Dinner with David Bowie, a kiss from Jackie Wilson, close encounters with Iggy Pop, Rod Stewart and Ron Wood. She was not even 20, still less a rock goddess, but Chrissie Hynde wasn’t hanging around. The talented, charismatic writer-singer escaped Ohio for Britain in 1973, hoping to form a rock’n’roll band. She befriended journalist Nick Kent, designer Vivienne Westwood, hustler Malcolm McLaren and famous musicians from Nick Lowe to Lemmy. She wrote for The NME and narrowly avoided becoming Mrs. Sid Vicious. Meeting Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott and Martin Chambers, Chrissie finally realised her dream: The Pretenders, one of the world’s most exciting, enduring and best-loved rock groups.
The Pretenders proved revelatory, lashing hard rock to the sexy, sassy swagger of streetwise punk and catchy, chart-busting pop. ‘Brass In Pocket’ was a worldwide hit. America took to its heart the ex-pat from the Heartlands, as Chrissie became an international star and a reluctant flagbearer for rock’s sisterhood.
Weathering tragic loss, The Pretenders have continued to make great music. Combining dry wit with diligent research and a deep knowledge of rock music, Richard Butterworth appraises The Pretenders’ turbulent, vital early years: from Chrissie’s arrival in Britain, through the band’s 1978 birth to 1990 and their fifth album. Enjoy the ride.
The Author:
Richard Butterworth's grown-up career began in advertising, first as a paste-up artist, later as a graphic designer. Settling on copywriting, for years he reaped the pleasures, pains and penury of freelancing. As a lifelong believer in the healing and redemptive power of music, however, he knew that humankind's highest art-form would eventually saddle up and ride him into the sunset. Today Richard lives in Cornwall with his partner Sue, a golden retriever and CD shelf-space in managed but perpetual decline. He still reads and writes about the music he loved before he was a grown-up.
