were released on a follow-up EP entitled Extended Play soon after.

Pretenders was also reissued in 2009 by Audio Fidelity as a limited-edition audiophile gold CD, using the original master tapes. However, this remaster suffered from unauthorized, heavy limiting supposedly applied after engineer Steve Hoffman's digital master was created and approved for CD manufacturing. The song "The Phone Call" is missing some of the telephone effects on this release because the effects were "flown in" after the master was completed for the song and, as a result, weren't on the original master tape.[14][15] There were no bonus tracks included.

A shortened version of "Tequila" would be performed nearly 15 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.

A cover version of "Brass in Pocket" and the master version of "Precious" are available as downloadable content for Rock Band.

Track listing

All songs written by Chrissie Hynde except where noted.

Side one

  1. "Precious" – 3:36
  2. "The Phone Call" – 2:29
  3. "Up the Neck" – 4:27
  4. "Tattooed Love Boys" – 2:59
  5. "Space Invader" (Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott) – 3:26
  6. "The Wait" (Hynde, Farndon) – 3:35
  7. "Stop Your Sobbing" (Ray Davies) – 2:38

Side two

  1. "Kid" – 3:06
  2. "Private Life" – 6:25
  3. "Brass in Pocket" (Honeyman-Scott, Hynde) – 3:04
  4. "Lovers of Today" – 5:51
  5. "Mystery Achievement" – 5:23

Bonus disc, 2006 remastered CD edition

  1. "Cuban Slide" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott) – 4:33
  2. "Porcelain" – 3:54
  3. "The Phone Call" – 2:22
    • Demo, late 1977
  4. "The Wait" (Hynde, Farndon) – 3:08
    • Regents Park demo, 12 April 1978
  5. "I Can't Control Myself" (Reg Presley) – 4:24
    • Regents Park demo, 12 April 1978
  6. "Swinging London" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott, Farndon, Martin Chambers) – 1:55
  7. "Brass in Pocket" (Honeyman-Scott, Hynde) – 3:48
    • AIR Studios demo, 6 February 1978
  8. "Kid" – 4:04
  9. "Stop Your Sobbing" (Ray Davies) – 2:22
    • Regents Park demo, 12 April 1978
  10. "Tequila" – 5:22
    • Regents Park demo, 12 April 1978
  11. "Nervous but Shy" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott, Farndon, Chambers) – 1:45
  12. "I Need Somebody" (Rudy Martinez) – 4:04
    • Live on The Kid Jensen Show, BBC Radio 1, first transmission 17 July 1979
  13. "Mystery Achievement" – 4:54
    • Live on The Kid Jensen Show, BBC Radio 1, first transmission 17 July 1979
  14. "Precious" – 3:26
    • Live at the Paradise Theatre, Boston, 23 March 1980
  15. "Tattooed Love Boys" – 3:06
    • Live at the Paradise Theatre, Boston, 23 March 1980
  16. "Sabre Dance" (Aram Khachaturian) – 3:50

Song notes
  • "This is one of the most astonishing debut albums in the history of music," enthused author Michael Chabon. "On songs like 'Tattooed Love Boys', you're wondering, Who is Chrissie singing about when she says, 'I shot my mouth off and you showed me what that hole was for?' That was just one of those obsessive-listening records for me."[16] "Tattooed Love Boys" is a playable track in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 video game Guitar Hero II. Its guitar solo is a homage to James Honeyman-Scott's heroes. "I liked the guitar solo in 'Tattooed Love Boys'," Hynde recalled. "I love Jimmy Scott's playing."[17]
  • "Space Invader" is an instrumental containing sound effects from the video game Space Invaders. It also appeared in the film Cheech and Chong's Next Movie and the hit television series The Sopranos.
  • "Private Life" is featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on fictional radio station Emotion 98.3. It was covered by Grace Jones, on her album Warm Leatherette.
  • "Mystery Achievement" is featured in the closing montage in the final episode of the second season of the HBO show The Deuce, season 2, episode 9, "Inside the Pretend".

Personnel

The Pretenders

Additional musicians

  • Fred Berk – bass guitar on CD2, track 3
  • Geoff Bryant – French horn
  • Nick Lowe – production on CD1, track 7
  • Henry Lowther – trumpet
  • Gerry Mackelduff – drums on CD1, track 7 and CD2, tracks 4, 5, 7, 9, 10
  • Chris Mercer – saxophone
  • Nigel Pegrum – drums on CD2, track 3
  • Chris Thomas – keyboards, sound effects, production
  • Jim Wilson – trumpet

Technical

  • Bill Price – engineer
  • Kevin Hughes – design
  • Chalkie Davies – front cover photography

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1980) Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 14
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[20] 24
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 2
UK Albums Chart[22] 1
US Pop Albums (Billboard) 9[23]

Singles
Song Year Chart Position
"Brass in Pocket"/"Mystery Achievement"/"Precious" 1980 Billboard Club Play Singles 28
"Brass in Pocket (I'm Special)" 1980 Billboard Pop Singles 14[24]
"Stop Your Sobbing" 1980 Billboard Club Play Singles 65

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Belgium (BEA)[25] Gold 25,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[26] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[27] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[29] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Pretenders – Pretenders". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 March 2006.
  2. Caligiuri, Jim (15 December 2006). "Pretenders, Pretenders II". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 16 November 2006.
  3. Lim, Dennis. "Pretenders: Pretenders / Pretenders II". Blender. Archived from the original on 19 October 2006. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  4. Kot, Greg (12 August 1990). "The Best Of The Pretenders". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  5. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  6. Scoppa, Bud (11 November 2004). "The Pretenders : Pretenders". Rolling Stone (961): 113. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  7. Considine, J. D.; Skanse, Richard (2004). "The Pretenders". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 653–54. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. Dolan, Jon (November 2006). "Reissues". Spin. 22 (11): 102. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  9. Weisband, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide (1st ed.). Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  10. Christgau, Robert (25 February 1980). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  11. "First Steps: Pretenders 'Pretenders'". Vivascene. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  12. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  13. "The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s". Slantmagazine.com. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  14. "Pretenders S/T SACD coming from MoFi", Steve Hoffman Music Forums, post #11385152, 15 November 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  15. "Pretenders S/T SACD coming from MoFi", Steve Hoffman Music Forums, post #11385207, 15 November 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  16. Daly, Joe (May 2015). "Michael Chabon's 10 life-changing pieces of vinyl". Classic Rock #209. p. unnumbered.
  17. Select, July 1990
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Pretenders – Pretenders" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  19. "Charts.nz – The Pretenders – Pretenders". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  20. "Norwegiancharts.com – The Pretenders – Pretenders". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  21. "Swedishcharts.com – The Pretenders – Pretenders". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  22. "Number 1 Albums – 1980s". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  23. "Pretenders Pretenders Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  24. "Pretenders Brass In Pocket (I'm Special) Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  25. "Pretenders Gold" (PDF). Cash Box. 5 July 1980. p. 42. Retrieved 2 December 2019 – via American Radio History.
  26. "Dutch album certifications – The Pretenders – Pretenders" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 12 December 2018. Enter Pretenders in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  27. "New Zealand album certifications – The Pretenders – Pretenders". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  28. "British album certifications – The Pretenders – Pretenders". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 December 2018. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Pretenders in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  29. "American album certifications – The Pretenders – Pretenders". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 12 December 2018. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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