Pretenders - Pretenders

Pretenders' 1980 debut on numbered, limited edition SACD

Self-titled record moves fast with biting hooks, soulful melodies, guitar toughness

The Pretenders' first LP is one of the single greatest debut albums ever released in early 1980, Pretenders shot straight to No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart and stayed there for four consecutive weeks. It also made it into the U.S. Top 10. A macho guy band, fronted by a woman, no less, Chrissie Hynde has the perfect balance of rage and sensitivity. With her trademark dark bangs, dark eyeliner and dark jeans, she appealed to both genders. The album features Chrissie's signature vocal styling, James Honeyman-Scott's melodic and uniquely inventive guitar work, great songwriting and a pulsating backbeat supplied by the rhythm section of Peter Farndon and Martin Chambers. This album compiles several previously released tracks from their 1979 singles, "Stop Your Sobbing," written in 1964 by Ray Davies for The Kinks and produced by Nick Lowe, followed in quick succession by "Kid" and "Brass In Pocket" which cracked the American market for the band (reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100).