The Pretenders

Induction Year: 2005

Induction Category: Performer

Inductees: Chrissie Hynde (vocals, guitar; born September 7, 1951), Martin Chambers (drums; born September 4, 1951), Pete Farndon (bass; born June 12, 1952, died April 14, 1983), James Honeyman-Scott (guitar; born November 4, 1956, died June 16, 1982)

The Pretenders were one of the seminal bands of the second British Invasion, rising out of London in 1979 with a forceful, self-titled first album. Their melodic but hard-charging sound suggested a union of punk and New Wave approaches. Moreover, being older and more seasoned than their punk peers, they drew inspiration from bands of the first British Invasion, including and , as well American soul music.

Leader Chrissie Hynde was, in fact, an American expatriate who grew up in Akron, Ohio, and moved to London in the hope of finding her way into the music business. It took several years to put a band together, but once guitarist/singer Hynde assembled the definitive Pretenders lineup - guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon and drummer Martin Chambers, all from rustic Hereford - they took off almost instantly.

Throughout their volatile history, which has included the drug-related deaths of two founding members, the Pretenders have remained a vehicle for Hynde’s songs and breathy, dark-timbered alto. From the outset the Pretenders were an explosive combination of precision and flamboyance. The group mastered the blistering tempos and brute force of punk, but Hynde’s writing took them other places as well. Her songs possessed the melodic sheen of well-turned pop yet employed unconventional time signatures (one writer referred to her “treacherously eccentric meters”) and at times blunt, psychosexual lyrics.

As one of the first women to front a popular rock band - not only as the singer but also main songwriter and bandleader - she presented a hard, unsentimental image that was far removed from the likes of Linda Ronstadt or Stevie Nicks. She seemed tough, and her songs - including “Tattooed Love Boys,” “Up the Neck” and “The Phone Call” - could at times be unsparing, though she’d counterpoint those with sweeter tunes like “Kid” and “Don’t Get Me Wrong.”

The Pretenders’ first single, released in 1979, was a cover of “Stop Your Sobbing,” a Kinks song from 1964 that Hynde had loved while growing up. The self-titled album that followed was an Eighties standout and one of rock’s most solid debut albums. Pretenders and “Brass in Pocket,” a soulful, sensual track taken from it, topped the U.K. album and singles charts. The album reached #9 in America, helping kick open the door for “new music” in this country. The Pretenders worked hard to broaden their following, touring for as long as a year after each new album. Released in 1982, Pretenders II yielded three more hits - “Message of Love,” “Talk of the Town” and “I Go to Sleep” (another Kinks cover) - and rigorous touring further established the group.

Bassist Farndon was let go, having become increasingly incompatible with his bandmates due to a mounting drug habit. Guitarist Honeyman-Scott died two days later, on June 16, 1982, of a cocaine overdose. Farndon himself died of a heroin overdose on April 14, 1983. Between those traumatic passings, Hynde recorded an excellent new Pretenders single, “Back on the Chain Gang,” with guitarist Billy Bremner and bassist Tony Butler. The song reached #5 and was chosen for inclusion on the soundtrack to The King of Comedy.

A newly revised lineup, now with guitarist Robbie McIntosh and bassist Malcolm Foster, recorded the third Pretenders album, Learning to Crawl. Like its predecessors, it was produced by Chris Thomas, and it yielded a bounty of hit singles, including “Middle of the Road,” “2000 Miles” and “Thin Line Between Love and Hate.” Get Close showed Hynde and company in solid form as well, producing such favorites as “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” “Hymn to Her” and “My Baby.” The Singles, a 16-track hits collection from 1987, showed just how much the Pretenders had impacted the charts over the previous eight years.

Following an exhausting eight-month world tour, guitarist McIntosh left the Pretenders; he would subsequently become a mainstay of Paul McCartney’s band. In terms of personnel, the Pretenders were in a perpetual state of flux, with Chambers leaving in the mid-Eighties and returning in the mid-Nineties. Hynde, of course, remained the constant, variously working with guitarists McIntosh, Bremner and Adam Seymour. In fact, guitarist Seymour and bassist Andy Hobson - who joined in 1994 - would wind up having the lengthiest tenures in the Pretenders on their instruments.

Hynde maintained a high songwriting standard on Pretenders albums that followed at a less dizzying pace: Packed! (1990), Last of the Independents (1994), Isle of View (1995) and Viva El Amor! (1999). Among them, Last of the Independents was particularly strong, containing the exquisite “I’ll Stand by You,” and Isle of View is notable as a Pretenders retrospective performed acoustically with backing by the Duke String Quartet.

>When the Pretenders’ two-decade-long relationship with Sire/Warner Bros. came to a close, Hynde signed with Artemis Records, releasing Loose Screw in 2002. A quarter century after the Pretenders first stood the world on its ear, Chrissie Hynde remains their feisty, determined and passionate leader.

“It’s never been my intention to change the world or set an example for others to follow,” she once remarked. “I just wanted to play guitar in a rock and roll band and make music that people could dig.”

TIMELINE

September 4, 1951: Martin Chambers, drummer for the Pretenders, is born in Hereford, England.

September 7, 1951: Christine Ellen “Chrissie” Hynde, vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the Pretenders, is born in Akron, Ohio.

June 12, 1952. Pete Farndon, bassist for the Pretenders, is born in Hereford, England.

November 4, 1956: James Honeyman-Scott, guitarist for the Pretenders, is born in Hereford, England.

1973: Future Pretender Chrissie Hynde moves from Ohio to London, where she’ll work as a rock journalist and try to break into music.

1978: The Pretenders form in London, with American expatriate Chrissie Hynde joined by bassist Pete Farndon, guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and (a year later) drummer Martin Chambers.

January 1979: The Pretenders’ debut - a cover of ’ “Stop Your Sobbing,” produced by Nick Lowe - is released. It becomes a Top Thirty U.K. hit and stirs interest in America.

January 1980: The Pretenders’ self-titled first album, one of the most arresting debuts of the New Wave era, is released. It peaks at #9 and is certified platinum (one million sold) in 1982.

April 12, 1980: “Brass in Pocket” becomes the Pretenders’ first Top Forty hit. It will peak at #14 in the U.S. and top the charts in Britain.

August 1981: The Pretenders’ prosaically titled second album, Pretenders II, is released. Standout tracks include “Message of Love,” “Talk of the Town” and “I Go to Sleep.”

June 16, 1982: James Honeyman-Scott, guitarist for the Pretenders, dies of a cocaine overdose.

January 29, 1983: “Back on the Chain Gang,” by the Pretenders, enters the charts. It will become their biggest U.S. hit, reaching #5.

April 14, 1983: Pete Farndon, bassist with the Pretenders, dies of a heroin overdose.

January 1984: The Pretenders bounce back from the deaths of two founding members with Learning to Crawl. It reaches #5 and remains their highest charting album.

October 1986: The Pretenders release Get Close, their fourth album, which contains the Top Ten hit “Don’t Get Me Wrong.”

November 1987: The Singles, a 16-track compilation, surveys the Pretenders’ impressive hitmaking ability thus far in the Eighties.

May 1990: The Pretenders’ fifth studio album, Packed!, is released. Recorded at four studios on two continents, it contains only leader Chrissie Hynde from the original lineup.

April 1994: The Pretenders release Last of the Independents, their sixth studio album, which marks the return of drummer Martin Chambers.

September 24, 1994: The Pretenders’ last Top Forty hit, “I’ll Stand by You,” enters the charts, where it will peak at #16.

June 1999: Viva El Amor!, the Pretenders’ first studio album in five years, is released. Its cover shot of Chrissie Hynde was taken by Linda McCartney shortly before her death.

November 2002: The Pretenders release Loose Screw, their first album for Artemis Records.

March 14, 2005: The Pretenders are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the twentieth annual induction dinner. is their presenter.

Essential Recordings

Brass in Pocket
Back On the Chain Gang
Message of Love
Middle of the Road
I’ll Stand By You
Kid
Don’t Get Me Wrong
Precious
Thin Line Between Love and Hate
Stop Your Sobbing

Fats Domino's Shirt

Photo by Andrew Moore
Gift of Antoine "Fats" Domino