tattooed love boys the pretenders lyrics

“I’m so sorry to bother you,” he said sheepishly.

The whole band was upstairs in the middle of a meeting with their manager, Dave Hill.Įveryone stared as Blake stammered through his request. When he rang the bell at Real Records, not only was it answered-it was answered by Hynde herself. But as we all know, the music gods are quick to indulge smitten teenagers. He’d got it into his head that if he went to their record company in Covent Garden, he might be able to buy a copy before it hit the shops. By the time their third single, “Brass In Pocket,” was due for release, Blake couldn’t wait. He’d bought their first single, and their second, and then sent Hynde a gushing fan letter asking if there were any chance his band might open for them again. Long before he became a rock journalist, Blake was eighteen and slightly obsessed. It bruised, and once heard, it stayed with you.” Out front, Chrissie was having problems with the monitors but you could hear this strange vibrato in her voice, this keening sound. 'The bass and drums thumped and rumbled…it was a powerful sound, not like the neurotic trebly noise of punk at all. Since then, he’s gone to every show they’ve played during their month-long residency here. He met Hynde when his band opened for hers a few months before, and he can’t get her voice out of his mind. Adam Blake is lingering on the sidelines, happy just to be here. On this November night in 1979, The Marquee on Wardour Street is packed-the Pretenders have outgrown the venue and the place is wall-to-wall leathered punks, sweaty fans, drunk onlookers. The lights dim as her fingerless lace gloves grab the mic. Playlist Joshua B.“You ready, girls?” Chrissie Hynde calls out as she takes the stage. She has immortalized them as assholes for all time in one of the great songs of the 80's (and yes, I know TLB is on 'Pretenders' and not 'Pretenders II'). You have to admire her courage and strength either way.

On the other hand, it makes the song a much more disturbing listen. On the one hand, It is pretty impressive that for decades, Chrissie has screamed out the lyrics to a song about her own assault turning the words they used against her into an anthem of her own power. The lyrics to the song are the terrible things they said to her during the assault. I kind of wish that I had never found out the reason.īefore Chrissie left Ohio for London (and one of the reasons that she left) was that she was sexually assaulted by a group of bikers from the 'Heavy Bikers' gang she sometimes hung out with. But, I never understood why the lyrics were so bizarre and seemingly anti-feminist (and certainly out of step with the rest of her lyrics). My favorite song by the Pretenders has always been 'Tattooed Love Boys.' It is just a great song. Probably because I have to talk about something pretty upsetting here. I am sure that there was a point, but as a drummer, it just seemed counterintuitive. I also have always loved drummer Martin Chambers, even if it always confused the hell out of me why he had two of his cymbals set up like ten feet above his drum throne in the old days. I don't want to expose all of the secrets in the book, so I am stopping there, but Chrissie Hynde is like a real-world Zelig only with a TON of actual talent (beyond being at the right place at the right time). She personally took some of the iconic pictures of Sid (and she, like everyone else, hated Nancy). She also knew Johnny Thunders and was, and is, very close friends with Iggy Pop. * Chrissie was friends with the members of the Sex Pistols (including Sid), The Damned, The Clash, Don Letts, and pretty much everyone else important to the advent of Punk in the UK. At the time the store was called 'Craft Must Have Clothes But Truth Loves To Go Naked.' * During her first go-round living in London she briefly worked at what later became the infamous 'Sex' clothing store owned Malcolm Mclaren and Vivienne Westwood. * After she first moved to London, she was a music critic for the NME a British publication that still exists today. Hynde took David Bowie to dinner driving him in her Mom's station wagon after a Hunky Dory tour stop in Cleveland. * Chrissie didn't just attend Kent State, she was literally on campus when the National Guard opened fire and one of her friends was one of the casualties of the Kent State massacre.

She mentions that he asked her to sing in his pre-Devo band Sat Sun Mat. In fact, Mark Mothersbaugh and Chrissie's brother were friends. * Chrissie Hynde was born in Akron Ohio a birthplace (or near birthplace) shared by Pere Ubu and the original members of the incomparable DEVO.

Tattooed love boys the pretenders lyrics