Pretenders (album)
Pretenders | ||||
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File:Pretenders album.jpg | ||||
Studio album by The Pretenders | ||||
Released | 19 January 1980 | |||
Recorded | 1979 at Wessex Studios and Air Studios | |||
Genre | Punk rock, new wave | |||
Length | 47:04 | |||
Label | Real (UK), Sire (US) | |||
Producer | Chris Thomas, except "Stop Your Sobbing" produced by Nick Lowe | |||
The Pretenders chronology | ||||
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Singles from Pretenders | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chicago Tribune | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau | A–[3] |
Classic Rock | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Music Box | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone (1980) | (favourable)[7] |
Rolling Stone (2004) | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Smash Hits | 9/10[9] |
Spin | 10/10[10] |
Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pretenders is the debut studio album by the British-American band the Pretenders, released on 19 January 1980 under Real Records (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".
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 magazine ranked the album number 155 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and, in 1989, ranked it the 20th best album of the 1980s. In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at #64 on its list, "Best Albums of the 1980s".[12]
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 limiting supposedly applied after engineer Steve Hoffman's digital master was created and approved. The song "The Phone Call" is missing some of the sound effects on this release because they were flown in after the master was completed for the song and, as a result, weren't on the original master tape.[citation needed] There were no bonus tracks included.
A shortened version of "Tequila" would be performed 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.
A cover version of "Brass in Pocket" and the master version of "Precious" are available as downloadable content for Rock Band.
Contents
Track listing
All songs written by Chrissie Hynde unless otherwise indicated.
- Side one
- "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
- Side two
- "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 CD edition
- "Cuban Slide" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott) – 4:33
- "Porcelain" – 3:54
- "The Phone Call" – 2:22
- Demo, late 1977
- "The Wait" (Hynde, Farndon) – 3:08
- Regents Park demo, 12 April 1978
- "I Can't Control Myself" (Reg Presley) – 4:24
- Regents Park demo, 12 April 1978
- "Swinging London" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott, Farndon, Martin Chambers) – 1:55
- "Brass in Pocket" (Honeyman-Scott, Hynde) – 3:48
- AIR Studios demo, 6 February 1978
- "Kid" – 4:04
- Olympic Studios demo, 7 December 1978
- "Stop Your Sobbing" (Ray Davies) – 2:22
- Regents Park demo, 12 April 1978
- "Tequila" – 5:22
- Regents Park demo, 12 April 1978
- "Nervous but Shy" (Hynde, Honeyman-Scott, Farndon, Chambers) – 1:45
- "I Need Somebody" (Rudy Martinez) – 4:04
- Live on The Kid Jensen Show, BBC Radio 1, first transmission 17 July 1979
- "Mystery Achievement" – 4:54
- Live on The Kid Jensen Show, BBC Radio 1, first transmission 17 July 1979
- "Precious" – 3:26
- Live at the Paradise Theatre, Boston, 23 March 1980
- "Tattooed Love Boys" – 3:06
- Live at the Paradise Theatre, Boston, 23 March 1980
- "Sabre Dance" (Aram Khachaturian) – 3:50
- Live at the Marquee Club, London, 2 April 1979
Song notes
Tattooed Love Boys …is featured as a playable track in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 music 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."[13]
Space Invader …is an instrumental containing 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. It was covered by Grace Jones, on her album Warm Leatherette.
Personnel
- The Pretenders
- Martin Chambers – drums, backing vocals
- Pete Farndon – bass guitar, backing vocals
- James Honeyman-Scott – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
- Chrissie Hynde – rhythm guitar, lead vocals
- Additional musicians
- Fred Berk – bass guitar on CD2, track 3
- Geoff Bryant – horn
- 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
Charts
Album
Chart (1980) | Peak position |
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Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[14] | 14 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] | 2 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[16] | 24 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[17] | 2 |
UK Albums Chart[18] | 1 |
US Pop Albums (Billboard) | 9 |
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 |
"Stop Your Sobbing" | 1980 | Billboard Club Play Singles | 65 |
Certifications
Organization | Level | Date |
---|---|---|
RIAA (U.S.) | Gold | 20 June 1980[citation needed] |
RIAA (U.S.) | Platinum | 11 August 1982[citation needed] |
References
- ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Pretenders at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 March 2006.
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- ↑ Metzger, John (November 2006). "Pretenders Pretenders (Deluxe Edition)". The Music Box (vol. 13, no. 11). Retrieved 20 December 2014.
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- ↑ http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/feature/best-albums-of-the-1980s/308/page_4
- ↑ Select, July 1990
- ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Pretenders – Pretenders" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – The Pretenders – Pretenders". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Pretenders – Pretenders". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Pretenders – Pretenders". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Preceded by | UK Albums Chart number one album 19 January – 15 February 1980 |
Succeeded by The Last Dance by Various artists |
- Use dmy dates from June 2013
- Use British English from June 2013
- Pages with broken file links
- Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters
- Articles with unsourced statements from October 2011
- Articles with unsourced statements from March 2012
- The Pretenders albums
- 1980 debut albums
- Albums produced by Chris Thomas (record producer)
- Albums produced by Nick Lowe
- Sire Records albums
- English-language albums