The Pretenders - Brass In Pocket (From "Loose In LA" DVD)

INTERVIEW: Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders

IT'S been 10 years since The Pretenders last played in Liverpool. Now they are returning in grand style at this year's Summer Pops.

Lead singer Chrissie Hynde, born in Ohio, USA, says it will be a gig she and her group are looking forward to.

"I think most bands would agree that when you say Liverpool you think of Glasgow, Dublin and Cleveland, Ohio, all in the same breath. They are considered Rock Centrals."

Chrissie, 56, and her band are currently on a UK tour and supporting Rod Stewart at all his sell out shows.

Despite being a former journalist she rarely gives interviews, but she is happy to talk about her visit to Liverpool and recalls staying at the city's most famous hotel.

She laughs: "I remember trying to well up the ghosts of all the 60s bands that must have stayed in the Adelphi Hotel. It's one of the places I like to stay in when I am there."

I ask her what can her fans expect at their Summer Pops gig next Monday.
"We will certainly add some new material ... for the 20 or so people who might be familiar with it."

The Pretenders undoubtedly have a strong track record to dip into, with self-penned numbers and some great cover versions and collaborations.

The singles came thick and fast from 1979's Stop Your Sobbing; Kid; Brass In Pocket; Talk Of The Town and Back On The Chain Gang. And there was the 1985 No. 1 collaboration on Sonny and Cher's I Got You Babe with UB40.

There were more than 20 hits including the Christmas classic 2000 Miles.


With such a back-catalogue is it difficult knowing what to leave in and what to leave out?
She stresses: "No, it's usually pretty obvious but we don't want to be TOO obvious, so we always include as many album tracks as singles. We keep our songs on rotation so they always feel fresh to us."

Happily, she says fans enjoy their varied set lists but she can't put her finger on which ones get the best response.

"They all do," she says. Chrissie says The Pretenders simply enjoy playing gigs - full stop.

"If it came to a choice between massive stadia and small, intimate venues I would split the difference and go into theatres."

Chrissie started her rise to super stardom from the punk era. She knew The Clash and Sex Pistols svengali, Malcolm McLaren, who had her lined up for one of his bands. Then working on the New Musical Express she decided to stop writing and perform. Chrissie, always strong- minded, formed The Pretenders in 1979.

The line-ups have changed but the charismatic Ms Hynde with her rademark husky, sometimes sneering vocals, led to even more chart success for her consistently commercial band.

Throughout her career she has been an environmental campaigner, animal activist, one-time partner of The Kinks' Ray Davies as well as wife of Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr.
She remains one of the 80s great pop icons.

Yet in the 90s a comeback provided some more pop classics notably I'll Stand By You.
She also found time to appear in the US sit com Friends in which she was taught by Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) to sing the immortal ditty Smelly Cat.

Sadly the band has experienced tragedy over the years. Pete Farndon left in 1981. A few days later JamesHoneyman Scott died of a heart attack. Drummer Martin Chambers departed and ex-Smiths main man Johnny Marr came and went.

Chrissie was also a close pal of the late Linda McCartney . They shared a passion for animal rights and a similar US sense of humour. She remains a pal of Paul's and was at a Linda tribute concert with him.

Chrissie says had she not got into rock she can't imagine what she would have been.
"I have no idea. I'd have probably gotten involved with Greenpeace or an animal rights organisation - or kept painting."

Chrissie is also delighted that she is returning to the home of The Beatles next week.

"I can claim the distinction of being the world's biggest Beatles fan ever. I can still do all their autographs. We played Don't Let Me Down on stage and have recorded Not A Second Time."

Regarding the current music scene, Chrissie says: "As long as people are still buying guitars there is always something good going on."

She is pretty content. "I have no regrets - or, at least, none I care to talk about.
"As for success, that has to be getting my dog to stop barking."

So will there come a time when Chrissie Hynde resumes her painting, takes her silent dog for more walks, and hangs up her guitar?
" Yes, I think of calling it a day periodically, but I would estimate I have got roughly five years yet ... if that. "

the pretenders-Don't Get Me Wrong

Biography

The Pretenders are a rock band who came to prominence during the punk and new wave movement of the late 1970s due to their innovative songwriting and charismatic performances. The original band consisted of group founder, songwriter, vocalist, and rhythm guitarist Chrissie Hynde, lead and rhythm guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon, and drummer Martin Chambers. Save for Hynde, a native of Akron, Ohio, the original band members were all from the U.K. This band was fractured by drug-related deaths and numerous subsequent personnel changes have taken place over the years, with Hynde as the sole constant. With Hynde at the helm, the band drifted through more adult contemporary-oriented territory, but experienced a critical resurgence with a trio of albums released between the mid-90s and early 00s that explored a more mature side of the band’s classic sound.

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