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Flint’s Classic Rock – 103.9 The Fox

  • Writer: Chrissie Hynde
  • Producer: Chris Thomas
  • Recorded: Summer and fall 1979 in London
  • Released: January 1980
  • Players:
    Chrissie Hynde — vocals, guitar, harmonica
    James Honeyman-Scott — guitar, vocals
    Pete Farndon — bass, vocals
    Martin Chambers — drums, vocals
  • Album: Pretenders (Sire, 1980)
  • Also On: Pirate Radio (Sire/Rhino, 2006)
  • “Mystery Achievement” was the closing track of the Pretenders‘ self-titled debut album in 1980.
  • The group formed in 1978, led by Chrissie Hynde — an expatriate from Akron, Ohio, who moved to London to write for New Musical Express and work in Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren‘s clothing store, which was called Sex.
  • The Pretenders’ first single was a 1979 cover of the Kinks‘ “Stop Your Sobbing.” Hynde began dating Kinks leader Ray Davies a year later and had a daughter with him in 1983, though they never married.
  • Pretenders reached Number Nine on the Billboard 200, while it was a Number One hit in the U.K.

FAST FORWARD:

  • Lead guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died of a drug overdose on June 16th, 1982.
  • Bassist Pete Farndon, who at one time was Hynde’s boyfriend, died of a drug overdose on April 14th, 1983, shortly after he was kicked out of the band.
  • During the Learning To Crawl tour, Hynde met Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr and, after a whirlwind romance, married him in May 1984. They later divorced.
  • Hynde continues to lead the Pretenders, and Chambers is still in the band.
  • Hynde is active in the animal-rights field as a member of PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals).
  • The band’s latest studio album was 2002’s Loose Screw.
  • The Pretenders were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.