Pretenders
Studio album by The Pretenders
Released 19 January 1980 (US)
Recorded 1979 at Wessex Studios and Air Studios
Genre New wave, rock
Length 47:04
Label Real, (UK) Sire (US)
Producer Chris Thomas except as indicated
Pretenders is the debut studio album by the British New Wave band The Pretenders, released on 19 January 1980 on Real Records (Sire Records in the United States). A combination of rock, punk, and pop music, Pretenders made the band famous. This album, their first, compiles several previously-released tracks from their 1979 singles "Stop Your Sobbing"/"The Wait," "Kid"/"Tattooed Love Boys," and "Brass in Pocket"/"Swinging London"/"Nervous but Shy," as well as seven new tracks (and a re-recorded version of "The Wait").
Nick Lowe produced the Pretenders first single, "Stop Your Sobbing", but decided not to work with them again as he thought the band "wasn't going anywhere". Chris Thomas took over on the subsequent recording sessions.
Pretenders scored number 1 quickly on the UK Albums Chart on the week of its release and stayed there for four consecutive weeks. It also scored 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 1980's. The track "Private Life" was covered that same year by Grace Jones, on her album Warm Leatherette.
Pretenders was reissued in 2009 by Audio Fidelity as a gold limited edition release using the original master tapes. The remaster suffers from limiting supposedly applied AFTER the glass master was created. The song "The Phone Call" is missing some of the sound effects because they were flown in after the master was completed for the song and, as a result, wasn't on the original master tape. There were no bonus tracks included.
Track listing
All songs written by Chrissie Hynde unless otherwise indicated.
Side one
1. "Precious" – 3:36
2. "The Phone Call" – 2:29
3. "Up the Neck" – 4:27
4. "Tattooed Love Boys" – 2:59
5. "Space Invader" (Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott) – 3:26
6. "The Wait" (Hynde, Farndon) – 3:35
7. "Stop Your Sobbing" (Ray Davies) – 2:38 (produced by Nick Lowe)
Side two
1. "Kid" – 3:06
2. "Private Life" – 6:25
3. "Brass in Pocket" (Honeyman-Scott, Hynde) – 3:04
4. "Lovers of Today" – 5:51
5. "Mystery Achievement" – 5:23
Personnel
The Pretenders
* Chrissie Hynde – rhythm guitar, lead vocals
* Martin Chambers – drums, backing vocals
* Pete Farndon – bass, backing vocals
* James Honeyman-Scott – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Additional musicians
* Chris Thomas – keyboards, sound effects
* Gerry Mackelduff - drums (on CD1, track 7 & CD2, tracks 4,5,7,9,10)
* Fred Berk - bass (on CD2, track 3)
* Nigel Pegrum - drums (on CD2, track 3)
* Geoff Bryant – horn
* Henry Lowther – trumpet
* Jim Wilson – trumpet
* Chris Mercer – saxophone